Identified! NY - Middletown, Mummified remains found in trailer, May'17 - Stephen Skok

[GigTu]

Mummified remains were found in a trailer parked parked off Dolson Avenue in Middletown, a wooded area in upstate New York city. I wonder if the trailer was there the whole time, or if it just showed up and remains were found inside.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-st...ed-human-remains-found-in-trailer-in-ny-woods

Police say although the cause of death isn't known, it doesn't appear to have been suspicious. An autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday morning in an effort to determine the person gender, age and identity.

 

[MOTORUNNER]

Hopefully it was just a natural death. I wonder what kind of trailer we're talking about?

 

[JerseyGirl]

This link has a picture of the trailer. I am unable to post it here:

http://www.recordonline.com/news/20...-human-remains-found-in-trailer-in-middletown

the death does not appear to have happened under suspicious circumstances.

 

[cvaldez1975]

A camper shell. Hmmm


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[MelmothTheLost]

I'm guessing the white rectangle that can be seen in this Google shot is the trailer in question.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place...3349cdf8d5ce7a!8m2!3d41.4298598!4d-74.4246809

 

[JerseyGirl]

This link has a picture of the trailer. I am unable to post it here:

http://www.recordonline.com/news/20...-human-remains-found-in-trailer-in-middletown

the death does not appear to have happened under suspicious circumstances.

Here it is:

 

[Lynnieth]

I was wondering what is the update rate of the satellite images from Google Maps that we can see.
Even if it says "Google imagery 2017", I did a little research and the images that we see can be from 1 year ago up to 3 years.
To see the exact date of that imagery, I have to install google earth and go to that location, which I can not do right now.

If we could see that date, it could help to estimate for how long the trailer has been there.
Do you folks think this could help?

 

[puzzleme]

Yes!

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[Lynnieth]

I'm guessing the white rectangle that can be seen in this Google shot is the trailer in question.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place...3349cdf8d5ce7a!8m2!3d41.4298598!4d-74.4246809

Ok, so I got around Google Earth for a while and I found out that at the date of the last update, the trailer was there (it could have been moved in the meantime, but it seems unlikely to me)
Those images are from 04/17/2016. I will post some screenshots that I made.

 

[carbuff]

This link has a picture of the trailer. I am unable to post it here:

http://www.recordonline.com/news/20...-human-remains-found-in-trailer-in-middletown

the death does not appear to have happened under suspicious circumstances.

Article has been updated:

The man is described as having an unknown age, with graying brown or red hair and about 5 feet 4 inches tall. He had no teeth.Police say the man was wearing a plaid shirt of unknown color, blue jeans and work boots. He wore an older Casio wrist watch that did not have a digital display, and on his right hip he wore several carabiners attached to a key chain. On the key chain was a small flashlight, a bottle opener and a key tag with the name “Allison” on it.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

The man is described as having an unknown age, with graying brown or red hair and about 5 feet 4 inches tall. He had no teeth.

Given his height and greying hair, I'd guess he was 50+. You don't see many young men as short as that these days.

The lack of teeth also suggests older rather than younger, although some younger people do lose their teeth or have them removed at a fairly young age. I wonder if they had been removed or just lost over the years.

 

[carbuff]

A quick search on the missing persons sites doesn't turn up an obvious candidate, even discounting the distinctive height.

 

[wfgodot]

"Upstate" being a rather amorphous term, Middletown is roughly equidistant between NYC and Albany, about two hours from each, incidentally.

 

[GigTu]

From the updated OP article:

Strewn near the trailer were garbage bags overflowing with dirty clothes, with soap and deodorant laying on top. A fetor, dank smell hung in the air. Stained blankets and more dirty clothes were piled up against the trailer and a neon yellow sweater hung out of a small window.

A white Tyvek-style suit, often used by police during investigations, lay crumpled up beside the trailer. Looseleaf paper and unused penny rolls sat inside a black bag in the grass.

It almost sounds like a homeless person may have taken up residence in an abandoned trailer.

To me, the 'no teeth' makes him sound much older than 50, and more like 70 years old.

 

[carbuff]

I dunno. It appears to be a popup style, where you crank the roof up by a couple of feet to make head room. When the roof is down, you can't even stand up. But I suppose it would make a cozy shelter if you didn't have anywhere else to go.

Reading the reporter's description, I think some of that mess might have been left by the crime scene techs. One item is described as, "A white Tyvek-style suit, often used by police during investigations, lay crumpled up beside the trailer." http://www.recordonline.com/news/20170510/mummified-human-remains-found-in-trailer-in-middletown

 

[KaylaraOwl]

It looks like the camper is right by a sewage treatment plant.

 

[KaylaraOwl]

Ok, so I got around Google Earth for a while and I found out that at the date of the last update, the trailer was there (it could have been moved in the meantime, but it seems unlikely to me)
Those images are from 04/17/2016. I will post some screenshots that I made.

Ok, I'm poking around as well. The update before that was 9/2013 and the trailer doesn't appear.

 

[Al Ka]

Identified by DNA - 73-year-old Stephen E. Skok

MIDDLETOWN - City police have identified the remains of a man found mummified in a trailer off Dolson Avenue in May.

Using DNA, state police have identified the remains as 73-year-old Stephen E. Skok, who was homeless. The exact cause of death remains undetermined, but Middletown police say it appears it was natural causes.

On May 9, a Middletown resident walking near an empty lot strewn with stones and weeds behind 219 Dolson Ave. came upon a trailer tucked into an overgrown wooded area. Looking inside the trailer, they found the remains. The lot is adjacent to the Middletown wastewater treatment center and behind the Middletown Commons strip mall, past Taco Bell.

http://www.recordonline.com/news/20170829/mummified-remains-identified-as-middletown-homeless-man

 

[carbuff]

You were exactly right. 73 and homeless.

Rest in peace, Mr. Skok.

From the updated OP article:

It almost sounds like a homeless person may have taken up residence in an abandoned trailer.

To me, the 'no teeth' makes him sound much older than 50, and more like 70 years old.

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