ME ME - Hancock Co, off Cranbury Isles, WhtMale 40-50, UP15465, poss Canadian, snowsuit, Aug'90

Gardener1850

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  • #1
Unidentified Person / NamUs #UP15465
Date Found August 9, 1990
Location Found Hancock County, Maine

Male, White / Caucasian
Hair Color Brown
Height 5' 3"(63 inches) , Estimated
WeightCannot Estimate

Estimated Age Range 40-50 Years
Estimated Age Group: Adult - Pre 50
Estimated Year of Death: 1990
Estimated PMI: 5 Weeks

Scar/mark
Scar just below sternum to just above umbilicus, repaired with a Gortex Graft approx. 2.25 x 5 inches.

Clothing
Dark blue outer "snowmobile" insulated suit with hood, red inner lining, missing front pockets, distal sleeve repaired with silver duct tape. "Made in Canada", size large. Blue long-sleeved corduroy shirt, Sears brand. "Made in Canada" Lee brand blue jeans, tear at cuffs, possible waist size 32-34 One gray or blue sock with red trim
On the Body

Footwear
One black rubber knee-high boot with red sole, "Made in Czechoslovakia"
On the Body

Location Found Map
Street Address: Cranberry Isles 8 miles off Mt. Desert Island Maine
Hancock County

Circumstances of Recovery
Body found in the Atlantic Ocean, 8 miles off Mt. Desert Island. Recovered badly decomposed and partially skeletonized. Possibly from Canada.
Details of Recovery

Inventory of Remains All parts recovered
Condition of Remains Not recognizable - Decomposing/putrefaction

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
 
  • #2
OH my. Snowmobile operator who fell through the ice?
 
  • #3
OH my. Snowmobile operator who fell through the ice?

Could be. Or perhaps an ice fisherman?

It feels like the details of this one should have been sparked some recognition in someone-- things such as the coat sleeve repaired with duct tape, for example, stand out--
but if he is from Canada perhaps the case never got MSM press in the right place for someone to recognize the clothing description. :(

MOO.
 
  • #4
The gore tex graft is most indicative of a ventral hernia repair.
 
  • #5
After a cursory check through both Canada's missing person repository and NamUs, the most plausible potential match for this John Doe I could find would probably be Vincent Allen Greene (Canada's Missing | Case details). However, the height measurement, along with the difference in the clothing/scar descriptions, don't lend an incredible amount of credence to this theory.

There's only one missing person exclusion listed on John Doe's profile: Raymond Irwin Hodgkins (The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)), who went missing in May of 1990 while fishing about 25 miles off the coast of Maine.
 
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  • #6
It confuses me how they estimated the PMI as 5 weeks but he was wearing an insulated suit which would be 0dd to be wearing in July.
 
  • #7
Someone lost their husband or father here. I wish this gentleman could be identified, and am surprised he hasn't after all this time.
He obviously left home to do his thing, and never came back. How sad for his family.
 
  • #8
It confuses me how they estimated the PMI as 5 weeks but he was wearing an insulated suit which would be 0dd to be wearing in July.

Yes, agreed. Plus they stated he was 'partially skeleltonized' which I'm not sure would happen in just 5 weeks, would it? Or would that be possible as he was in the ocean?

He may have been frozen in ice for sometime and not released into the ocean until the ice melted in the warmer months.....
 
  • #9
It confuses me how they estimated the PMI as 5 weeks but he was wearing an insulated suit which would be 0dd to be wearing in July.

This area is rather far north.

Working outdoors in the morning or evening, or being out on the ocean, could easily explain insulated coveralls IMHO.

Wearing a cotton shirt does point to spring or summer, I would expect a wool sweater otherwise.

Would also expect someone is missing this gentleman!

jmho ymmv lrr
 
  • #10
  • #11
I live in Nova Scotia on the Bay, so across from Maine where the body was found.

