Dating the Photos

tatertot said:

More info about this photo:
http://cnnnancygrace.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/01431.jpg

That long poster on the wall behind the record player one of three parts of the Hieronymus Bosch painting "The Garden of Earthly Delights." A portion of it was used as the cover for Deep Purple's 1969 self-titled album, though it was black & white on the album cover. (Thanks to my husband for recognizing the painting!) Alcala's poster is the third of the tryptich that represents Hell.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Garden_of_Earthly_Delights

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Purple_(album)

Also, "Labguy," whose website showcases early VCRs, got back to me about an ID for the Sony Videocorder shown in the photo above. He's awesome for helping out on this:

Thank you for writing. The Videocorder in the picture is a Sony TCV-2010D. It is a CV-2000 VTR with a built in video monitor similar to the later model TCV-2110 shown on my site: <http://www.labguysworld.com/Sony_TCV-2110.htm>. The 2010 "D" had the decorative walnut case and the fancy clock timer for unattended recording.

The photos on the Nancy Grace site are disturbing when taken in context. I hope this effort does some good.

So if the Sony TCV-2110 on his site is from 1967 and Alcala's TCV-2010D is even older, it probably cost quite a bit if he bought it new and I wonder why he owned one. I wonder if any tapes were ever found in his storage locker?

ETA: That other painting is signed by Modigliani and although I can't find the same painting online, the signature matches the way he signed his other works.

Click to expand...

Those decorations are so stereotypically the 70's that I want to laugh when I look at them. We had the Bosch print, the Cream album, the Beatles poster...

Typically, guys had really expensive stereos like that so they could say to a girl, "Wanna come up and listen to some music? I've got a really cool stereo."

Sleuthster said:

Now that we can enlarge the pic's (click on them again) on NG's site, I am observing more clues.

http://cnnnancygrace.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/00123.jpg
Newspaper on floor. entited "Voice" And what's up with the ropes hanging from the ceiling??

There is a newspaper called the Village Voice (as in Greenwich Village, NYC) see pic below of more greenwich village.

http://cnnnancygrace.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/00083.jpg

San Diego State University on shirt

http://cnnnancygrace.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/00871.jpg

Napsack on guy reads "USN U Gas Mask ND Mark. Also he looks like a photographer as does the guy behind him. A concert maybe??

http://cnnnancygrace.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/01431.jpg
I think this one was taken in NYC or he brought back the poster on the wall. Celebrate Antiquity in Greenwich Village. The painting on the wall is from famous artist Amedeo Modigliani.
Martin Paints (box in background) Only one store and it was in Staten Island.

Click to expand...

Nice work.

The ropes are part of a pink swing. The swing is for poses and is also a sex toy. Common at the time.

He is known to have lived in Greenwich for several years, so this is probably that apartment? Certainly could have acquired all those arty things there.

The gas mask bag is probably army/navy surplus, another thing that was popular at the time. I think you could be right about the event being a concert.

carbuff said:

Typically, guys had really expensive stereos like that so they could say to a girl, "Wanna come up and listen to some music? I've got a really cool stereo."

Click to expand...

I was just looking at how many of the pictures were of women listening to music in the same room. I am too young to remember, but am assuming that's a normal way of getting women up to your apartment. You also see the same stereo stand in the "blue room", which was obviously a different apartment.

Just an observation, probably not worth anything, but if you look behind the swing there is a mirror and you can see a partial reflection of a male that may be the one taking the pictures, standing in front of what may be a refrigerator. Also note the newspaper on the floor, too bad it can not be read or matched by the picture on it for a date. It would be easier if we could match at least some of the pic's to an apartment location, city and state at least. Maybe someone will be here one day and recognize the apartment, we can hope.

http://cnnnancygrace.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/00123.jpg

RE: The swing pic. I saved it so I could blow it up without as much distortion. The newspaper says "VOICE" at the top, perhaps "The Village Voice"? Next to the newspaper is the phone book - opened to yellow pages (I think). Could he have been using girls from modeling agencies and escort services as his models? It doesn't appear they ordered pizza or take out because she is eating from a bowl. Admittedly take-out can be put in a bowl though. Again, just my observations.

