Feb. 6, 1955 Los Angeles John Doe

Cleaned up PM picture of the man

On February 6, 1955 a man was found floating in MacArthur Park Lake in Los Angles. He was dead, and there was no identification found on his body. He was a white male between the ages of 50 to 65 years old. He was 5'7" and 170 lbs. He had grey hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a blue serge double breasted suit, and a two-tone blue plaid cotton sport shirt, maroon socks, and brown oxfords.

I  somewhat cleaned up the postmortem picture of the John Doe as he seemed to have some injuries.

SOURCES:
https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/51326/details

Disappearance of Noel Elijah Davis

On November 1, 1915 16 year old Noel Elijah Davis left his home in Reno, Nevada to go visit  his older sister Irene. Irene and her husband lived in the San Fransico Bay area in California. At the time The World Fair was in town, which was lasting from Feb. 20 to Dec. 4.  Noel never arrived and there is no clue in what had happened to him.

Noel was a 16 year old white male. He was 5'9" and around 150 lbs. He had brown eyes and black hair.

SOURCES:
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/24522/details
http://trackmissing.org/Cases/Details/117

Murder of Danny Dewey

Danny Dewey and his brothers grew up going from home to home after their mother died when Danny was 6. It was rough for them, but it was a life they became accustomed to. In May of 1979 on the same day his older brother graduated it was the same day they'd last see each other. The two had become homeless as the people they were living with were moving. So when he and brother exchanged goodbyes at a bus station in Dayton,Texas it was the last time they'd see each other.

On November 12, 1979 hunters found the body of the 17 year old in the St. Helen Parish Woods in Greensburg, Louisiana. He'd been hogtied with his hands and feet behind his back, and rope ran from his hands and feet to his neck. When he struggled it would tighten the rope and strangle him to death.

Danny had been left unidentified until 2008 when his fingerprints were put in the system and he was identified. His family believed he was alive and well with his own family. They'd never thought he would had been dead let alone had died just a few months after they last saw him. 

There were two other cases in the area where young men with similar looks had been killed the same way Danny had been. Danny Turcotte (22) and Raymond Richardson (17). I couldn't find much information on the other two. 

SOURCES:

http://abc13.com/archive/6289006/

http://www.foxnews.com/story/2008/08/07/louisiana-trooper-solves-nearly-30-year-cold-case.html

http://unidentified.wikia.com/wiki/Danny_Dewey

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/28230406

https://www.websleuths.com/forums/threads/la-daniel-dewey-17-greensburg-17-nov-1979.35595/

John Wayne Gacy's Unidentified Victims

John Wayne Gacy is a serial killer that hunted in Illinois near his Norwood Park Township home. He was best known as the "Killer Clown" as he was. His known victims were between the ages of 14 and 21 years old. Gacy conned the boys into his home promising job opportunities or promising runaways and prostitutes money in exchange for sex.  The boys may have been picked up from bus stations. He would trick the boys into a handcuff trick and once they were handcuff he would sexually assault and murder them.  6 of these boys have been murdered. All six were found on Gacy's property. The based time of death is estimated by how identified victims were buried near, on top or underneath them. All of them died between 1972 and 1978.

Body 28

Body 28 may possibly be Gacy's second victim based on where Gacy claimed to burry his second victim. He was a white male between the ages of 14 and 18 years old. He was around 5'9", and had brown hair. He has a probably healed fracture of his upper right arm. He was wearing blue jeans, shirt, underwear and socks, which were deteriorated. Was wearing a plain silver ring on left hand.  Estimated probable time of death is between January 3, 1972 to July 31, 1975.

SOURCES:

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/954umil.html

https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/11006

 Body 5 possible name Greg

It is possible that Body 5's real name or nickname may have been Greg. He was found with a key fob with the name Greg on it. He was a white male between the ages of 22 to 32. He was around 5'9" and had brown hair. He was wearing a light colored long sleeve shirt or jacket, dark colored trousers, and a leather belt with a buckle. The estimated possible time for this doe is between January 20 1976 to March 15, 1977.


SOURCES:
http://unidentified.wikia.com/wiki/Body_5
https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/10994
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/958umil.html

Body 26

Body 26 was a white male between 23 and 30 years old. He was around 5'4" and had  dark brown to black hair. His two upper front teeth were missing and he wore partial dentures. No clothes found on body. Estimated probable death is between June 13, 1976 to August 6, 1976.

