Polk County John Doe (1953)

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Polk County John Doe
Discovered	December 12, 1953
Unidentified for	71 years
Sex	Male
Location	Des Moines, Iowa
Age	Newborn
Body condition	Burned
Postmortem interval	Hours
Cause of death	Beating

Polk County John Doe was a newborn infant whose burned remains were found in the Des Moines River. The baby had been struck in the head, causing a skull fracture.

NamUS lists the date of discovery as November 12, 1953, but other sources, including Iowa law enforcement, state the date was December 12, 1953.

Sources

• Polk County John Doe at the Doe Network
• Polk County John Doe at NamUs
• Iowa Cold Cases