Wisconsin investigators on Tuesday made a major breakthrough in the 31-year-old murder case involving a man with ties to Chicago.
On August 27, 1993, a photographer found decomposing remains of an unidentified body along the Soo Line Railroad tracks in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, near the Illinois border. Those remains remained publicly unidentified until Tuesday.
After years of extensive DNA and anthropological analysis, investigators identified the man who had been shot as 40-year-old Ronald Louis Dodge.
Dodge was born on Dec. 27, 1952, on the Menominee Indian Reservation in Keshena, Wisconsin. Investigators said Dodge was married to Kathyrn Erickson and likely lived on Chicago’s north side. Erickson died of natural causes in November 1993, according to Kenosha County Coroner Patrice Hall.
Hall said she reopened her investigation in 2014 after police gave her the man’s skull as evidence.
The following year, the skull was sent to the University of North Texas for further analysis and DNA was extracted.
In June 2016, an anthropologist determined that the body was that of a man between the ages of 40 and 60—possibly Hispanic, Native American, Caucasian, or a mix of all three.
The University of Michigan reconstructed the skull in 2017 and these images were made available to the public.
Dodge’s brother Allen saw these pictures in June 2023, contacted Hall and told her he believed it was his brother.
He said Ronald Dodge had been missing since May 9, 1993.
Dodge’s remains were exhumed from St. John Cemetery in Randall, Wisconsin in September 2023.
After extensive DNA analysis of remains and samples from family members, Ronald Dodge’s identity was confirmed in May 2024.
Hall said this case was the most difficult in her 20-year career. Investigators faced an additional challenge because the pool of available Native American DNA in national databases was so small.
“I am honored to give Ronald his name back, return his remains to his family and give the Dodge family answers they have been looking for all these years,” Hall said.
Dodge’s remains were returned to the family in June.
“They know he’s back home with his relatives,” Hall said.
Police are currently looking for anyone who remembers Dodge from his time in Chicago.
“As with any police investigation, the first few leads lead to more information,” said Pleasant Prairie Police Chief David Smetana. “You can’t start an investigation without knowing who the person was. It helps to build a circle of friends and acquaintances.”
NamUs (National Missing and Unidentified Persons System), the Michigan State Police Crime Lab, the DNA Doe Project, and forensic anthropologist Dr. Janamarie Truesdell assisted with the case.
Anyone with information that may assist the Pleasant Prairie Police Department’s renewed homicide investigation is asked to contact the department at 262-948-8910 or via email at [email protected]. Anonymous tips can also be sent to Kenosha Area Crime Stoppers at 262-656-7333 or 800-807-8477.
