The Cleveland John Doe Case

Ohio. A suicide, no fingerprints, no identity.

In July 2002, the Eastlake police discovered a decomposed body in a modest studio apartment in Cleveland, Ohio. It appeared to be a suicide by firearm. The man was Joseph Newton Chandler III, a retiree whom neighbors and former colleagues described as quiet, secretive, and strange. But as the investigation progressed, less and less about Joseph’s life and identity made sense.

In 2018, thanks to scientific advances in DNA, the man’s true identity was finally discovered: Robert Ivan Nichols. A veteran with a wife and three sons, Nichols eventually left his family, telling his wife “One day you will know why.” A few years later, in 1965, his family reported him missing. By 1978, he… Keep Reading