WA - Unidentified Male: "Lyle Stevik", Grays Harbor, 17 Sept 2001 - #2

WhiteWolf said:

Maybe the lack of a tan means he had been hospitalized or possibly incarcerated for the months prior to his death? Maybe he had been holed up in his house or apartment because of mental illness? Major depression seems like a given, but maybe he had more serious mental problems.

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Good questions, but if he had been in jail, they would have prints.

WhiteWolf said:

Were there any drugs, prescribed or otherwise in his system? Stomache contents?

My question about tan lines on Lyle seems important to me. He appeared rather pale to me like he hadn't been outdoors for some time. His suicide was in the middle of September, where had he been that he didn't get tanned over the summer? Were his boots in good condition?

You mentioned Lyle put a blanket over the window of his room. That seems weird unless the closet didn't have a door and he could have been seen from the outside. Weird anyway because the windows should of had blinds or curtains. Maybe he was paranoid or a paranoid schizophrenic? Maybe the lack of a tan means he had been hospitalized or possibly incarcerated for the months prior to his death? Maybe he had been holed up in his house or apartment because of mental illness? Major depression seems like a given, but maybe he had more serious mental problems.

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Perhaps he had been a troubled teenager?

Hi Gardenmom,

A bus went north from Aberdeen and a bus came down south from Port Angeles {most likely acc to CCM} and they both arrived about the same time. That time must have been close to the time he checked into the motel. That was on Friday I believe.

The maid came to the room the next day probably around check-out time as they often do, and he told her he was going to stay a few extra days. I wonder if she cleaned the room for him that day? I'm wondering, because the next day when they found his body, there were two things in the wastebasket - a newspaper and a piece of paper with the word suicide written on it.

So I'm wondering when he bought that paper and wrote that word. Were there envelopes and paper in the desk or drawer where he put his change? Did he bring the newspaper with him to the motel or go out and buy it after he got there? What was its date and which paper was it. Did it have an ad for the motel in it? Was there a place to mail the letter close by?

If there was stationary there and he mailed a letter, he was out of his room walking around after he got there. The old Amanda Park Motel and RV Park is the only motel I have found in AP, and has now been purchased and turned into the Quinalt River Inn. But I did see in the old promo for the motel that is was close to a little store and restaurant. He could have walked over there. Nobody noticed him?

The paper could tell what direction he came from. He had a slight Canadian accent, so I'm guessing he came down south from Port Angeles which would originate in Seattle, right? He could then be a Canadian indian. We could add 30-40 lbs to him and check Vancouver BC. Send that drawing to all the stores that sell furniture that are locally owned - It has only been 5 years, so someone might recognize him.

Also it would be interesting to see if there are others who look like him up in Vancouver BC. Is there a large indian population there? I think so, having watched 'Da Vinci Inquest' a lot.

Yesterday I read through the site on the missing posted here, and I did notice all the missing people from West Palm Beach Florida. I was amazed at how several of them looked very similar, and in fact went back and checked dates of discovery to make sure they were not the same person. They were different people. So maybe in certain areas the local people have a similar look. A real generalization, I know, but when my sister went to Bergen Norway, she said she saw many gals that looked almost exactly like me!

A last thought: Someone who goes to a destination to commit suicide is probably going to be quite private and not wanting to socialize. He knows what he is about to do and can't let on to others about it. So for him to go out to buy a newspaper or then mail a letter after he was checked in seems strange to me. Would he want that person receiving it to see the postmark? Not if he came from out of the area to commit suicide, IMHO.

Sometimes I think better when I'm writing! LOL



Scandi

Hi again Gardenmom,

About his belt, I just remembered that CCM said that is what he hung himself with. Acc to Steven and that suspension suicide article, the 'rope' has to be at least 3-4 times around the neck in length to work for strangulation. I'm guessing the belt was a long one if he had progressively moved up in notches to buckle it, so his belt was long enough.

