PA PA - Philadelphia, Delaware River @ Washington Ave, AsianMale 30-40, UP2927, clothes, May'01

Migmuu

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DoeNetwork: http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1286umpa.html
NamUS: https://identifyus.org/en/cases/2927

Demographics
  • Asian male, 30 - 40 years old
  • 5'8
  • 191 pounds
  • Estimated portmortem interval is 2 - 20 days before discovery

Circumstances
  • Found on May 16th, 2001
  • Found floating in the Delaware River in Philadelphia. Exact location is the Delaware River at Washington Avenue, zip code 19145, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Physical
  • Straight black hair
  • Brown eyes

Clothing
  • Gray, sleeveless athletic shirt with black trim and the number 77 on the front band. Brand is 'Starter' and size is medium
  • Tan tank top worn underneath the shirt. Brand is BMD and size is medium
  • Baggy black jeans. Brand is MACK, size is 33x32
  • Blue Jockey underwear
  • White socks and brown belt
  • Black Boots. Route 66, size 7.5
  • Wearing a red and black cross on a black string around his neck

mtDNA and dental records are available.
 
Christopher Ki Oh
https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/5571/6/

Pros
  • Race matches [Asian]
  • Age is within range [34]
  • Eye and hair match [brown eyes, straight black hair]
  • Height matches [5'8]
  • Weight sounds good [Oh is listed as 180 pounds, UID is 191 pounds]
  • Circumstances sound good [His car was found at a construction site on the edge of the Hudson River, the UID was found floating in the Delaware River]
  • Clothing mostly matches [Oh was last seen wearing black jeans, black shoes and a gray shirt. The UID was also wearing the same articles of clothing, although I don't see any mention of a brown belt]

Cons
  • Oh last seen in October 2001, UID found in May 2001. But I know that 'last seen' dates can be really inaccurate, especially since LE often mistakenly puts the date the report was made or added into NamUs where the DLS should be, so I don't know if that matters a whole lot considering how similar Oh and the UID seem to be?
  • Oh had a scar on the back of his head, there's no mention of a scar on the UID. Although ... he has a thick head of hair, so maybe it was missed?

The body was found within 2 hours of where Oh went missing. 90 - 100 miles is a big area, but if you're floating in a river for 2 - 20 days, it's not impossible.

There are no DNA or dental records on file so no automatic rule-out could be made...
 
Here is Christopher Oh's picture side-by-side with the UID's.

NAT_5571_2.jpg
2023


I think the nose looks very similar. The jawline and the hair itself, too, but to a lesser extent. I'm not very good at comparing faces, though, so ... what do you guys think?
 
Good find! It sounds like Oh's car was found at the construction site on October 2001, and I presume that this is where the October 2001 date came from. I don't know how active the construction site was, but it may have been possible for his car to be sitting there for months before being found -- or maybe someone else put it there in October...

http://www.nampn.org/cases/oh_christopher.html
 
I called the medical examiner and sent him an e-mail with all the information about the UID and Christopher Oh. He told me it will take about a week to make a definitive match.

I asked him if he was aware of this potential match beforehand and he said that he wasn't sure because of the sheer amount of UIDs in Philly.

So, the wait begins ...
 
So I was emailing with one of the forensic investigators the other night and it turns out it may take longer to determine whether Ki Oh and the UID are the same person because Ki Oh's dentals and DNA aren't available in NamUs. The investigator told me that he'll be contacting the local police department to clarify the actual missing date and to see if he can get the dentals and that, if he can get those records, a match can be made the same day. But, if dentals aren't available, the match'll have to be made through DNA - and, if they can't get it from that police department, the process of getting the family's DNA, submitting it the FBI and getting it put into a database can take ''several weeks to several months''.

He also said that he feels it's unlikely Ki Oh would've floated into Pennsylvania if he started at the Hudson River, but agrees that there are enough similarities between Ki Oh and the UID that ''it's worth looking into''. He'll be calling his contacts next week.
 
I asked the investigator if there's been anything new and he said he was finally able to get in contact with the detective in West New York (where Christopher Ki Oh went missing) over the weekend. The case was too old to have a computerized file and the file room was closed throughout the weekend and on Labor Day, but the detective said he'll pull the files and take a look at them sometime this week.
 
Just read an email from the investigator I've been talking to. He never got a call back from the detective in West New York but wrote that he's going to call them right now. That was from 1 1/2 hours ago so I think they may have spoken already. I'll ask him right now
 
Just got this from the investigator:

''Just spoke with Lt Ramos up in NJ. She actually worked the case originally and recalled some details. She also pulled the file. OH's last contact was 10/17/2001, his car was found several days later. This is going to exclude him as our unknown as out guy was found before OH went missing. Ramos said they are attempting to get OH's DNA into CODIS for future identification. Give me a call or email me with any further questions.''

I really hope they get the DNA into CODIS soon. Despite the dates, I'm still going to be really surprised if the UID isn't Oh because, if he isn't, that is one hell of a coincidence.
 
I'm kind of disappointed that it's not Oh, however I think he's at least worth a comparison despite the timeline not matching.

There are no ruleouts on NamUs.
 
What about Yinzhou Zheng missing from Missouri in September 2000 though it's not clear whether it was foul play or a planned disappearance as his wife disappeared shortly afterwards. Could they have moved to start their life elsewhere for some reason? www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/12593?nav
 
What about Phuong Minh Le?
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
MP left residence in San Jose, CA His last transaction on his Bank of America account was June 7, 2000 in Washington, D.C. He has not contacted any family or friends since then. MP may go by name of "Kevin Lee."

Phuong is between 5'9 and 5'11
Weighing between 145-180 pound
Brown eyes
Namus states his hair is brown, but it looks black to me
 

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