Identified! NY - Brooklyn, WhtMale, 20-30, 6'8", 539 lbs, Sep'11 - Kenneth Ecker

I saw this case today in NamUs, and thought it very strange that a guy that tall (6 feet 8 inches) and that heavy (539 lbs) would not be recognized by someone. So I put together a facial reconstruction, and am starting a thread here.

NamUs UP # 9421
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Facial Reconstruction:



Beanie Found with body:



Unidentified White Male (Case number K11-4374)

Found: September 01, 2011 at 455 Ocean Parkway, Brooklyn New York.
Estimated Age: 20 to 30 years
Weight (pounds) 539, Measured
Height (inches) 80, Measured
Estimated postmortem interval: Minutes

Hair : Sandy Light brown/golden hair up to 3" in length.
Facial hair: stubble on beard and mustache
Eyes: Grey - Light colored irides
Scars and marks: A 4" scar on the inside of the right elbow (antecubitus); two scars on the proximal left tibia, 3" and 5".
Clothing and Accessories Khaki colored cargo shorts, Blue and white striped briefs, gray t-shirt with "GUINESS" written across chest, red and blue stripped beanie with a Spiderman patch, white tube socks. no shoes
Jewelry Piercing of left lower lip (white metal with red ball)
Other items found with body Empty cigarette pack.

Tattoos: "X" tattoos on inner surface of right and left wrists, "GRACE" tattooed on right pectoral.
Physical Characteristics: The letters "KOVW" are written vertically in ink on the sole of the left foot and the letters "CA" are written horizontally below.
Prior surgery Possible prior surgery associated with scars on left knee. Under investigation.
Fingerprints: Fingerprint information is available elsewhere

Dental: Dental information / charting is available and will be entered later.
DNA: Samples submitted - Tests not complete

Circumstances of death
Decedent entered apartment building and stated he was there to see one of the residents. While the doorman was on the phone to call that resident, the decedent ran into the elevator. He was found 20 mins later in the courtyard of the building. The specific apartment he stated he was visiting is unoccupied.

The decedent's information was spread through the local Jewish community with no success. The X tattoos on his wrists may indicate an association with the Straight Edge punk rock sub-culture.

cause of death? I mean, not that it would make me know who he is any better, but it's odd that they didn't state it.

And socks, but no shoes? He couldn't have come from far?

Angie4b1g said:

cause of death? I mean, not that it would make me know who he is any better, but it's odd that they didn't state it.

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Agrees did some googling and couldn't find any news articles that seem to relate to this.

Angie4b1g said:

cause of death? I mean, not that it would make me know who he is any better, but it's odd that they didn't state it.

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I would suspect that given his extreme obesity, and the circumstances of him running into the elevator, perhaps that little bit of physical exertion was too much for his heart.

This is only speculation, but it sounds as though he might have tried to distract the doorman for the purpose of getting into the elevator. Did he possibly take the elevator up and then jump from somewhere, and then he was found in the courtyard?

I would hope LE asked the former residents of the apartment he'd asked to visit to see if they knew him, assuming they could be located.

The X's on his wrists do suggest he might have been straightedge, but it's possible he was not at the time of his death since his t-shirt advertised a beer brand and he had an empty cigarette package on him.

Prayers that this young man is identified soon. He was found 16 days before the Occupy movement's first NYC demonstration so I doubt there's a connection there, unless his friends and family believe he joined up with the protesters once they organized.

tatertot said:

This is only speculation, but it sounds as though he might have tried to distract the doorman for the purpose of getting into the elevator. Did he possibly take the elevator up and then jump from somewhere, and then he was found in the courtyard?

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That makes more sense. His chin was scraped up, and the images of the tattoos required heavy photoshopping.

So he went into an apartment complex where no one knew him, wearing only socks, then distracted the doorman so he could make a break for the elevator, just to jump to his death?

Something is definitely missing from THAT story.