The belt must have had significance for him. Are we thinking it would take a year to lose 30 lbs or so? Maybe he had been contemplating suicide for at least that amount of time and all along planned to use his belt. Maybe every time he went down a notch he thought about it, and it could be one reason he was losing weight - to make his suicide easier to accomplish. Morbid thoughts, getting ready to snuff out your life! It is kind of hard to put yourself in his place because of that.


Scandi

Was there anything special about the belt that would help trace it to a particular country or region within a country? Was it made in the USA or in another country and was it commonly sold in the USA or elsewhere or both?
Are pictures of the belt available? Was the belt of multi layer construction and if so were there any identifying marks on any of the layers? People sweat on a belt so was only his sweat,DNA, in the belt?
*************
He looks very like a transfer student I saw in my old high school a long time ago. Not the same person, just a similarity in features. I do not remember where his family was from or the last name- sorry. I will look for some similar pics on the web.
*************
Ok, the rest of this will be rank speculation and will range all over the place but I share the thoughts in hopes they might jog others to paths of thinking that might prove fruitful someday:

If the belt and pants is the only indicator we have of his weight loss then I am not yet 100 % convinced he lost weight even if it might seem probable. He might have gotten both the pants and belt from a lover. Was his shirt also way too large for him (and what about under clothing,including any possible undershirt) or was it just the pants and belt?

A belt is less likely to be given away than a pair of pants but not impossibly less likely as some people have more than one belt. But a belt and matching size pants makes it less likely that he got them from a free group and more liely that they were either his own to begin with or that he got them from one individual.
********
Then there is the possibility of a break up that turned violent and deadly with the result that the belt and pants were available without the victems permission. I could see remorse and guilt possibly causing him to use the belt of his victem to hang himself while wearing the pants of the victem. It has a sort of odd sense of justice to it. One question, and problem, in that scenario is where is the other person, the victem?
*********
If he did lose wieght was it on purpose?

Could he have lost weight to impress someone and when it did not win over the special someone or failed to help his love life then he became despondent and suicided and took his new self and his old self (via the old pants and belt) to the end at the same time?
**********
If he lost weight while indoors due to exerxise I wonder where he worked out, a college gym room on a tread mill perhaps? If he lost weight due to diet alone I would think there would be evidence of that in his heart and muscle fibers and other body parts.
**********
Out of control diabetes,alcoholism, drub abuse, depression, and hospitalization can also cause some weight loss, although so far no evidence of such condition recent to his date of death seems to have surfaced (other than the depression which led to his suicide.)
**********
Being pale means not much sun exposure so not an outdoor sports person (and also not someone who frequents a tanning salon as a customer.) and not an outdoor job. That eliminates a golf person I was looking into with the same first name.
***********
Any evidence of psych meds in his system?
***********
In meridian, at the time, there was a person of the same first name who was a CEO or main manager of a company and I wondered if he might of had a kid of the right age since 25 or so seems awfully young to be so high up in a corp. world and no mention was ever made on the company website of the head man leaving or being replaced.
***********
Interesting but unneeded side bit of info:Lyle seems to be a name fairly common in Meridian,Idaho, at least I found several instances of the name tied to the town on the internet. So, although I question whether he was ever in that town, if you judge by the frequency of use of the name alone it is possible that he not only was there once as a visitor but could have been from that town.
**********

annemc2 said:

. . . A quick Google search shows that this text was required reading at:

Community College of Philadelphia (English Dept) - May 1997
University of Florida (English Dept) - american protest writing course - fall 2000

That's all I could come up with - I'm sure there are more but it's a place to start.

