MA MA - Josef Unterhuber, 32, Boston, 11 Jan 1988

Romulus

Ivan
Joined
Aug 9, 2015
Messages
3,185
Reaction score
4,400
Website
meettomy.site
Josef Unterhuber, a translator from the Italian province of Bolzano.

​
1314894989554UnterhuberJosef_scheda.jpg


Unterhuber had come to the Boston area reeling in pain from a lost love affair. He was last seen on Jan. 11, 1988, just weeks after his 23-year-old girlfriend in Italy had turned down his marriage proposal. Just before his disappearance, Unterhuber, then 32, traveled to Austria to ask his girlfriend to marry him, she said. After her refusal, he returned home on Jan. 11 and asked for two weeks of vacation from work. That night, about 6: 30 p.m., he called his mother from the train station to tell her he was going on a vacation. It was the last time he talked to her.
Just before his disappearance, Unterhuber, then 32, traveled to Austria to ask his girlfriend to marry him, she said. After her refusal, he returned home on Jan. 11 and asked for two weeks of vacation from work. That night, about 6: 30 p.m., he called his mother from the train station to tell her he was going on a vacation. It was the last time he talked to her.
"I just had a bad feeling," she said.
The family called police and they contacted his friends. His mother even remembers going to his apartment with the ex-girlfriend, who is now a doctor in Austria.
Georg Unterhuber described his younger brother as a dashing and brilliant man who was happy and doing well for himself. He had a good job as a translator at the Languages Office of the Independent Province of Bolzano. He spoke Spanish, English, German, and Italian. He'd just bought a white Volkswagen and lived by himself in a large apartment in a residential area. His home was filled with up to 300 books.
Georg said his brother was a bit of a ladies' man, which is why he was so surprised to hear that his disappearance was prompted by his loss of a girlfriend.
His brother had one real love, and Georg believes that is what drew him to Boston: American culture, especially that involving Native Americans. Josef had studied in New Orleans for three months and always dreamed of returning to America. His favorite writer was Karl May, a German writer who died in 1912, never having visited America but writing dozens of best-sellers in Europe about the American West.
Georg believes his brother got so caught up in his American fascination that he decided to travel to America on a lark.
On Feb. 12, 1992, four years after Unterhuber left Bolzano, the Italian Consulate in Boston contacted the family and Bolzano police to tell them that Unterhuber's passport had been found on a bench at The Homeless Older Adults Center at Holy Trinity Churchin Boston's South End.

Other link
http://www.doenetwork.org/media/unterhuber.html
 
He needs to get entered in NamUs - I added him to the thread below as Romulus & I are trying to get a few cases added. I'm in NJ, know nothing about Boston. I've asked WS member Carbuff for help. I believe she has experience with Boston. Would need to find out what LE would be in charge of his case and if they have an MP report.

Has your case been entered into NAMUS??.

On Feb. 12, 1992, four years after Unterhuber left Bolzano, the Italian Consulate in Boston contacted the family and Bolzano police to tell them that Unterhuber's passport had been found on a bench at The Homeless Older Adults Center at Holy Trinity Churchin Boston's South End.

Josef Unterhuber, a translator from the Italian province of Bolzano.

