CA CA - Lancaster, White/HispMale 25-45, UP4139, bound & shot with plastic bag over head, Nov'86

Goecke

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1005UMCA
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Date of Discovery: November 27, 1986
Location of Discovery: Lancaster, Los Angeles County, California
Estimated Date of Death: 1986
State of Remains: Decomposed
Cause of Death: Homicide by gunshot

Physical Description
Estimated Age: 25-45 years old
Race: White and/or Hispanic
Sex: Male
Height: 5'4" to 5'8"
Weight: Unknown
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Tattoo on his upper left arm of a possible globe with a design through it and the initials "AFM" or "HFM" on the bottom of the globe.

Identifiers
Dentals: Available.
Fingerprints: Unknown.
DNA: Unknown.

Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: Blue Levis, size 31, with a red tag sewn above the right rear pocket, with an insignia of a red baseball cap. There was a laundry tag with the name "C. Snyder" and the number 27294C-19. A pull over, short sleeve, terry cloth shirt, the front and back light blue, and the collar and shoulder area dark blue. White tennis shoes; nylon navy blue briefs, with white, wavy, vertical stripes and a 1" wide, red, wavy, vertical stripe on the right rear of the briefs.
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown

Circumstances of Discovery
The victim was located in a desert area, 150th street West and Avenue C, Lancaster CA, on November 27, 1986 at about 6:15 PM.

He was shot in the head, wrapped in a quilt, with a trash bag placed over his head and upper body. He was bound by an electrical cord.

________________________

I apologize if there's already a thread for this man- Feel free to delete/merge if necessary. I decided to create a thread for both him and another man found in Sacramento two years later, given that the circumstances were nearly exactly the same.

Both men were bound, wrapped in a quilt/comforter, and shot in the head with a plastic bag covering their head. Race and age range are the same as well. Lancaster and Sacramento are about 5-6 hours away.

My first thought was something gang/cartel related? Either way, the MO is just so close to each other in both cases, so I figured I should bring them up and make threads for both of these men.
 
I wish there were pictures of the tattoo! I wonder if it was a professional tattoo or amateur... the style might also help figure out if the tattoo was done in the US or Mexico.
 
Not a whole lot to go on, but possibly Abel Ernesto Moreno? If the middle letter is an E instead of an F, the initials would match and height matches.
 
There's a reconstruction of the tattoo, but no actual pictures. The recon *definitely* looks like AFM to me. It seems like a logo of some sort, but googling (and reverse image searching) turned up nothing.

And Abel Moreno seems close enough to call in, it's worth ruling him out definitively if nothing else.
 
Going off the idea that his initials could be AFM or something close, I found Freddy Murguia:
1911DMCA - Freddy Murguia He went missing from Los Angeles a few months before our UID was found. Nothing about tattoos, but the race, height, and age match and his initials are FM.
 
I agree on the recon, it definitely looks like AFM, you just never know with the interpretation. I wonder if it could be a really weird interpretation of the NASA logo? And could the AFM be RFM?

3240838_0.jpg
 
Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner

Case Number 1986-15626
Gender M
Approximate Age 35+ years
Ethnicity White
Date Found November 27, 1986
Hair Color Brown
Eye Color Unknown
Weight 70
Height 5'7"

Tattoos
tattoo on his right bicep area. Appears to be a globe type structure w/an arrow like componet running across it. Initials of "HFM" or "AFM" written underneath this tattoo

Jewelry
No jewlery Clothing ddescription: Blue short sleeve polo shirt, dark blue/red undershorts label "Brute", dark blue pants, white socks, white sneakers

Comments
On 11/27/1986 at approx 1815 hours these skeletal/decomposed remains were found in the open desert at 155th St. West & Ave. C in Lancaster, CA. The decedent may be White or Hispani. Age range between 35-45 years of age
 
With "skeletal/decomposed" remains, this tattoo could be Barney the Dinosaur for all we know! How can they do anything close to an accurate depiction of a tattoo on remains in that condition?!
 
With "skeletal/decomposed" remains, this tattoo could be Barney the Dinosaur for all we know! How can they do anything close to an accurate depiction of a tattoo on remains in that condition?!

The tattoo could have been in a spot that was better preserved. If he was fully skeletal I'd be very skeptical, but I've seen a lot of other cases where the ME was able to tell the tattoos of decomposed remains. I would like to see an actual picture instead of just a recon, but in the meantime it's all we have to work with.
 
Going off the laundry tag with the name 'C. Snyder,' I found Melvin Snyder, who went missing from PA in 1985: The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

He was 42, so within the age range, and the height ranges for the UID and Melvin overlap. The only thing is that he had red or auburn hair, although in one of the pictures it looks more brown. Obviously his first (or middle) initial isn't a C either, but I feel like he's worth submitting.
 
I wonder where the C. Snyder laundry tag was found and if it's relevant. Was it attached to the jeans, in a pocket....near the body? There is a Carol Snyder missing, Carol Sue Snyder – The Charley Project, but I couldn't find any (factual) link to this case.
 
Could AFM be an abbreviation in Spanish or English?...just an example: Air Force (of) Malta. Or something with Mexico?
 

Case Number​

86-03094

Race​

White

Gender​

Male

Age​

Adult

Estimated Age​

40 or 50 years old

Height​

5' 7"

Weight​

130 lbs

Eyes​

Blue

Hair​

12" long

Date Found​

1986-11-30T08:00:00Z

Date of Death​

Unknown

Case Information​

According to a witness the victim appeared to be walking directly into the traffic going southbound on Stockton Blvd near Bond and Sheldon Roads. She was struck by a vehicle and died of the injuries. Fingerprints and a photo are on file.

Scars-Marks-Tattoos​

None

Clothing​

None

Jewelry​

None

Other distinguishing characteristics​

She was very tan and had some skin discoloration on her forehead. She possessed a plastic box containing a rose stickpin. The plastic box had spaceships on the outside of it.

Sketch​

YES

Indentified​

NO

Identification​

Attachments
View attachment 351351

I do not think this is the same person found in Lancaster....
 

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