The UID sounds Canadian, but if so, I’m surprised they haven’t identified him yet. I wonder if he was a migrant fisher, or unfortunately part of illegal boating activity. (Drug smugglers were caught recently in our waters.)

A story about to what lengths the RCMP have gone to identify found remains in the Bay:

“Five years after his father had disappeared in the Bay of Fundy, the RCMP knocked on Michael Orde’s door.

There, at his home in Digby, N.S., they explained that a boat fishing off the New Brunswick coast had pulled up some bones in its catch.

The remains were from the same waters where the scallop dragger carrying Orde’s father and three other men had gone down back in 2010….

…Orde gave the RCMP their DNA sample, thinking that maybe, at long last, he’d be able to get some closure. But then the results came back: The recovered remains belonged to two other crew members of the RLJ: Corey Leblanc and Bryden Orde.

He should have been disappointed. His father’s remains were still lost to the sea. Instead, what he felt was strange. It was relief.” ‘I really, really hope they find the bodies’: East Coast fishing tragedy stirs memories for man who lost his father at sea a decade ago
 
  • #12
A man's adult height of 5'3" - 5'4" would be common in the Canadian Maritime Provinces.

My step-mom is from Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, the people are small.

(Think Shetland pony if that helps.)

jmho ymmv lrr
 
  • #13
A man's adult height of 5'3" - 5'4" would be common in the Canadian Maritime Provinces.

My step-mom is from Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, the people are small.

(Think Shetland pony if that helps.)

jmho ymmv lrr

I’m from Toronto and I’m female, 5’8”. I have noticed that the older (80-ish) fishers here tend to be shorter than me, but most people seem average height, imo. But, I’m not familiar with Glace Bay.

ETA: I had to google search for Glace Bay, it’s in Cape Breton, 6 hours northeast of where I am.
C7F6F4E5-F886-4763-A342-065F0488A0CA.png
I’ve heard it’s very beautiful there.
 
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  • #14
OH my. Snowmobile operator who fell through the ice?

I donno. Would a snowmobile operator wear black rubber knee-high boots with red soles, "Made in Czechoslovakia"? It seems to me that they would wear insulated snow boots. The rubber boots sounds more like fishing boots.

Perhaps the man was lost at sea while fishing. But who knows, it is such a mystery.
 
  • #15
Body found off Maine coast still a mystery after 27 years

"All police know about the man, is that he stood about 5’3” or 5’4”, had a “stocky” build and short, dark hair, and was between 40 and 50 years old when he died. The medical examiner’s office also determined the man had at one point had surgeries to repair a hernia and to have his spleen removed."

Short and stocky with dark hair. Sounds Mediterranean in origin......Italian, Greek, Lebanese, Turkish etc.

Also, if he had these surgeries, I'm guessing they were performed in Canada, and not the U.S. (Would a fisherman be able to afford healthcare and surgeries in the USA?)

He would've been born in the 1940s or early 1950s and his family probably emigrated to Canada after WWII.

Just my musings, thoughts and opinions...
 
  • #16
I’m from Toronto and I’m female, 5’8”. I have noticed that the older (80-ish) fishers here tend to be shorter than me, but most people seem average height, imo. But, I’m not familiar with Glace Bay.

ETA: I had to google search for Glace Bay, it’s in Cape Breton, 6 hours northeast of where I am.
View attachment 311567
I’ve heard it’s very beautiful there.

Step-mom is somewhere between 70 & 80 years old...Glace Bay residents may very well be taller now.

(OT: are you a Great Big Sea fan? We love their music!)
 
  • #17
  • #18
  • #19
Ive noticed quite a bit of updates on Maine UIDs this past week. Hoping they are getting DNA on file for more of their cases.
Oh, good news. Hopefully, that is the case.

Thank you.
 
  • #20
Could someone post the photos of the clothing recovered (which aren't in namus file) but apparently on the news article link in the thread? When I access the link I'm immediately led into a login page. Thanks!

Body found off Maine coast still a mystery after 27 years
 

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