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Very cool info.

docwho3 said:

Was there anything special about the belt that would help trace it to a particular country or region within a country? Was it made in the USA or in another country and was it commonly sold in the USA or elsewhere or both?
Are pictures of the belt available? Was the belt of multi layer construction and if so were there any identifying marks on any of the layers? People sweat on a belt so was only his sweat,DNA, in the belt?
*************
He looks very like a transfer student I saw in my old high school a long time ago. Not the same person, just a similarity in features. I do not remember where his family was from or the last name- sorry. I will look for some similar pics on the web.
*************
Ok, the rest of this will be rank speculation and will range all over the place but I share the thoughts in hopes they might jog others to paths of thinking that might prove fruitful someday:

If the belt and pants is the only indicator we have of his weight loss then I am not yet 100 % convinced he lost weight even if it might seem probable. He might have gotten both the pants and belt from a lover. Was his shirt also way too large for him (and what about under clothing,including any possible undershirt) or was it just the pants and belt?

A belt is less likely to be given away than a pair of pants but not impossibly less likely as some people have more than one belt. But a belt and matching size pants makes it less likely that he got them from a free group and more liely that they were either his own to begin with or that he got them from one individual.
********
Then there is the possibility of a break up that turned violent and deadly with the result that the belt and pants were available without the victems permission. I could see remorse and guilt possibly causing him to use the belt of his victem to hang himself while wearing the pants of the victem. It has a sort of odd sense of justice to it. One question, and problem, in that scenario is where is the other person, the victem?
*********
If he did lose wieght was it on purpose?

Could he have lost weight to impress someone and when it did not win over the special someone or failed to help his love life then he became despondent and suicided and took his new self and his old self (via the old pants and belt) to the end at the same time?
**********
If he lost weight while indoors due to exerxise I wonder where he worked out, a college gym room on a tread mill perhaps? If he lost weight due to diet alone I would think there would be evidence of that in his heart and muscle fibers and other body parts.
**********
Out of control diabetes,alcoholism, drub abuse, depression, and hospitalization can also cause some weight loss, although so far no evidence of such condition recent to his date of death seems to have surfaced (other than the depression which led to his suicide.)
**********
Being pale means not much sun exposure so not an outdoor sports person (and also not someone who frequents a tanning salon as a customer.) and not an outdoor job. That eliminates a golf person I was looking into with the same first name.
***********
Any evidence of psych meds in his system?
***********
In meridian, at the time, there was a person of the same first name who was a CEO or main manager of a company and I wondered if he might of had a kid of the right age since 25 or so seems awfully young to be so high up in a corp. world and no mention was ever made on the company website of the head man leaving or being replaced.
***********
Interesting but unneeded side bit of info:Lyle seems to be a name fairly common in Meridian,Idaho, at least I found several instances of the name tied to the town on the internet. So, although I question whether he was ever in that town, if you judge by the frequency of use of the name alone it is possible that he not only was there once as a visitor but could have been from that town.
**********

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Oohh- great info!!

I'm sure glad I kept a copy of the case file. It has been awhile, and I was getting some of the facts twisted. I'll give you a timeline, and answer some of your questions. Lyle arrived at the motel on Friday, 9-14 aobut 4:30 PM. Two busses arrived at the location about the same time, and neither driver was sure if he was on board their bus. Lyle paid for one nights stay. The manager described him as polite, but didn't want to talk much. She thought he looked alittle spaced. He might have had a backpack, but the manager wasn't sure. He checked into unit#8 and took a shower. He complained that it was too noisy outside, so he was moved to unit#5. Sat. 9-15 the maid came to the door. He said that he was going to stay alittle longer, didn't need the room cleaned, but could use clean towels. Later in the day, the manager saw him pacing up and down the highway. She thought he was getting some exercise. On Sun 9-16 Lyle purchases the Sunday edition of the Daily World. The maid came by, and he sent her away. On Monday 9-17 in the morning the maid knocked on the door, but received no response. She entered the room and found him praying. He didn't talk to her, and she left. She later told the manager, who entered the room after noon and found that Lyle had hung himself. (for some reason I had recalled that he had been dead longer than that). When I arrived sometime later, rigor mortis was setting in. As for the questions: there was no alcohol or drugs in his system. The coat rack wasn't in an enclosed closet, but rather a small alcove in one corner of the living room. I never closely examined the belt, I'm making arrangements to do that. It is a leather belt with a silver colored buckly and a silver colored belt tip. It has a western look to it. I don't recall seeing any stationary in the room. That should keep you busy for awhile!

