Exhumed remains of unknown male buried in 1970 in Page, ND are positively identified in 2025

PAGE, N.D. (KVRR) — A body found near railroad tracks outside Page, North Dakota in 1970 has been positively identified as William Howard Tate.

Investigators believe the body had been there for about six weeks and was a possible homicide victim or had fallen off of a train.

Earlier this month, Cass County Coroner’s Office in collaboration with Southeast Missouri State University exhumed the remains.

They were able to make a positive identification through an upper denture plate traced to a World War II enlistment record for William Howard Tate.

They did not provide a hometown or age.

Additional analysis of the remains is being conducted and funded by private donors.

Dr. Jennifer Bengtson is the professor overseeing the project at Southeast Missouri State University.

The county is working on a new headstone with the updated information.