Identified! NV - Wellington, WhtMale 574UMNV, 35-50, Off Sand Canyon Road, Mar'92 - #2 - Vincent Marion Trapp

[Sleuthster]

I just saw this guy on Doenetwork's fb page. He's not on Namus or Doenetwork though. He went missing in 1987.
http://www.41nbc.com/story/d/story/...here-is-hal-dunn/12942/aJ7MQnrw7kGmnLU8AFeQJQ

 

[Sleuthster]

Doenetwork said they are working to get him added to their database.

 

[PoirotryInMotion]

In the missing person databases I went through, I didn't list anybody shorter than six feet tall because I thought LE had emphasized his height. So if we're going down to 5'10" I know I left out a few possibles.

I think that's probably ok (unless mmarty says otherwise); I rarely listed any less than 5'11" unless the hair and face looked like a possibility. JMO, but it's probably fine to concentrate on the range in the description we've been given, first.

 

[PoirotryInMotion]

JMO, but I'm guessing the murderer wouldn't worry about tattoes if he wasn't worried about teeth (which would last a lot longer). RickshawFan, thanks so much for completing the 1990s list!

I'm wondering if LE has shown any of these missing people's families the t-shirt? DNA testing is very, very good. But not 100% foolproof, yet. Of course, it might be too long ago for people to remember a t-shirt--unless, maybe, it was a favorite.

 

[wenwe4]

Woo Hoo Guys! We are making news all over the world! Here is an article about a case in AU. Check this out:

http://www.theage.com.au/national/w...ping-police-solve-crimes-20150502-1mutek.html

"Dozens of experts, including doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers, teachers and prison officers, have joined Websleuths. They can post as such if their credentials are verified by site owner Tricia Griffith, who bought it in 2004 for $US1500. "We're seeing an influx of professionals," she tells Fairfax via Skype. . .

Police use Websleuths covertly and overtly. In April, a Nevada detective asked for help in identifying a logo, part of which had been found on the clothes of an unidentified murder victim from the early '90s.

"This has been my dream," Griffith says – the first request to forum members for assistance. Within two days, "equestrianista" had tracked it down, something police had been unable to do in 23 years."

 

[Equestrianista]

I think it is wonderful Websleuths, and this very case, are getting much needed attention all over.

 

[wenwe4]

I think it is wonderful Websleuths, and this very case, are getting much needed attention all over.

Equestrianista,

Your name is in lights and you got "street cred" from the desert to down under! Get down with your bad self girl!
Rockin' it Websleuths style! Oh Yeah!

In addition to identifying the logo on the shirt, other members have collectively submitted 343 names of missing persons that fit with the general height (and other descriptors) to our UID person. Law Enforcement officers have already ruled out 2/3 of those subissions and while the names keep coming in, the inquiries keep going out.

There are dozens of missing people who's DNA or dentals have not been uploaded to a major clearinghouse. I am hoping that we not only are able to identify this person, we can help solve the case. In addition, maybe some of those dozens of cases (that haven't been solved) may get new attention because someone asked.

 

[RickshawFan]

JMO, but I'm guessing the murderer wouldn't worry about tattoes if he wasn't worried about teeth (which would last a lot longer). RickshawFan, thanks so much for completing the 1990s list!

I'm wondering if LE has shown any of these missing people's families the t-shirt? DNA testing is very, very good. But not 100% foolproof, yet. Of course, it might be too long ago for people to remember a t-shirt--unless, maybe, it was a favorite.

The thing is, who ever killed the UID was evidently worried about hands and feet! But not teeth! Go figure....

 

[PoirotryInMotion]

The thing is, who ever killed the UID was evidently worried about hands and feet! But not teeth! Go figure....

Yes, it's hard to know, actually, if they were removed by humans or animals, too (the lightest and smallest bones, so first carried off). When asked whether the hands/feet had been "deliberately removed" in thread #1, LE replied, "Unfortunately we are unable to answer that question either way at this time." So...that's either a clue or not, but in any case, we can't know it right now. (It was post #770 at one time, but all the post #s have changed in that first thread.)

 

[carbuff]

The thing is, who ever killed the UID was evidently worried about hands and feet! But not teeth! Go figure....

