John Doe July 13, 1997 in Grundy County, Tennessee.
The Doe Network: Case File 260UMTN Reconstruction of Victim. Unidentified White Male Located on July 13, 1997 in Grundy County, Tennessee. Cause of death is homicide. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vital Statistics Estimated age: 25 - 35 years old Other: First name may be "Andrew" and he may have been traveling from California to North Carolina to visit possibly his sister in July of 1997. He was picked up in New Mexico by the suspect. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Case History On July 13, 1997, the victim's badly burned body was found in a burned vehicle located halfway up Altamont Mountain on Highway 50 in Grundy County, Tennessee. The vehicle was registered to Bruce Alan Littleton. The burned car had what appeared to be three bullets holes in the driver s door. The badly burned body was subsequently sent for an autopsy. The doctor made a positive dental identification from dental records supplied by Bruce Alan Littleton's wife. She had received the said records from Littleton's dentist. It was stated in the autopsy report that the victim died as the result of burns and smoke inhalation and that there was black soot in the trachea. Preliminary investigation revealed that Bruce Alan Littleton was a known drug dealer from the Wayne County, Tennessee area and that three months prior to July 1997 he attempted to stage his own death by shooting the three holes in his vehicle and leaving the vehicle abandoned in Hardin County, Tennessee. On January 21, 1999 the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation was contacted by Smyrna Police Department, South Carolina in reference to a subject who claimed to be Bruce Alan Littleton. Littleton was living in Smyrna under the name of Gregory Bruce Lavender. A video tape statement was given by Bruce Alan Littleton to TBI and the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration. In the video statement, Littleton claimed that he and Joel T. McElroy picked up a hitchhiker by the name of Andrew in Albuquerque, New Mexico as they were traveling back to Tennessee. He further stated that on July 9, 1997, McElroy strangled Andrew, in Humphreys County under the Interstate 40 bridge near Cuba Landing, and placed the body in the back seat of the car they were driving. Littleton said that they kept the victim in the car until July 13, when he drove to Grundy County, Tennessee. He found the location on the side of Altamont Mountain and placed the victim behind the steering wheel. Littleton then drove the car into a tree to make it look like an accident. He then covered the car with diesel fuel and burned it. In November 2003 Littleton received a 20-year prison term after entering a plea of guilty to the murder of the unidentified man. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Investigators If you have any information concerning this case, please contact: Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (toll-free) 800-334-3000 NCIC Number: N/A Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case. Source Information: http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/260umtn.html