Resolved NV - Las Vegas, WhtMale 25-40, UP417, letter written in German, scar, birthmark, Sep'06 - namus removed

[Donjeta]

I did a side-by-side -

I think the nose is not right - Mr. Michalik has brown eyes and the UID has blue. The hair is also very different. And it is not mentioned that Michalik should be from another country.

I see some simularities, but I don't think it's the same man.

It's not Mr. Michalik:

Ernest Paul Michalik Obituary
(Archived)
Published in The Daily Gazette Co. on April 24, 2009
First 25 of 208 words: The remains of Ernest Michalik were identified on April 17, 2009 a day after being found in Rotterdam. He had been reported missing on November...

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/da...est-paul-michalik&pid=126536425&referrer=2517

 

[Ambercat]

I would be curious to know who and where the man whose identity was stolen lived. Perhaps they were neighbors or knew each other casually.

That would really be good to know. What part of California was the person's identity stolen? They probably crossed paths at some point or another.

 

[Ambercat]

He has a really Baltic look to him. If I hadn't already heard Germany in connection with him, I'd be thinking Polish, Lithuanian, Latvian, Finnish.

Maybe from the eastern part of Germany? The border between Germany and Poland has varied a lot over the years,

 

[Irish_Eyes]

I spent parts of 20 years on and off tracing my German ancestors all the way back to 1600's. Maybe I can put to use some of what I learned.

Germany was not a united nation until modern times and there were lots of Euro-ethnic and tribal groups that ruled various parts of present day Germany at one time or another. Spellings were inconsistent, as before the turn of the century (1900 century) literacy rates were much lower. So you can easily have related family groups named Piper, Pieper, Peper, Pepper, etc. that are closer related than you might think.

Matthias and Matthlas are variations on the same name, with Matthias being much more common. St. Matthias was the disciple who replaced Judas following the death of Jesus. St. Matthias died in about 80 AD and the traditional story in Germany is that his remains are interred beneath a church in Trier, which I am pretty sure is the oldest city in Germany. Trier is in the Rheinland region, in the Southwest corner of Germany.

Incidentally, the only occurrence of the surname Matthlas I could find in Germany was in a book I found on Google about the Rheinland region, specifically Rheinland-Pfalz. So that's very, very weak evidence, but it may be a place to start....

 

[Irish_Eyes]

Other than that, I find a Dirk Matthias construction in Calau, Germany, and a Dirk Matthias in Bad Nenndorf in Neidersachsen. I also found 4 Facebook profiles for other Dirk Matthias' in various areas of Germany.

 

[Fin]

Check out this photo:
http://www.nampn.org/cases/dilenardi_stacy.html

 

[CarlK90245]

He looks pretty close. The glasses are identical.

But I don't think they are the same guy. I would say that the John Doe's nose is more turned up, and the eye color is different.

 

[Fin]

You are correct: there is no denying the eye color is a problem.

 

[Ambercat]

-The ID was stolen in 2004 or 2005 and was used for several jobs. The owner of the ID is still alive
-One of his former employers has said he had a strong german accent

Was it ever disclosed what industries he was working in?

 

[Fin]

At some point, this case's age range was changed to 25-40, so an update may be needed for this thread's title. (source: modified sept 2011
https://identifyus.org/en/cases/417)
the doe network lists his age as 45-55, and I am assuming this listing information came from that site:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1240umnv.html

In OP listing, it mentioned jewelry, however, we have yet to see any of this? Does anyone know anything about the jewelry listed in the doenetwork site or have any links to the jewelry? In the namus listing, the jewelery section is blank. However, we also know there was a computer of some sort for the german letter, but no letter or computer was mentioned in the namus listing on clothing or accessories.

He must have had additonal clothing in the room (other than the listed shorts and shirt).

I am interested in knowing if he had any scars anywhere. Or if he was a smoker.

Apparently, he had some composite fillings in 7-10 and 25.

I am also interested int he gun: where did it come from, was it registered in someone's name? stolen? recently purchased?

 

[Ambercat]

Is it at all possible that the last name is Matthias? I have been unsuccessful to find any surname 'Matthlas'. Although I suppose that would be another can of worms as Dirk Matthias would be a very common name.

ETA: 'Brigit' is an unusual form of the name to my German ears so I thought I would simply enter it into dastelephonbuch.de to see what results I would get. From what I can tell there are 7 listings under this particular spelling in Germany. As opposed to more than 2,000 each for both Birgit & Brigitte. Looking futher I went to the Swiss white pages (http://tel.local.ch/de/) where there are significantly more 'Brigits' listed, over 300 in fact. A search of Austrian listings (http://tel.local.ch/de/) has found 23 entries. I am not sure if this is in any way helpful, but I thought it might be useful to give a better idea of where he is more likely to have orignated from.

