NV NV - White Pine Co, WhtMale 40-60, UP7428, note signed 'J', golf shoes, dental work, glasses, Jan'84

[nerosleuth]

Even though we know that the body was found without any identification, did the coroner ever determined where the deceased could be from?

It could be possible that the deceased wasn't from North America and could have come from some other continent around the world.

 

[Ambercat]

Even though we know that the body was found without any identification, did the coroner ever determined where the deceased could be from?

It could be possible that the deceased wasn't from North America and could have come from some other continent around the world.

I don't believe that he did. That would explain why he cut all the tags out of his clothing, so they couldn't be traced to his country of origin.

 

[nerosleuth]

This is a really long shot, but there is a good chance if he was LDS that he served a mission.

If he was LDS from another country outside the United States, could he went to the MTC in Provo prior to serving a mission in a foreign country?

 

[Ambercat]

Lindall Ray Benedict may have been headed toward Reno, NV when he went missing after leaving Lansing, MI. If his vital statistics from NamUs and the Doe Network (that he was about 70" tall and 180 lbs) and not those on the Charley Project (69" tall and 135 lbs) that sounds consistent with the man found in the Chevy, but that is really a long shot because there isn't more information about Mr. Benedict and a sketch of how the UID looked in life.
https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/10691/90/
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/4442dmmi.html
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/b/benedict_lindall.html

Lester Rome, a 57 year old missing person from Grand Isle, LA, also fits as far as height and weight, and he went missing on January 9, 1984 reportedly heading towards Las Vegas, NV.

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/4193/0/

I e-mailed the Jefferson County Parish Sheriff's Office several months ago, and was told the following about Lester Rome --

A review of the report indicates that Lester's vehilce was found in Lafourche Parish.
The vehicle had been burned. We do have a suspect in this case and believe Lester
never made it out of Louisiana. DNA was obtained from Lester's brother and is on file
in CODIS.

 

[crissianni]

He was found with "Prescription glasses, and apparent 'military non-prescription glasses' "

Perhaps he has a military connection. Does the military provide an online list of persons wanted for going AWOL or deserting?

If not, the info should be available through the Freedom of Information Act, I believe.

There are several military bases surrounding this area.

It might explain all the removed tags.... does anyone know if active military personnel mark their clothing tags with their name or something?

 

[Ambercat]

He was found with "Prescription glasses, and apparent 'military non-prescription glasses' "

Perhaps he has a military connection. Does the military provide an online list of persons wanted for going AWOL or deserting?

If not, the info should be available through the Freedom of Information Act, I believe.

There are several military bases surrounding this area.

It might explain all the removed tags.... does anyone know if active military personnel mark their clothing tags with their name or something?

There was another unidentified suicide victim found in White Pine County, NV in 1984 whose clothing was described as having a possible military connection --

https://identifyus.org/en/cases/7451
http://doenetwork.org/hot/hotcase711.html
http://www.co.washoe.nv.us/coroner/unidentifiedremains.htm

The jacket he was wearing was described as --

a dark blue jacket resembling that worn by the United States Air Force having button-down tabs on both collars

The only other unidentified person found in the county was the young man with a Provo, UT newspaper in his shoe found on July 16, 1988.

https://identifyus.org/en/cases/7511

I wonder if there is a connection between the two suicides?

 

[crissianni]

Eyewear: Prescription glasses, and apparent "military non-prescription glasses"

(https://identifyus.org/cases/7428)

Here is what I think the deal is with the glasses:

He had prescription glasses, and the "military non-prescription glasses" must have been a reference to glasses meant for protecting the eye, not increasing vision.

So if we pretend he WAS active military and didn't just happen to have them on him, then perhaps his military position required a protective eye shield.

And if he was active military, and not retired, then since he still hasn't been identified, he would have failed to report for duty at some point.

I think I figured out what the procedure is when this happens-- the military would have reported him to the Feds (NCMEC) and a federal warrant would have been issued for him. I haven't yet figured out how to search for military federal warrants.

Sandia National Labs is also near by, and Tonopah, NV is on the same U.S. 6 / U.S. 50 route and there is a military test range there. Also, Dugway, UT is close.

This is all a big IF all based on a pair of military glasses, but a possibility. I made a map connecting all the places that I felt might relate to this case. It helps me to visualize. I haven't figured out how to get it uploaded here yet.

