Resolved NJ - West Milford, BlkMale 536UMNJ, bound, strangled off Route 23, Apr'83 - Name withheld

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/536umnj.html

Unidentified Black Male


The victim was discovered on April 5, 1983 in West Milford, Passaic county, New Jersey
Estimated Date of Death: 48 hours prior to discovery
Homicide Victim
Vital Statistics

Estimated age: Young
Approximate Height and Weight: 5'8"; 135 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: Black "afro" hair-style, about one and a quarter inches tall. Slim build.
Dentals: Available. Metallic bridge with open face crowns. This type of dental treatment is not commonly rendered in the United States.
Clothing: Blue jeans and terry-cloth socks but no shirt.
Jewelry: A small yellow signet ring with the initials J.C., worn on the left ring finger, and a black digital Casio watch on left wrist.
Tattoos: He had a homemade tattoo --"My love"--written above a heart punctured with Cupid's arrow. (blue or black)
Fingerprints: Available.
Other: He is thought to be left handed because of the way the tattoo was done. From the length of his nails and circumstances of his death, he may have been homosexual. The autopsy pointed to a possible tie to the West Indies that could be related to hair texture.
Case History
The victim had been tied up and covered in a brown blanket. Besides evidence of strangulation, there were no other wounds.
The victim tested negative for use of alcohol or drugs with no traces evident in his body.
Nearby Jefferson was home to a bar patronized by homosexuals. Jefferson is accessible by Route 23, which is where the body was discovered. Police are uncertain whether John Doe was killed in West Milford or simply deposited there because of proximity to the highway and a degree of isolation.
He had no military or criminal history as his fingerprints were not in the system.
He might be from the Greater Paterson area.

I have to disagree with the description of the open face crowns as rare in the US. That style of somewhat decorative crown has been quite popular among young urbanites for quite some time. It's possibly more popular with black males but I've seen it on both sexes and all races around Boston. They often add jewels or other decoration. Some of them are purely decorative and some are also functional; it sounds like that's the kind this gentleman had.

They're usually called "grills" or "grillz" or fronts; there are other slang terms too.

Like this: http://www.chi-grillz.com/

This Boston.com article from 2006 indicates they were popular in the midwest and south before becoming more generally popular: http://www.boston.com/yourlife/fash...put_your_money_where_your_mouth_is/?page=full

Nothing new. I couldn't find him in Namus.

Interestingly, that part of New Jersey is considered one of the more haunted areas of North America. At least one victim of R. Kuklinski, notorious mob hit man, was left near Route 23 near West Milford. I drove part of that road a couple of years ago, on a dark rainy night, and dang if it wasn't about the creepiest place I've ever been. And for long stretches there's really nothing on it, not even farmhouses.

Map showing route from West Milford to Jefferson, where the bar is: https://goo.gl/maps/vS1oCmSjb4K2

I have a few MP cases to enter in tomorrow. I'll enter this profile into twitter tomorrow as well.

William Delk
Missing since July 23, 1982 from New York City, New York.
Classification: Endangered Missing



Vital Statistics
Date Of Birth: June 1, 1964
Age at Time of Disappearance: 18 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'11; 165 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Black male. Black hair; brown eyes. Delk wears eyeglasses. May have a mustache.
Marks, Scars: His left ear is pierced.
Clothing: Lee jeans; a gray shirt; and black sneakers. He wore a stud earring.
AKA: Chris
Dentals: Available



Circumstances of Disappearance
Delk was last seen on July 23, 1982, as he left the Job Corps office building on Andrews Avenue in the Bronx, New York. He was en route to his home in Huntington, New York at the time, but he never arrived.



http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/204dmny.html

carbuff said:

Nothing new. I couldn't find him in Namus.

Interestingly, that part of New Jersey is considered one of the more haunted areas of North America. At least one victim of R. Kuklinski, notorious mob hit man, was left near Route 23 near West Milford. I drove part of that road a couple of years ago, on a dark rainy night, and dang if it wasn't about the creepiest place I've ever been. And for long stretches there's really nothing on it, not even farmhouses.

Map showing route from West Milford to Jefferson, where the bar is: https://goo.gl/maps/vS1oCmSjb4K2

Click to expand...

