VA VA - Hampton, WhtMale 56-58, UP50445, poss name "Yulgen Bestmann" from Germany, Dec'17

[snowgoose]

Warning: postmortem photo as main picture on NamUs page The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Date Body Found: December 6, 2017
Location Found: Hampton, Virginia 23669
ME/C Case Number: T2017-81932
Race / Ethnicity: White / Caucasian
Sex: Male
Possible First Name: Yulgen
Possible Last Name: Bestmann
Estimated Age Group: Adult - Pre 60
Estimated Age Range (Years): 56-58
Estimated Year of Death: 2017
Estimated PMI: Hours
Estimated Height: 5' 7" (67 inches), Measured
Weight: 131 lbs, Measured
Hair Color: Gray or Partially Gray
Eye Color: Blue

Distinctive Physical Features:
UP had no surgical scars and no tattoos.

Clothing: burgundy "Red Skins" jacket with brown gloves in pocket; gray sweat pants; black sweat shirt; blue plaid button-up shirt; yellow t-shirt; black "Sports" shoes

Circumstances of Recovery:
Victim is homeless and was found dead in a chair in a shed of a friend's home in Hampton, Virginia. The friend knew the victim for about two years, knew him as Yulgen Bestmann from Germany. Victim was known to sleep in the shed. Victim had no identification.
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I wonder if anyone who speaks German can help with this guy. "Yulgen" doesn't sound like a normal German name, and I wonder if the friend or the police officer misheard Jurgen or something similar. Maybe that's why he hasn't been identified yet.

He may have been using a fake name, but it's probably true that he was from Germany or a German-speaking country, because it would be hard to fake a German accent in front of your friend for two years.

Are there any German-language missing persons websites to search?

 

[ninetimesfifteen]

Maybe Jürgen? I don't think Yulgen is a German name.

 

[snowgoose]

Yeah, that's what I speculated above (although I didn't know how to add the umlaut!)

 

[Susikatze]

I am a native German speaker. There is no such name as Julgen. He was probably Jürgen, but I dont remember any missing Jürgen Bestmanns.

 

[noodlefreak]

It is true that there is no such a name. Here is the list for missing persons for Germany on the Doe network. Europe Missing Persons
German language is ofcourse spoken in Austria, Belgium, Luxemburg and Lichtenstein.
For someone in US is maybe easier to be remembered as the German

 

[Warwick1991]

The first name might also be Eugen. I have found the surname listed in some WWII material on the SS.

 

[noodlefreak]

Bestmann in the german language also means, an experienced sailor, someone that could replace the captain of a ship but doesnt have the title of a captain. Although the word is not used today.. Could it be a nickname?

 

[noodlefreak]

The Doe Network: Gerard Pelzer - 297DMDEU
It is really hard to compare a Post mortem photo and a photo taken over 40 years ago.
This man was last seen in Germany. The age fits. There are very few information but he could be at the time of his disappearence in a US Air base in Germany... A wild scenario..

 

[Susikatze]

Bestmann in the german language also means, an experienced sailor, someone that could replace the captain of a ship but doesnt have the title of a captain. Although the word is not used today.. Could it be a nickname?

Not a nickname. Actually ive never heard of that word as sailor. It is very specific sailor language and not used commonly unless you are a captain.

 

[Susikatze]

If the friend remembere the name correctly, we can pretty safely assume that Jürgen Bestmann was indeed the UIDs name. Bestmann is too specific to be made up randomly plus UID had no reason to conceal his identity.

The problem is that LE agencies in Germany hardly ever release missing person reports to the public. And Jürgen was likely never even reportes missing. He emigrated to the US and disappeared into the homeless scene for years. If he has relatives, they would probably not even expect any contact if he was homeless such a long time.
Only chance we have is checking visa/immigration registers for a Jürgen Bestmann emigrating to the US at some point before 2015 (the friend said he spent 2 years with him on the street, but I guess Jürgen was already homeless for some time when they met).
Those records are not public and also it would be a bit of a needle in a haystack. But really the only way to find his ID.

 

[annpats]

I wonder how long he's been in the US? He didn't have any German or US based identification, so even if he had the money and wanted to go home, no passport. Although he must've had one to come over in the first place.
He really had no bag of belongings or any papers etc at all? Just what he was wearing?!?
And to die in a shed in winter in Virginia, must be cold and lonely.
RIP.

 

[noodlefreak]

Not a nickname. Actually ive never heard of that word as sailor. It is very specific sailor language and not used commonly unless you are a captain.

Not a nickname, you are right, but a name he made up for himself and introduced himself with it. Who could know for sure that this is his real name?

I find it also quite hard for someone to move suddenly to the US just to live on the streets. It seems like there s a long story that goes years behind until someone finds himself in this situation.

I ve been also looking into German police records and ofcourse is nothing to be found for old cases. I also looked other german speaking countries.. nothing there

 

[devertere]

there's a jürgen bestmann that was living in hamburg but he was born in 1933. i'm trying to find out if he had a son.

 

[Susikatze]

there's a jürgen bestmann that was living in hamburg but he was born in 1933. i'm trying to find out if he had a son.

Unless you are from some village, it is unusual in Germany to name a son after the father. The American "Joseph Newton Chandler III" (reference to another case, by the way) is unusual in Germany. Yes, we had XYZ senior and junior, but that is really outdated and wont really apply anymore to the decade where our Jürgen possibly was born in.

 

[devertere]

I know, I am from Austria. I was still trying to find out since Bestmann isn't that common.

 

[pol100gk]

And it could be all variations of 'Bestmann' - Bessmann, Baessmann, Baestmann etc for all you know.

 

[devertere]

Yep. I tried a few combinations on ancestry, but didn't find anything useful.

 

[pol100gk]

And it has the whiff of something made up about it. I mean, best man (not in the sense of best man at a wedding) just sounds like it is a nickname that stuck for whatever reason.

 

[coffeeandacig]

Is Yulgen, Baltic German?

 

[noodlefreak]

Is Yulgen, Baltic German?

who knows... But Yulgen is not a Russian or East European name. I know it only as surname, mostly turkish