A lot of people don't know that you can be identified by your teeth.

 

[RickshawFan]

Yes, it's hard to know, actually, if they were removed by humans or animals, too (the lightest and smallest bones, so first carried off). When asked whether the hands/feet had been "deliberately removed" in thread #1, LE replied, "Unfortunately we are unable to answer that question either way at this time." So...that's either a clue or not, but in any case, we can't know it right now. (It was post #770 at one time, but all the post #s have changed in that first thread.)

I assumed that since the UID was missing both hands and both feet that they were cut off. But I also realize this is speculation on my part. It's just too convenient that all are gone, and this would be a common pattern at other UID sites where bodies have been scavenged by animals. It's not at all unusual for hands and feet to be removed to prevent identification.

 

[wenwe4]

Just some data to let you know where we are at with our efforts.

343 total missing persons submitted to date

of those, 126 people are still pending on the list

of those, 45 names have DNA or Dentals already uploaded to a clearinghouse

an additional 17 who's DNA or dentals are listed as currrently underway.

Those are fairly easy for the Detectives to rule out quickly.

This leaves 64 missing people who do not have their DNA or Dentals uploaded to a major clearinghouse and our NV Detectives have to contact each reporting agency to see if those can be done. I wonder how long the backlog for DNA is for all of these missing persons? Hopefully many will have Dentals and other identifying information available. For those that don't, at least someone asked about them after all these years and it may just spark a ray of hope for their families, and a step forward in solving their cases.

 

[Equestrianista]

Everyone has done such a great job at working on this case and submitting possible matches! I have been very busy lately an unable to really have a lot of time to sit down and help find possible matches. Keep up the good work everyone. I bet the detectives have been pretty busy going through the list.

 

[searcher8621]

This doesn't add anything to solving this case, but I want to share that my life has been filled with owls, eagles, falcons and hawks lately! My school mascot is a falcon and last week a red tail hawk flew in front of me as I was driving. He had a little snake in his beak and he wasn't more than 10 feet in front of me. Today I am sitting next to someone with an eagle t shirt on. This case is always on my mind.

 

[RickshawFan]

I assumed that since the UID was missing both hands and both feet that they were cut off. But I also realize this is speculation on my part. It's just too convenient that all are gone, and this would be a common pattern at other UID sites where bodies have been scavenged by animals. It's not at all unusual for hands and feet to be removed to prevent identification.

I left out a word and created nonsense... The paragraph should read:

I assumed that since the UID was missing both hands and both feet that they were cut off. But I also realize this is speculation on my part. It's just too convenient that all are gone, and this would NOT be a common pattern at other UID sites where bodies have been scavenged by animals. It's not at all unusual for hands and feet to be removed to prevent identification.

 

[wenwe4]

Rickshaw, I was looking around the interwebs today (mostly to see if this case had been mentioned in other MSM news sites recently). I found a peculiar entry on a list that popped up. This is a list of UID Females in rural Nevada but one of them (discovered in Feb, 1990) had evidence of post mortem "sawing" and partial removal of hands, feet, and other bones, the torso has never been found.

I don't know if this has anything to do with this case, but Lander County appears to be about 4 hours away from Lyon County where our UID was found. Also interesting to note that the remains were determined to have been there a couple of years, and were found "1 mile east of Hilltop Rd and 1/10 mile to an old mine". This caught my eye because our UID remains were found "1 mile east of Hwy 338".

Just thought I would put this in the "Hmmmmm Column" but thought I would post it for others to see. What do you think? Any correlation or am I just reaching here?

http://id.dps.nv.gov/uploadedFiles/...RCFemaleUnidentifiedDeadUnsolvedHomicides.pdf

 

[wenwe4]

I have been thinking about the missing hands and feet. Posters have mentioned this is not an "uncommon" thing but I don't remember hearing many cases of it. My first thought was the perpetrator did this to eliminate opportunities to identify the remains - after all DNA back in the early 90's was just in it's infancy IIRC.

