Figuring out an unsolved murder is hard enough, but where do you start when you don't know who died?

For nearly three decades, Barron County detectives have been trying to identify a John Doe murder victim, with no success.

On a beautiful fall day, a group of loggers came across a badly decomposed body. It turned out the man had been murdered more than three months earlier. 26 years later, investigators still don't know his name.

John Doe is the name nobody wants to end up with. The pathologist’s report says he's a white male, between 18 and 22 years old. Probably 19. Weighed 180 to 195 pounds. 5’8” to 5’9”. Brown hair. Husky build. Time of death- April to May 1982.

Beyond that, almost everything else is a mystery.

September 21, 1982. Its sunny, clear, and 65 degrees. Mary Dexter is working as a Barron County dispatcher, when she gets a call for a possible dead body. Deputies raced to the scene in the town of Dallas, but they are months too late. Loggers working on private land found a skeleton about 100 yards from the tree line. The skull and lower jaw were detached and lying about 3 feet away.

"The cause of death was said to be three puncture wounds to the chest area with a sharp object," says Dexter, who now works as a detective for Barron County.

Investigators say the stab wounds were so deep, they left cuts on the victim's spine. Detectives tried to match dental records, with no luck. But the right tibia held a promising clue.

"It had what appeared to be a surgically implanted staple and allen head screw in the bone," Dexter says.

Doctors said the victim had undergone specialized orthopedic surgery and the pin in the bone had a serial number.

"They felt pretty confident that they'd be able to get the identity just because it was so specialized, but they had no luck, so we still do not have an identity for this body," she adds.

Another road block. Then in 2000, investigators decided to try a different tactic.

“The facial reconstruction is an absolute last resort,” says Dr. Emily Craig. “Less than one percent of the cases I do need a facial reconstruction and that's because law enforcement officers have no idea where to start.”

Detectives called Craig, a forensic anthropologist for the state of Kentucky, and asked her to put a face on John Doe. She uses clay to mimic tissue, based on the skull's proportions. Craig says 20 to 30 percent of facial reconstructions lead to a positive identity, but only if the right person sees it.

"The most important thing is for people not to get caught up on the details, because with a facial reconstruction, the best you can hope for is a three dimensional caricature," Craig says.

Dexter says the face generated one or two calls, but nothing useful. Now the Sheriff's Department has turned to the FBI for help. In 2004, Dexter sent the bones to Quantico, Virginia, for advanced DNA testing. One of the tests is done, but in early February, the FBI said it didn't know when the second would be finished.

Dexter says unless she can figure out John Doe's identity or track down an eyewitness, the case will be almost impossible to solve.

Dexter says if you know recognize the man's face from the reconstruction, or know anything about this John Doe murder, you can call the Barron County Sheriff's Department at 715-537-3106.

And if you or your family knows someone who is missing, Dr. Craig says you should register with the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. That's a Department of Justice database.

You can also submit a d-n-a sample to the National DNA Database, so it can be matched to potential family members.