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Police: 'John Doe' Found Hurt In Amador County Identified As Travis AFB Airman

JACKSON (CBS 13) — The bizarre discovery of a "John Doe" in a ditch in rural Amador County now has investigators tracking leads in Sacramento.

john doe
Credit: Jackson Police Department

When police found 32-year-old Keith Keiffer near Pine Grove on Wednesday, he was barely conscious. He had reportedly suffered a head injury and didn't know his name or where he was. After spreading the story on Facebook, police learned he was an active airman previously stationed at Travis Air Force Base.

Detectives say Keiffer is now starting to remember things on Thursday. He said he may have been the victim of a more serious crime that happened in the Sacramento area. The investigation has now been turned over to Sacramento Police who sare trying to confirm his claims that he is the victim of a serious crime out of  Sacramento.

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Keiffer is with the 91st Missle Wing for the Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota. He recently transferred to the North Dakota base from Travis Air Force Base and was on leave in Sacramento when he sustained his injuries. It's still unclear how he ended up in a ditch near Pine Grove.

"I'm like, 'Wow this doesn't usually happen in our little town of Jackson.' So we immediately started going through the process of how can we get this gentleman identified," said Jackson Police Chief Chris Mynderup.

Mynderup said the only thing on him was some petty cash. "We don't know what happened to his other belongings. He was found with $30 in his pocket which we thought was kind of odd," he said.

Chief Mynderup said Keiffer was in Sacramento, getting ready to move to the east coast.

"He had come to the Sacramento area to pick up a U-haul type moving van to move some personal belongings," he said.

Mynderup said he believes Keiffer has a family, possibly a wife and two kids, but they are not based locally and were not in town today. Keiffer is originally from West Virginia.

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