SOURCES:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/956umil.html
https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/11004
http://unidentified.wikia.com/wiki/Body_26

Body 21

Body 21 was a white male between 15 and 24 years old. He was around 5'10" and had light brown hair. Body 21 didn't have an estimated probable death. 

SOURCES:

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/962umil.html

https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/11000

Body 13

Body 13 is a white male between 18 and 22 years old. He was around 6'1" and had dark brown almost black hair. One of his front teeth is displaced behind the other. He may have been suffering from a toothache at the time. Probable estimated death is between August 6, 1976 to October 5, 1976

SOURCES:

https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/10999

http://www.missingkids.org/poster/NCMU/1322532

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/955umil.html

Body 10

Body 10 belonged to a white male between the ages of 17 and 21 years old. He was 5'7" to 5'9" and his weight, hair and eye color are undetermined. He had a healed left clavicle fracture. He's at least seen a dentist as he does have a few fillings. He had two reddish colored socks and Jockey underwear. The estimated probable time of death is March 15, 1977 to July 5, 1977. 

SOURCES: 

http://unidentified.wikia.com/wiki/Body_10?li_source=LI&li_medium=wikia-footer-wiki-rec

https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/10998

http://www.missingkids.org/poster/NCMU/1184583

John Wayne Gacy the "Killer Clown"

John Wayne Gacy was born on March 17, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois. He was a Chicago area construction worker and was even a clown performer for kids parties called "Pogo the Clown".He was well liked by people in the community and most never would had suspected he was the reason boys were going missing in the Cook County, Illinois. No one expected him to be the monster he became.

Gacy was born to a blue collar family in Chicago, Illinois. Growing up Gacy had a troubled childhood. His father was a drunk who would beat the family with a razor strap if he believed they were misbehaving. Gacy also had issues coming to terms with his bi-sexuality.

Gacy was also isolated at school because of his congenital heart disease. He couldn't play with the other kids like he wanted. Even though Gacy was tested to be highly intelligent he had dropped out of high school.

After her dropped out of high school he moved to Las Vegas and became a janitor for a mortuary for a while before moving back to Chicago. When he returned he went to business school. After graduation his first job included management trainee for a Nunn Bush Shoe Company where within a year he excelled and managed a clothing store in Springfield, Illinois.

In 1966 He married his 1st wife and began to work for his father in law in Iowa. He began a family with his then wife. In 1968 Gacy was convicted of sodomizing a male employee. His wife filed for divorce. Upon hearing this he told his wife that her and the children were dead to him.

 He was sentenced 10 years in prison, but only spent 18 months . He was paroled in 1970 and moved back to Chicago to become a contractor and started his own construction business. In February of  1971 he was charged in the attempted rape of a young man. The young man didn't show up to court and the charges were dropped. In middle of the 1970's two more men accused him of rape.

By 1975 Gacy was married to his second wife. He had told her that he was bi-sexual and was going to stop having sex with her. She'd find homosexual magazines, and he'd bring home boys to his garage. In 1976 she took her two daughters and divorced Gacy. The two never had children together.

On December 11, 1978 15 year old Robert Piest had disappeared. He'd told his mother he was going to visit Gacy for some job opportunities. When he didn't return home. On December 21 police searched Gacy's home in Norwood Park Township, Illinois.

Gacy knowing that soon they will discover his secret admitted he killed 33 boys. He tried to claim that he had multiple personalities and one of the other personalities did it.

He sat on death row for 12 of the 21 life sentences.

He claimed to have dumped his last 5 bodies in the Des Plains River as he was running out of space in the crawlspace.

Gacy died on May 10, 1994 from lethal injection.

The Murders:

Gacy was considered "charming" and would tell boys that he had job opportunities or would pick up young prostitutes or runaways with the promise of money in exchange for sex. He would often pick up the boys from bus stations. His known victims ages range from 14 to 21 years old. Out of the 33 victims 6 still remain unidentified by July of 2018.

 Once he got the boys in his home he would trick the boys into trying a handcuff trick in which he would subdue the boys, sexually assault, torture, and murder them. At least 5 of the boys worked at Gacy's business.  A few made it out alive, but 33 didn't.

