Identified! MD - Glen Burnie, WhtMale Skeletal 29UMMD, 18-30, in trash can, Apr'85 - Roger Kelso

[PayrollNerd]

There’s a $10,000 reward. Surely someone needs some cash? Hopefully, by this point they can speak freely without fear of repercussion.

If his intent was to leave for an extended period of time, where would a 19 or 20 year old man go? To a relatives house in another state? What reason did he give for leaving? He probably told someone other than family. Perhaps a friend? He hadn’t been out of high school that long. He probably still associated with childhood friends. That pool of people should feel comfortable sharing any details by now.

 

[JusticeForAll]

This was from a recent article. Huffman is his sister:

Kelso left his residence in 1962 or 1963 and was never seen again, police said. Evidence suggests Kelso was killed around the same time.

“When he left he was very peaceful, very hopeful,” Huffman said. “He was looking forward to life… and his next job.”

Kelso was a paperboy growing up, delivering the Sun Papers (now The Baltimore Sun), his family believed. Nobody knew what was to be his next endeavor, Huffman said. “He was so happy, we didn’t think to ask.”

Human remains were discovered on April 23, 1985, when a construction crew was clearing a lot to build Marley Station Mall and discovered the remains in a metal trash can.


I read in another article, that the family did eventually contact police. Police told them since he did not commit a crime, was an adult that left on his own, there was nothing they could do.

He came from a large family of 8 siblings. A young man at that time period, would want to move out on his own. I am sure the family felt they had no where else to turn for help, since police did not get involved.

I wonder if they ever searched for him on their own, after the internet became available. So many changes in technology from the time he went missing.

I doubt there are many of his class members from the class of 1961 in the area. The area has changed a lot, not for the better. Many people have moved away. I lived in Glen Burnie, for a few years. Would not want to ever move back.

I hope the police reach out to the Glen Burnie High School Class of 1961, for possible information.

 

[proctorelites]

Anne Arundel police identify man in cold case from 1985 as Glen Burnie native

This was from a recent article. Huffman is his sister:

Kelso left his residence in 1962 or 1963 and was never seen again, police said. Evidence suggests Kelso was killed around the same time.

“When he left he was very peaceful, very hopeful,” Huffman said. “He was looking forward to life… and his next job.”

Kelso was a paperboy growing up, delivering the Sun Papers (now The Baltimore Sun), his family believed. Nobody knew what was to be his next endeavor, Huffman said. “He was so happy, we didn’t think to ask.”

Human remains were discovered on April 23, 1985, when a construction crew was clearing a lot to build Marley Station Mall and discovered the remains in a metal trash can.......I hope the police reach out to the Glen Burnie High School Class of 1961, for possible information.

(Abbreviated & bolded by me for focus) I dont mean to pick apart those words but unless there is a major grammatical error there what does that mean?
The family "believed" he was a paperboy for Sun Papers now The Baltimore Sun. Do we have that article available here in the thread? For some reason that sparked my interest.
Edit: I added the link to the article above. I've decided because his mother was not alive when he was found the information is coming from siblings. They may have believed he was a paperboy. Was he a paperboy? The reason I bring all of this up is probably cinematic related, something one sees in a movie, I dont mean that to be distasteful. What was happening in this area in the 60's ?

 

[Blurgle]

Anne Arundel police identify man in cold case from 1985 as Glen Burnie native

(Abbreviated & bolded by me for focus) I dont mean to pick apart those words but unless there is a major grammatical error there what does that mean?
The family "believed" he was a paperboy for Sun Papers now The Baltimore Sun. Do we have that article available here in the thread? For some reason that sparked my interest.
Edit: I added the link to the article above. I've decided because his mother was not alive when he was found the information is coming from siblings. They may have believed he was a paperboy. Was he a paperboy? The reason I bring all of this up is probably cinematic related, something one sees in a movie, I dont mean that to be distasteful. What was happening in this area in the 60's ?

