Identified! WY - Thermopolis, WhtMale UP12910, 50-69, in steamer trunk, Mar'92 - Joseph Mulvaney

New Posts

This is actually really interesting! It brings up so many questions about who this person is, and why were they in a trunk? How did Gabby even get the bones?

At at least there's DNA in CODIS.
 
On October 19, a DNA sample was obtained from an adult female from Iowa who had relayed that her father had been shot in the head by her uncle sometime in 1960. The woman stated that her uncle then placed her father's body in a trunk before burying it in Iowa.

The Sheriff's Office says the uncle later dug the trunk back up and transported it to Wyoming where he was working. The uncle then left the trunk behind. The uncle later moved to Mississippi where he committed suicide.

The Wyoming State Crime Lab was able to determine that the female who had submitted the DNA sample was indeed a 99.99% match to the bones that had been collected.

The sheriff's office identifies the bones as Joseph Mulvaney. Mulvaney was born in 1923.
Click to expand...

http://www.kulr8.com/story/36717535/body-identified-in-1960s-missing-persons-case
 
Wow, I remember this one from Unsolved Mysteries ages ago. Didn't think it would be solved but glad I was wrong. Still wondering how "Gabby" fits into everything though. RIP Joseph Mulvaney.
 
Some questions that come to mind:

1) The age estimate ("50-69") was way off - if Mulvaney was born in 1923, he would have been circa 37 when he was killed in 1960.

2) What was Gabby's full name? All it says is that he was Mulvaney's stepbrother.

3) Why did Gabby murder his stepbrother?

4) Why was the disappearance of Joseph Mulvaney not investigated?
 
the_missing said:
Some questions that come to mind:

1) The age estimate ("50-69") was way off - if Mulvaney was born in 1923, he would have been circa 37 when he was killed in 1960.
Click to expand...

That's interesting - I often wonder about the age estimates. This is a good reminder that if one detail doesn't seem to match up not to completely disregard a possible match.
 
the_missing said:
Some questions that come to mind:

1) The age estimate ("50-69") was way off - if Mulvaney was born in 1923, he would have been circa 37 when he was killed in 1960.

2) What was Gabby's full name? All it says is that he was Mulvaney's stepbrother.

3) Why did Gabby murder his stepbrother?

4) Why was the disappearance of Joseph Mulvan

full name in link

Results: Solved. Sadly, Newel Sessions passed away in 2003. On October 25, 2017, the skeleton was identified as Joseph J. Mulvaney, born in 1923. Joseph's granddaughter, Shelley, helped lead to the identification. DNA testing with his daughter confirmed his identity. Investigators learned from his daughter that he had been shot and killed by her uncle, John David Morris (identified as "Gabby" in the segment), in 1960. After the murder, Morris buried Joseph in the footlocker in Iowa. At some point, Morris dug the trunk back up and transported it to Wyoming, where he was working. He then left the trunk behind with Newel. He later moved to Mississippi where he committed suicide.
Joseph's remains have been returned to his family and they will now be able to give him a proper burial .

http://unsolvedmysteries.wikia.com/wiki/Gabby's_Bones
Click to expand...
 
I'm so glad it's finally solved and that his family now can give him a proper burial. It makes me wonder how many other "Gabby's bones" there are who fell victim to familial disputes. So creepy he brought the bones with him to another state!
 
“The detective here in Iowa traveled to where John Morris lived to question him,” said Statler.

Morris wasn’t consistent about the specifics. He said the trunk could have been bought in Wyoming, Iowa, Illinois, or even Oklahoma. It could have been as early as 1973, but he also wasn’t sure.

Lumley didn’t think it could have been Morris who murdered the man. He said in the Unsolved Mysteries episode that he believed Morris, who was in his mid-forties, was associated with a footlocker and the lock dating back to the ’30s.

He did not believe that Morris was responsible for the individual’s death, but Lumley thought there is a suspicion that he possessed information regarding the identity or origin of the person found in the trunk.

“He finally admitted he knew who the remains belonged to and said he had nothing to do with it but that it happened when living in Iowa,” said Statler.

Hot Springs County detectives never considered Morris a suspect in the murder of Mulvaney. The mystery about who murdered Mulvaney has never been solved, no one has officially been charged with the murder of Mulvaney.​

fox2now.com

Bones in a box: Mystery of missing Illinois veteran solved

In 2017, mysterious bones discovered in a military footlocker in Wyoming were positively identified as Joseph Mulvaney, a World War II veteran of the Illinois National Guard.
fox2now.com fox2now.com
​

 
You must log in or register to reply here.

DNASolves

Who is Escambia County John Doe (1989)?

Members online

... and 177 more.
Total: 3,403 (members: 178, guests: 3,225)

Online statistics

Members online
178
Guests online
3,225
Total visitors
3,403
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
591,812
Messages
17,959,316
Members
228,613
Latest member
boymom0304
Back
Top