WV WV - off Appalachian Trail, remains, “Saint Mary” necklace, crucifix, Harpers Ferry, 7 Apr 2020

I believe this is from the late 70s/early 80s but not ruling anything out.

Derek Lueking?

I found a pic of a him wearing a larger crucifix/cross on his missing FB page but it doesn’t look right zooming in.

Find Derek Lueking

Appalachian Unsolved: Derek Lueking, Missing in the Smokies | wbir.com

ETA clothing doesn’t look like a match. He might have had extras but probably not shoes.

Derek Joseph Lueking – The Charley Project

 

Paul Paur

Paur’s story took an interesting turn when a hiker claimed to have spent the night of June 10 with Paur at the Standing Indian Shelter in North Carolina. The hiker said that Paur had spent the night reading the New Testament and talked a lot about religion. It appeared that Paur, perhaps, was out on the Appalachian Trail for more than a wilderness adventure but possibly a spiritual adventure

https://appalachiantrailnoir.wordpress.com/2015/01/21/on-a-quest-for-god-hiker-disappears-into-the-appalachians/#more-68

 

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Added to NAMUS today:

On 4/7/20 @ approx. 14:00, Xyzlem Tree Service employee was at the top of the mountain by Witness Post (Appalachian Trail) in Jefferson Co. cutting trees. When they [were] waiting and looking around they discovered a human skull. LE & EMS responded, LE continued to look for more bones, the search continued until 4/10/20, LE found approx. 20 bones in the immediate area (Longitude 39320226, Latitude 77722773). male clothes [were] in the area, 2 necklaces were found (1 silver & 1 with a St. Christopher medal on it), a crucifix was found, a t-shirt w/Montgomery Ward on it was found w/bones in it, LE thinks the bones may have been in the area since the late 1970’s-early 1980’s. Two (2) white Puma tennis shoes were found, LE contacted PUMA and they stated that that particular brand of the shoe had not been produced since the 1980’s. A Quarter (1976), a dime (1969), & a nickel were also found near the clothes. LE is investigating all missing persons from the late 1970’s & early 1980’s for that area.

 

www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/75513

#UP75513 Unsure, Uncertain
Date Body Found April 7, 2020
Location Found Harper Ferry, West Virginia
Location Harper Ferry, West Virginia 25425
County Jefferson County
GPS Coordinates (Not Mapped)--
Found On Tribal LandNo
Circumstances of Recovery On 4/7/20 @ approx. 14:00, Xyzlem Tree Service employee was at the top of the mountain by Witness Post (Appalachian Trail) in Jefferson Co. cutting trees. When they was waiting and looking around they discovered a human skull. LE & EMS responded, LE continued to look for more bones, the search continued until 4/10/20, LE found approx. 20 bones in the immediate area (Longitude 39320226, Latitude 77722773). male clothes was in the area, 2 necklaces were found (1 silver & 1 with a St. Christopher medal on it), a crucifix was found, a t-shirt w/Montgomery Ward on it was found w/bones in it, LE thinks the bones may have been in the area since the late 1970’s-early 1980’s. Two (2) white Puma tennis shoes were found, LE contacted PUMA and they stated that that particular brand of shoe had not been produced since the 1980’s. A Quarter (1976), a dime (1969), & a nickel were also found near the clothes. LE is investigating all missing persons from the late 1970’s & early 1980’s for that area.
Details of Recovery Not recognizable - Partial skeletal parts only

 

Harper Ferry was originally part of Virginia not WV, according to Wiki. It sits at the border of WV, Virginia and Maryland.

The geograhically closest male cases I could see in Doe Network (based off the Namus mention of male clothing) were actually cases from MD and VA and not from WV:

2 separate cases from Bethesda (55mi away):
John Broderick missing since 1987 www.doenetwork.org/cases/4898dmmd.html and Samuel Campbell missing since 1985 www.doenetwork.org/cases/2203dmmd.html

Jerry Plaster missing since 1988 from Manassas (54mi) and wearing white running shoes (brand not specified). www.doenetwork.org/cases/4331dmva.html

Oliver Munson missing since 1984 from Catonsville MD (60 mi) away www.doenetwork.org/cases/2006dmmd.html

Eddy Crane missing since 1987 from Baltimore (70mi) www.doenetwork.org/cases/4794dmmd.html

 

I think four "inches" might be an error in the poster, unfortunately.

I took another look at the photo of the crucifix from the news article since people have been wondering about its unusual size. You can count off four large gradation lines in the ruler above it, however the ruler lines are in sets of 5/10, as you would expect if it were in centimeters. It appears to be the same ruler as in the neighboring image of the jacket, where you can see it is actually an L-shaped photomacrographic scale, much like the one pictured here on a forensic supply website. The standard version is numbered up to 5 cm.

The inch version seems to be less common, but here is an example. As you can see, it has the typical 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, and 1/16 inch markings. Since they are the same size as the standard scale, the numbering only goes up to 2 inches.

Thus the pictured crucifix is closer to 4 cm, or roughly between 1.5-1.75 inches, depending on whether you include the little loop at the top in the measurement.

 

Excellent post, and thank you. So that'd be standard scale for a regular Rosary. IMO. Excuse my 12 years Catholic education. Lol I was.judging this as hugeamagantic.

Mostly men have wooden Rosary Beads. That I grew up with anyway. Or it could have been a "hippie" (my words) cross on a leather type necklace? Cross not crucifix.

Today is the Feast Day Of The Immaculate Conception. Going to say a prayer at Mass this person is identified.

 

Thinking about this case especially during the holidays. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the cross was found near the remains, not necessarily on them? Is it possible that the cross is completely unrelated and happened to be found? If there is a chance of that, I worry about ruling out any possibilities based on religious affiliation/known articles of jewelry.