WA WA - Bellingham, Georgia Pacific plant, WhtMal 20-40, 862UMWA, Continental Airlines ticket, Sep'87

OK, it is probably way to early in the morning for me to be poting anything but here goes. The ME is 95% sure that the UID is a male. How sure is Severson that the "woman" that he gave a tour was really a female? My gut feeling is that the person who was so interested is the same who was found dead in the chimney.
 
Here's a thought that may be a bit of a change-up, but one that I'm thinking after reading this...

Could the woman have possibly been assiting someone in suicide? For example, if she had a husband, brother, friend, etc. who was contemplating it, they would have sent her to get the details? And she could have passed them on to this mystery man, perhaps.

Any list of missing men, and just to go with the "remains are actually a woman" thought, missing women from the area?
 
I don't think there ever was a woman, man or dog that requested a tour. Mr. Severson only went to LE with that story after the body was found. He said they seemed uninterested in his story. After almost 20 yrs he remembered exactly what the woman was wearing but not the officer's names that he spoke to?? That sounds like a rehearsed story but I could be wrong. Wouldn't be the first time.


He is 77 now, I have been looking for retirees of the plant that worked there at the time the body was discovered to verify whether Severson mentioned the woman to anyone PRIOR to the body being located. It just sounds too convenient. Like he was trying to explain away that body.
 
christine2448 said:
I directed the lead investigator here to read all questions..I will let you know what I get for response.


A few more things popping in my mind:

How old was Severson at the time of this incident?

Who has been eliminated as potential matches to this UID to date?

Has a composite sketch been done of the mystery woman and televised? If not, can it be done?

Do they have a list of dentists that have already been ruled out as caring for this fellow?
He would have been 58 at the time.

I think the only match they thought they found was a man from Canada but there were no dentals to match so they couldn't rule him in or out.

I doubt a composite was ever done since Severson seems to be the only one that saw her and he said the 2 LE officers he spoke to (no names given) didn't seem interested because the ME was sure it was a man.

Good question about the dentists in the area. He must've had a good dental benefit plan. Maybe someone in the union??? The plants were unionized. (Is that a word?)

I searched the Doe Network last night for the yrs 1977 to 1987 in all states. Nothing close.

I dont know if Severson is a common last name but I did a search for WA and there are a few with criminal convictions ranging from assault to drug charges. One female Severson is named as an informant in a drug case. So much for anonymity. I was wondering if maybe one of the younger Severson's got themselves in trouble and asked Richard to help dispose of the body at the plant. He seems almost like he wants to clear his name before he even needs to. The story about the tour just doesn't sit right with me.
 
Excellent posts, researching, ideas!


I have too searched missing, US and Canada trying to find a match, ...I had a couple poss. if IIRC, My files are at home today, will try to go through them am and update asap. Busy weekend coming for us.
 
Rec'd a couple of emails from detective..for update on case see here
 
christine2448 said:
Can't get the link to work, says Sorry! The file you have requested has moved or is not available on our server.
I can't open it now either.:confused:
 
More information given by detective, see here



and what I intend to do (from my last email sent to him)

My thinking on the dentists was that we could send the composite out to them...maybe someone would recognize him. I think we will work on this....as long as that is OK with you.

Also, another avenue I am looking at is finding out what cities flew in and out of that area during this time and getting a media packet together and trying to get this story on some local news stations of cities that this person could be from...what do you think?

I have also included him on my MySpace and will be doing a blog and bulletin, which reaches thousands. You can see my MySpace page here
http://www.myspace.com/do_u_recognize_me

Lastly, do you have list (that can be emailed or faxed) of all missing that have already been ruled out? So many agencies do NOT report their missing to national databases or web databases and we may want to use the same list of cities we find he could have traveled from and get on the phones and ask for their missing lists?

