NY NY - Andover, Davis Hill Rd, WhtMale 25-50, UP16681, nude, headless & handless, scars, Aug'86

[Murkywaters]

Unidentified Person Case

Nude headless, handless, male body found on side of dirt road on August 3, 1986

 

[Murkywaters]

Physical Description
Hair Color Unknown or Completely Bald
Head Hair Description --
Body Hair Description Present, brown, pubic, bilateral arms and legs
Facial Hair Description --
Left Eye Color Unknown or Missing
Right Eye Color Unknown or Missing
Eye Description --

Distinctive Physical Features
Item
Description
Scar/mark
X-shaped excoriation over sternum and left axillary chest Smallpox vaccination scar of right arm 2 3/8 inch scar inside right elbow 2 inch hairline scar under left knee Small mole base of left neck

Clothing and Accessories
Item
Description
Clothing
No clothing - estimated body measurements of 15 1/2 inch neck, 32 inch sleeve, 32 inch waist, 29 3/4 inch inseam
Near the Body

Footwear
Estimated shoe size 9.5 - 10
On the Body

Jewelry
Evidence of wrist watch worn on right arm
On the Body

 

[Mrs. Badcrumble]

Unidentified Person Case

Nude headless, handless, male body found on side of dirt road on August 3, 1986

NamUs now states the man was found March 20, 1970, and his estimated year of death was 1970.

 

[Murkywaters]

NamUs now states the man was found March 20, 1970, and his estimated year of death was 1970.

That's strange. I guess they got the date wrong.

 

[madamx]

NamUs now states the man was found March 20, 1970, and his estimated year of death was 1970.

Yeah ... hmmmm that’s a 16 year difference ... yeah ooops... not that this seems like it’s easy considering there is no head. But still.


BUMPING
THIS GUY, ITS BEEN 50 YEARS!!!! And god knows how long he was labeled incorrectly... oh geeeze

 

[madamx]

Body Hair DescriptionPresent, brown, pubic, bilateral arms and legs



Distinctive Physical Features
Item
Description
Scar/mark

X-shaped excoriation over sternum and left axillary chest Smallpox vaccination scar of right arm 2 3/8 inch scar inside right elbow 2 inch hairline scar under left knee Small mole base of left neck


Clothing and Accessories
Item
Description
Clothing
No clothing -
estimated body measurements of
15 1/2 inch neck,
32 inch sleeve,
32 inch waist, 29 3/4 inch inseam


Footwear
Estimated shoe size 9.5 - 10
On the Body

Jewelry
Evidence of wrist watch worn on right arm
On the Body

 

[madamx]

I just posted some maps of the location

 

[victoriarobinson642]

The only possible match I can think of is
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[carbuff]

That's strange. I guess they got the date wrong.

That's very strange. Wow.

 

[madamx]

The only possible match I can think of is
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Considering we don’t have much to go by .. he looks pretty good . Too bad there is no mention of shoe size for William.

 

[Falling Down]

The only possible match I can think of is
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Thread for Bill, original missing persons report lost in a flood in 1980:

PA - PA - William Alfred Higgins, 35, Allegheny Cty, Mar-April 1969

Strong possibility Bill was murdered, but Andover is a considerable distance from McKeesport, PA.

My hunch is this Andover Doe might be a mob-related hit, considering the time frame and what the killer(s) did to the corpse. There are other Does from say 1970-1980 within the western end of NY that I think fit with mob-related activities.

JMO

 

[Mrs. Badcrumble]

There are many handless and/or headless does in NY state from that era, for sure:

NY - NY - Orange Co, WhtFem UP9754, 40-60, dismembered, floating in Greenwood Lake, Apr '76

NY - NY - Dutchess Co, WhtFem UP8374, 20-30, dismembered nude body in travel trunk, Mar'80

are just two of the cases I can think of rn (it's still early morning here and my brain is no work-y yet), and then there's this man, found in 1976 (I don't think he has a WS thread).

 

[Murkywaters]

Clipping from Star-Gazette - Newspapers.com

This user clipped a few newspaper articles regarding Andover John Doe. Some additional information is discussed such as that the victim also had an "X" carved deeply into his chest in a "highly professional manner"

The police stated they believe that it was a gangland killing.