Gacy's first murder happened in 1972 where he'd stabbed to death teenager Tim McCoy. His next murder happened two years later in 1974 he killed an unidentified victim. Even though he stabbed his first victim, he chose to strangle the rest. By 1976 Gacy was already connected to two boys who he claimed to have runaway. The family's suspected Gacy of hurting them, but there was no evidence of it.

After Gacy's wife divorced him in 1976 he called them the "cruising years" as he was able to bring the boys home without worrying. That he was free to hunt for victims and this was when a majority of victims were killed.

SOURCES:
https://www.biography.com/people/john-wayne-gacy-10367544
http://murderpedia.org/male.G/g1/gacy-john-wayne.htm
https://www.historicmysteries.com/john-wayne-gacy/
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/07/24/john-wayne-gacy-victim-reconstructions-released-by-authorities.html
https://www.thoughtco.com/john-wayne-gacy-the-killer-clown-973164
http://crimemagazine.com/boy-killer-john-wayne-gacy

Disappearance Catherine Lynne Sjoberg

     

On June 5, 1974 Oconomowoc High School in Concord, Wisconsin was having prom. The prom was being held at Concord House dance hall on an Interstate 94 interchange. 16 year old Catherine "Cathy"  Lynne Sjoberg was attending the prom. During the early hours of June 5 around 3 a.m. She had a fight with her boyfriend. She stepped outside to take a breather and was never seen again.

Her friends assumed she had gone home and her parents assumed she'd gone and stayed the night with one of her friends like she planned. Her mother didn't realize she was missing till the next day. Her mother believes that she wouldn't had run away. She had many things she was looking forward to that were coming up. She was going to hand out Flyers at her high school for commencement the day after her disappearance and she was the maid of honor to a wedding. Her mother claimed it was unlikely she would skip out on these. 

Six years later a couple was abducted from Concord House and their bodies found in the woods. Some believed that the cases were related, but in 2009  serial killer Edward "Wayne" Edwards was arrested for the crime. After hearing about the case his daughter turned him in after realizing he may have been involved. He then admitted to killing three other murders.

Edwards wasn't in Wisconsin at the time of  Cathy's disappearance.

She wasn't wearing clothes that was convenient for running away. She was wearing a light blue formal gown with pink and brown trim and white flowers, a corsage, a gold pin, a gold necklace, and high heeled shoes.

She's a white female and was 16 at the time f her disappearance. He has brown hair and green eyes. She was 5'5" and 120 lbs. Her ears are pierced and had previously broke a collarbone. She has a freckled complexion and high cheek bones.

SOURCES:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1311dfwi.html
http://charleyproject.org/case/catherine-lynne-sjoberg
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/01/10/serial-killers-daughter-reveals-how-turned-him-in-to-police.html

Disapearance of Sigmund Myers

Sigmund Myers or Sig as he was known by family and friends disappeared in 1920 from Portland, Oregon. His family claims they believe this is the last year anyone had seen him. He would had been 44 years old at the time and was a white male. It was estimated he was 5'9" and around 165-175 lbs. These are estimates though.

SOURCES:
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/25633/details
http://www.missingin.org/reg9786/sigmund_myers.htm

May 12, 1915 Colton, California John Doe

On May 12, 1915, a Rancher happened to take a walk off the road 2 miles outside of Colton, California. The rancher saw a man hanging from a willow tree on the banks of the Santa Ana River bottom. It was initially believed to have been a man who disappeared earlier in the month, but it was not. It was obvious that foul play was not involved and the man had committed suicide. He had been dead for weeks.

He was a white male between 40 and 60 years old. He was around 5'11" and 160 lbs. He had slightly balding chestnut brown hair and a dark sandy mustache. He may have walked with a limp as a heavy hickory walking stick was found with him.

There were no clothes described that he was described as wearing. The ones described were hanging on the tree. Which was a "Ransom & Salsbee" tan raincoat/ overcoat, a "Joske Bros. Co Department Store" and a shirt with a collar and tie. Both the jacket and hat were from San Antonio, Texas.

(The namus page lists him found on May 13, 1915, but a newspaper from May 12 listed the finding of the body happening earlier on the 12th.)