Once I get his responses, may need some volunteers :)
 
The Doe Network:
Case File 862UMWA
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/862umwa.html

862UMWA1.jpg
862UMWA.jpg

Reconstruction of Victim

Unidentified White Male
* The victim was discovered on September 20, 1987 in Bellingham County, Washington
* Estimated Date of Death: January 8, 1987- September 15, 1987
* Cause of Death: Hypothermia
* Charred & Skeletal Remains

Vital Statistics
* Estimated age: 27 - 37 years old
* Approximate Height and Weight: 5'8"-5'9"; 130 - 155 lbs.
* Distinguishing Characteristics: The victim had small feet, probably wearing a size 8 shoe.
* Dentals: Available. Dental work, including silver and gold fillings and possibly a root canal. It was not indigent dental work, it was good quality care for the time frame.
* Clothing: Charred remnants of denim pants and a denim jacket, a lightweight shirt, and rubber-soled shoes. The coat was found under the body, apparently to shield him from the heat. The shirt was draped or wrapped around one ankle, possibly to bind an injury. Police also found a burned remnant of a Continental Airlines ticket or baggage claim, but could not make out the numbers to trace the ticket.
* DNA: The chimney heat destroyed DNA.

Case History
The victim was located inside a Georgia-Pacific West Inc. chimney No. 9. A worker checking for a possible water leak found the body on September 20, 1987.

The victim's crumpled skeleton was found atop parallel pipes near the bottom of the chimney. The pipes, which carried water heated by boiler exhaust, were 240 degrees. The air was 95 degrees, unless the boiler was running, when temperatures reached 370.
Officials estimated the victim had been in the chimney a few days to a few weeks. Records showed the boiler operated for 34 hours during September 17 and September 18, two days before the body was found, plus more hours the previous month.

No keys, ID, wallet, ring, watch nor clothes or tools indicating the victim was a worker were located. No missing workers were reported and no abandoned vehicle was found.

The chimney was difficult to reach. The person had to climb a number of stairs inside the plant, and then make his way to the roof of the building.
Although a metal door was present at the base of the stack, it took police two hours to pry it open, making it an unfeasible way for the victim to have gotten in.

A medical examination yielded the presence of broken bones, indicating the body probably fell into the stack.
The unusual location of the body fueled speculation that the discovery was that of a murder or suicide victim.

Two images of the man were drawn years apart, in 1987 and 2000, by different artists. They represent independent guesses of what he looked like, based on his intact skull.
 
I wonder if they've ever looked at this guy. He looks like a good solid possible match.

Archer Ray Johnson
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/j/johnson_archer.html

johnson_archer.jpg
862UMWA.jpg
862UMWA1.jpg


He is a little older than the estimate, but his height is right. The circumstances are not inconsistent. I'm not sure how they know from skeletal remains that the UID had a cleft chin, but that is consistent. The cheekbones are right. The short forehead is right. The spacing and positioning of his eyes, nose, and mouth is right.
 
I see some resemblence Carl. The UID has dentals available though no chance for DNA due to temps in the chimney.

Here is Archer Ray Johnsons NaMus profile:
https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/5503/29/

According to NamUs dentals are not currently available for Archer. I wonder if the detective assigned to his case could obtain them or if his family might now if Archer had gold fillings. On an another note, I thought the recons resembled someone with Native American ancestry, and Archers NamUs page indicates he has some Nat. Am. ancestry.
 
I wonder if they've ever looked at this guy. He looks like a good solid possible match.

Archer Ray Johnson
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/j/johnson_archer.html

johnson_archer.jpg
862UMWA.jpg
862UMWA1.jpg


He is a little older than the estimate, but his height is right. The circumstances are not inconsistent. I'm not sure how they know from skeletal remains that the UID had a cleft chin, but that is consistent. The cheekbones are right. The short forehead is right. The spacing and positioning of his eyes, nose, and mouth is right.

I called Bellingham Police Detective Allan L. Jensen and asked him if he had looked at this possible. He said he thought he remembered this one, but after flipping through the case file, he realized that he was thinking of someone else.

He told me that he was busy on another case, but he would look into it when he gets the time, and he will call me back when he has an answer.
 
Since I didn't get a reply from Det. Jensen, I sent an e-mail to Rose Sacchetti (i.e., the contact for Archer Johnson's NamUs MP case). It doesn't appear that this UID case is listed in NamUs, so I sent her the DoeNet link.
 
bump. such a puzzling case, especially with the one "witness"'s account of the mysterious woman.
 

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