That actually makes a lot of sense to me. Maybe he knew at his weight that even from a lower height he'd crush his heart and die. No shoes and socks, maybe the catalyst. He couldn't put them on.

So.. I was attempting to find more info out on this situation/ guy when I came across this:

http://karmabrooklyn.blogspot.com/2011/06/woman-falls-out-her-window-to-her-death.html

"Eighty-six-year-old Lida Arakelyan fell to her death from her 10th floor apartment at 455 Ocean Parkway yesterday as she was attempting to close a window, according to police and witnesses. The building is located between Cortelyou Road and Ditmas Avenue, closer to Cortelyou. Police don't suspect criminality. Ms. Arakelyan lived with her husband, daughter, and grandchildren."

I just thought it was interesting that a few months ago this woman fell to her death in the same apartment building. Maybe this man knew her in some capacity?

Sorry to double post but I found an article on this guy's death. The article claims he jumped.

http://www.nybuff.org/2011/09/fatal-jumper-down.html

They're claiming he's in his 40's and lived across the street?

Well if he lived across the street, why doesn't anyone know who he is?! What a frustrating story this is!

turanna25 said:

So.. I was attempting to find more info out on this situation/ guy when I came across this:

http://karmabrooklyn.blogspot.com/2011/06/woman-falls-out-her-window-to-her-death.html

"Eighty-six-year-old Lida Arakelyan fell to her death from her 10th floor apartment at 455 Ocean Parkway yesterday as she was attempting to close a window, according to police and witnesses. The building is located between Cortelyou Road and Ditmas Avenue, closer to Cortelyou. Police don't suspect criminality. Ms. Arakelyan lived with her husband, daughter, and grandchildren."

I just thought it was interesting that a few months ago this woman fell to her death in the same apartment building. Maybe this man knew her in some capacity?

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Holy crap I lived two blocks away from this street when I first moved to NYC, between Brooklyn and Cortelyou.

It's mostly an older area, very Jewish and not gentrified or cool like some other areas of Brooklyn.

Maybe the story from this lady gave him the idea for jumping.

Angie4b1g said:

Well if he lived across the street, why doesn't anyone know who he is?! What a frustrating story this is!

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Yea, I agree! Very frustrating!

a more interesting question is what the tattoo KOVW is supposed to mean. I'm not finding much of anything that makes sense.

some matches on google imply something Greek but there is no way this decedent is Greek. given the location he is probably Russian or one of the former Soviet Republics.

I wonder if he had any sort of accent?

strange

the hair and eye colors probably make him Eastern European. some immigrant communities are very reluctant to get involved with the authorities although you'd think SOMEONE would recognize a guy of this size.

The neighborhood is very close to the highway and there are two long long running parks that go down the sides of the street with service roads right behind them. Based on how close this is to Church Avenue there could be a lot of drug dealers in this neighborhood. The part is pretty during the day but at night I imagine it is not so great.

Also there are many Black, Hispanic, Russians and Orthodox Jews in the area. So it's also one of these sort of "creepy" areas in Brooklyn where social and cultural groups that don't get along sort of mesh up against each other and create vacuums of community if that makes any sense.

If they say he lived across the street he may have just hung out in the park on the other side of the roadway and people assumed he lived over there but he didn't.

webrocket said:

a more interesting question is what the tattoo KOVW is supposed to mean. I'm not finding much of anything that makes sense.

some matches on google imply something Greek but there is no way this decedent is Greek. given the location he is probably Russian or one of the former Soviet Republics.

I wonder if he had any sort of accent?

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While searching, I found that KOVC stands for some kind of car club:


Acronym Definition
KOVC Kernow Old Vehicle Club (UK)

http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/KOVC

Here's the official site for the KOVC: http://www.kovc.co.uk/officials_2011.htm

turanna25 said:

Sorry to double post but I found an article on this guy's death. The article claims he jumped.

http://www.nybuff.org/2011/09/fatal-jumper-down.html

They're claiming he's in his 40's and lived across the street?

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It is time stamped at 12am. Would a doorman be working that late?