MA MA - Burlington, WhtMale 25-35, UP14005, upper denture, gold fillings, medallion, May'75

[mysteriew]

An unidentified man is buried there whose body was discovered in a wooded area off Muller Road nearly 30 years ago.

According to Inspector Frank Nardone, the man was murdered (shot twice in the back of the head), and his body was buried in about two feet of dirt off Muller Road, near what was known as a "lover's lane" in 1975 (the entrance has since been blocked off with large hay bales).

Since that time, "We have had several leads, and they have all come up short," said Nardone.

Possible military connections


Reports indicate the body was discovered May 22, 1975, by two men who were in the Muller Road woods walking a dog.

"He was wearing an army field jacket, dungarees, and canvas sneakers with black socks," said Nardone. "Wearing black socks in those days usually meant you were associated with the military or law enforcement."

Police officials deduced at the time that the body had been buried there "anywhere between six months and a year."

The inspector added that there were several gold fillings in the man's mouth, and "the only people who had gold in their mouths in '75 were mostly military people."

Nardone also said the man was wearing a belt with a unique, Garrison-style buckle, and a medallion suggestive of association with a motorcycle gang.

Police seek answers in 30-year Burlington mystery (4/7/05)


Police seek answers in 30-year Burlington mystery (4/7/05)

<MOD NOTE: Several original links throughout the thread were broken and have been edited to include the current link (when available) and images as of October 11, 2023>

 

[Richard]

... but how would you know? Neither the article nor the entire on-line newspaper that the link leads to ever mentions the state's name.

Something in this story stuck out:


He had "excellent dental records" of the man, Nardone said, but "all dental records were sent to St. Louis in the late 1970s and were destroyed in a fire." The inspector added that there were several gold fillings in the man's mouth, and "the only people who had gold in their mouths in '75 were mostly military people."



Sounds like the investigator is making some assumptions based on incorrect information. First, I do not know of ANY military personnel who were given gold fillings at any time from 1973 to the present.



Also, the fire occurred at the National Military Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, MO in July of 1973 - long before this case began. The fire affected only Army Records and Some Air Force Records, but NOT Navy, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard Records. Why he sent any dental records of the corpse there is another mystery. What did he expect was going to happen with them? Maybe that some clerk was going to try comparing them with the millions of records on file? Maybe in his spare time?

The proper place for him to have run inquiries would have been with the Naval Criminal Investigative Office, and their counterparts in the Army and Air Force. Those offices maintain listings of all missing military personnel, and could have run a very quick and accurate check of their files to see if this John Doe matched any of their missing persons.

 

[mysteriew]

I tried to find the state also, but was unable to locate it. Also, the dental records are a paper record of the teeth found and their condition. If they had been sent to St. Louis, why was a copy not kept at the dept? That didn't make sense to me.

 

[bensmom98]

Woburn and Burlington are adjoining cities in Eastern Mass.

 

[gatetrekker44]

and working in the dental field as a dental technician, I can assure you the military(at least the AF) DID use gold under certain circumstances for dental work. Someone who had a documented allergy to nickel might not be able to tolerate traditional "silver" fillings(this was long before the use of composite, or "tooth colored" filling material.) Also, if someone had a very heavy bite, or was a bruxer(grinding their teeth in their sleep) gold might be used as a more durable material. Finally, if someone were being sent overseas to a remote location wher dental care would be hard to come by, gold might be used since it is a longer lasting material. As far as the "dental record"-besides a charting of the existing fillings, missing teeth, or any other distinguishing landmarks, the records should also have included rays and possibly photographs. And these materials SHOULD have been duplicated before being sent anywhere!


Bring Maura home!

 

[Richard]

I am sure that you saw far more teeth than I did while serving. But I am also sure that you would agree that a gold filling was a rare exception, rather than the rule. For a criminal investigator to assume that this John Doe is military simply because he has gold fillings and black socks is a bit off base. Although the deceased MIGHT have been military, the evidence is not all that compelling that he was. For instance, what other dental features would have pointed to work by Military dentists? What name or branch of the military was on the field jacket? What was the date of manufacture of the Field Jacket? Were the dungarees Navy issue? Were the black socks manufactured by a company which supplied the military? What about other indicators that might have pointed to a military man - like haircut, nail trimmings, tattoos, healed wounds, etc, etc.?

