LA LA - Belle Chasse, WhtMale 16-17, UP88342, hanged, suicide note, Feb'75 #2

[lightofmine99]

His story has a certain sad romance to it that I really believe would appeal to people.

I agree about the melancholic romance aspect of the case.

But the initial sketch where he looks like a Beatle was enough to endear the Doe to me.

 

[carbuff]

I agree about the melancholic romance aspect of the case.

But the initial sketch where he looks like a Beatle was enough to endear the Doe to me.

He reminds me so much of many of the boys I went to school with only a couple of years earlier. Idealistic, too intellectual, too good for this world.

 

[MamaSleuth5]

However, since you just mentioned Plath's the Bell Jar, my mind immediately spun to his suicide letter being in a glass jar!

RSBM This was my immediate thought too. JMO. This young man is never far from my thoughts.

 

[Ciriii57]

This was all running through my head last night and I was seriously wondering if any of the other things about the scene could be connected to these existentialist writers and poets? Was our young man heavily influenced and sort of inspired in the scene he set? I am not the guy to know, but maybe someone with more knowledge might see connections:

• Glass jar - perhaps inspired by Plath's The Bell Jar
• No shoes
• Persimmon Tree
• Isolated location (Naomi, Belle Chasse)

I wonder if there was in fact a reason for all of these things beyond just being a quiet place and protecting his letter from the damp etc?

 

[Ciriii57]

...oh and of course Valentine's Day

 

[summergirl1]

This is someone's short paper mentioning both The Bell Jar and Emile Durkheim. I didn't realize Durkheim wrote a book on suicide. Capstone Project

 

[Sweetluv]

So I have mentioned prior I believe him to be a poet. There is "confessional poetry" that was popular in the 50s, 60s, and early 70s. It was written with many sentences beginning in "I" as this young man did and was mainly about sexuality, mental health, and suicide. Not that this helps to identify him, but trying to locate what schools may have exposed him to this form of poetry writing ..or maybe a parent was a writer or studied Literature. IMO, I'm not sure about this Durkheim theory.
This young man seems like an old soul.
Side note..Sexton and Plath were two popular Confessional Poets who both died by Suicide.

So researching Sexton and Plath, I cannot find a link to Louisiana. But, there were two other Confessional Poets, Snodgrass and Lowell, who were also popular at that time. Lowell attended Louisiana University in the early 40s. IMO, this young man just liked the confessional poetry style..as the suicide note reads.. It fit his narrative of depression, suicide, and possibly sexuality. As far as the poetry of the bell jar, it has been viewed as symbolizing mental illness..suffocation, isolation, and being fragile. Very well could be symbolic for the placement of the note.

 

[Ciriii57]

You guys are all amazing with this! I have no idea about poets and literature; but to read and see these themes is amazing. So it sounds like this young man was influenced, or found solace, in certain literary genres of the time and it may even be that the specific actions and choices he took in how he ended his life and arranged his final scene may have been partly influenced by this. Maybe even representative of his own feelings.

Of course, I doubt anyone at the time picked up on that, ior if they did, they didn't mention it.

It doesn't help us identify this tragic soul; but it helps us maybe understand what he was thinking when he chose to end his life.

 

[carbuff]

If somebody has time to search back in Thread #1, there was a discussion of the potential symbolism of the persimmon tree. Among other things, Plaquemines, the name of the parish where he chose to end his life, means persimmon in the native Atakapa language.

 

[Sweetluv]

If somebody has time to search back in Thread #1, there was a discussion of the potential symbolism of the persimmon tree. Among other things, Plaquemines, the name of the parish where he chose to end his life, means persimmon in the native Atakapa language.

Good fortune and transformation from what I know...

 

[Sweetluv]

Received a reply back from FACES. There are factors as to why DNA testing has not been performed.
Records were lost during Hurricane Katrina and the Cemetery is known but there is not a marked burial plot. They are working with agencies for resolution and hope that one day, DNA testing can done.

 

[lightofmine99]

If somebody has time to search back in Thread #1, there was a discussion of the potential symbolism of the persimmon tree. Among other things, Plaquemines, the name of the parish where he chose to end his life, means persimmon in the native Atakapa language.

Is it possible they named the parish that because persimmons are so common in the area? If persimmons are just super common there then this could be a red herring and not significant.

And yes, the Persimmon is associated with transformation, hope, and good fortune, primarily in Buddhism.

 

[phantomstrider]

Received a reply back from FACES. There are factors as to why DNA testing has not been performed.
Records were lost during Hurricane Katrina and the Cemetery is known but there is not a marked burial plot. They are working with agencies for resolution and hope that one day, DNA testing can done.

I had a feeling they didn't know the exact burial spot just the cemetery he was buried in. Hopefully one day they can find out where he was buried and DNA testing can be done as that's the only way I think this gets solved.

 

[Ciriii57]

Is it possible they named the parish that because persimmons are so common in the area? If persimmons are just super common there then this could be a red herring and not significant.

And yes, the Persimmon is associated with transformation, hope, and good fortune, primarily in Buddhism.

That's what I always understood was the case, yes.

It might be worth considering what drew him to Plaquemines "Persimmon" Parish and specifically to a Persimmon tree. Or perhaps it was the name of the town "Naomi" that drew him. Or perhaps its all a big coincidence and neither have relevance! Lol

If they manage to get his DNA and it doesn't match anyone....can you imagine how frustrating that would be!! I think i would literally scream! I hope someone in his family has entered it somewhere!

 

[Romulus]

What I've always wondered...but the glass jar with the letter? Clothes? Were they preserved or lost?

 

[Ciriii57]

What I've always wondered...but the glass jar with the letter? Clothes? Were they preserved or lost?

I would love to think they are in a box somewhere...but I think they were lost.

 

[Sweetluv]

It is my belief..all is lost.

 

[carbuff]

What I've always wondered...but the glass jar with the letter? Clothes? Were they preserved or lost?

As far as we know, all the evidence was lost along with the paperwork in the Katrina floods.

 

[summergirl1]

Persimmons are a smaller tree.. the following is facts on persimmons from Louisiana..

Plants of Louisiana

Searchable database and photo gallery for the 3,200 vascular plants of Louisiana

warcapps.usgs.gov

 

[Friday Fan]

Is it possible they named the parish that because persimmons are so common in the area? If persimmons are just super common there then this could be a red herring and not significant.

And yes, the Persimmon is associated with transformation, hope, and good fortune, primarily in Buddhism.

They are common.
The name "Plaquemines," in French Creole, was derived from the Atakapa word piakimin, meaning the local fruit persimmon. The French used it to name a military post they built on the banks of the Mississippi River, as the site was surrounded by numerous persimmon trees. Eventually the name was applied to the entire parish and to a nearby bayou.

Yes, they are smaller trees and extremely slow growing. Persimmon wood is known as ebony. It is dark and very expensive. It rates up there with teak in price. It is much harder than oak. The fruit of native persimmon is extremely astringent and can cause oral injury unless completely ripe. Raccoons and possums seem to be able to tolerate the fruit better than humans. #PlantOfTheMonth: Persimmon | McClung Museum of Natural History & Culture.

There are non-astringent varieties of more edible persimmons from Asia known as "Japanese persimmon". Japanese persimmon trees are purchased from nurseries. Articles don't indicate whether the tree was native or a Japanese.
persimmon...

MOO: I just don't see a symbolism there...