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

[Baudelaire]

I checked the various projects and missing persons by state, I excluded a bunch which can't be him. Nothing close on Namus so there are about 10 to exclude from there.

Roger Merton Day? The resemblance is uncanny!!

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

I saw him, for some reason i excluded him, I'll go back and check again.

I believe that for this case there are other old cases, it is necessary to hope that new cases of disappearance will enter the Namus; I remember that Elizabeth LaMotte entered Namus only 30 years or more after her disappearance; his case was then solved by comparing her to a Jane Doe found murdered in TN; probably this boy has not yet been reported missing.

 

[Baudelaire]

I checked the various projects and missing persons by state, I excluded a bunch which can't be him. Nothing close on Namus so there are about 10 to exclude from there.

Roger Merton Day? The resemblance is uncanny!!

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

I saw him, for some reason i excluded him, I'll go back and check again.

 

[Rosegold68]

i've not read all of this thread so apologies if already mentioned

but the bed sheet? do we know anything about it? odd there was no rucksack but he would have travelled with no shoes (unless pulled off by wild animals ) a jar and a bulky bedsheet

what size sheet?

 

[Romulus]

I checked the various projects and missing persons by state, I excluded a bunch which can't be him. Nothing close on Namus so there are about 10 to exclude from there.

I didn't understand: do you think it could be him or not?

 

[Diavola]

Was the graveyard just left a mess after the hurricane? Did they try to find and rebury any bodies at all?

Also, I wonder if LE would be willing to release the suicide note in its entirety, I mean, what do they have to lose at this point?

 

[Arz]

Was the graveyard just left a mess after the hurricane? Did they try to find and rebury any bodies at all?

Also, I wonder if LE would be willing to release the suicide note in its entirety, I mean, what do they have to lose at this point?

I really hope they still have it
But maybe the police station was also hit during Katrina Hurricane and the letter got destroyed?

 

[Diavola]

You're right, I didn't think of that.
Still, the main problem for this case seems to be disinterest. I wonder if some articles were to pop up, or if the local news ran the story again it would get things moving.
All this case needs for it to be solved is a name.

 

[Marilynilpa]

I’m not sure, but it’s possible I might be in a position to get him some exposure. It’s too soon for me to say more about it at this point. If this pans out, I’ll let you know.

 

[theshadow45]

Belle Chasse John Doe has been unidentified for 46 years today.

 

[BigKeyManatee]

Roger Merton Day? The resemblance is uncanny!!

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

There is a resemblance but IMO there are too many strikes against this being a match.
Roger, age 14, was last seen in Porter ME almost a year and a half before BCJD’s body was discovered over 1600 miles away in Belle Chase LA.
The age range for BCJD was estimated to be 17 at the low end, and his height was measured at 6.’ Roger Day’s height when he went missing was reported at 5’7.”
Could Roger have sprouted 5” in 17 months? Could he have traveled 1600 miles only to write a harrowing opus of a suicide note before hanging himself from a tree in Louisiana?
Anything is possible, but unfortunately I don’t think the stats are in favor of Roger Day being BCJD.

 

[Mireille]

Here is another photo of "Roger Merton Day." I can't seem to find a websleuth thread for him . How odd.

When it comes to Roger Merton Day; He might have run away and taken small jobs to get by. Other young people have done so in order to get by after they left home in mid-teens. One example being the girl who turned out to be Valentine's Doe. She had worked as dishwasher somewhere. Not saying that is anything more likely than anything else, but the world is strange and things happen.
Roger was 14 when he disappeared, in 1973 he would have been 16-17 in 1976.

I feel the drawing hints at him having a cleft in his chin. Maybe not very visible but it is there.

The newspapers list the John Doe whom committed suicide as "around 16" and 16-17.
Descriptors from the newspaper:
6 feet tall, Brown hair, Brown eyes.
Hair was longer in the front.
"He wore a puritan long-sleeve shirt with maroon designs on a yellow background; blue, arrow trousers; a brown belt, and diversely colored socks. One gray, one dark blue."

"A cleaning number DD44 was found on the trousers. A comb was the only property found in pockets."

Adding the newspaper article for reference.

A blog describes his attire as: He was wearing a maroon and yellow knit shirt, blue trousers and unmatched socks on his shoeless feet.

Another detail: A jar full of note paper lay against the tree trunk.
Seems like he had been writing and giving some thought to what he was about to do and brought things along with him .

Going by the description of the clothing in the paper, blog and drawing. it sounds like the shirt he was wearing was a button up long-sleeved shirt. Yellow with maroon stripes.