His siblings may have known he was a paperboy but after 58 years forgotten for which newspaper he made deliveries.

 

[CassieM]

Roger was mentioned in a 1958 newspaper article as a 15-year old assistant paperboy who helped spot an early morning local fire while working his route. - Evening Sun (Baltimore, MD), 29 Nov 1958, p. 20

 

[Al Ka]

Published March 11, 2020
Genetic Tests Help Officials Identify Roger Hearne Kelso As Victim In 1985 Cold Case

Roger Hearne Kelso went missing from his Glen Burnie home in 1963 when he was around 20-years-old, leaving a note saying he was in pursuit of a new job.

“My whole life with my mother and my siblings, we always wondered, ‘Where are you?'” said Heather Sackett, his sister.

His younger sisters, Heather and Gail, said their brother was not one to miss a family gathering. So when he didn’t return home, that’s when the worry set in.
---
Collier said in 2015, they got the break they had been waiting for.

A company out of Reston, Virginia, called Parabon Nanolabs used the DNA from the human remains to construct a composite sketch of what the unidentified person likely looked like. The process is called phenotyping.

From there, a genetic genealogist uploaded the DNA to a public file called Ged Match and compared it to about a million other people who opt into the website, eventually locating some of Roger’s distant cousins.
---
Roger’s case is still an open homicide investigation. Police are trying to get in contact with old classmates or anyone who may have known his whereabouts at the time of his disappearance.

Genetic Tests Help Officials Identify Roger Hearne Kelso As Victim In 1985 Cold Case

 

[PayrollNerd]

So he was in a barrel, in a dumpster? Who the heck can lift a big barrel with a body? I bet someone used a piece of heavy equipment (front end loader?) to drop that barrel into the dumpster.

Anne Arundel County Police found Roger’s remains in a dumpster at the construction site of the Marley Station Mall in 1985, but they had no idea who they belonged to.

 

[carbuff]

So he was in a barrel, in a dumpster? Who the heck can lift a big barrel with a body? I bet someone used a piece of heavy equipment (front end loader?) to drop that barrel into the dumpster.

Anne Arundel County Police found Roger’s remains in a dumpster at the construction site of the Marley Station Mall in 1985, but they had no idea who they belonged to.

Or the barrel was already in the dumpster and they stuffed the body in. Or the barrel was somewhere else when the body was put it in it, and the person who moved the barrels didn't know it was there.

 

[bbradb]

Perhaps I can add something to this thread. As a classmate and friend, I have wondered all my adult life what happened to this young man. Reading the above posts I can also fill in a few gaps I see.

How did I get here? Roger's story came back to life for me when his sister, Mary Ellen called me out of the blue a few months back, shouting into the phone "they've found Roger!". I had emailed Mary Ellen awhile back, reintroducing myself (she may have been around 11 years old, the last time I had known of her back in the early '60s). Starting around 1957 or so, shortly after my family had moved to the GB area from Massachusetts, Roger and I met in our Harundale neighborhood. We were the same age and lived within minutes of each other. We quickly became fast friends. In fact, for my entire life, I have always considered Roger my "Best Friend". To this day he is my answer to any web site's secret question "Who is your best friend".

To start with, I've read most of the recent news on Roger's discovery in the trash can and also the posts here. Let me add a few things though. Regarding his school days. Roger was technically in my HS class of 1961, however, the fact is, he did not graduate with the class. He had dropped out of school. Here's how that happened. As I stated earlier, we were best buds. So much so that by the time of Jr. High and High School, we spent all our time goofing around and not doing homework, etc. We also had become big-time cigarette smokers, no drugs as this was before they showed up on the street. We weren't trouble makers by any stretch but we were definitely not serious about school. As a result, we both flunked 10th grade. This was the beginning of Roger's downfall and I'm ashamed to admit a part in this as his buddy. Though I did in fact repeat 10th grade, doing well enough that I skipped 11th and finally graduated with my class of 61, Roger never to my knowledge returned to school after that ill-fated first shot at 10th grade.