There is also a pattern (in rows, every other 12-16 inches, I think) on the floor itself as if it is brushed or stamped into the concrete. I would think LE has identified where this apartment is. (LOL, wish they would tell us.)

Looking closer at the newspaper it may have a "U" in a lighter color and then "VOICE". I can not tell if there are lighter letters after that. University Voice? U Voice...


ETA: That flooring may be cheap laminate mock wood flooring too though. When I look at it on the left of the pic it looks like laminate, when I look at the floor on the right side of the rug it looks different.

dsntslp said:

Just an observation, probably not worth anything, but if you look behind the swing there is a mirror and you can see a partial reflection of a male that may be the one taking the pictures, standing in front of what may be a refrigerator. Also note the newspaper on the floor, too bad it can not be read or matched by the picture on it for a date. It would be easier if we could match at least some of the pic's to an apartment location, city and state at least. Maybe someone will be here one day and recognize the apartment, we can hope.

http://cnnnancygrace.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/00123.jpg

Click to expand...

Or if anyone recognizes the album cover, you could pin the earliest possible date of the photo to the date the album was released. I don't recognize it, but I can see that it appears to be a live album featuring someone who plays acoustic guitar.

That blurry woman picture is creepy as all get out. There is a wooden platform of some sort above the window; it has wires coming from it. What's it for? Can they be lowered to create a more private, quiet room? Then there is the plain brown suitcase under the table, and the bag with something in it. Clothes on the back of the chair, weird pink swing hanging down in the middle of the room, mirror on the back wall -- it's just too creepy. Why the sudden need to vacuum, I wonder?

I was wondering, too, about the photos that have kind of a red background. The angle of the shots is kind of up, like he was sitting down. Could this have been a strip club of some sorts? Or has that already been determined?

Re" the swing pic still:
I think the rope on the left is where the swing rope is going through a pulley (out of camera view) so it can be raised and lowered? The wire is attached to the wood shutter that is raised vs lowered in front of the window. I think maybe the vacuum is to remove white fur from the black carpet for the sake of pictures. It looks to me like if that shutter was in the down position it would look just like a book shelf and one might never know there was a window there...it seems to be long enough to reach all the way to the sill of the window (based on the size of the door on the adjoining wall to the left). There appears to be a layer of brick removed from the sill to make the shutter area fit the shutter rather than customizing the shutter. Yeah, kinda creepy. I'll have to keep those "bookshelf/shutters in mind now when looking at the pic's again.

Carl, I am not good with the music stuff but I am sure someone else here will be able to recognize that album cover.

I see a rim to a car (looks new) in the top right of the pic, an older style brown glass glue bottle with the rubber type tip for dispensing sitting on the table on the left that has the light bulb boxes and old style black rotary dial phone.

The clothes on the back of the chair are his pants along with a fuzzy green or faded black blanket. (I am not thinking about where that blanket may be now, ugh.) I can make out the mans belt still in the belt loops of the pants on the chair. He is standing in the kitchen in front of her (shown in the mirror behind her) and he is in his BVD's and I see the refrigerator and a small kitchen table with possibly a pink or red table cloth. That or that is the color of the table. Not that any of it matters it's just what I can see.

Seen in the mirror, above the kitchen it looks like there is a loft and a couple of boxes or something stored up there.

Yes, Mr. E, those "red" pic's bothered me as well. They remind me of the dives in Mexico with the super low red painted concrete ceilings etc. I guess it could be anywhere though.

Okay,
I'll stop there. I am off to see if I can identify that newspaper now.

