Who is this man?

A 62-year-old mystery about the identify of man found buried under 2,500 pounds of ice in rail car in North Platte, Nebraska, has ties to St. Landry Parish.
Volunteer investigative genetic genealogists with the non-profit DNA Doe Project, based in California, are working to put a name on the man found on Oct. 31, 1961.
The Black, African-American male, was estimated to be 60 years old. No identification was found on him. He was buried in Lincoln County, Nebraska, after his body was discovered in the rail car that originated in Roseville, California.
Volunteer investigative genetic genealogists with the non-profit DNA Doe Project have discovered that John Doe had recent ancestors from St. Landry Parish, while he himself may have been from Texas, stated information from the DNA Doe Project.
“Although we now know that the Doe has ancestors from Louisiana, it seems that multiple branches of his family moved to parts of Texas such as Houston and Beaumont,” said team leader Jennifer Randolph. “It’s possible that he grew up in Texas, and he may still have living family in Houston and/or Beaumont.”
Randolph, who recently visited St. Landry Parish for the investigation, said Doe’s family may have ties to the Washington area. He also may have links to the surname Smith or other Anglican names, she said.
Doe is believed to have been crushed by moving blocks of ice in the railroad car in which he was found.
The DNA Doe Project’s research has not revealed any genealogical link to Nebraska, but a clue found with John Doe’s remains points to his having lived in California prior to his death – a packet of cigarettes labeled with a California tax stamp.
According to Janel Daniels, one of the researchers on this case, “During the second wave of the Great Migration from the South, starting around the 1940s, many African Americans leaving Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and Texas moved to California. If there’s someone in your family who left around that time and was never heard from again, he could be this John Doe.”
According to Janel Daniels, one of the researchers on this case, “During the second wave of the Great Migration from the South, starting around the 1940s, many African Americans leaving Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and Texas moved to California. If there’s someone in your family who left around that time and was never heard from again, he could be this John Doe.”
The DNA Doe Project has also commissioned a facial reconstruction of Lincoln County Rail Car John Doe by renowned forensic artist Carl Koppelman. This depicts how John Doe might have looked if he was around 60 years old at the time of his death, which was the estimate given when he was found in 1961. However, age estimates during this period weren’t always accurate, and it’s believed that he could have been much younger.
“We need the public’s help to identify this man,” said Randolph. “If you recognize him, or if your family has connections to St. Landry Parish or the Houston/Beaumont areas, we want to hear from you.”
“If you have taken a direct-to-consumer DNA test at sites like Ancestry or 23andMe, you can download your profile and upload to the databases we use,” said Daniels. “You could be the match that helps us resolve this case, even if you never knew our John Doe.”
The public can contact DNA Doe Project researchers at case-tips@dnadoeproject.org.