Identified! ME - Windham - Male (NamUs #5972), 18-30, Sept 2009 - Kevin O’Brien

[Synthia1021]

WINDHAM (AP) - Police in Windham are awaiting word from the medical examiner on a body found earlier this week in a wooded area in town.

More at link: http://www.wcsh6.com/news/local/stor...109119&catid=2

[carbuff]

I hope I do this right. It's my first attempt to post a link.

This update was posted October 7: http://www.wcsh6.com/news/local/stor...storyid=109838

A tall young man, believed to have committed suicide about two weeks before the body was found. Doesn't match anybody missing in Maine.

[Donjeta]

Still unidentified (He was the only UID male from Maine in Namus)
https://identifyus.org/cases/5972

Estimated age Adult - Pre 40
Minimum age 18 years
Maximum age 30 years
Race White
Ethnicity
Sex Male
Weight (pounds) 200, Estimated
Height (inches) 72, Measured

Hair Strawberry blond or red (depending on lighting may appear sandy blond), short, straight
Body hair Abundant, pubic hair appears red

Dentals, DNA and partial fingerprints available

Wrangler Jeans, no size, Navy blue heavy twill short waisted jacket with quilting, XL, no brand, Light colored T-shirt XL no brand, Haines Classic boxers, knit, XL, Black DeWalt work boots, black ,size 13
Woven leather belt used as ligature (Brass colored buckle), Navy Blue Boston Red Sox baseball Hat with Red "B"
Black nylon "80" Anniversary CRaftsman hold with folding box cutter; Black Leatherman tool holder with steel leatherman tool
Glasses, silver framed, bottom rimless
Work Boots Size 13

Scruffy red beard (goatee type)

[webrocket]

one thing that strikes me is that if he was not a local then how did he get into the woods to hang himself? would there not be an abandoned car someplace, unless that is he hitched a ride to the area then did his thing.

the fact he was wearing a Red Sox cap probably means he was from New England.

[carbuff]

This is a big summer and fall tourist area, with seasonal shuttles from Boston area and ME/NH population centers. It's only about 10 miles outside of Portland ME, which has bus and taxi service. So he could have easily come from outside the area; he would have had to walk some, but New Englanders tend to not mind that. His description sounds like the average NE working guy.

Considering the timing, I wonder if he was in the area for summer work that had ended. So maybe nobody in ME would have been looking for him any more, thinking he moved on?

[tatertot]

Just to avoid duplicate submissions, Ell from Porchlight recently submitted this potential match for the UID, which I believe to be quite possible considering the UID was carrying/wearing a lot of brand-name items that correspond to the MP's workplace:

http://www.nampn.org/cases/obrien_kevin.html

[webrocket]

Originally Posted by tatertot

Just to avoid duplicate submissions, Ell from Porchlight recently submitted this potential match for the UID, which I believe to be quite possible considering the UID was carrying/wearing a lot of brand-name items that correspond to the MP's workplace:

http://www.nampn.org/cases/obrien_kevin.html

I saw O'Brien as the closest match in time, hair color and size. without mentioning his name, that's what got me to think about a vehicle. how on earth would he get from Philly to Windham, ME without using his car?

I know it is possible to take Amtrak trains from Philly to Boston and there is some train line that runs from Boston to Portland, ME as some people commute to work from Portland to Boston. why would someone go through all that effort to get from Philly to the woods of Windham ME to hang himself?

[carbuff]

Originally Posted by webrocket

I saw O'Brien as the closest match in time, hair color and size. without mentioning his name, that's what got me to think about a vehicle. how on earth would he get from Philly to Windham, ME without using his car?

I know it is possible to take Amtrak trains from Philly to Boston and there is some train line that runs from Boston to Portland, ME as some people commute to work from Portland to Boston. why would someone go through all that effort to get from Philly to the woods of Windham ME to hang himself?

Maybe he vacationed there or went to summer camp in the area when he was younger?

[webrocket]

for what it is worth, I have actually been to Windham three times in my life to visit the same house with relatives. it is not a place you would get to by accident and I don't recall there being any attraction to the place such as popular lakes, ski resorts, etc that would bring people from out of state there.

here is the Wikipedia description of the town:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windham,_Maine

I note that there is a corrections facility in town, which I had not known about. It is possible, but pure speculation, that the UID had once been locked up there and returned to the town to commit suicide.

[carbuff]

I dunno, I think if I was suicidal, the last place I'd go was someplace I'd been locked up But maybe that's just me -- certainly a possibility. There's also a college out there. Somebody I know used to teach there -- it might be in the next town over, though.

It's only a mile or so from Sebago Lake. Lots of summer people and tourist cabins -- I know people who vacation there. It's not a major tourist place, like York Beach or something, but people go there. I agree, not likely to wind up there by accident, though stranger things have happened.

[webrocket]

I looked at this again and have 2 comments:

1. if someone submitted O'Brien's name in a different forum, he is not showing up as a rule-out yet

2. they said they got some partial fingerprints so I assume that would rule out anyone who had been incarcerated (so there goes my idea that he had been locked up at the prison there in Windham)

[webrocket]

here is someone that seems to be in the ballpark, Nam Simran Khalsa. Nam has a history of psychiatric issues and according to his Namus profile "Has a long history of disappearing and walking extremely long distances along highways."