The old story of "Well, all the records were destroyed in a fire..." shows that the investigator ASSUMED that there were no records to check, when in fact there might have been. In the military we have a saying, "To ASSUME makes an *advertiser censored* out of U and ME."

Each branch of the service maintains a "Deserter List" which contains names going all the way back to the Korean War of active duty service men and women who have gone missing for any reason. The standard practice is to first declare the person UA (Unauthorized Absence) or AWOL (Absent with out Leave) when he or she is first noticed missing. After 30 days missing, letters are sent to the missing person's next of kin inquiring whether they have seen the person and urging them to tell the missing person to turn himself into the nearest military base or police station. After 60 days, the missing person is declared to be a Deserter (for administrative purposes), his or her Service Records are forwarded to the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, MO, and a replacement is requested from that service's Bureau of Personnel. The "deserter" is then placed on a list and his or her name is not removed until the case is resolved.

A few such cases have recently been in the news. An Army Sergeant from the VietNam era defected to North Korea and lived there since the mid 1960's. He married a Japanese girl who had been kidnapped by the Communists, and when she was allowed to return to Japan, she got the Japanese government to negotiate for the release of her husband and their two daughters. When the Army sergeant returned, he turned himself in and was CONVICTED of Desertion and given a dishonorable discharge.

In 2002, the murdered body of an Arlington Honor Guard soldier was found in a building being demolished in Washington DC. He had been missing since 1967 and had been declared a "deserter". After 35 years of the Army refusing the family so much as a flag or memorial marker, he was buried with full military honors.

So, if this John Doe was in fact an active duty military man, then his name is still on a deserter list. If he was a discharged veteran, then his record is quite possibly still in existence at St. Louis, MO, but more information would be needed to retrieve it.

 

[anthrobones]

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/481umma.html



Unidentified White Male

• The victim was discovered on May 22, 1975 in Burlington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.
• Estimated Date of Death: Fall 1974
• Decomposed Remains
• Cause of Death: 2 gunshots to head

Vital Statistics

• Estimated age: Late 20's - early 30's
• Approximate Height and Weight: 5'8" - 5'11"; 150 -170 lbs.
• Distinguishing Characteristics: The man was probably thin and he appears to have had dark hair. Unknown eyecolor.
• Dentals: Available. Upper denture. Extensive dental work with various gold fillings and professional extractions.
• Clothing/Jewelry: He was wearing a t-shirt, jeans, cheap canvass sneakers, an army fatigue type jacket (size regular small), a garrison type belt with a distinctive buckle and a necklace around his neck with a unique medallion attached to it.
• Fingerprints: Not available
• DNA: Not available

Case History
The victim was located on May 22, 1975 in Burlington, MA. The partially decomposed body had been buried in a shallow grave in a wooded area near Muller Road. This man was the victim of a homicide. It is believed that the man had probably been buried for about 6 months before he was found. The Scene of the Crime :
The area is wooded and was used as a "lovers lane" at the time. The burial site wasn't very far from the road. It was probably within view of passing traffic. There were, and still are some houses nearby. The rest of the area at that time would have been wooded and isolated. There are a lot of industrial parks nearby now. It's within a mile of Route 95 (what was then only Route 128) and Route 3.
The best clues available to identify the victim are the distinctive belt buckle and the very unique medallion. Dental records would easily confirm the man's identity.

 

[Richard]

The medallion pictured on the doenet link is very unusual. It appears to be two faces - one of an indian with a headband and long straight hair, and slightly behind him is a bearded white man. No inscription is mentioned. Has anyone seen a medal like this before? Does it have any significance or meaning in itself, or is it simply a piece of costume jewlry?

The mention of the field jacket and canvas sneakers might indicate a former soldier or possibly an active duty soldier mixing uniform parts with civilian wear (against regulations, but maybe done if away from his base and on leave).