coldcaseman said:

I'm sure glad I kept a copy of the case file. It has been awhile, and I was getting some of the facts twisted. I'll give you a timeline, and answer some of your questions. Lyle arrived at the motel on Friday, 9-14 aobut 4:30 PM. Two busses arrived at the location about the same time, and neither driver was sure if he was on board their bus. Lyle paid for one nights stay. The manager described him as polite, but didn't want to talk much. She thought he looked alittle spaced. He might have had a backpack, but the manager wasn't sure. He checked into unit#8 and took a shower. He complained that it was too noisy outside, so he was moved to unit#5. Sat. 9-15 the maid came to the door. He said that he was going to stay alittle longer, didn't need the room cleaned, but could use clean towels. Later in the day, the manager saw him pacing up and down the highway. She thought he was getting some exercise. On Sun 9-16 Lyle purchases the Sunday edition of the Daily World. The maid came by, and he sent her away. On Monday 9-17 in the morning the maid knocked on the door, but received no response. She entered the room and found him praying. He didn't talk to her, and she left. She later told the manager, who entered the room after noon and found that Lyle had hung himself. (for some reason I had recalled that he had been dead longer than that). When I arrived sometime later, rigor mortis was setting in. As for the questions: there was no alcohol or drugs in his system. The coat rack wasn't in an enclosed closet, but rather a small alcove in one corner of the living room. I never closely examined the belt, I'm making arrangements to do that. It is a leather belt with a silver colored buckly and a silver colored belt tip. It has a western look to it. I don't recall seeing any stationary in the room. That should keep you busy for awhile!

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:clap: thanks!!

gardenmom said:

Good questions, but if he had been in jail, they would have prints.

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Sometimes you can go unidentified and the prison's have your fingerprints- a good example of that is James Burton

I took post mortem prints and submitted them to the FBI and RCMP. The fingerprints are also in AFIS. It is possible that they weren't able to match the prints with a card on file. Just about anything is possible.

coldcaseman said:

I'm sure glad I kept a copy of the case file. . .

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I too am very glad you kept a copy of the file. Way to go!:woohoo:

coldcaseman said:

. . .He might have had a backpack, but the manager wasn't sure. . .

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Soooo was a backpack ever located in his room, or perhaps in the trash bin or . . .could he have given one to a guest,perhaps in exchange for mailing or delivering a letter, that then checked out?

coldcaseman said:

. . .On Sun 9-16 Lyle purchases the Sunday edition of the Daily World. The maid came by, and he sent her away. . .

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Anything unusual in the headlines for that day? Did it have a large personals column? Hmm I wonder if the newspaper has an online archives and if so would they go back that far? Edited to add: I am talking to myself about the archives. Guess I need to quit being lazy and go look to see if any archives exist online.

coldcaseman said:

. . .I never closely examined the belt, I'm making arrangements to do that. It is a leather belt with a silver colored buckly and a silver colored belt tip. It has a western look to it. I don't recall seeing any stationary in the room. . .

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I eagerly await the info.

No backpack, but I only searched around the motel. The daily World most probably had stories about the attacks. There was nothing unusual about his paper, it wasn't folded a certain way indicating he focused on anything in particular. He tossed it into a trash can. For what it is worth, there was a Gideon bible in the nightstand. There was a bookmark in John 12, 13, 14 (pages 1050-1051). I don't know if Lyle was the one that was reading that passage.