Nam was last seen in FL on Sept 15, 2008. at the time he was 32, between 5'11" and 6'1", between 170-190 lbs and his hair was described as blond/strawberry.

https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/2629/2/

[chemcopout]

Originally Posted by webrocket

for what it is worth, I have actually been to Windham three times in my life to visit the same house with relatives. it is not a place you would get to by accident and I don't recall there being any attraction to the place such as popular lakes, ski resorts, etc that would bring people from out of state there.

here is the Wikipedia description of the town:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windham,_Maine

I note that there is a corrections facility in town, which I had not known about. It is possible, but pure speculation, that the UID had once been locked up there and returned to the town to commit suicide.

this is true, what i find interesting is that the correctional facility houses both male and female inmates. (likely due to the small population of maine).

http://www.maine.gov/corrections/Fac.../mcc/index.htm

possibly he was a new release from the institution, had been there in the past, or had recently been there to visit a loved one. maybe he had a girlfriend who had recently been locked up there?

if he was recently released from the prison, and had no one there for him on the outside, i can see he might choose suicide as an option. if one is locked up long enough they get institutionalized and it's hard to function back in the "regular" world. sometimes this is the reason for the "revolving door" policy in the prison system.

what gets me is that he was wearing half rim glasses at his age, it's not a trendy thing to do. they do mean half glasses as in reading glasses right?
i would see if the glasses match up with the type the correction institution would get for its inmates.
they are prescription yet the choice of style doesn't seem to be what a young man his age would wear, more so that of an older person.

then again if he was a recent release, you'd think he'd have a hit in the system.

maybe he had a beloved girlfriend or wife recently locked up?

[Donjeta]

Craig Frear 1986 New York
Wojciech Fudali 1986 Rhode Island
Kamil Masek 1977 New Jersey
Charles Springer Jr. 1939 Maine
Tristan Turner 1983 Maryland

have been ruled out.

[q64ceo]

Its gone from NAMUS without explanation, nor can I find any news articles about it

[summer_breeze]

http://www.keepmecurrent.com/lakes_r...9bb2963f4.html

Posted: Friday, April 6, 2012 4:48 pm
John Balentine

<snipped>

The body, identified through the process of DNA analysis and comparison, is that of Kevin O’Brien, 29, of West Chester, Penn.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++
Kudos to Ell at Porchlight!

[q64ceo]

Thats extreme

He went from PA to ME to commit suicide?

[webrocket]

I'm catching up on some old threads.

it is bizarre that O'Brien went all the way from the suburbs of Philly to Windham ME to hang himself in a tree (with no mention of a missing vehicle or abandonded vehicle).

I guess that adds new meaning to the expression 'anything is possible'.

[MarchingTwinkie3]

Originally Posted by webrocket

I'm catching up on some old threads.

it is bizarre that O'Brien went all the way from the suburbs of Philly to Windham ME to hang himself in a tree (with no mention of a missing vehicle or abandonded vehicle).

I guess that adds new meaning to the expression 'anything is possible'.

Personally, I don't see it as terribly bizarre. For many people suicide is something that is rather shameful and they may rather simply disappear than put their families through the pain of dealing with it, or feeling guilty because they feel like they should have been able to help and didn't. It's not always a simple thing. When I've considered suicide it's always involved going as far away as money will take me, getting rid of as many identifying factors as possible, and going to a remote location to try to be missing/a Jane Doe forever. I'd prefer it if my mother thought I was out there somewhere living life and being happy than feeling like she'd somehow failed. Suicide is not something that always fits a neat pattern.

Sorry to go off topic, but that's my two cents.

[webrocket]

the suicide itself was not bizarre it was going that far away with no apparent means of transportation to do so. it is possible to take trains from Philadelphia to Portland, Maine, but if I recall correctly, Windham is like 30 mins out of Portland and I really don't think there is much public transportation up there. so he took a cab from the train station to the woods, so he could hang himself? that is the strange part to me.

[MarchingTwinkie3]

Ah, I must have misread. I apologize. I do wonder what the significance of the location was for him that he went through the effort to get there. It makes me kind of sad to become so interested in people's lives once they've already gone.

[AWOLNATION]

from living and working in Windham I have a few insights about why he may have returned. First thing to know is that its a mill town, alot of illegal things can take place in the wrong spots. If he happened to be commited to the Maine Correctional Center in South Windham then he may have had opportunities to work on the outside as part of his sentence. I lumber yard I worked at when i was a teen used to hire the convicts to build items like tables and gazeebos and then they actually could profit from it. Its possible he may have returned thinking he could land an easy job somewhere with the numerous construction jobs near by, and or maybe he met someone while out working. It may have been a last attempt at trying to find normalcy and when it didnt take he ended his life...IDk, its one of those things if your are firmiliar with the area, stories like this sometimes dont sound so out of place

the prison is only 3 miles from where he was found

[carbuff]

I've run across numerous accounts of suicides who have basically taken one form of transportation to the end of the line, and then another, and then walked until something -- physical barrier or in their own heads -- stopped them. I don't know how common it is statistically, but it does happen.