Something similar, but not quite, to these. (Could not find long-sleeved images, but if anyone does, pls post)

I had no idea what "Blue Arrow trousers were" but the result I get when googling this is a brand, as well as a style.

 

[branmuffin]

Here is another photo of "Roger Merton Day." I can't seem to find a websleuth thread for him . How odd.

When it comes to Roger Merton Day; He might have run away and taken small jobs to get by. Other young people have done so in order to get by after they left home in mid-teens. One example being the girl who turned out to be Valentine's Doe. She had worked as dishwasher somewhere. Not saying that is anything more likely than anything else, but the world is strange and things happen.
Roger was 14 when he disappeared, in 1973 he would have been 16-17 in 1976.

I feel the drawing hints at him having a cleft in his chin. Maybe not very visible but it is there.

The newspapers list the John Doe whom committed suicide as "around 16" and 16-17.
Descriptors from the newspaper:
6 feet tall, Brown hair, Brown eyes.
Hair was longer in the front.
"He wore a puritan long-sleeve shirt with maroon designs on a yellow background; blue, arrow trousers; a brown belt, and diversely colored socks. One gray, one dark blue."

"A cleaning number DD44 was found on the trousers. A comb was the only property found in pockets."

Adding the newspaper article for reference.

A blog describes his attire as: He was wearing a maroon and yellow knit shirt, blue trousers and unmatched socks on his shoeless feet.

Another detail: A jar full of note paper lay against the tree trunk.
Seems like he had been writing and giving some thought to what he was about to do and brought things along with him .

Going by the description of the clothing in the paper, blog and drawing. it sounds like the shirt he was wearing was a button up long-sleeved shirt. Yellow with maroon stripes.

Something similar, but not quite, to these. (Could not find long-sleeved images, but if anyone does, pls post)

I had no idea what "Blue Arrow trousers were" but the result I get when googling this is a brand, as well as a style.

It's possible that the descriptor, puritan style shirt, meant it was loose fitting with full billowy sleeves, similar to a pirate style shirt. They were quite popular in the seventies and the fairly loud colour combination also would be bang on, too. Did you find out if the shirt manufacturer Arrow, also made pants? Doesn't seem likely, imo, maybe the word arrow is referring to a slim narrow style rather than the wide legged bellbottom pants that were popular back then. Usually, style wise, if you wore a big, loose fitting top you went with a slim silhouette below and vice versa: fitted top, loosely fitted pant. That fashion commandment is still in vogue today.

Also puritan style could refer to a rounded bib-like collar similar to the lace that Ruth Bader Ginsberg always wore with her robe.

I wonder if the cleaning tag DD44 referred to a commercial dry cleaning store or if it was a permanent tag used to identify clothing worn by a patient at a psych hospital. The sheet may have been a single sheet from a hospital bed.

 

[carbuff]

Puritan is the name of a Cape Cod clothing chain. They've been around since 1919. Article about their history: Hundred Years and Going Strong: Puritan Cape Cod

I don't know whether they sold clothing under their own name, though since they did tailoring and bespoke suits, they probably did.

There was also a Puritan line sold by Walmart. I think it's been discontinued and I don't know how far back it goes.

 

[Mireille]

It's possible that the descriptor, puritan style shirt, meant it was loose fitting with full billowy sleeves, similar to a pirate style shirt. They were quite popular in the seventies and the fairly loud colour combination also would be bang on, too. Did you find out if the shirt manufacturer Arrow, also made pants? Doesn't seem likely, imo, maybe the word arrow is referring to a slim narrow style rather than the wide legged bellbottom pants that were popular back then. Usually, style wise, if you wore a big, loose fitting top you went with a slim silhouette below and vice versa: fitted top, loosely fitted pant. That fashion commandment is still in vogue today.

Also puritan style could refer to a rounded bib-like collar similar to the lace that Ruth Bader Ginsberg always wore with her robe.

I wonder if the cleaning tag DD44 referred to a commercial dry cleaning store or if it was a permanent tag used to identify clothing worn by a patient at a psych hospital. The sheet may have been a single sheet from a hospital bed.

I did wonder about that myself. However, on the drawing you see that they have drawn a striped button up shirt of sorts. I do get that result as well when I google the puritan shirt stuff. So I am thinking it might be a brand, the line by walmart most likely? Will have to look into it further.

""Puritan" was a brand for men's basic clothing, including shirts, pants, undergarments, socks, ties, and some accessories. In late 2010, the brand was phased out completely and replaced by Faded"

I found some "Puritan" clothing on ebay, dating back, allegedly to the 60s


I found a small info snippet here
Link was provided by Walmart.

