FL FL - David Hamilton or Armantrout - Lee Co - 1963

[summergirl1]

It is possible he got a fake/new name and Social Security number. He may not have wanted to be findable by his family given that there were issues in the family. I doubt it, but you never know.

 

[AlexFromnic]

It was in this house in Miami Florida 1644 NW 19th Terrace in Febuary of 1942 as WW2 was being fought in Europe that a young David Alfred Armantrout was brought home from the hospital to. Where he started to experience the world.

At one point his parents clearly were proud of him. They entered him into the Miami Better Baby Contest in the beauty division. He was a semi-finalist. Clearly young David's parents at one time in that very home stared deep into their perfect babies eyes and wondered -- What would become of their handsome son?

The answer? Homeless. Lost. And forgotten. Well almost.

 

[Valiant]

Questions for websleuths that relate to this case:

#1 How were john does handled by law enforcement in the 60s? Was there a difference between small towns and the cities?

#2 Are there any reasons why someone may not continue using their social security number that don't relate directly with death? Is there any reasonable situation in which his last contact with law enforcement be vagrancy in 1963?

More will be added if I can think of any +++

#2
It used to be much easier to fake a new identity, which could be desired for many reasons including running away from the law or personal issues.. If I recall the general idea of how it worked back then, you find a young child's grave roughly the same age and get the birth date from the grave. Then find where they were born and get a copy of the birth certificate. The use that info to get a new ID and SSN. Back then young children didn't have SSNs.

 

[AlexFromnic]

David Hamilton may have run from home in Tennessee but he was last seen in Lee County. About 2 hours from where is mother eventually died and about as far as Miami where he was born all in Florida. Florida where his stepfather is from and where he married the boys mother. A lot of Florida keeps coming up here. His mother ends up passing away there. He was born there. I wonder if there was something David was coming back to in Florida that goes beyond good weather? My spidey senses tell me David or his remains are still in Florida.

 

[AlexFromnic]

I am in the process of figuring out what highschool the boys went to. It seems it was:

E.W. Grove Henry County High School​

Yahoo.com Although I see no mention of them in the year book. The specific senior years I need are of course the only ones missing.

 

[AlexFromnic]

#2
It used to be much easier to fake a new identity, which could be desired for many reasons including running away from the law or personal issues.. If I recall the general idea of how it worked back then, you find a young child's grave roughly the same age and get the birth date from the grave. Then find where they were born and get a copy of the birth certificate. The use that info to get a new ID and SSN. Back then young children didn't have SSNs.

My understanding is the surviving brother found out his last name was not Hamilton when he went to join the military. At this moment he found out he was Armantrout. So none of the boys had proper information. I wonder if David was going by Hamilton or Armantrout when he was arrested? I assume Armantrout

 

[AlexFromnic]

Is there a way to find out where these boys went to highschool?

 

[AlexFromnic]

More questions for sleuths pertaining to this. Case:
#1 He was arrested for vagrency in 1963. Does that mean there is a likely booking photo out there somewhere? Can I obtain it somehow?

#2 Is there a way to find where someone went to highschool?

Also, I'm adding possible namus matches here:
Florida: #1 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
#2 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[summergirl1]

My understanding is the surviving brother found out his last name was not Hamilton when he went to join the military. At this moment he found out he was Armantrout. So none of the boys had proper information. I wonder if David was going by Hamilton or Armantrout when he was arrested? I assume Armantrout

That would be useful information to have.

 

[AlexFromnic]

Three rarely viewed videos all from the Bibb County Voice (press) youtube channel. Specifically:
#1 Zoom meeting with Coleen Fitzpatrick dealing specifically with how Daniel Armantrout the younger brother of the man we are looking for who was a John Doe was identified -

(only 996 views)

#2 Video of Daniel Armantrout memorial plaque being installed. His brother Donald is there.

(225 views)

#3 The most rich in info video and interesting. An interview with the brother of Daniel Armantrout (Bibb county john doe) and David Armantrout (Our missing person. The oldest brother) Donald Armantrout! Donald is the middle child between David and Daniel. He was able to join the military to escape the situation the boys grew up in. David was denied due to bad eye sight and Daniel had polio as a child and was disabled. (Only 122 views!!)

These videos particularly the 3rd is filled with important information. Maybe someone else can notice something I missed? I'm rewatching all the videos looking for clues. I am convinced David is a John Doe. If he's not I'd love to solve this if at all possible and if a reunion of brothers is possible I'd love to help make it happen.

 

[Ciriii57]

@AlexFromnic hi! Did you ever manage to confirm the schools he attended? This would be a good starting point I think. I've still not seen a photo or even a description of him?