Identified! SC - Norway, Body found in freezer at abandoned "haunted" house. Jan'21 - Robert Fuller

[Susikatze]

I think it is clearly a lifesaver, not a sun. Not a very well made one but definitely a lifesaver.

I also seen an older man, smoking. Can be Asian, but as well Hispanic, Native or African American. And he could have looked completely different IRL. The limits of tattoos.

Here's my edited image of the tattoo - I adjusted the contrast and used the burn/dodge tool. I think I see a smoking Asian man and a lifesaver.....

 

[FireOwl9]

We have to keep in mind that the body was badly decomposed and parts of the skin may have been gone.

Agreed. The photo of the tattoo clearly shows 2 solid black patches (at the top of the smoking man's head), so could LE have intentionally done this to cover up the rotting patches on his arm?

Also we see the right side of the tattoo is fainter, I'm guessing this is can be explained by decomposition and maybe the fact that this part of the tattoo wasn't inked as deeply compared to the left side when the victim had it done.

A thought -- that sun/lifesaver has seven sets of three crosshatch marks -- but the seven sets aren't even distributed around the ring, and the crosshatch marks aren't all matching or consistently spaced from each other.

This doesn't seem to fit either a standard stylized graphic of a lifesaving ring nor one of the flag of the Philippines.

It makes me wonder whether the tattoo was based on an actual photo of a real thing (whether flag, rescue ring, or something else entirely), rather than a stylized image.

I'm guessing the lifesaver/possible sun tattoo was done because that's how the victim wanted it to be done (so artistically) rather than based on the real thing. To me the 'ring' looks like a lifesaver, but it's drawn tilted, which explains why the 7 sets of crosshatches aren't evenly distributed.

I think it is clearly a lifesaver, not a sun. Not a very well made one but definitely a lifesaver.

I also seen an older man, smoking. Can be Asian, but as well Hispanic, Native or African American. And he could have looked completely different IRL. The limits of tattoos.

I agree. And I had another thought too, the smoking man could a Pacific Islander.

 

[Beekarina]

It is still very helpful to have the images of different possibilities posted though. For all we know, it could be a symbol of something else entirely. Think of the people who start a tattoo, and then do not have it finished, or who have earlier work covered.

The face definitely should help ID this guy though, IMO.

 

[AlwaysCoffee]

With such a distinctive tattoo, I wonder if the artist could be found? I'm thinking about the Peaches case where the artist recognized the peach art and came forward after seeing it in a tattoo magazine. Do people read magazines anymore, though? I wonder if it could be spread on tattoo-centered social media pages. The artist might remember doing something so specific and have a record of past customers.

This case feels so solvable, and I think the tattoo is the key.

 

[Snoop Sister]

With such a distinctive tattoo, I wonder if the artist could be found? I'm thinking about the Peaches case where the artist recognized the peach art and came forward after seeing it in a tattoo magazine. Do people read magazines anymore, though? I wonder if it could be spread on tattoo-centered social media pages. The artist might remember doing something so specific and have a record of past customers.
This case feels so solvable, and I think the tattoo is the key.

I agree, I think his identity is very solvable via the tattoo. Unfortunately, I live too far away to investigate re tattoo shops etc. But, I think most tattoo artist keep pictures of their completed tattoos and also maintain a photo album of potential tattoos for customers. At least they do where I live.

 

[Panhypopit]

There is a face book site devoted to the missing and dead with tattoos so they can be identified with tattoos... I stumbled on it when I was searching for someone with *advertiser censored* tattoo... I don’t know how the person gets added though. I don’t know if I can add the site here.

 

[Panhypopit]

You can search for it if you are on Facebook... it is called “missing ink”

 

[Susikatze]

Wait a moment, Peaches has been ID'd?

With such a distinctive tattoo, I wonder if the artist could be found? I'm thinking about the Peaches case where the artist recognized the peach art and came forward after seeing it in a tattoo magazine. Do people read magazines anymore, though? I wonder if it could be spread on tattoo-centered social media pages. The artist might remember doing something so specific and have a record of past customers.

This case feels so solvable, and I think the tattoo is the key.

 

[AlwaysCoffee]

Oh no, sorry I made it sound like Peaches was identified, @Susikatze . I brought her up because the artist in her case has been found and remembers doing the tattoo, even if he doesn't remember the girl's name. I was just thinking that tracking down this guy's artist would answer some questions about his identity because a portrait of a very specific person's face is much more distinct than a juicy peach.

 

[Snoop Sister]

You can search for it if you are on Facebook... it is called “missing ink”

Thank you for the info! I found the page and if you click on follow at the top of the page, you can see all the posts.

 

[Snoop Sister]

Bump

 

[clbonham2]

Population of Norway, SC is 329. If the perpetrator is local there are only a handful of potential suspects.

 

[stringofpurls]

Population of Norway, SC is 329. If the perpetrator is local there are only a handful of potential suspects.

My guess is it's someone from there or the surrounding region but who knows enough about the area to know there was an empty house.

 

[clbonham2]

My guess is it's someone from there or the surrounding region but who knows enough about the area to know there was an empty house.

Very True! Plus take excluding small children and elderly women, that could narrow it down a little further. I see stories where hundreds of people are interviewed. Given it's probably a small police force it is also a small town. Someone has to know something.

 

[stringofpurls]

Very True! Plus take excluding small children and elderly women, that could narrow it down a little further. I see stories where hundreds of people are interviewed. Given it's probably a small police force it is also a small town. Someone has to know something.

Oh for sure. And they had to be pretty close to quickly try and 'clean things up' assuming the fire was intentional, as I think it was.

 

[clbonham2]

Oh for sure. And they had to be pretty close to quickly try and 'clean things up' assuming the fire was intentional, as I think it was.

Had to be intentional, day after the body was reported on the news......unless the "Haunted" house just up and burned down.

 

[aabbs]

About the tattoo: I'm under the impression that this could be a buoy depicted as a sun. On WLTX News 19 facebook page I find the top comment by Laci Steele very intriguing. She states that to her it looks like either a navy or national guard memorial tattoo. I think this could make sense. This person could be Philipino, could come from a military family, and the tattoo is paying tribute to a lost family member. Alternatively, they were in the service themselves at some point, and it's a fallen comrade. She goes on to state "It’s an old school life preserver. I’ve seen this same style tattoo on folks who had dads and granddads in the Navy." All MOO and hers, but I find her comment very interesting. I am going to investigate this angle further, but I think military ties could make sense.

 

[Snoop Sister]

I have tried to find additional info in SM but to no avail. I wonder what’s up with that? I also went through missing persons and I could find anything close to a match either - however, I am not the greatest at the later.

 

[data_nerd_2005]

Do people believe JD is local to where he was found? If so, would mass contacting tattoo shops in surrounding towns with the tattoo photo possibly be useful? If he is young, there’s a chance this tattoo was done in recent years and that the artist still works there. I am skilled in web scraping/ social media analysis and I am willing to help if anybody has ideas for identifying JD.

 

[data_nerd_2005]

I was easily able to get all tattoo shops in SC and a few right outside of it. I am now working on collecting emails/ phone numbers / instagram usernames. I can automate contact through email and possibly instagram, but it will be difficult for me to contact places with only a phone number listed. Am I allowed to post a google sheet of all the tattoo shops and their contact info? If so, if anybody is willing to contact the tattoo shops I can't automate contact with, that would be of great help!