Central ND News

On October 27, 1970, the body of an unidentified adult male was found near railroad tracks outside Page in Cass County. The Cass County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case as a possible homicide, believing the man had been deceased for about six weeks. Evidence suggested that the man had been assaulted, robbed, and either thrown or had fallen from a moving train. Despite extensive efforts, no suspects or persons of interest were identified.

The man's cause of death was listed as fractures of the ribs, cervical vertebrae, maxilla, and mandible. The manner of death was ruled undetermined. With no identification available at the time, he was buried at St. James Cemetery in Page with a headstone marked "Unknown Male."

In a renewed effort to identify the individual, the Cass County Coroner's Office collaborated with Southeast Missouri State University to exhume the remains on July 1, 2025. During this process, an upper denture plate labeled "Tate W. H" with the number "20506932" was recovered from the skeletal remains.

Investigators used genealogical and archival resources such as Ancestry.com and the National Archives Access to Archival Databases to trace this information to a World War II enlistment record for William Howard Tate. Based on that record and subsequent analysis, the unknown male was positively identified as William Howard Tate.

Additional analysis is being conducted by Dr. Jennifer Bengtson, a professor overseeing the project at Southeast Missouri State University. The project is funded by private donors supporting the university's anthropology department.

The Coroner's Office is also working with Cass County Veteran Services to place a new headstone with William Howard Tate's identification on his grave.