In this photo made from video and released by WAFF-TV, workers labor to exhume the body of a John Doe buried in Alabama in 1981, in Scottsboro, Ala. on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014. The FBI is exhuming the body of a John Doe buried in Alabama in 1981 in its search for a 10 Most Wanted Fugitive accused of killing his family with a sledgehammer nearly 40 years ago. In court filings, the FBI said there is a strong resemblance between photos of the John Doe and former State Department diplomat William Bradford “Brad” Bishop Jr.WASHINGTON – Nearly 40 years ago, authorities said former diplomat William Bradford “Brad” Bishop Jr. bludgeoned his family to death with a sledgehammer and disappeared into the North Carolina woods. For decades, investigators believed he might have used his education, international experience and knowledge of foreign languages to flee to Europe and assume a new identity.
On Thursday, the FBI had a new theory: Bishop never left the rural South, living as a homeless vagrant until he was killed by a hit-and-run driver in Alabama in 1981. The John Doe in that case bears a strong resemblance to Bishop, so authorities have dug up the unidentified remains to see if they match his DNA, the FBI said. The agency said the results could be known soon but wouldn’t elaborate.
Bishop was accused of killing his wife, mother and three sons in their Bethesda, Maryland, home in 1976. It’s not clear why he killed his family, but back then, he had been passed over for a promotion and was prone to violent outbursts, the FBI said.
Bishop was added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List in April, and in July, his case was featured on the CNN program “The Hunt with John Walsh.” A viewer called the FBI to point out similarities between Bishop’s picture and the photo of the unidentified Alabama man, which police in Scottsboro had publicized last year in an attempt to crack the cold case.
The Alabama victim had no identification and no personal belongings beyond a slip of paper with the phone number of a truck driver who had given him a ride. He was wearing several layers of dirty, heavy clothing, according to the funeral director who helped prepare his body.