VT VT - Burlington, Oakledge Park, WhtMale 18-99, UP12366, Jan'11

[Curious_in_NC]

What do you think about Jay Moselsky?

Jay Moselsky | Vermont State Police

vsp.vermont.gov

Seems plausible. Middletown is about 80 miles south of Burlington. There is a thread for him here:

VT - VT - Jay Moselsky, 39, Middletown, 24 Feb 1991

Jay Moselsky 24 February 1991 No Photo 39 year-old male Middletown Springs, VT Vermont State Police Prior to Jay being...

www.websleuths.com

The thread has a link to an obituary for his mother which suggests her son went missing on the Long Trail. I would guess his car was found near a trailhead, but there is no other confirming info about its location. The Long Trail runs N-S along the taller peaks in the state through some pretty isolated wilderness areas. It runs about 20-25 miles east of Burlington at its closest points (Mt Mansfield, Camel's Hump, also Bolton VT).

 

[djanga]

I also think it is possible he is George Gregor Nikita. Nikita is a East Europea male name, I won’t be surprised somebody from this region adopted it as a family name.
From Namus:
“George Nikita was lost in an aircraft crash over Lake Champlain in January of 1971. The aircraft and the remains were not recovered. Last radar contact was over Lake Champlain.”

Missing Person / NamUs #MP25453

View NamUs missing person case MP25453 for George Gregor Nikita missing from Burlington, Vermont. Date of last contact: Jan 21, 1971. NCMEC case number: --.

namus.nij.ojp.gov

 

[djanga]

I have found an entry about George Nikita on Ancestry, it looks like he has a Greek ancestry, his last name variation is Nikitas. Also both of his parents have Greek names. So he probably can be excluded

 

[djanga]

I have also found an obituary for Jay Moselsky’s mom, according to the obituary her parents immigrated to the U.S. from Russia and it sounds they were Ashkenazi (their last names are Cohen and Schloss). However, she was originally from a different state.
Sorry, also there is a link to the obituary on the Jay Moselsky’s thread, I think he could be 100% Ashkenazi as our John Doe

 

[Beekarina]

I wouldn't discount based on the car and the Long Trail. It is possible he could have gone on a hike, been in a suicidal state/despondent and whatever happened did not occur right away. Perhaps he hitched a ride, etc Seems a solid possibility to me.

 

[Curious_in_NC]

I wouldn't discount based on the car and the Long Trail. It is possible he could have gone on a hike, been in a suicidal state/despondent and whatever happened did not occur right away. Perhaps he hitched a ride, etc Seems a solid possibility to me.

That's plausible. We don't know where near the trail his car was found. In fact it's just my speculation that's why they thought he was on the Long Trail. I guess his car could have been found anywhere (we don't know) and he left a message saying he was going to the Long Trail. At its closest point, the Long Trail goes through Bolton which is a 20 mile drive along I-89 from Burlington and Oakledge Park. So a hitched ride is a possibility. He went missing in January so that isn't really ideal hiking season.

 

[Puzzleworth]

In case anyone can't access the Facebook post, here it is:




Names of interest include Voikhansky, Pochapovsky, Alpert, and Alperowitz. Given how wild the spelling range can be with Ashkenazi surnames, though, and the Anglicization many underwent, I wouldn't be surprised if he had a completely different name. For instance, from this site about a branch of the Voikhanskies, the author mentions:

One brother [of the author's grandfather] was (Moshe) Morris Woichnaky (Voichansky), who settled in Waterloo - Berlin/Kitchener, Ontario, Canada in -1905. He settled there with his wife, Rebecca Woichansky, nee Hefez from Gomel; and they had 6 children who were born there: Joseph, Evelyn, Vera, Edward, Willard and Leonard. Morris died in 1934 in Waterloo and was buried there. The slogan of the Russian Communist's Revolution was written on his tombstone. All of his children moved later to the USA and changed their family name from Woichansky to Warren.

You can hardly get much more WASPy of a name than Edward Warren!

 

[djanga]

I found an obituary of Jay Moselsky’s brother, which lists Jay Moselsky as preceeded him in death and says that Jay lived in Vermont. I found a police poster which says Moselsky was missing from Rutland, Vermont. However, as far as I see, all the rest of the family stayed in Connecticut and had no ties to Vermont.

I also found that there is a website about Alpert/Alperovitz family genealogy which states that there were at least 5 Aplert who lived in Chittenden, Vermont in early 1900. And actually it looks like there are Alperts who still live in the area and also in Burlington, so may be in the end our John Doe could have been local to the area. Alpert/Alperovich is one of the names from the DDP poster.

 

[Susikatze]

As for Jay Moselsky, it is very possible. Our UID was of fully Ashkenazi descent. Jays mothers last name Benoit threw me off initially since it is not a common Jewish name but then I read her maiden name Cohen and that her Moselsky kids are from a first marriage to a Jewish man Moselsky before she married Mr Benoit.
Jay must have been fully Ashkenazi.
Worth calling him in.

 

[DS2021]

Our UID was of fully Ashkenazi descent.

Oh boy, has an Ashkenazi doe ever been identified by genetic genealogy? I know they worked for years on Phil Kahn, but he was finally identified by fingerprints and dental records before DDP was able to make an identification.

 

[DS2021]

Not to be graphic but could the fragmentation of his skull have been caused by a close up GSW? That may also give credence to this being Jay

 

[Curious_in_NC]

Not to be graphic but could the fragmentation of his skull have been caused by a close up GSW? That may also give credence to this being Jay

GSW?

 

[DS2021]

GunShot Wound

GSW?

 

[John/Jane Doe]

https://www.facebook.com/2011009255824516/posts/3415458548712906

 

[DS2021]

https://www.facebook.com/2011009255824516/posts/3415458548712906

Those are pretty low for Ashkenazi genealogy aren't they? Endogamy essentially inflates the numbers

 

[victoriarobinson642]

Those are pretty low for Ashkenazi genealogy aren't they? Endogamy essentially inflates the numbers

I think most of those would be low regardless of background, unfortunately.

 

[DS2021]

As for Jay Moselsky, it is very possible. Our UID was of fully Ashkenazi descent. Jays mothers last name Benoit threw me off initially since it is not a common Jewish name but then I read her maiden name Cohen and that her Moselsky kids are from a first marriage to a Jewish man Moselsky before she married Mr Benoit.
Jay must have been fully Ashkenazi.
Worth calling him in.

Has Jay been submitted?

 

[Beekarina]

I wonder if they also run "kits who match both" and that sort of thing in Gedmatch? Sometimes I have found interesting things that way, and you never know what could pop up. They probably do, just thinking out loud, really. Would be amazing if they can solve this from such a small fragment. It is fascinating.

 

[Beekarina]

Curious if we ever learned more here?