SOURCES:
San Bernadino News May 12, 1915

NamUs

Disapearance of Mary Agnes Moroney

The kidnapping of 2 year old Mary Agnes Moroney made headlines across America in 1930.

In 1930 Mary's parents were desperate for help. They were pregnant with their third child and in need of help. They placed an ad in the social worker column. They thought their prayers were answered when Julia arrived and helped them out with food and needed items. The woman claimed her name was Julia Otis and was sent by a Mrs. Henderson to help.

On May 15, 1930, Julia Otis came back to their home in Chicago, Illinois. The parents, of course, welcomed the woman into their home.

When Julia stated she wanted to buy a new dress for two-year-old. They allowed her to take Mary to what they thought was just to the corner store. The couple began to worry that the two didn't come back and the next day when they received a letter from "Julia Otis" they knew they'd never see her again.

In the letter, it stated that Julia was taking Mary to California and the parents could spare a couple of months without her. Two weeks later she sent another letter pretending to be a cousin of the name of "Alice Henderson" saying she was mourning the loss of her own child and was "love-hungry". The story hit the news quick, but Mary was never found. Two months later on July 11, 1930, her little sister was born. The two never got to meet.

Mary was a 2-year-old white female at the time. She had blonde hair and blue eyes. She was 3 ft and 20 lbs. She had a strawberry birthmark on her face and a scar on her stomach from a hernia. It's noted she was left-handed also.

Mar have been raised as "Julia Otis's" daughter and has no idea she'd been kidnapped.

SOURCES:
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21880167/mary_agnes_moroney/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21880149/mary_agnes_moroney/
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/14705/details
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/3031dfil.html
http://charleyproject.org/case/mary-agnes-moroney

Disappearance of Gerald Clifford Bartlett

Image of him as a child

Gerald Clifford Bartlett who also went by "Cliff or Dutch" was last known (by census record) to be in Devil's Lake, North Dakota in July of 1925. There isn't much known about the case. Cliff was 21 years old at the age and was a white male. He was around 5'8"-6" and around 150- 200 lbs. He had Strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes.

The original photo

SOURCES:
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/24452

Elijah Gersham Cravens

In 1902 Elijah Gersham Cravens was a farmer who lived outside of Okmulgee, Oklahoma. He had left on horse back to go to a 'Woodmen of the World' meeting. He was never seen again and little is known about his case. He may have been around 30 to 40 years a possible birthday for him was  10/20/1867 which would had made him 35 if that was correct.

SOURCES:
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/9137/attachments

Murder of Kerby R. Acosta

On July 13, 1997, 17-year-old Kerby Acosta was hanging out with his friends in Denver, Colorado. He and his friends were standing around the 4500 Mariposa St. An unknown vehicle with several people inside drove by the group and used a shotgun to shoot into the group. Kerby was hit and died at the scene. It's believed that the shooting may be gang-related.

SOURCES:
https://apps.colorado.gov/apps/coldcase/casedetail.html?id=447
http://www.unresolvedhomicides.org/victim/acosta-kerby-r/

Just a Game of Bride-and-Seek

A bride and groom were very young and had large and lavish wedding in the backyard of their now mansion. Many people came and not a single one thought that this was wrong. To the couple the wedding had gone perfectly.

With lots of celebrating and dancing after the reception like most events people started to leave. When about 20 people were left the young bride had gotten an idea. A game of hide and seek would be a perfect way to end the night. The groom was picked a the seeker and the bride quickly hid.

The groom started to become aggravated as he had found everyone else but not her. He was thinking she'd played a prank on her. People searched and searched for her with no avail. No one could find her, it was as if she had vanished. People had eventually went home giving up and the groom reported his bride missing.

The groom spent years being heart broken and living alone in the big mansion. wondering through the halls he wondered why his bride left him and he wondered what it would be like if she'd had stayed.

One day he had decided to go and clean the attic. While up there he notices an oak chest. He decides to open it. It had taken a bit of struggle, but he'd gotten it open.  He found something he never thought he would find. Inside the chest was the corpse of his bride.

On that day she had snuck inside to hide knowing that her groom would be searching for her outside. When she had gotten to the attic she found the oak chest and the lid hit her head and closed. The old rusted joints and lock had prevented her from opening it back up. The large house prevented people from hearing her screams. She'd died from suffocation soon after.