 

[crissianni]

So NamUs (https://identifyus.org/cases/7428) says he was found with "A suicide note signed "J" with a P.S. requesting the $201.40 found on him to be donated to the Morman Chruch."

Do you think that NamUs does not know how to spell "Mormon" or "Church" or do you think that this was his spelling?

 

[Ambercat]

So NamUs (https://identifyus.org/cases/7428) says he was found with "A suicide note signed "J" with a P.S. requesting the $201.40 found on him to be donated to the Morman Chruch."

Do you think that NamUs does not know how to spell "Mormon" or "Church" or do you think that this was his spelling?

My understanding was that was taken from the police report -- it may also be a major typo. I think, if it was his spelling, they would have indicated. The Washoe County website has it spelled correctly.

 

[crissianni]

I don't know how this man could have traveled across half the country in one day, as he went missing the morning that the man in NV was found; however, so many of his features match that I thought it was worth posting (red/auburn hair that was graying, height only one inch off, both were wearing a navy blue jacket, wore glasses, etc.):

Jay Walter Burns: https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/11887/3379/

 

[Ambercat]

I don't know how this man could have traveled across half the country in one day, as he went missing the morning that the man in NV was found; however, so many of his features match that I thought it was worth posting (red/auburn hair that was graying, height only one inch off, both were wearing a navy blue jacket, wore glasses, etc.):

Jay Walter Burns: https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/11887/3379/

When I read the description, combined with the fact that his name was "Jay" my hair stood up. Yet the fact that

Burns was last seen by his wife leaving his home for the J&L Steel Mill to work the 6am-2pm shift.

The only way I could think it would be possible would be if there was an error in the dates (like the date the report was taken was mistook as the date the person was last known to be alive (this happened in the case of Samantha Bonnell who died in San Bernardino County and wasn't identified for a really long time because of this).

 

[crissianni]

Yes, the dates would have to be wrong by a minimum of maybe four days up to maybe two weeks (depending on how long the UID was in the car in NV before being discovered).

But I have seen so many mistakes before that stranger things have happened.

What do you think about the age of the UID? NamUs says "cannot determine," Washoe County Coroner does not make mention of the age, but the DOE Network estimates "40 to 46."

Where does the DOE Network get its info? The DOE network lists his hair as blond, which I think is clearly wrong because both Washoe County and NamUs say auburn with "greying on the sides."

The reason I ask is because Jay Walter Burns was 58 at the time of his disappearance. Here's another link (I can't find a PA missing persons ".gov" site, which I would like to have to verify some of the details on this link): http://pennsylvaniamissing.com/burnsjaywalter.html

Nothing else about Jay Walter Burns besides the date and possible age discrepancy makes me contest this possibility.

"His vehicle, a blue 1974 Dodge sedan, was located with the engine running on a bridge in Rochester."

This sounds to me like possibly a suicide, yet another connection to the NV UID.

Occam's razor has me torn with this. What are the chances?

I need more info on Jay Walter Burns.

When I read the description, combined with the fact that his name was "Jay" my hair stood up. Yet the fact that

The only way I could think it would be possible would be if there was an error in the dates (like the date the report was taken was mistook as the date the person was last known to be alive (this happened in the case of Samantha Bonnell who died in San Bernardino County and wasn't identified for a really long time because of this).

 

[crissianni]

Here is a Beaver County Times news report on Jay Walter Burns (paper imaged). It also mentions his vehicle being found on a bridge. The detective calls the case "really odd."

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2002&dat=20070323&id=gm4yAAAAIBAJ&sjid=B7YFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5611,6264910

I found another news report mentioning that the wife of Jay Walter Burns died on Jan 08, 1982. I won't link to it here because it contains the names of their two children and I don't know what the rules are about protecting the privacy of the family of MPs.

Since Jay Burns's wife reported him missing, I assume he was remarried in the two years between his wife's death and his disappearance.

It is interesting both his wife died and Jay disappeared in January, only two years apart. I wonder if he was still in grief and the anniversary upset him. This is pure speculation.

 

[Ambercat]

I came across the page for Mr. Burns on the Pennsylvania missing site.

http://www.pennsylvaniamissing.com/burnsjaywalter.html

Unless there is an error in the date he was last known to be alive, I don't really think he could be the UID in White Pine County, because when the man in the Chevrolet Bel Air was found he was described as being "decomposed" (so much so, eye color could not be determined). I wonder if someone who remembered Jay Burns disappearance would contact the newspaper if the date he was last known to be alive was incorrect?

