NY NY - Oswego, Lake Ontario, WhtMale 20-40, UP935, fire breathing devil tattoo, clothes, Mar’79

[Coffee56]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

1974UMNY

Date of Discovery: March 23, 1979
Location of Discovery: Oswego, Oswego County, New York
Estimated Date of Death: Months prior
State of Remains: Not recognizable - Decomposing/putrefaction
Cause of Death: Unknown

Physical Description
Estimated Age: 20-40 years old
Race: White
Gender: Male
Height: 5'6" to 5'9"
Weight: 155 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Tattoo on his right upper arm of a fire breathing devil holding a pitch fork in the right hand, with Japanese or Chinese characters beneath the figure.

Identifiers
Dentals: Available.
Fingerprints: Not available.
DNA: Sample available - Not yet submitted.

Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: Blue jacket with a wool-like inner lining, gray long sleeved sweatshirt with the name "Wolsey" on the neck band, dark blue button-up long sleeved shirt with a pattern of red/yellow/blue lines (label read Mr. B with t.), and black loafer-style shoes.
Jewelry: Timex water-resistant wrist watch with a black, cloth strap.
Additional Personal Items: Unknown

Circumstances of Discovery
The victim was located in Lake Ontario near the mouth of the Oswego River.

Investigating Agency(s)
Agency Name: Onondaga County Medical Examiner's Office
Agency Contact Person: Ronald Brunelli
Agency Phone Number: 315-435-3163
Agency Case Number: 79-0301

NCIC Case Number: N/A
NamUs Case Number: UP #935 Former Hot Case Number: 1038

Information Source(s)
NamUs

Admin Notes
Added: Prior to 2014; Last Updated:9/30/2019

 

[dotr]

Possibly some big news!
HUNTER: Has Toronto Sun solved missing-persons case from 1978?
''On the doenetwork.org website, the Sun found what appears to be the correct Joe Doe under the New York state unidentified bodies section.

The tattoo on the dead man’s upper right arm told the tale: a fire-breathing devil holding a pitchfork in his right hand; Japanese or Chinese characters beneath the image completed the skin illustration.

Just like the one George Norman Heys, who will be 22 forever, was so very proud of.''

Ws thread..
CANADA - George Norman Heys, 22,Toronto, 28 November 1978 *fresh initiative*

 

[girlinblue]

Since this UID is still on Namus, I assume no DNA was ever actually done?

It's infuriating that it wasn't tested then, since it sounds like they put the burden of the cost on the family. It could solve 2 cases and give a human their identity back.

 

[Triss]

No sketch of how he might've looked like when he was alive and no photos of his tattoo? That's unfortunate.

 

[dotr]

New article once again referencing this missing man..
Aug 4 2022

HUNTER: Bureaucratic brick wall in identifying missing man​

George Heys vanished into the ether on a cold November day in 1978.

''In about five minutes, I discovered that a floater had been found in Lake Ontario on the American side on March 23, 1979, near the mouth of the Oswego River.

The Oswego John Doe’s tattoo was an exact match for the one George Heys was so proud of. John Doe had a devil holding a pitchfork on his arm, breathing fire with some sort of Asian writing underneath it. So did Heys.

This was a tattoo Heys’ sister, Dolores Jones, remembered. Mission accomplished.

That should have been the end of it. But two years later, the missing Toronto man’s family is still waiting for answers.

His niece told The Sun that Toronto Police detectives have been “invested” and “helpful.” The difficulty appears to be on the American side of the lake.''

 

[HopeRains]

Sigh ... some August articles below. What a nightmare for this family. Part of what also came out in these articles is the additional remains outside part of the mandible already tested and ruled inclusive cannot be located, And, there are no ME/coroner records.

Our family deserves closure - August 4, 2022

Oswego County DA dims light on case of missing man, John Doe - August 11, 2022

 

[MadMcGoo]

I feel so sorry for George’s family. I know the waiting must be miserable.

As a positive aside, his Doe Network case was last updated on August 15th of this year. I’ve noticed more and more Doe Net updates lately. There had seemed to be a long period of stagnancy on the site up until recently.

 

[ipa]

It sounds like it almost certainly has to be a match. It's too bad that one hand doesn't know what the other is doing, or whatever the holdup is.

 

[Nate_Bro]

Possibly some big news!
HUNTER: Has Toronto Sun solved missing-persons case from 1978?
''On the doenetwork.org website, the Sun found what appears to be the correct Joe Doe under the New York state unidentified bodies section.

The tattoo on the dead man’s upper right arm told the tale: a fire-breathing devil holding a pitchfork in his right hand; Japanese or Chinese characters beneath the image completed the skin illustration.

Just like the one George Norman Heys, who will be 22 forever, was so very proud of.''

Ws thread..
CANADA - George Norman Heys, 22,Toronto, 28 November 1978 *fresh initiative*

Interesting title from Brad Hunter at the Toronto Sun. The article is dated June 2020, but even a quick Google search would have shown that this lead was being researched in 2019 by myself, and discussed here on Websleuths as early as December 2019. Cheeky.