I would like to see how this actually looks written out because yesterday, I was looking at something for a wanted/missing person with the last name Mathis. This made me think of this UID, because the picture resembled him (slightly but older). I can't really see Mathis being mistaken for Matthlas/Mathias, though, unless it is a spelling error on his part.

 

[Ambercat]

I noticed John Nellans who went missing from San Diego after stealing and forged several of his father's bank checks in 1986. He looks a lot like this UID and they are the same height (72 inches). The circumstances (i.e. the letter in German) don't really match up, though.

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/8773/62

 

[Ambercat]

What about Stefan Rombusch? I know the age is off, but as it is I can't reconcile the 45-55 range based on the photo of JDoe. Also, he is know to have traveled from Germany to the US and was last known to have been in California.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/3500dmdeu.html

Another long shot, Stephanus Franciscus Maria van Leent, a Dutch citizen bears a striking resemblance although nothing else that we know of JDoe seems to fit.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1133dmnet.html

Has Stefan Rombusch ever been called in/ruled out? The circumstances fit (especially with the age range used on NamUs). He could have gotten the California man's ID when he was in Los Angeles in June/July 1989.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/3500dmdeu.html

 

[rainwater]

Playing devil's advocate for a moment: We know he was using a stolen ID. Could he have stolen the computer as well? Thieves are always breaking into tourists' rental cars in Vegas. Maybe the letter was written by the computer's original owner and not the UID Fake Name.

 

[outofthedark]

Playing devil's advocate for a moment: We know he was using a stolen ID. Could he have stolen the computer as well? Thieves are always breaking into tourists' rental cars in Vegas. Maybe the letter was written by the computer's original owner and not the UID Fake Name.

What if he worked with computers, as in repairs or programming? He could have stolen it from one of his jobs.

About the letter, if there was no address then it might have been incomplete.

 

[rainwater]

If LE has not done so already, maybe one of their computer techs could start up the computer, get the serial number and call the manufacturer to see who the serial number of the computer is registered to-usually when someone buys a computer you have to register the serial number with the manufacturer after purchase or type in the Windows access code.
I am not familiar with MacIntosh, but I would expect that Apple has the same "record the serial number and register your computer upon purchase" screen.

 

[alllads]

Has Stefan Rombusch ever been called in/ruled out? The circumstances fit (especially with the age range used on NamUs). He could have gotten the California man's ID when he was in Los Angeles in June/July 1989.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/3500dmdeu.html

I was recently looking up Stefan Rombusch as well, and he did/does have a sister. Not named Birgit/Brigit though - her name is C. (I won't put her name here since she's searchable.)

 

[ALadInsane]

Steven van Leent , a dutch national missing since 1989:
https://www.politie.nl/gezocht-en-vermist/vermiste-volwassenen/1989/december/steven-van-leent.html
also in doe network:
http://doenetwork.org/cases/1133dmnet.html
height does not match. face is very similar, specially mouth and nose. He speaks english fluently.

 

[Romulus]

Martin Hoyer?

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases-int/3530dmdeu.html

 

[ghostINshell]

Doe network link: http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1240umnv.html

Namus link: https://identifyus.org/cases/417

Summary:
The decedent checked into the motel called the Tod Motor Hotel on 08/21/06. When he failed to check out as scheduled on 09/11/06, the motel manager knocked on his door. After receiving no answer, he unlocked the secure room with his pass key and found the decedent unresponsive on the bed with a firearm in his hands. He had died from an apparent self-inflected gunshot wound to his head.
He was using the name of a live person who had his identity stolen in California.
His property contained a letter written in German to his sister Brigit no last name, no address, no city/country - the decedent makes reference to an ex-wife named Karen that lives in Perth, Australia and a possible daughter named Amy.

Race: White

Age: 25 to 40 (on namus), 45 to 55 (on doe network)

Weight: 197 lbs

Height: 6'0

Hair color: Brown had stubble

Eye color: blue

Had a Surgical scar on lower left abdomen, 4"-6" long
Apparent birthmark above the left knee.

Clothing: Gray T-shirt by Fruit of the Loom, size XL. Blue undershorts also by Fruit of the Loom, size XL

His dentals are available and entered.
His DNA sample is submitted and complete.
His fingerprints are available and entered.

Ruleouts: Michael Bazan
Amos Mortier
Kinsey Otto
Travis Taylor

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