Wisconsin Man Charged in Case of John Douglas Rollins Jr., the Beaver Lake John Doe
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On October 16, 1996, fisherman at Beaver Lake in Rogers, Arkansas, discovered a deteriorated sleeping bag floating in shallow water.
When police responded to the scene, they discovered the body of a man inside along with two pillows with the words: Washington Regional Medical Center. The man was estimated to be anywhere between 30 - 60 years old. He was approximately 5'9" to 5'11". Analysis of his dentals indicated he may have been a smoker. The only clothing found with him were what remained of a pair of white Fruit of the Loom underwear and a single white sock.
The sleeping bag was determined to be Dupont brand and police at the time believed that it had likely torn away from a heavy object, or objects, that had been previously weighing it down at the bottom of the lake.
It was estimated that the body had been submerged in the water from anywhere between three months to one year.
Autopsy revealed that the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head and the manner of death was homicide.
The condition of the man’s body suggested he may have been a labourer or weightlifter. Abnormal bone formation on the medial distal portion of his right humerus was noted.
Investigating officers with the Benton County Sheriff’s Office hypothesized, due to the steep terrain around the shoreline, that whoever transported the body to the area in which it was found, may have accessed it by boat.
Despite a facial reconstruction and composite created in 1998, and the development of a partial mitochondrial DNA profile in 2008, the man remained unidentified for over 20 years. During that time, he was referred to as Lake Man or the Benton County John Doe.
In 2016, Lieutenant Hunter Petray of the Benton County Sheriff's Office began reviewing the cold case. In 2021, Petray connected with a private forensic DNA laboratory and technology company, Othram, who developed a DNA profile from the remains in October 2021.
On September 17, 2022, Othram’s genealogy team identified a potential living relative of the unidentified man. Petray contacted the family and learned that a son had been missing since the mid-1990s. Further DNA testing confirmed the link between the victim and a living relative.
On October 12, 2022, a genetic match confirmed that the unidentified man was John Douglas Rollins Jr., who would have been 31 years old at the time of his death. The last sighting of Rollins Jr. alive was reportedly by his family in 1995, the year before his remains were discovered.
Although from Missouri, Rollins Jr. had been residing in Springdale, Ark at the time of his disappearance. According to an article in aymag, published in 2025, Rollins Jr. was recently released from prison and attempting to turn his life around with the help of his father who assisted him with a place to live and a potential trucking job. The article details that Rollins Jr.'s father went to the victim’s home in 1995 and found that his son was not there. The family said they never saw him again.
Roger Ewer, 57, of Medford, Wisconsin, has recently been charged with allegedly helping to conceal and dispose of Rollins Jr.’s body. According to reports, a criminal information sheet filed in Benton County Circuit Court accused Ewer of allegedly helping to “conceal and dispose” of the victim's body.
According to KNWA Ewer has been charged with abuse of a corpse, hindering apprehension or prosecution and tampering with physical evidence.
Ewer pleaded not guilty at a recent arraignment and is being held on a $550,000 bond in the Benton County Jail.
Media outlets report, that according to court documents, Ewer has been involved in criminal cases in both Arkansas and Wisconsin beginning in the 1990s involving hot check violations, felony theft and probation violations that resulted in a stint at the Arkansas Department of Corrections. In the mid-2000s he reportedly spent time in jail for disorderly conduct and was charged with disorderly conduct involving domestic abuse in Wisconsin for which he was fined. Various other charges included substantial battery involving domestic abuse, retail theft, obstructing an officer, theft of property and possession of illegally obtained property.
His next court date is set for October 19, 2026.
At the time of writing, no suspect has been charged in the murder of Rollins Jr.
Anyone with information pertaining to the case is encouraged to contact Lieutenant Hunter Petray at hunter.petray@bentoncountyar.gov or the Benton County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division at 479-271-1009.