Could it be this paper? Maybe when he lived in NY?

http://www.villagevoice.com/news

Maybe what I thought may have been a lighter "U" before "VOICE" is actually where it says "The Village" printed lengthwise and the VOICE printed across after that?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Village_Voice

I think it is very possible he was making contact with potential victims through the newspaper classifieds and/or the phone book. JMO

Just an opinion but I don't think the vacuum is early 70's.

cj1132, I have an email in with Vacuumland.org, a forum for vintage vacuum cleaner fans, to possibly identify that pink or purple upright bagged vacuum in the swing photo. It's got a distinctive shape to it.

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Although I definitely think it's possible that Purple Bells sewed her own shirt(s), "Styled in California" appears to be a J.C. Penney brand. Here's a SiC blouse on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Styled-...ItemQQptZUS_CSA_MC_Shirts?hash=item563578df23

Also, near the UID was a "brown, cotton suede jacket with white wool collar and cuffs." I know it was a popular style in the 1970s, but another girl is seen wearing a similar jacket in this Alcala photo: http://cnnnancygrace.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/00591.jpg

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Ruth Connes disappeared May 20, 1976 from Berkeley, California after meeting a "Jeff" who had responded to her ad offering her services as a photographer's model. I wish her photo was more clear because I'm having trouble comparing her with Alcala's photos:
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/connes_lynn.html

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Vehicle I.D: a Kawasaki III Mach 500, introduced in late 1968:
http://cnnnancygrace.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/02141.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawasaki_triple

I'm trying to I.D. that yellow hatchback in front of the bike, but I think it's a Ford Pinto. Wonder why the bike is tied to the rear bumper with the blue & white nylon cord like it's being towed? Also, the girl in the photo has something going on with her smallest left toe. Is this what you'd call a hammertoe? It's not in line with the others at all.

tatertot said:

Vehicle I.D: a Kawasaki III Mach 500, introduced in late 1968:

I'm trying to I.D. that yellow hatchback in front of the bike, but I think it's a Ford Pinto. Wonder why the bike is tied to the rear bumper with the blue & white nylon cord like it's being towed? Also, the girl in the photo has something going on with her smallest left toe. Is this what you'd call a hammertoe? It's not in line with the others at all.

Click to expand...

Great work on the Kawaskai. I pretty sure it is not a Pinto, with the exception of the Pinto Wagon, Pinto's for the most part had horizontal tail lights. My first thought was that the car was a Datsun, but I can't find one with tail lights resembling that picture. Trying to ID that car is going to drive me nuts, LOL.

I didn't even notice the toe, great eye.

I agree with the above posters, I wish they would at least let us know which pictures have been ruled out as victims.

Thanks Tatertot,
That's much easier than going through all the vintage vacuum sites like I was doing.

I am going to hook the laptop up to the big screen TV tomorrow and see what else I can see in the pictures if anybody has anything specific they want me to look at just let me know.

Is it possible to get the timeline posted as a sticky?

Seems I have jumped between two threads and missed stuff, off to read it all and come back again.

ETA, I talked to a seventy two year old man today that used to work in Yonkers, NY (20 mins from Greenwich) until 1971. He said not to limit ourselves to the New York area when searching for matches to any of the girls in the pictures that we see the NY apartment in. Seems back then Greenwich had people living in tents all over in parks and people coming from all over the place. Many were hitchhikers and many were runaways. He said think "Woodstock". And yes...he went to Woodstock, lol.

I just got done blowing up the photo and came up with voice on the newspaper so googled voice newspaper and came up with the village voice. Came to post and see that you thought possibly The Village Voice as well.

This is a copy of what their logo looked like in 1976-1977


not sure if that is the time frame we are looking for but all I could find for the 70's so far.

dsntslp said:

Could it be this paper? Maybe when he lived in NY?

http://www.villagevoice.com/news

Maybe what I thought may have been a lighter "U" before "VOICE" is actually where it says "The Village" printed lengthwise and the VOICE printed across after that?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Village_Voice

I think it is very possible he was making contact with potential victims through the newspaper classifieds and/or the phone book. JMO

Click to expand...

^I think it is the same newspaper.