I don't think you'll have much luck, but you can go to thedailyworld.com. It's a small town paper, and the search field will only let you search for specific items. The original newspaper is in the Sheriffs Dept. evidence room, but I don't recall any specific articles. They don't have a large personal column. Concerning the stationery, if there was any, he used it all up. The note he wrote "for the room" on was actually a comment card.

coldcaseman said:

. . .Concerning the stationery, if there was any, he used it all up. The note he wrote "for the room" on was actually a comment card.

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But he was in two different rooms. Was the stationary looked for in his first room and if any existed in the first room was it checked for impressions?
Just a thought. We don't really know which room he might have chosen to write from.

I examined room#8, but nothing seemed amiss. I don't recall checking for stationery. I think he was only in that room for a short time. Long enough to take a shower. Earlier, someone was asking about the bedspread over the curtain. Lyle may have done that because he wanted a totally dark room when he sleeps. The window curtain wasn't totally light blocking, and there may have been ambient light coming in. I am impressed that so many people have taken an interest in this case. It is an unusual case, one I should have solved long ago.

The missing backpack is interesting in a way. If it never existed then nothing can be gained but if it did exist then one has to wonder what became of it. Did an employee of the motel get sticky fingered but was loathe to admit it? If so perhaps reinterviewing the workers (if their names are on file somewhere) after so much time has passed might pop loose that info that was not forthcoming before. (I realize that may not be feasible since this is not a murder investigation and resources would be limited.)

I was looking up Quinault to see if there is any resemblence and I found a very small group picture with someone that apears to have similar features. The problem is that the pic was very small and enlarging it made things more blurry than I wish them to be. Not saying its the same guy but just noting some facial similarities since I think it was speculated by some that he might have been native american. I chose the Quinault because of the news paper website dailyworld had listings of articles about them and it seemed to me when scanning through articles that they are nearby to the area.

I put the enlarged and cropped image up in a photo bucket album. This was cropped from a group image and his eyebrows were easily the darkest and heaviest of those in the room.
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e232/docwho3/lyle/tanf4.gif

Edited to add:
Another cropped pic I found online of same tribe but different site.
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e232/docwho3/lyle/buscom2.gif


In the meantime I will continue to look at images online.

I am impressed that so many people have taken an interest in this case. It is an unusual case, one I should have solved long ago.

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I took an interest about 2 years ago, but didn't start reading more into it last year and starting forum messages about him a few months ago

Good job Doc on the photos. You know he could be a Quinalt indian and wanted to leave this life in a location close to his ancestral roots. But there must have been something to make CCM feel he came from out of the area and wasn't local. That could be cause there is a history of people coming to Gray's Harbor to commit suicide and that he rented a room to do this. I don't know.

I had a thought about the possible backpack last night. Musing over posts, I thought who takes a shower without having clean clothes to change into. He was so presentable it only makes sense. My thought was he didn't want to leave anything in the room to trace him, so he walked over by the lake, put some rocks inside it and tossed it out into the lake where no one would ever even think of looking for it. I think he could find a perfect time to do this without being seen.

About the maid there are some thoughts. Did she see something that alerted her to something out of sinque with him when she walked in the room on Monday morning? On Sat and Sun she had come to his room and never entered it. She probably walked in on Mon morning as he didn't open the door like before. Then she had to have said something to her manager who after the check out hour of noon {I'm assuming that time as it is a common one} went over to his room and walked in to find him dead.

So he was about ready to hang himself when she walked in on him that morning. Was there something about him praying that puzzled her, or something she noticed in the room?

Also, was he kneeling with head bowed as a Moslem would do, sitting with his hands folded in prayer or were his arms up in the air and was he chanting or praying aloud or perfectly silent? It would just tell more about him to know this.

I think I know what was going on with him, although if he was going to commit suicide I have no idea why he would want to read the Sunday paper!

Maybe when it came right down to it he was having reservations and had to think it through again. Maybe that is why he was pacing up and down the Hwy, and why it took him a few days to actually get down to the act itself.

Like Doc, I'm thinking going back to square one might reveal a clue as to where he came from.

Scandi