Was this case featured in another thread?

 

[docwho3]

You might try sending a copy of the pic of the medallion to one of those antique collector shows or to any news paper that runs collecter/antique articles. Sometimes they respond and give you a history about the item.

 

[Debbie Miller]

I found this case Joseph Martin Jr. missing in 1974 from Pa.

Joseph Arthur Martin Jr. – The Charley Project

he has/had a metal plate in the roof of his mouth (something to do with the army.)

 

[Cubby]

http://doenetwork.org/cases/481umma.html

No NamUs file for this John Doe.

 

[ctaylor]

Police appealing again for info on this John Doe... <modsnip: broken link>

Burlington Police Looking for Info on 37-Year-Old Murder Mystery

The Burlington Police Department is trying to find information on a nearly 37-year-old homicide and they are asking the public for help.

According to a "murder mystery" post on the department's web site:

"On May 22nd, 1975 a body was found here in the Town of Burlington Massachusetts. The partially decomposed body had been buried in a shallow grave in a wooded area near Muller Road. This man was the victim of a homicide."

According to police, it is believed that the man had probably been buried for about 6 months and possibly up to two years before he was found. It has been at least 36 years since this man was last seen by his friends and family. He was last seen by his killer or killers.

 

[Cymro]

I found this case Joseph Martin Jr. missing in 1974 from Pa.

Joseph Arthur Martin Jr. – The Charley Project

he has/had a metal plate in the roof of his mouth (something to do with the army.)

Joey Martin (Joseph Arthur Martin, Jr) is a good match on all the key data points: age, height, hair color, timeframe is very slightly out assuming his initial disappearance wasn't voluntary - and there is a good chance that it was voluntary, plus he appeared to be involved in criminal activity that might put him in harm's way.

Distance is 200 miles, but this is also consistent with his having hitched to an unknown destination at the time of his disappearance.

Weight is 10lbs over the estimated weight - and he looks thinner, based on his height, IMO.

New link is at Charley Project and seems like a decent match.

 

[HMSHood]

I wonder if anyone filed a missing person report around that time. I know in the past, missing person reports were not taken seriously until the 1980s with Adam Walsh.

 

[mikkismom]

Crime beat: Medallion links valley to cold case near Boston

Police seek ID of man, shot in head, whose body was found in '75 <modsnip: broken link>

 

[vermontaigne]

To my eye, that medallion looks like a Viking superimposed over Green Man - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia of pagan mythology. There was apparently for some time a Vikings MC in Boston.

But it could be a Vandal, a Barbarian . . . whatever.

 

[carbuff]

Re: the apparent early mishandling of the case -- there was a lot of local criticism early on about the way it was handled. The story was that LE thought the dead man was an AWOL soldier from one of the nearby bases so they did no checking etc, just sent the info off to be matched. And when that guy turned out to still be alive, they didn't know what to do or where to look.

And of course there were rumors of a deliberate coverup -- that was back in the Winter Hill Gang days -- but there are always those rumors in Massachusetts...

 

[vermontaigne]

The more I think about it, the more I think that pendant was inspired by the great medieval English poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." That would explain the modification of the comedy/tragedy mask pair to fit these figures. If that's so, it makes the execution scenario regarding this UID even more piteous.

Chances are the owner just thought it looked cool, but who knows?

 

[apearn]

I had wandered upon this JD on another website and submitted Howard Veillette Sr in case he had not been looked at already.

I don't see a NamUs case for the JD.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

 

[rainwater]

I was thinking Beowulf and Grendel on the medallion. Beowulf was the hero, Grendel was the monster. The poem is still required reading in upper-level high school literature classes. Very briefly, Beowulf is a hero who battles and eventually slays the monster Grendel-Grendel has been terrorizing the king of the Danes and destroying his mead halls. Grendel's mother swears revenge on Beowulf and is eventually killed by Beowulf also. Beowulf was written centuries ago by an unknown author, and is considered one of the most important works ever in English literature.