 

[Falling Down]

There are many handless and/or headless does in NY state from that era, for sure:

NY - NY - Orange Co, WhtFem UP9754, 40-60, dismembered, floating in Greenwood Lake, Apr '76

NY - NY - Dutchess Co, WhtFem UP8374, 20-30, dismembered nude body in travel trunk, Mar'80

are just two of the cases I can think of rn (it's still early morning here and my brain is no work-y yet), and then there's this man, found in 1976 (I don't think he has a WS thread).

This is great information, and I'd wondered about one connection that I noticed. Back in those days S.R. 17 was the main drag route across the Southern Tier, look at how many body dumps and desecrated corpse cases happened along 17 or nearby, all the way from Ramapo to virtually Jamestown.

Jamestown had a lot of organized crime activity, as did other Upstate cities (Rochester, Buffalo, Batavia, etc.). The Apalachin Conference happened st a residence owned by a major mob guy out of New York, in 1957, that town is along old 17. Other mob families were based in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Buffalo. All the cities listed above had links to each other via organized crime in those days.

17 would have been a road that mob types probably used due to it being mostly rural and kind of easy to use to get across the expanse of NY State.

417 is a road that runs kind of parallel and just north of 17, right near where the Andover Doe was found.

Just food for thought.

JMO

 

[carbuff]

Route 17 is pretty much the only way to get east-west in the southern tier (I used to live in Binghamton in 1977-79). The only other east-west route is the New York Thruway, which runs through Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, etc. and is quite out of the way if you're in the southern part of the state.

Yes, 17 is a fairly rural road, but most of it was four-lane by 1977 and it was relatively easy driving. But people would say, "Don't stop by the road or you might find yourself looking at a body." Widely known that the Buffalo mob especially used it as a dumping ground.

 

[Falling Down]

Route 17 is pretty much the only way to get east-west in the southern tier (I used to live in Binghamton in 1977-79). The only other east-west route is the New York Thruway, which runs through Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, etc. and is quite out of the way if you're in the southern part of the state.

Yes, 17 is a fairly rural road, but most of it was four-lane by 1977 and it was relatively easy driving. But people would say, "Don't stop by the road or you might find yourself looking at a body." Widely known that the Buffalo mob especially used it as a dumping ground.

Interesting and I'd wondered if the Maggadino family were dumping bodies along there, he and Joseph Bonanno were first cousins.

Reminds me of the female found along 17 eastbound near Jamestown late 70's, and the buried male Doe found in recent years in North Collins.

 

[carbuff]

Interesting and I'd wondered if the Maggadino family were dumping bodies along there, he and Joseph Bonanno were first cousins.

I don't remember hearing names.

 

[zeero]

Considering we don’t have much to go by .. he looks pretty good . Too bad there is no mention of shoe size for William.

Doesn't it say he's got a size 10 workboot?

 

[Nocturnal 911]

From the area & wormholed this once before. Going to ask around & start over & see if there's DNA available, I don't recall.

I remember finding the crime scene pics readily available online of all places-- some local-ish photographer that specializes in GORE photography w a studio in NYC? maybe? Somehow got pics & had them on his website & displayed in his gallery at one point. Hope they get scrubbed off the web before this John Doe's family is located.

 

[Nocturnal 911]

& fun fact: OLEAN NY has huge ties to organized crime as well. Olean is 30min tops away from Andover: via 417e out of Olean towards Wellsville/Andover or east on SR 17 (NOW I86) & south on 19. Here's just one article/example/reference. The residential area of Olean known as little Chicago (or sometimes little Italy) back then is still populated by many old school Italian American families/ ancestors...

also as an FYI: This case may be cold, but it is not forgotten & last I heard was actively being worked. The SP investigators here are FULLY aware of the GSK case/GED match & the post 2016 genetic genealogy explosion & are ON IT. They just solved another murder/missing persons case from the 70s (Flossie Wilbur) & as a state agency are always looking for ways to get funding, grants etc. to pursue new avenues. The red tape is THICK for state agencies. So frustrating

Olean to come alive as 'Little Chicago' on film City's native son recounts the whispered tales of organized crime he heard as a youngster