Case Profiles #26
Melvin Coombs
49-year-old Melvin Coombs was last seen alive in the early hours of March 18th, 1997 in Richmond, Rhode Island. He was out drinking with an acquaintance, Lloyd Lance Comer. Four days after he was last seen, Melvin’s beaten body was found on Lloyd’s property. He had suffered 17 broken ribs and three gashes to his face. Lloyd Comer was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter but was later acquitted. To this day, his murder remains unsolved.
Barnstable County John Doe
On June 4th, 2014, a man was walking down Town Neck Beach in Sandwich, Massachusetts when he came across a duffel bag wrapped in a tarp. Inside was a body missing its head and limbs, and the remains had been duct taped to a blue dolly with folding wheels. The torso was discovered to belong to a black male ranging from 5’10-6’ tall and weighing 230 pounds. Notably there was a 4-inch surgical scar on the abdomen, most likely from a hernia surgery. The torso was found in several layers of clothing, the most distinct being a blue t-shirt with the words “I got serviced” on the front and “Cranston Windustrial Company”, a pipe distribution company in Rhode Island, on the back. In 2019 Massachusetts State Police submitted DNA from John Doe to Parabon Labs in Virginia, who were able to use the DNA to form a composite image of the man’s face. Anyone with any information on the Barnstable John Doe is asked to please call the Cape and Islands State Police at (508) 790-5799 or Sandwich police at (508) 888-3343.
Image sources:
facebook.com - “Awareness for Melvin Coombs Hate Crime”
fbi.gov - “John Doe - Sandwich, Massachusetts”