ABOUT THE URBAN LEGEND:

Even though the story is told like it had happened in modern times the urban legend has been around since the early 1800's. It's said that it had first been mentioned in a German news paper in 1809. Later in 1823 Samuel Roberts wrote Ginevra which retold the tale. Then it was written into a Ballad called Mistletoe Bride Ballad. It isn't known if the tale was ever true, but it is one that's lasted for a long time.

SOURCES:
https://www.thoughtco.com/bride-and-seek-the-missing-bride-3299076
https://www.thoughtco.com/the-mistletoe-bough-3299077
http://www.pitlanemagazine.com/cultures/bride-and-seek.html
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/bride-and-go-seek/

Feb 3, 1989 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Dallas Doe

On February 3, 1989, The body of a young man was found along Cobbs Creek Parkway in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He had been a victim of a homicide and had been dead for up to two days.  Through investigation, they've found that the young man was going by the name "Dallas" and was probably from New York.

He was an African American man around the ages of 17 to 21 years old. He had black hair that was medium length Jheri curls. He was around 5'09" and 139 lbs. He had a homemade tattoo of the letters "HB" in a hearts and with an arrow through it with the H and B separated by the arrow. His upper left lateral was missing and was replaced with a partial dental plate with acrylic teeth with no clasps. He also had a gold upper tooth that would have been noticeable to others.

He was wearing a blue denim jacket with a denim shirt with matching pants that had leather around the pockets trim and collar, Blue Travel Fox brand sneakers, and white socks with blue horizontal stripes.

Dentals and Fingerprints are available.
SOURCES:
https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/16505
http://www.missingkids.org/poster/NCMU/1184584/1/screen
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2484umpa.html

Who was the well loved Leather Man?

In the 1860s there was a man who would make a round of every 34 days to visit the same homes. He would travel around 365-mile walk from Connecticut to New York. He went through towns like Danbury, New Fairfield, Watertown, Middletown, and Canaan into Westchester, New York then back to Danbury. Typically this trip would take around 34 days. He would stay in caves and visit homes he was welcomed to for food. Some of these homes he would visit for more than 25 years.

Now, what was the name of this mysterious traveler?

No one knows. People had noted him for his unique fashion and called him Leather Man since he wouldn't say his name. He wore clothes that were stitched together pieces of leather made from old boot tops. He would wear this outfit all year round even during the summer. It was estimated that his jacket alone weighed 60 lbs.

He would not hunt or fish on someone's land without permission. He also kept the caves on his path neat with a pine bough or leaf bed. He would have wood stocked up for the next visit. He preferred to sleep in the caves rather than in people's homes. People were generous and would give the man tobacco, food, and pennies. In some towns, school was let out for Leather Man day so that the children could visit with him and give him pennies.

It seemed that he was fluent in French and spoke broken English. He would mostly talk in grunts and movement. When people were to ask him personal questions it seemed that he would avoid questions and leave the conversation. He carried around with him a bible written in French. It could be possible he was French Canadian or just French.

After a bad winter in 1888, the Leather Man began to have a growth on his lip. Which turned out to have been cancer. He didn't get treated or help with the growth and in 1889 the Leather Man was found dead in one of the caves in Ossining New York.

There have been many theories on who he was. But for the most part, the theories are tales spun to give him some sort of background. None of them have been proven to be true.

Another mystery appeared in 2011 when the grave of Leather Man had been dug up. Other than a few nails there was nothing in the coffin. Leather Man's body wasn't in the grave and no one knows where it had gone.
 
SOURCES:

Historic Mysteries

The Leather Mans Loop

New England Today

Murder of Lynda Lea Avery

On July 6, 1987 35 year old Lynda Lea Avery was found in the basement of her Aurora, Colorado home. She had been brutally murdered. She'd been stabbed several times and her throat was slashed several times. At the time she was living by herself because her sister and brother in law moved to Washington State.

It was found that around the time of her death she was dating someone named "Steve". She was also frequenting bars in Denver and Glendale, but that night no one could pinpoint where she was and who she was with. Witnesses could not be found.

SOURCES:
https://apps.colorado.gov/apps/coldcase/casedetail.html?id=274001