STRAWBERRY PLAINS, Tenn. — Months after his body was found in a bag along Douglas Lake, the TBI hopes the release of more details about the case will lead to his identity and the person who killed him.
The state agency confirmed Wednesday for the first time that they consider the man's death to be a homicide.
A resident found the body in March in a cove while out checking property near Dandridge. When he opened the bag he thought at first he was looking at a deer carcass, TBI Special Agent Michael O'Keefe told 10News.
"As he opened it up further, he noticed a pair of jeans and was like, That's not a deer carcass."
Authorities suspect the body in the bag floated down the nearby French Broad River or the Nolichucky River and into Douglas Lake, coming to rest after days of rain on the lake shore.
A key possible clue: The man was found in a 2008 edition Thompson Cigar Company "Match Play" golf bag travel bag, according to O'Keefe. Thompson Cigar sells mail-order cigars, typically from a catalog that's available across the country.
The TBI and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office previously released details of the man's clothing -- a Walking Dead T-shirt, jeans and a distinctive belt with the name "Gerald" on it.
Just because the man's body had a belt with the name "Gerald" doesn't mean that was actually his name. He could have picked it up at a second-hand store, the agent said.
"We're not putting all our eggs in one basket about the name Gerald," he said. "It's a clue."
O'Keefe said the man weighed about 158 pounds. Estimates on his height vary from 5 feet to about 5 feet 8 inches.
He wore jeans with a 36-inch waist and 29-inch inseam, according to the TBI.
It's hard to know who long the body had been in the bag and in the water. At that time of year, the water temperature was cold, which can preserve the body a bit.
"It's difficult to say how long that body was in the water or how long that body was dead," the agent said.
He said he couldn't discuss specifics about how the person may have died or why the TBI considers it a homicide. The Regional Forensic Center examined it after its discovery.
O'Keefe said he couldn't discuss why the TBI has not released a facial sketch of what the victim may have looked like.
The TBI hopes the release of new information will result in more leads to help identify the man and what happened to him.
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office is working with the TBI on the case, said TBI spokeswoman Leslie Earhart.
It's possible the victim was of Hispanic origin, according to the TBI.
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For that reason, the TBI has issued an information release about the case in Spanish that it hopes will reach the community. The agency has distributed the flier to Hispanic churches, stores and places where the community may gather.
"As soon as we can find out who he is, we can go to his friends and family and go from the inside out and find out who he was, who he was with and that would start the investigation up and be able to go further with it," he said.
The TBI does have a DNA profile of the man. So far, however, there have been no matches to what they have with any DNA now on file, collected from sources such as jail and prison inmates.
"We just have very little information to go on," O'Keefe said.
Earhart said people with tips can call the TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.