Somewhere I read that Roger was president of his art club. This could be, as he was somewhat talented in this area as I recall, but it would have been in 10th grade or before and honestly sounds like a way too serious involvement for the kid I remember.

I will leave this post here.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Perhaps I can add something to this thread. As a classmate and friend, I have wondered all my adult life what happened to this young man. Reading the above posts I can also fill in a few gaps I see.

How did I get here? Roger's story came back to life for me when his sister, Mary Ellen called me out of the blue a few months back, shouting into the phone "they've found Roger!". I had emailed Mary Ellen awhile back, reintroducing myself (she may have been around 11 years old, the last time I had known of her back in the early '60s). Starting around 1957 or so, shortly after my family had moved to the GB area from Massachusetts, Roger and I met in our Harundale neighborhood. We were the same age and lived within minutes of each other. We quickly became fast friends. In fact, for my entire life, I have always considered Roger my "Best Friend". To this day he is my answer to any web site's secret question "Who is your best friend".

To start with, I've read most of the recent news on Roger's discovery in the trash can and also the posts here. Let me add a few things though. Regarding his school days. Roger was technically in my HS class of 1961, however, the fact is, he did not graduate with the class. He had dropped out of school. Here's how that happened. As I stated earlier, we were best buds. So much so that by the time of Jr. High and High School, we spent all our time goofing around and not doing homework, etc. We also had become big-time cigarette smokers, no drugs as this was before they showed up on the street. We weren't trouble makers by any stretch but we were definitely not serious about school. As a result, we both flunked 10th grade. This was the beginning of Roger's downfall and I'm ashamed to admit a part in this as his buddy. Though I did in fact repeat 10th grade, doing well enough that I skipped 11th and finally graduated with my class of 61, Roger never to my knowledge returned to school after that ill-fated first shot at 10th grade.

Somewhere I read that Roger was president of his art club. This could be, as he was somewhat talented in this area as I recall, but it would have been in 10th grade or before and honestly sounds like a way too serious involvement for the kid I remember.

I will leave this post here.

Welcome to WS! I'm sorry for the loss of your friend. Your memories add a human element that is appreciated. It's very helpful to have an inside perspective. Be sure to read the terms of service (TOS) and add that it's "your opinion only" such as JMO, MOO or whatever acronym applies, so nothing is removed.

 

[Liv27]

Perhaps I can add something to this thread. As a classmate and friend, I have wondered all my adult life what happened to this young man. Reading the above posts I can also fill in a few gaps I see.

How did I get here? Roger's story came back to life for me when his sister, Mary Ellen called me out of the blue a few months back, shouting into the phone "they've found Roger!". I had emailed Mary Ellen awhile back, reintroducing myself (she may have been around 11 years old, the last time I had known of her back in the early '60s). Starting around 1957 or so, shortly after my family had moved to the GB area from Massachusetts, Roger and I met in our Harundale neighborhood. We were the same age and lived within minutes of each other. We quickly became fast friends. In fact, for my entire life, I have always considered Roger my "Best Friend". To this day he is my answer to any web site's secret question "Who is your best friend".

To start with, I've read most of the recent news on Roger's discovery in the trash can and also the posts here. Let me add a few things though. Regarding his school days. Roger was technically in my HS class of 1961, however, the fact is, he did not graduate with the class. He had dropped out of school. Here's how that happened. As I stated earlier, we were best buds. So much so that by the time of Jr. High and High School, we spent all our time goofing around and not doing homework, etc. We also had become big-time cigarette smokers, no drugs as this was before they showed up on the street. We weren't trouble makers by any stretch but we were definitely not serious about school. As a result, we both flunked 10th grade. This was the beginning of Roger's downfall and I'm ashamed to admit a part in this as his buddy. Though I did in fact repeat 10th grade, doing well enough that I skipped 11th and finally graduated with my class of 61, Roger never to my knowledge returned to school after that ill-fated first shot at 10th grade.