During the 1960s, Warner Brothers continued to grow through acquisition and merger. It purchased the popular Puritan and Thane brands in 1964, and then bought out White Stag.........

 

[branmuffin]

Puritan is the name of a Cape Cod clothing chain. They've been around since 1919. Article about their history: Hundred Years and Going Strong: Puritan Cape Cod

I don't know whether they sold clothing under their own name, though since they did tailoring and bespoke suits, they probably did.

There was also a Puritan line sold by Walmart. I think it's been discontinued and I don't know how far back it goes.

What was the general style of the shirts? I guess I was waaay off on my theory!

 

[branmuffin]

Puritan is the name of a Cape Cod clothing chain. They've been around since 1919. Article about their history: Hundred Years and Going Strong: Puritan Cape Cod

I don't know whether they sold clothing under their own name, though since they did tailoring and bespoke suits, they probably did.

There was also a Puritan line sold by Walmart. I think it's been discontinued and I don't know how far back it goes.

What was the general style of the shirts? I guess I was waaay off on my theory!

 

[branmuffin]

Puritan is the name of a Cape Cod clothing chain. They've been around since 1919. Article about their history: Hundred Years and Going Strong: Puritan Cape Cod

I don't know whether they sold clothing under their own name, though since they did tailoring and bespoke suits, they probably did.

There was also a Puritan line sold by Walmart. I think it's been discontinued and I don't know how far back it goes.

So just the classic style of button down shirts? I guess I was waaay off on my theory!

 

[BigKeyManatee]

Here is another photo of "Roger Merton Day." I can't seem to find a websleuth thread for him . How odd.

When it comes to Roger Merton Day; He might have run away and taken small jobs to get by. Other young people have done so in order to get by after they left home in mid-teens. One example being the girl who turned out to be Valentine's Doe. She had worked as dishwasher somewhere. Not saying that is anything more likely than anything else, but the world is strange and things happen.
Roger was 14 when he disappeared, in 1973 he would have been 16-17 in 1976.

I feel the drawing hints at him having a cleft in his chin. Maybe not very visible but it is there.

The newspapers list the John Doe whom committed suicide as "around 16" and 16-17.
Descriptors from the newspaper:
6 feet tall, Brown hair, Brown eyes.
Hair was longer in the front.
"He wore a puritan long-sleeve shirt with maroon designs on a yellow background; blue, arrow trousers; a brown belt, and diversely colored socks. One gray, one dark blue."

"A cleaning number DD44 was found on the trousers. A comb was the only property found in pockets."

Adding the newspaper article for reference.

A blog describes his attire as: He was wearing a maroon and yellow knit shirt, blue trousers and unmatched socks on his shoeless feet.

Another detail: A jar full of note paper lay against the tree trunk.
Seems like he had been writing and giving some thought to what he was about to do and brought things along with him .

Going by the description of the clothing in the paper, blog and drawing. it sounds like the shirt he was wearing was a button up long-sleeved shirt. Yellow with maroon stripes.

Something similar, but not quite, to these. (Could not find long-sleeved images, but if anyone does, pls post)

I had no idea what "Blue Arrow trousers were" but the result I get when googling this is a brand, as well as a style.

Roger Merton Day’s NAMUS page has 52 exclusions of unidentified persons, not a single one from Louisiana. It would not hurt and might help if you wanted to submit the Belle Chase John Doe as a possible match!

 

[Mireille]

Will add: one of the reasons they might have thought he was 16-17 was because they fingerprinted him and searched print databases belonging to the army and prisons. It says they looked at the end of that article I posted above.

He also had a very light facial hair. Described in another article as "fuzz".

It could be simply he was never conscripted, ran out on it, and was never arrested ?

Thoughts?

 

[carbuff]

What was the general style of the shirts? I guess I was waaay off on my theory!

Well, I don't know for sure they mean the Puritan brand, so it could still be as you suggest. But I was thinking that a shirt from a regional New England brand might connect our guy to that part of the country. Not but what millions of people from all over the world haven't vacationed on Cape Cod, so it doesn't necessarily mean anything.

I also don't know when Walmart bought out Puritan. It was a national brand by then and he could have bought it anywhere. And it looks like there might be other clothing lines that have called themselves Puritan.

p.s.

This is what I posted earlier in the thread. I don't seem to have had the decency to include my research links.
LA - LA - Belle Chasse, WhtMale, 16-17, hanged, suicide note, Feb'75