Mr. E said:

That blurry woman picture is creepy as all get out. There is a wooden platform of some sort above the window; it has wires coming from it. What's it for? Can they be lowered to create a more private, quiet room? Then there is the plain brown suitcase under the table, and the bag with something in it. Clothes on the back of the chair, weird pink swing hanging down in the middle of the room, mirror on the back wall -- it's just too creepy. Why the sudden need to vacuum, I wonder?

I was wondering, too, about the photos that have kind of a red background. The angle of the shots is kind of up, like he was sitting down. Could this have been a strip club of some sorts? Or has that already been determined?

Click to expand...

I don't think it is a strip club. the wires above the platform, if you follow them, lead to a black telephone but there is, as I just noticed, a thicker cable holding that platform up.

Turn your attention to the blue door on the left. The blue wall does not reach the up to the ceiling.. it's a partial wall. Now look at the door. There is obviously a door latch that has been removed, but no signs of there having been a door knob installed.

Looking out of the windows to the buildings "across the street".. You can see the top of one window, and the bottom of the next set of windows. Is it possible that this is a first or second story location?

Is it possible that this was a rough, cheaply assembled photo studio inside a rented building? The swing and vacuum could just be photo props. You can also see the edge of the sheets that were in several other photographs.

Cyan said:

I don't think it is a strip club. the wires above the platform, if you follow them, lead to a black telephone but there is, as I just noticed, a thicker cable holding that platform up.

Turn your attention to the blue door on the left. The blue wall does not reach the up to the ceiling.. it's a partial wall. Now look at the door. There is obviously a door latch that has been removed, but no signs of there having been a door knob installed.

Looking out of the windows to the buildings "across the street".. You can see the top of one window, and the bottom of the next set of windows. Is it possible that this is a first or second story location?

Is it possible that this was a rough, cheaply assembled photo studio inside a rented building? The swing and vacuum could just be photo props. You can also see the edge of the sheets that were in several other photographs.

Click to expand...

No, it was other pictures I was wondering about (as being a strip club), not the one with the vacuum and the swing.

The pics that I thought might be a strip club usually have one or two people in them whose shoulders are bare. They are looking off, away from the camera. The shots are angled up. The background looks like red painted concrete. I'd link to the photos, but I'm at work and I don't really want those photos on my computer, even if they are in the news.

The girls in the pictures, I remember that one had shorter, curly hair (dark), and the other had lighter, stright hair. I think one girl had a choker around her neck.

The photos seem not posed, as if he were out and taking pictures without anyone's knowledge. Like the people didn't know their pictures were being taken.

cj1132 said:

Just an opinion but I don't think the vacuum is early 70's.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I noticed that -- it looks like a new Dyson. Though the purple fits in with the 70's

Cyan said:

I don't think it is a strip club. the wires above the platform, if you follow them, lead to a black telephone but there is, as I just noticed, a thicker cable holding that platform up.

Turn your attention to the blue door on the left. The blue wall does not reach the up to the ceiling.. it's a partial wall. Now look at the door. There is obviously a door latch that has been removed, but no signs of there having been a door knob installed.

Looking out of the windows to the buildings "across the street".. You can see the top of one window, and the bottom of the next set of windows. Is it possible that this is a first or second story location?

Is it possible that this was a rough, cheaply assembled photo studio inside a rented building? The swing and vacuum could just be photo props. You can also see the edge of the sheets that were in several other photographs.

Click to expand...

I agree about the studio.

This looks to me like your standard artsy 1970's-era Greenwich Village studio-loft. The buildings were originally designed for things like sewing sails, but were divided into offices or apartments after the demise of sailing and shipping. They were popular with artists, sculptors, and photographers because they had a lot of open space and very good lighting, and they were dirt cheap. You got nothing but brick walls, a wooden floor, a high ceiling, and some windows. My guess would be that the bathroom is behind that blue door.

Oh, and that flowered sheet? JCPenny, I'm nearly positive. I used to have some like it.