​
1314894989554UnterhuberJosef_scheda.jpg


Unterhuber had come to the Boston area reeling in pain from a lost love affair. He was last seen on Jan. 11, 1988, just weeks after his 23-year-old girlfriend in Italy had turned down his marriage proposal. Just before his disappearance, Unterhuber, then 32, traveled to Austria to ask his girlfriend to marry him, she said. After her refusal, he returned home on Jan. 11 and asked for two weeks of vacation from work. That night, about 6: 30 p.m., he called his mother from the train station to tell her he was going on a vacation. It was the last time he talked to her.
Just before his disappearance, Unterhuber, then 32, traveled to Austria to ask his girlfriend to marry him, she said. After her refusal, he returned home on Jan. 11 and asked for two weeks of vacation from work. That night, about 6: 30 p.m., he called his mother from the train station to tell her he was going on a vacation. It was the last time he talked to her.
"I just had a bad feeling," she said.
The family called police and they contacted his friends. His mother even remembers going to his apartment with the ex-girlfriend, who is now a doctor in Austria.
Georg Unterhuber described his younger brother as a dashing and brilliant man who was happy and doing well for himself. He had a good job as a translator at the Languages Office of the Independent Province of Bolzano. He spoke Spanish, English, German, and Italian. He'd just bought a white Volkswagen and lived by himself in a large apartment in a residential area. His home was filled with up to 300 books.
Georg said his brother was a bit of a ladies' man, which is why he was so surprised to hear that his disappearance was prompted by his loss of a girlfriend.
His brother had one real love, and Georg believes that is what drew him to Boston: American culture, especially that involving Native Americans. Josef had studied in New Orleans for three months and always dreamed of returning to America. His favorite writer was Karl May, a German writer who died in 1912, never having visited America but writing dozens of best-sellers in Europe about the American West.
Georg believes his brother got so caught up in his American fascination that he decided to travel to America on a lark.
On Feb. 12, 1992, four years after Unterhuber left Bolzano, the Italian Consulate in Boston contacted the family and Bolzano police to tell them that Unterhuber's passport had been found on a bench at The Homeless Older Adults Center at Holy Trinity Churchin Boston's South End.

Other link - Doe Network Skeleton Doesn't Match Missing Italian Man
 
Unfortunately I don't have any Namus or LE contacts. If there's a missing person report it would almost certainly be the Boston police department.

I wonder which Holy Trinity Church they meant. There's an Episcopal one (http://trinitychurchboston.org/worship-and-music/worship/holy-eucharist), and an Eastern Orthodox (http://holytrinityorthodox.org/), but I think they probably mean the Catholic one that has since been decommissioned (https://bostoncatholicinsider.wordpress.com/2014/08/27/bostons-holy-trinity-church-up-for-sale/) and approved to be converted to luxury condos (http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2015/...s-approved-by-boston-redevelopment-authority/). It's located here: https://goo.gl/maps/ftW42RjZjjv

Interestingly, Bolzano, where Josef is from, is in the German-influenced Tyrol near the Austrian border and Holy Trinity served the German Catholic community in Boston. So if he was Catholic, he might possibly have been there for worship rather than for the homeless facility.

I think I found an Italian missing persons site: http://www.chilhavisto.rai.it/dl/clv/index.html It might be a missing persons TV show? I got it from a post on Porchlight, which also has a little more about Josef's travel in the US.
 
I'm italian; I know the program dealt with the case of Joseph many years ago to compare UID of Massachusetts with his DNA, but to no avail ; It is now a very long time that no longer mention; however, or Joseph arrived in Boston or was robbed inside the portfolio with his passport, and the thief then threw the passport on the street, other ideas do not come to mind.
 
It seems pretty clear he made it to the US and traveled from New York to Boston.

Do you know whether his English was good enough to pass as a long-term US resident, or at least get around easily?

Have you contacted the Italian consulate directly? Is the TV show still running and if so do they have any contacts that might be useful?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
For reply you questions

He had a good job as a translator at the Languages Office of the Independent Province of Bolzano. He spoke Spanish, English, German, and Italian.

I think his English was very good both written and spoken.

I not have contacted the transmission because in recent years, its level has dropped a lot, the database of missing persons is out of date and old cases do not deal almost more; They prefer to share television that help families of missing persons would be useless...
 
So if he had decided to overstay his visa to see more of the US, he wouldn't have had any trouble getting around. Hmmm...
 
Unfortunately I don't have any Namus or LE contacts. If there's a missing person report it would almost certainly be the Boston police department.