My mom used to live up in Jefferson. Driving anywhere around there at night is an unnerving experience.

carbuff said:

I have to disagree with the description of the open face crowns as rare in the US. That style of somewhat decorative crown has been quite popular among young urbanites for quite some time. It's possibly more popular with black males but I've seen it on both sexes and all races around Boston. They often add jewels or other decoration. Some of them are purely decorative and some are also functional; it sounds like that's the kind this gentleman had.

They're usually called "grills" or "grillz" or fronts; there are other slang terms too.

Like this: http://www.chi-grillz.com/

This Boston.com article from 2006 indicates they were popular in the midwest and south before becoming more generally popular: http://www.boston.com/yourlife/fash...put_your_money_where_your_mouth_is/?page=full

Click to expand...

I just want to point out that while grillz/grills are popular now that wasn't the case in 1983 in NJ or, I suspect, the rest of the country.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/415dmca.html

Byron Eric Page
Missing since January 29, 1992 from Los Angeles, California.
Classification: Endangered Missing



Vital Statistics
Date Of Birth: September 16, 1974
Age at Time of Disappearance: 18 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'8" - 173 cm; 160 lbs - 73 kg.
Distinguishing Characteristics: Black male. Black hair; brown eyes.
Clothing: Blue and white jacket, blue baseball cap, black pants.
Dentals: Available
DNA: In CODIS



Circumstances of Disappearance
Byron was last seen at a bus stop in Los Angeles, CA. He was going to a warehouse in North Hollywood, that sold tapes and records but no one remembered seeing him there.

Byron had never hinted he wanted to leave home and he was not considered a runaway. Byron, who was preparing for his driver's test, was excited about this and his other pursuits -- writing, sports, his first real jobs and college. His clothes, treasured comic books and the money he saved from a recent ski trip were left behind at home. Foul play is suspected.

DAnthrplgst said:

I just want to point out that while grillz/grills are popular now that wasn't the case in 1983 in NJ or, I suspect, the rest of the country.

Click to expand...

The history is a bit vague, but the articles I quoted indicted that hip hop artists including Raheem the Dream, Flava Flav, and Slick Rick were wearing them by the early 80's. They were mostly New York based, and they would definitely have been a city thing. So yeah, it would make it sound like he's not local.

Located & Identified Persons

536UMNJ, discovered on April 5, 1983 in West Milford, New Jersey, is now a closed case. No further information is available.

Oh wow. I guess he was identified. That is great! I wonder who he was? The thread should be moved now no?

Mods can he be moved to identified? Thank you!

So glad to see he got his name back.

Wait, it's a closed case... has he been identified or did they just close the case?

KaylaraOwl said:

Wait, it's a closed case... has he been identified or did they just close the case?

Click to expand...

That was my question too.

I would love to know who he was. The assumptions made by the coroner and/or law enforcement seemed a bit of a leap to me, at least based on publicly available information. Demographic information from 2000 and 2010 at least indicates that this is a predominately white town, with an above average household income, only 1% black.

• Longer nails aren't uncommon among black men of any sexuality.
• I found an article about open-faced crowns for aesthetics from 1983, so while it may or may not have been common, it certainly existed. Has any coroner's international dental info from the 80's been accurate? It seems that if the technique differs from their own, then it's not American. Think Sheep Flat Jane Doe.
• I'm unaware of any hair texture differences among people of African descent in the US versus the Caribbean. It says it was 1.25", natural "Afro" texture.
• That he seemed to be targeted for a sexual murder, probably by another man, may increase the odds of his being homosexual (easier to be picked up), although this information may not have been known to his friends and family at the time, if true, especially if his family were West Indian. I wonder if there was evidence of sexual activity or assault that was not publicly released.
• The tattoo was most likely not done by himself, I would think? Not sure how it would indicate handedness. Doe doesn't really describe its location. He wore his watch on his left wrist, as most right-handed people would do.

I just think the coroner was inexperienced with someone so different from the rest of the population of the city. It is interesting that if they believe he was picked up at the gay bar in Jefferson, that no drugs or alcohol was found in his system.

Murkywaters said:

Located & Identified Persons

536UMNJ, discovered on April 5, 1983 in West Milford, New Jersey, is now a closed case. No further information is available.

Click to expand...

KaylaraOwl said:

Wait, it's a closed case... has he been identified or did they just close the case?

Click to expand...

carbuff said:

That was my question too.

Click to expand...

Is this an open or closed case? Should it remain on the Unidentified board? Should members still actively search for potential matches? If so, who would be the contact person for submissions for comparison?