Somewhere I read that Roger was president of his art club. This could be, as he was somewhat talented in this area as I recall, but it would have been in 10th grade or before and honestly sounds like a way too serious involvement for the kid I remember.

I will leave this post here.

Thank you so much for sharing this! We really appreciate it. Many of us have been following Roger’s story for years and we’re very happy that he was finally identified after such a long time.

My condolences go to you for the loss of your friend.

 

[bbradb]

Thanks for the replies. I appreciate your comments as I honestly didn’t know what to expect. Now that I am feeling more confident, I will add more posts. My purpose will be to try to add to the story and perhaps even offer a clue to someone out there so that a final resolution to this case can be made.

Btw, I am having difficulty finding my way around here. Seems the only way I can locate the appropriate thread is to do a search on Roger Kelso. Is this it?

Continuing, and I hope I follow the rules. After that awful 10th grade fiasco, the two of us sort of carried on as usual. Camping out in the woods was a big part of it. Also, I’m pretty sure we both were working for Mr. Tully who ran the local Sun Papers routes. He lived almost directly across from the Jr. High/High school campus on Old Annapolis Blvd. Roger and I were maybe his best helpers and we loved earning the money. The pretty famous Harundale Mall had opened recently and we kids ran around there a lot. That reminds me of something a bit weird regarding Roger.

Even with our terrible school track record, Roger was somewhat scholarly or bookish. By that I mean, if he got interested in something, he really got into it. Well, he got interested in hypnosis, so much so that he could get himself into a trance and even hypnotize other kids. He tried it on me, but I resisted, and he was never successful. In school, it must have been that last year before we flunked (10th) we would meet up with other kids in the library and he would hypnotize one of our buddies. I’m convinced he did it too. The old grey-haired Librarian knew that we were up to no good and usually ran us off after a bit. BTW, one of Roger’s classroom antics would be to put himself in a trance particularly in the classes where he knew he could get away with it. Guess this didn’t help his studies much.

Back to the Mall. Since most of us neighborhood kids sort of grew up with the building of the Mall, we knew of all sorts of doors and passageways to get around in the Mall away from the normal traffic. Remember, this may have been the very first mall on the east coast and maybe only the second one built in the whole country. Look it up. I guess the security factors weren't thought through at that time because we could even get up above the stores and look down on the shoppers below. Bottom line is, we knew where the secret spots were as unbelievable as it may sound. Well, Roger, I and others would congregate in these places and Roger would try to put someone in a trance. Pretty stupid stuff but that’s what we did to amuse ourselves.

Also, I remember that Roger got interested in what I would call today “paranormal” activities. I’m not sure this is the term I am looking for, but it may be close. There was one author he was reading intently but now I can’t come up with the name. Maybe another time it will come to me. At the time all that stuff sort of weirded me out and I began to drift away from Roger. The other reason we sort of began going our own ways was that I went back and repeated the 10th grade, whereas Roger dropped out of school.

Also, I began getting seriously interested in girls. Roger did have a girlfriend around this time as well. Her name was Marie. I remember it because there was a popular and catchy tune called Marie at the time. I met the girl one time at her house. At the time I thought she seemed a lot more mature than Roger and I may have been somewhat surprised that he had a girl. I was probably also impressed though. As I recall, he had also gotten involved with Catholicism although I don’t remember his family going to church. I may be imagining this though.

We seriously drifted apart though as friends. I finished 10th for the second time and I did well enough, so they promoted me up to 12th grade so I was able to rejoin my graduating class. That was nice of them.

This may have been around the time that Roger disappeared (1961) or maybe a little later. I hadn’t seen Roger for a long time. I was very busy with a steady girlfriend, a driver’s license, job, etc. I’m relatively certain Roger never had his driver’s license or a steady job even though he was out of school those two years I was finishing my HS. It hurts my heart today to think about what he missed out on in his short life.

