MD MD - Upper Marlboro, WhtMale 15-20, UP4833, initials 'ELT' on jacket, Dec'73

New Posts

Thumbnail

Unknown male 15-20 years old.
Found 6 Dec 1973, Upper Marlboro, Maryland
 
I was digging around and found this.

Could this boy have been hospitilized in the Glenn Glenn Dale Tuberculosis Hospital and Sanatorium on the Glenn Dale road in Glenn Dale? Only a 23 minutes drive from the place he was found and an approx. 4 hours walk).

Google Maps

Maybe he had already a lung decease, TB or was just treated there for a persistent pneumonia or another lung related decease. In the beginning (3o's) this hospital was specifically designed for the treatment of TB and had a sanatorium campus. They treated adults and children in separate buildings, providing free medical care to concur the decease. (at least in the beginning)

The mask of acute bacterial pneumonia may disguise the face of tuberculosis
The mask of acute bacterial pneumonia may disguise the face of tuberculosis

In the 1940s, doctors discovered that antibiotics proved much more successful in treating tuberculosis. As antibiotics became more widely available in the 1950s, the number of tuberculosis patients at Glenn Dale Hospital dwindled until, in 1960, it was repurposed as a nursing home and hospital for indigent patients. The facility was finally closed in 1982.

After 1959 they treated patients with other chronic deceases, in addition to TB.

Although hospilized, certain patience could walk around freely on the campus-like environment.

The preferred treatment for TB at the time consisted mainly of prolonged exposure to sunlight and fresh air. Thus, Glenn Dale Hospital was built as a sprawling 216-acre campus of 23 buildings separated by open, expansive lawns. Rooftop gardens were installed and tended by patients to further encourage them to spend as much time outside as possible. Underground tunnels (now flooded and decrepit) provided passage between building in inclement weather, but otherwise all transit and activities took place outdoors whenever the elements permitted.

How very, very boring for a young boy, man.

Glenn Dale Abandoned Tuberculosis Hospital
https://mht.maryland.gov/secure/medusa/PDF/NR_PDFs/NR-1517.pdf

I'm not sure this will bring us any further but a new theory seems to be welcome.

Pondering on a few things, though....
The question is if he was hospitalized there, did they search for him....what did they tell his parents, that he had run away, died? A lot of things were covered up, those day, for the sake of reputation. If he was a thrown away child, would anybody really care if they told them (the social system) he died?
 
Last edited:
Bit of hope said:
I was digging around and found this.

Could this boy have been hospitilized in the Glenn Glenn Dale Tuberculosis Hospital and Sanatorium on the Glenn Dale road in Glenn Dale? Only a 23 minutes drive from the place he was found and an approx. 4 hours walk).

Google Maps

Maybe he had already a lung decease, TB or was just treated there for a persistent pneumonia or another lung related decease. In the beginning (3o's) this hospital was specifically designed for the treatment of TB and had a sanatorium campus. They treated adults and children in separate buildings, providing free medical care to concur the decease. (at least in the beginning)

The mask of acute bacterial pneumonia may disguise the face of tuberculosis
The mask of acute bacterial pneumonia may disguise the face of tuberculosis

In the 1940s, doctors discovered that antibiotics proved much more successful in treating tuberculosis. As antibiotics became more widely available in the 1950s, the number of tuberculosis patients at Glenn Dale Hospital dwindled until, in 1960, it was repurposed as a nursing home and hospital for indigent patients. The facility was finally closed in 1982.

After 1959 they treated patients with other chronic deceases, in addition to TB.

Although hospilized, certain patience could walk around freely on the campus-like environment.

The preferred treatment for TB at the time consisted mainly of prolonged exposure to sunlight and fresh air. Thus, Glenn Dale Hospital was built as a sprawling 216-acre campus of 23 buildings separated by open, expansive lawns. Rooftop gardens were installed and tended by patients to further encourage them to spend as much time outside as possible. Underground tunnels (now flooded and decrepit) provided passage between building in inclement weather, but otherwise all transit and activities took place outdoors whenever the elements permitted.

How very, very boring for a young boy, man.

Glenn Dale Abandoned Tuberculosis Hospital
https://mht.maryland.gov/secure/medusa/PDF/NR_PDFs/NR-1517.pdf

I'm not sure this will bring us any further but a new theory seems to be welcome.

Pondering on a few things, though....
The question is if he was hospitalized there, did they search for him....what did they tell his parents, that he had run away, died? A lot of things were covered up, those day, for the sake of reputation. If he was a thrown away child, would anybody really care if they told them (the social system) he died?
Click to expand...

What do you all think about this theory?
 