 

[crissianni]

I don't know if someone would or not... I tried to put myself in those shoes and I can't figure what I would do (about contacting the paper to tell them the date was wrong).

What about the other way around, though? What if the date when the unidentified man was found is wrong?

The more it sits with me the more I think it is far less likely than I had initially hoped. It doesn't make sense that someone would leave a running, working car on a bridge just to go and find another car in which to drive more than halfway across the U.S. (I suppose if he intentionally meant to disappear, that would be a good way to do it. But if this were the case, why stage something that could be perceived as a suicide, such as leaving your car running on a bridge, only to disappear to commit suicide?)

A running car on a bridge... sounds much more likely to me that Jay Burns was a victim of a carjacking, that something happened to him on the bridge.

Unless there is an error in the date he was last known to be alive, I don't really think he could be the UID in White Pine County, because when the man in the Chevrolet Bel Air was found he was described as being "decomposed" (so much so, eye color could not be determined). I wonder if someone who remembered Jay Burns disappearance would contact the newspaper if the date he was last known to be alive was incorrect?

 

[crissianni]

I asked my husband to look at the two cases and give a thumbs up or a thumbs down. He said his guess was they are not a match.

 

[Ambercat]

John Michael Kopeczy, who went missing from Paramount/Long Beach, CA on September 27, 1983, always gets my attention when I search for possibilities for this UID because of his height, weight, greying hair, glasses, the time when he went missing, and first named beginning with the letter "J."

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/9515/5

 

[crissianni]

Great to see some activity here.

Ambercat, I don't think it's him for my own personal reasons but I REALLY want to know what it is that tugging at you and making you think this might be a match.

I know you know from personal conversations that I was really wanting to find Nikole Bakoles and I even suggested she matched a specific UID-- then never followed the lead because nobody came out and agreed with me.

Then I find out two days ago that the UID I suggested WAS in fact Nikole! I should have followed my gut!

So don't second guess yourself... if you think it could be, look into it further and please let me know what happens.

In the meantime I'm going to talk to some military people and find out exactly what "military non-prescription glasses" are.

 

[crissianni]

Apparently anyone can buy military non-prescription glasses from places like this:
http://www.safetyglassesusa.com/migo.html

Apparently they are the sort of thing you would wear over our prescription glasses to protect your eyes from explosions and stuff like that.

So it may provide some insight into his occupation. It would explain why he had prescription glasses as well as military non-prescription glasses.

Additionally, here is the 1968 Bel Air "Vehiche Information Kit:"
http://gmheritagecenter.com/gm-heritage-archive/docs/Chevrolet/1968-Chevrolet.pdf

Someone with a knowledge of cars may be able to make some use out of these ~30 pages. I don't know too much about cars but I did learn that the '68 was manufactured in many colors, including "silver green." (Code PP). I believe that must have been his car's color, as Washoe County reports the vehicle was "faded grey/green in color."

 

[crissianni]

I sent the "largest" classic car organization in the state of UT (self-advertised as the largest) the following email and will post their reply when I hear back from them:

Dear Cache Valley Cruise In,

(A few pointless introductory sentences omitted) I am emailing you with a very odd request because you are the only people I think of that could perhaps solve this mystery.

In 1984 in Nevada, a man was found deceased in a 1968 Chevrolet Bel Air with no license plates, VIN #155118T240844. The man had no identification and has remained unidentified to this day. He left a suicide note which ended with a request that $201.40 found on his body be donated to the "Mormon Church."

I would really like to help identify this man and have been working with others online for about a year trying to do so. We have always felt that the greatest possible hint to his identity is the car. Without a license plate to go with, the VIN is the biggest clue to the identity to the car. CarFax does not trace cars back this far, and so we emailed GM. Below is GM's response:

"155118T240844
1=Chevrolet
55=BelAir 6 cylinder
11=2 door sedan
8=1968
T-Tarrytown, NY assembly plant
240844=Sequential build number

That is all I know. Build records no longer exist for Chevrolets built prior to 1977.

General Motors Heritage Center"

I am writing to you today to ask if any members of the Cache Valley Cruise In Association have knowledge on how to trace this car, or obtain any knowledge on this car whatsoever. Anything at all. Information such as the state it was purchased in, or a previous owner would of course be of particular help.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration in this matter. I would be happy to forward referencing links to you but have not contained them in the body of this email in order to minimize the chance that this email is classified into a "junk" folder.