I felt like he had gotten in with a bad crowd. Remembering his strange involvements, I wasn’t too surprised. It crossed my mind that maybe he was dead somehow or other. I went off to school in DC. Some years later ended up a Marines in Vietnam (1967, it was a bad year). I personally evaded death so many times over those years and months that I even became numb to the thoughts of death and didn’t even think about it much.

I’ll pick this up later. Stay safe in this Covid mess we are in. Tried to call Mary Ellen (Roger’s sister) awhile back and no answer. This bothers me a bit.

 

[JovanSrna]

Thank you for the lovely stories about Roger! There is a fragrance of adventure and childlike awe of the world in your sentences.
''The old grey-haired Librarian knew that we were up to no good'' is like something straight out of children's literature.
I'm sure he had a great time with you in his short life. Adulthood tends to skew one's perception of things.
Exploring the new mall must have been a magical experience, like finding secret passageways in a castle or climbing a mountain and being humbled by the sight of the great world below.

 

[theshadow45]

Roger was found 35 years ago today.

 

[bbradb]

I'll add some thoughts I have had about this case and how it has been handled. Who would have ever dreamed that Roger would be identified after all these years? A couple of years ago I was back in Anne Arundel County and Glen Burnie. My brother lived in the area and had passed away. I was handling the estate. It occurred to me that I should go over to the police station and just inquire. I didn't do it and I regret that although not sure what difference it would have made.

Knowing what we know today, here are a couple of my questions.

1. I wonder why the investigators initially reported that the found body had only been in the trash can for a relatively short period of time? Given that it turns out he was in it for 20 + years, that seems odd. Wouldn't the forensics be pretty clear on that? What do I know but even back in the eighties wouldn't that be obvious? Their conclusion though certainly threw them very seriously off. They would have been looking at recent missing persons rather than 20-year-old cases.

2. Did the family ever report Roger missing? I've had lengthy conversations with his sister and, although I haven't asked directly, I am assuming they may not have. Or maybe the police discouraged recording this as a missing person? He was an adult and times were different (prior to milk carton ads for missing persons). When I was in the Marine Corps, getting ready to ship out to Vietnam, maybe 1966, I was contacted by the FBI who inquired if I had any idea where Roger was. That was the period when the draft was in place to fill the need for "bodies" to go to Vietnam. Apparently, Roger had not registered for the draft or perhaps he had but did not respond to a draft notice. I couldn't add anything to their search. At least he would have been recorded as a potential fugitive or missing person in the FBI records. Did that info ever show up in AA County PD records? It would be interesting to do a lookup on the FBI database. Wonder how a citizen can do that? There is a process I think.

 

[Jake479]

RIP Roger Kelso

 

[theshadow45]

Roger was found 36 years ago today.

 

[Richard]

Roger was found 36 years ago today.

Back in 2006, I posted the following information from the Ann Arundel Police website on this Websleuths thread:

"On April 23rd, 1985, the decomposed remains of a human body were found during the excavation of the construction site of the Marley Station Mall in Glen Burnie, Md. The body was found in a metal trash container. Found with the body was a ring of keys. The key had a fob attached with the initial "R" on it.

Examinations revealed the remains were that of a white male in his mid 20's, approx. 5ft 8in to 5ft 11in tall slim build with brown hair. He was wearing a blue and black sweater, slacks and leather shoes.

It was estimated that the victim was deceased for approximately five months."

It was this estimation of when death occurred that caused investigators to concentrate on a period of time more than 20 years after his actual death date.

One has to wonder how the body and clothing could have remained so well preserved for so long.

Could it be that the body was packed into the trash can and then stored in a freezer or a very dry place for 20 plus years before being dumped in that field? Certainly it would have been much more degraded and decayed if it had been outside in the elements and climate all that time.

With the identification of the deceased as Roger Kelso, who disappeared around 1962 or 63, what new information has become available that might solve his murder?

What of the keys found with the body? Were they from 1963, or from a later time?

 

[Savemecastiel]

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[LucyOso]

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