ALTON, Ill. – The FOX Files is following up on a cold case breakthrough we first told you about Monday. It’s an unusual case in which a 1994 unsolved shooting converged with an identity theft mystery.
Alton, Illinois Police Chief Jarrett Ford talked about how his detectives connected the dots. He said, “I wasn’t surprised, but I was impressed to the extent that they went to insure justice after 30 years.”
Chief Ford said it started with a man named Dorynell Thompson, who reported someone using his name. Ford explained, “With the victim coming forward and saying, ‘Hey, look, I can’t get a car loan because someone else has a car loan in my name,’ that’s really what kicked it all off.”
The imposter, Dorynell Thompson, lived in Kalamazoo, Michigan, according to a credit report. The suspect had also conducted a Michigan radio interview on prison reform, so Alton residents looked him up online and said he looked like a wanted man named Robert D. Mason. Police went to Michigan to find him.
Chief Ford says his detective found “no indication that anyone that he’s associating with up there had any idea as to his true identity.”
They found 53-year-old Robert D. Mason III was married under his stolen name. He’d become an ordained minister, and he seemed loved by his employer and co-workers.
He is now in the Madison County, Illinois jail charged with identity theft & attempted murder in the 1994 case.
Ford added, “It’s got to, I’m sure, weigh on you to live a different life under a different name and always be looking over your shoulder and on the run, even to the extent where your own family and wife don’t know your true identity.”
The real Dorynell wasn’t home to share his story when we knocked on his door. His mother, however, said they’re still processing what happened. She said they’re just as fascinated by the details as we are.
Chief Ford says police would like to make sure the victim can rebuild his name. He said, “It’s not easy to get your credit and your name cleared up after somebody’s done this to you. He’s probably going to need a copy of his police report when it’s all said and done, because no one is going to believe the story he would just tell them. It’s pretty wild.”
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