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Taiping John Doe was a homeless man struck by a van in Taiping Village located in China's Hunan Province. He was identified via DNA as a man named Ma Jixiang, who disappeared in 2009. Ma was later found alive in 2015, and his identity was confirmed via DNA testing, leaving the decedent's true identity unknown. Although based on the DNA tests, police believe him to be a relative of Ma. The decedent's body was cremated before the misidentification was discovered, meaning he'll likely never be identified.
Case[]
On February 7, 2012, at 10:40 PM, a van driver named Yang Zhiguang traveled down Provincial Highway 314 near Taiping Village in China's Hunan province. Since it was late at night and no other vehicles were on the road, Yang drove slightly above the speed limit. When turning a corner, a figure suddenly appeared on the road, and although Yang used his vehicle's brakes, it was too late, and his vehicle collided with the person, killing him instantly.
When the police arrived, Yang was arrested, but he was later released after his dashcam footage proved that he had hit the decedent accidentally. As for the decedent, he was a male lying on his side in the middle of the road. Due to the vehicle collision and his head hitting the ground, the decedent's face was left bloodied and disfigured beyond recognition. There were no CCTV cameras along the road to allow police to view the decedent's face. The only witness was Yang, who didn't see the decedent until he hit him.
The decedent was wearing a black jacket, blue pants and green shoes. A few meters from his body was an empty woven bag suspected to belong to him. Also in the decedent's possession was a dead black Nokia smartphone without a sim card, communication records or a charger. The police searched the decedent's bag and pockets for identification, but none was found on his person. The decedent was estimated to be in his late 50s to early 60s, with 55 as the most likely age and approximately 160 cm tall. Based on his clothing and lack of identity, the police believed the decedent to be homeless.
The police visited many homeless shelters, camps, and places frequented by people experiencing homelessness and residents who lived near or worked with the homeless population and asked if anyone knew of a missing homeless man matching the decedent's description. The police also put out identification notices in the local newspaper with rewards promised for those who could identify the decedent. Eventually, the family of a 52-year-old man named Ma Jixiang came forward, with Ma having disappeared from Tanjialong Village on December 27, 2009. DNA samples were taken from Ma's brother. Although there was no match to Ma, the results were similar enough that the decedent was likely his brother, leading to the decedent being identified as Ma on February 25. He was buried on March 1.
On December 20, 2015, Ma was found alive in the city of Hengyang, living as a homeless man. The police officer who discovered him checked records and found that Ma had supposedly passed away in a vehicle accident in 2012. The man claiming to be Ma was brought to Tanjialong Village, where all the residents positively identified him. DNA samples were also taken from the man, which confirmed his identity as Ma. Ma claimed that he was kidnapped and forced to work at an illegal factory. The DNA samples from the decedent remained and were compared against China's missing person database but returned no matches. The decedent had been cremated before Ma's return, meaning his body is lost. Police still considered the results accurate, meaning that the decedent was likely a distant, unknown relative of Ma. Ma decided to keep the tombstone and regularly visits the grave of the brother he never met.
Clothing and accessories[]
- Black jacket.
- Blue pants.
- Green shoes.
- An empty woven bag.
- A Nokia smartphone.