Last edited:
carbuff said:
I was a teenager in the early 70's--it was widely known that group homes like this routinely mistreated their clients and covered up abuses. A boy from my area died at a similar school. School officials said it was from meningitis, except that when the body got back to his home town, the mortician said he had two broken legs and damage to his head. His family got a lawyer and the school settled out of court.
Click to expand...

OT: Holy cow, Carbuff, that's horrific, that poor boy and his family.
 
Does anyone think it's possible there was an error in measuring his height and weight? Or is 5'0" and 100 lbs typical for a 15 year old boy?
 
astridxx said:
Does anyone think it's possible there was an error in measuring his height and weight? Or is 5'0" and 100 lbs typical for a 15 year old boy?
Click to expand...

No, I doubt it. Yes, I happened to be similar small size (before I grow farther more & gain more weight in late age term) as him during my teens from late 70's. It depends on which people that carry on a small size via genes from their parents. It's sad that nobody is searching for him or even report missing person.
 
astridxx said:
Does anyone think it's possible there was an error in measuring his height and weight? Or is 5'0" and 100 lbs typical for a 15 year old boy?
Click to expand...
My son turns 15 tomorrow and he's about 5'3" and 100 lbs. He's pretty lanky but well within the realm of normal, I'd say.
 
astridxx said:
Does anyone think it's possible there was an error in measuring his height and weight? Or is 5'0" and 100 lbs typical for a 15 year old boy?
Click to expand...

No child grows the same. And one child simply becomes longer than the other child, also depending on the height of the parents and other factors. One child will also have grown earlier than the other. The average growth has increased over time and the average length of a 15 yrs old boy (born on time) in The Netherlands was in 2010: 5'8". In 1980 5'6". If a child was born premature this would influence growth in a negative way. A comparison between historical Europeans and Americans average heights, and an application to this John Doe is difficult. De gemiddelde lichaamslengte per land

In this context this is an interesting (Dutch) article from 2004. Some translated quotes:
Lange Nederlanders, korte Amerikanen

Tall Dutchmen, short Americans
The Dutch are the tallest people on earth. According to American scientist John Komlos, this is due to good health care and small differences in income. The Americans, once the tallest people, have been overtaken by Europeans.

However, there is one, once very long average people, who has since been overtaken on all sides: the Americans. Until about 1945 the Americans were the tallest people in the world. They established their dominance in centimeters early. In 1860, for example, the white adult American man was on average over 1 meter 74. "The Dutch were about 4 to 5 centimeters smaller than the Americans in the mid-19th century," says John Komlos, an American researcher at the University of Munich. . "Now they are 6.5 centimeters larger." To be precise: in 1997 the average 19-year-old Dutch man was 183.2 centimeters tall; his American counterpart, on the other hand, was only 176.7 centimeters long in 2000. The average 21-year-old Dutch woman was 170.6 centimeters in 1997, while her American counterpart in 1993 was 163.5 centimeters in size.

This is not due to the immigration of somewhat smaller Latin American or Asian people, Komlos thinks, because he has ignored the first generation of immigrants and people who do not speak English at home when calculating American lengths.

In 1973, when this boy was found, the average height would be lesser than nowadays. Looking at some info you could conclude that the average American was on the "taller" side. Maybe John Doe was born premature, had a live of illness or he could have been mixed in with other genes (somehow he looks Italian to me and in the latest recon more Latin American) When he was found he had a pneumonia, maybe even tuberculosis, which could have influenced his weight, losing it rapidly IMO.
 
Prince George's County John Doe 1973

Sex Male
Race White
Location Upper Marlboro, Maryland
Found December 6, 1973
Unidentified for 45 years
Postmortem interval Hours
Body condition Recognizable face
Age approximation 15 - 20
Height approximation 5'
Weight approximation 105 pounds
Cause of death Not stated

Prince George's County John Doe was a young man found deceased in Maryland in 1973.

The word "Shalom" was crudely written on his jeans.


Reconstruction by Carl Koppelman

Links
 
Nate_Bro said:
Height is out by a mile, but on the off chance that it may be wrong, he resembles a man that went missing in Canada a few months previous in Canada.
Richard Damasse Riquier
Canada's Missing | Case details
Click to expand...

Yes, he is the "type". We could discuss the age..but it would kind of fit. The thing is Richard was 5'11 and John Doe was 5', that's a huge difference.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

DNASolves

Who is Escambia County John Doe (1989)?

Members online

... and 75 more.
Total: 3,138 (members: 76, guests: 3,062)

Online statistics

Members online
76
Guests online
3,062
Total visitors
3,138
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
592,284
Messages
17,966,638
Members
228,735
Latest member
dil2288
Back
Top