Doe: ID 'Chimney Doe' Ronnie Joe Kirk

DNA: ID

AbJack Entertainment

Society & Culture, True Crime

4.8 • 871 Ratings

🗓️ 30 September 2024

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Episode 119 Doe: ID 'Chimney Doe' Ronnie Joe Kirk

In 1989, a custodian in a music store in Madison, Wisconsin discovered human remains in the chimney. At first, it was not clear that the remains were of a male or female, and remnants on clothing though to be a dress fueled confusion. An expert told police that the remains certainly belonged to a man, but since there was no ID with the body, they had no idea who the person was, nor did they know how their body had managed to get down the very small opening of the chimney, or if he was a homicide victim. For years the case remained a mystery, and the man was named 'Chimney Doe'. Eventually, DNA & genealogy proved that the remains were that of Ronnie Joe Kirk who dropped from sight in 1970 after losing contact with his family. Kirk was born in Oklahoma and is known to have travelled through Alabama, California, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin. Authorities now know who he is, but how his remains got where they were found, and whether or not he's a homicide victim, remain a mystery and police are still trying to put the pieces together. Chimney Doe now has his name back; it's Ronnie Joe Kirk, and this is his story.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to DNAID.
0:03.0	Brought to you by Abject Entertainment.
0:05.3	Be sure to check out some of the other great true crime podcasts from this network,
0:09.7	including The Murder in My Family, Missing Persons, Scene of the Crime, Zodiac Speaking,
0:16.4	Beyond Bizarre True Crime, Citizen Detective, and Campus Killings.
0:21.9	All of these podcasts are available for you to binge on right now, wherever you listen to podcasts.
0:27.4	Subscribe where you're listening to this podcast so you don't miss an episode. The
0:40.3	The The
0:57.0	The On Sunday, September 3, 1989, Steve Leithin, the owner of the building housing the Good
1:29.5	and Loud Music Store at 5-225 University Avenue in Madison, Wisconsin, was trying to fix a leak
1:36.1	when he made a truly strange and unsettling discovery.
1:39.2	He had removed a boiler in the building's basement and noticed water leaking from a clay-lined
1:44.0	boiler ventilation chimney clean-out pipe onto the basement floor. boiler in the building's basement and noticed water leaking from a clay-lined boiler
1:44.3	ventilation chimney clean-out pipe onto the basement floor. Peering into see what the situation
1:49.7	was, Leithin saw a human skull and scapula right at the base of the chimney. That was not what
1:54.8	he expected. According to Madison magazine, Leithen called the non-emergency general police number.
2:01.4	I believe I've found human remains, he said.
2:03.7	Is the person breathing, the operator, asked?
2:05.6	I really don't think so, Leithin replied.
2:08.9	Dan County authorities were called in, including Detective James Gran.
2:12.8	Grant later told Madison Magazine, quote,
2:15.2	It was probably the smallest crime scene I've ever seen. The whole
	...

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