The only other times I have heard of removing hands was practiced in other countries and religions as a punishment for thievery. Hobbling (sic?)feet only served to keep someone from running away but it wouldn't serve much purpose to remove the feet and keep the person alive. (IMO)

I did a quick search for UID's missing hands & feet and found surprisingly few cases. Many reports of feet being washed ashore in Seattle & British Columbia areas (but I assumed that was tidal current related). There is one blog from 2009 listing numerous cases from "unusual" Kentucky (sorry can't link as it is a blog) discussing numerous bodies found in Kentucky. One in Henderson County and the other in Daviees County that listed missing both hands & feet (others were just hands).

There is one comment that removing hands is an old mountain punishment and refers to "Hammarabi code" aka Code of Hammurabi.

Here is an MSM link:

http://www.courierpress.com/news/local-news/body-found-2007-remains-unidentified

http://www.theindychannel.com/news/police-body-found-not-that-of-indy-teen

http://www.theindychannel.com/news/false-hope-torments-family-30-years-after-disappearance

The one found in Daviees County may be the same one as it is described as:

Unk white male 5'6 - 5'7 brown, blue, missing hands & feet - shot 6 times, severely beaten & teeth knocked out, found 1/7/90 2.5 miles NW Philpot, Daviees County, contact Kentucky State Police, Henderson, KY (270) 826-3312.

The car found up the road in our NV UID case was listed from Oklahoma (not Kentucky) and owner later found in Colorado. Not sure any of this is related and I am not trying to send people down rabbit holes - just wondering if posters had thoughts about this topic.

 

[PoirotryInMotion]

Hi all, I've been meandering my way through the 1980s at the North American Missing site. Not finding anything besides a few new names for tall, skinny missing guys that fit the age group-- but they don't seem particularly promising (due to locale & circumstances or photo). I'm keeping a linked list in case the list LE is currently checking doesn't pan out.

For wenwe4, I noticed a couple updates when comparing a couple names I found to those all ready on the alpha list:

One, for *Strassburger, Dale - **Dental information / charting is available and will be entered later (alpha lists says not available, I think)

The second thing concerns:

PAULSEN, Bill Edward 5’11” 154 lbs. Brown DOB 1957 MSG 1985 (p74 t2) #298 (Lancaster, CA) Los Angeles County Sheriffs Case Number: 850961711 *no dental no Namus

I found him listed as Bill Edward Paulson (spelled with an "o" instead of an "e") on the North American Missing site, and then was able to pull him up on the NAMUS site as well-- where I learned that both DNA and dental are not yet available:

North American Missing: http://www.nampn.org/cases/paulson_bill.html
NAMUS: https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/3033/0

If you click on the North American link above, there is a photo of him which looks a bit more similar to the model (the one on the left, below). The description of circumstances on these two sites is also an interesting fit. Here are both photos (the one on the right below is found on NaMus; both photos are found on the North American Missing site):



Here is the (consolidated) description of circumstances:

"Suspicious circumstances. Last seen March 1985 in Fontana, CA. Per family, not seen for months and reported missing in Aug 1985. Rumors are he may have been killed."

[BBM]

Since his DNA is not yet in NAMUS, he hasn't yet been excluded by the system; it might be worthwhile to track down the family who reported him missing (if possible), and ask about that t-shirt and/or dig for some dental records or dna samples.

LA County Sheriff Dept: 323-890-5500 Case # 850961711

 

[wenwe4]

Thanks for keeping me honest PIM! Got the updates on the list(s). Keep up the great work!

I went through NaMus Kentucky UID's looking for reports of more found with missing hands (and feet). I only found 1 person where that was specifically indicated in 1980 through 2003. Doesn't look to be a trend, although I didn't count ones where partial remains were found and I didn't look at the ones where only hands were missing.

Seems to be overkill to me. It would take awhile to dismember someone (although little Zahra Baker's step-monster didn't seem to mind). I believe Zahra was dismembered because she wore a prosthesis on her leg - parts of her were deposited all over the regional area.

Could the removal of the hands and feet be:

1) a torture/sport,
2) an identification cover-up,
3) a religious or "sacred" ritual,
4) message to an other person(s)
5) punishment
6) ?


I can't come up with another idea of what would be the need.

 

[PoirotryInMotion]

Ah wenwe4, you're always honest. Hah, it was probably me that gave Paulson to you misspelled in the first place.