I wonder which Holy Trinity Church they meant. There's an Episcopal one (http://trinitychurchboston.org/worship-and-music/worship/holy-eucharist), and an Eastern Orthodox (http://holytrinityorthodox.org/), but I think they probably mean the Catholic one that has since been decommissioned (https://bostoncatholicinsider.wordpress.com/2014/08/27/bostons-holy-trinity-church-up-for-sale/) and approved to be converted to luxury condos (http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2015/...s-approved-by-boston-redevelopment-authority/). It's located here: https://goo.gl/maps/ftW42RjZjjv

Interestingly, Bolzano, where Josef is from, is in the German-influenced Tyrol near the Austrian border and Holy Trinity served the German Catholic community in Boston. So if he was Catholic, he might possibly have been there for worship rather than for the homeless facility.

I think I found an Italian missing persons site: http://www.chilhavisto.rai.it/dl/clv/index.html It might be a missing persons TV show? I got it from a post on Porchlight, which also has a little more about Josef's travel in the US.

Thanks Carbuff, wasn't sure if it would be Boston police. Sounds like he was in NY for a few months; ending up in Mass. There aren't many Does in NamUs from Mass. Just did a google, Boston is in Suffolk County.

NamUs UP # 14107 no DNA Date found March 09, 1988 - found in a field on Rumford Ave Newton
NamUs UP # 14790 no DNA Date found August 04, 1988 Not recognizable - Partial remains with soft tissues - found by a fishing boat 12-15 miles at sea came to shore in Gloucester
NamUs UP # 12380 DNA - Date found December 17, 1990 Date found Not recognizable - Partial skeletal parts only - Probable year of death 1988 to 1990 Chicopee Mass

That's all I have time for

Porchlight
Josef Unterhuber

Missing since January 11, 1988 from Bolzano, Italy.

Age at Time of Disappearance: 32 years old
Height at Time of Disappearance: 182 cm
Distinguishing Characteristics: Blue eyes; brown, wavy hair. He wears glasses or contacts. His facial hair is red.
Marks, Scars: He has a scar on the inside of his right thigh. He has an old fracture on the left arm close to the shoulder.

Circumstances of Disappearance:
Josef Unterhuber was a translator when he disappeared on 11 January 1988. On that day, Josef left for a two weeks vacation. He didn't tell anyone where he was going and never returned.
It was discovered that Josef had requested a Visa for New York at the Vienna airport on the day after his disappearance. On July 7th of the same year he left the State of New York. On February 12, 1989, the Bolzano Police Station was informed by the Italian Consulate that his passport had been found in a facility for homeless people in Boston.

Investigators:

If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Chi l'ha visto?

mailto:8262@rai.it

Source:

http://www.chilhavisto.rai.it/
 
The best contact might be the Quincy detective referred to in the articles, the one who was trying to match a UID in Quincy with Josef.
 
The best contact might be the Quincy detective referred to in the articles, the one who was trying to match a UID in Quincy with Josef.

Thank you Carbuff. I found his FB, sent a PM.

Quincy Police Department FB

*Note to myself - Bobby Lingoes - civilian dispatcher at the Quincy Police Department

Part of Lingoes' job at the police department is to try to match identities of a missing person with a homicide victim. Through the years he had continued to search law enforcement Web sites for some link to the remains found in the Quincy woods. He even spent his free time in the public library searching for clues. Sometimes, he'd ask Crowley for help pouring through the records.
 
Sì, ho notato.
proverò altre strade perché sono praticamente sicura di questo match.
 
I should do it for sure, but I think Josef insn't in Doe Network
 
I sent an email for the Kingston NY uid, but no reply

Edit: just to add that the uid had a 'Commerzbank' 's 1988 calendar.
it's a german bank, and I think there was some in Bolzan too.
 

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
151
Guests online
859
Total visitors
1,010

Forum statistics

Threads
589,931
Messages
17,927,844
Members
228,004
Latest member
CarpSleuth
Back
Top