CA CA - Farren Stanberry, 18, San Francisco, 24 Apr 1980

[alllads]

That sounds most likely, about the friend already having died, but I'm honestly a little doubtful how someone at the hotel remembered something like that about a random young man that had stayed there years previously.

 

[Odyssey]

That sounds most likely, about the friend already having died, but I'm honestly a little doubtful how someone at the hotel remembered something like that about a random young man that had stayed there years previously.

I think it's possible if the person at the hotel knew Farren was missing since the beginning. I think if someone I knew went missing, even if I was a child, I would always remember the last time I saw them or anything unique that had happened involving them...

I sent an email to Oregonian a few minutes ago, I asked for permission to copy and paste the 2 articles and explained the purpose of it, and hopefully they won't balk at it.
I will call LE back again this afternoon.

 

[alllads]

I think it's possible if the person at the hotel knew Farren was missing since the beginning. I think if someone I knew went missing, even if I was a child, I would always remember the last time I saw them or anything unique that had happened involving them...

That's true, and I suppose because it's a residential/SRO hotel it would have less of a turnover than tourist hotels, so people might stick in your memory more if you see them every day for months, than for two nights one time.

Good luck with the email and the call! Fingers crossed they are all helpful, I hope LE are able and willing to shed some light on things.

By the way, UID #3 frm 1144 Market Street has all wisdom teeth present. Fillings in teeth 3, 14, 19, and 30 (that's all 4 first molars). Also on NamUs it says that DNA sample is unavailable... Ugh...

 

[Odyssey]

That's true, and I suppose because it's a residential/SRO hotel it would have less of a turnover than tourist hotels, so people might stick in your memory more if you see them every day for months, than for two nights one time.

Good luck with the email and the call! Fingers crossed they are all helpful, I hope LE are able and willing to shed some light on things.

By the way, UID #3 frm 1144 Market Street has all wisdom teeth present. Fillings in teeth 3, 14, 19, and 30 (that's all 4 first molars). Also on NamUs it says that DNA sample is unavailable... Ugh...

Missed him again. Will try again Wednesday...

 

[wintermute]

My thoughts about #3 are that he must have been a homeless person that died in that building. And we know FS had a room at the hotel, so that's why I don't think it was him.

I agree that the UID that was found in the attic was most likely a homeless person. Though there weren’t any untreated caries/cavities and the teeth seemed to be in overall good shape, so if the man had been homeless, he hadn’t been for long. It’s also interesting that NAMUS says that the UID was wearing street clothes, but there isn’t any mention of bedding or a bag which I’d expect to find with a homeless person.
This is purely speculation, but if that UID is Farren, possibly he committed suicide in the attic of that building. When a group of young people visit SF, they very often get a shared room that has separate beds to cut costs. If Farren wanted to commit suicide, he probably couldn’t do it in the hotel room because there were other people in the same room. Maybe he wandered into the building nearby and found a secluded place to do it.

 

[Redbird]

Does anyone know if there are dental records for Farren? In considering the person found in the attic, since there is no DNA I guess the most one can compare would be dental records to see if they matched. Otherwise it does seem to be hopeless as far as this UID is concerned.

 

[wintermute]

The National Hotel is still open under the same name. When I looked up 1139 Market Street, San Francisco in Google maps Street View, I was able to see the building and the sign that reads National Hotel: <modsnip: broken image link>

 

[Odyssey]

Does anyone know if there are dental records for Farren? In considering the person found in the attic, since there is no DNA I guess the most one can compare would be dental records to see if they matched. Otherwise it does seem to be hopeless as far as this UID is concerned.

I don't think it's completely hopeless - I think it's still possible to extract DNA if they feel strongly enough about a match. I will ask about Farren's dentals when I talk to LE.

I also think it's interesting how his photos on Charley Project look so different, particularly the far left photo and the one right next to it. To me they look like different people - the nose looks wider to me on the left photo, and the eyes look bolder and hair looks much darker than the one next to it. He looks young in both photos, though, so I can't even tell which one would have been more recent...

 

[Odyssey]

I just went through all the SF City Directories from that time, trying to figure out what was at 1144 Market Street... Here's what I came up with, though it's not particularly helpful.

1960-1966: Jim's Barber Shop
1967: Vacant
1968-1982: Address is completely skipped and does not show up at all. Several addresses in these directories are listed as vacant, but 1144 isn't there at all.

National Hotel shows up at 1139 Market in all the directories, but it doesn't list the residents/guests.

Now I'm wondering if the UID might have the wrong address - there was supposed to be a building there, according to the NamUs UID file.

Strangely, in 1916, two people were found dead at 1144 Market Street when it was the Enterprise Hotel. (Not related to this case, but ironic)

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...yoiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=P6QFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4148,4336837
I also went back and looked a little deeper, and the businesses I mentioned previously as being at this address were actually pre-1940. It looks like (from google maps street view) UN Plaza is where 1144 Market would have been.

This is frustrating!

 

[alllads]

It's really strange! One of the old newspaper articles describes 1144 Market Street when it was the Enterprise Hotel as across the street from the American Theatre. The American Theatre was later renamed the Embassy Theatre, and was located at 1125 Market Street, next door to the closed but still standing Strand Theatre at 1125. So across the street from that is the corner of UN Plaza. I've emailed librarian at San Francisco Public Library (they have a form for research questions) and asked if they could find when the building was demolished and what its last registered use was.

I'm sure the building must have been where UN Plaza is now, but at least from what I can find UN Plaza was made in the 70s? There's a a company called Off The Grid that brings foodtrucks to UN Plaza, and they list the UN Plaza address as "1136-1146 Market Street", and it's true that none of the buildings in that range are standing anymore. But from what I can find UN Plaza was built in 1975?

I have found info on Caldwell Building Wreckers though, who were/are predominantly an architecture salvage company. They now deal primarily with doors.

 

[alllads]

Spoke/chatted to an extremely helpful librarian at San Francisco Public Library, they had a look in some more directories not available online and couldn't find 1144 in 1984 OR in 1974. And UN Plaza was basically completely finished by 1978, so there would really be no place to 1144 to be... I'm starting to think that either the year is wrong, or the address...

 

[Odyssey]

I just spoke with the investigator handling his case in Oregon.

He confirmed that DNA from Farren's mother was taken by the Oregon State crime lab a couple years ago. He gave me their number but I think I'm going to try going through NamUs first, they'd probably have an easier time hunting it down than I would.

He also confirmed that his office has dental records for Farren on file.

He agreed that #3 looked like a good match, and he has reached out to the San Francisco Medical Examiner, and is waiting to hear back. He sent them the copy of his dental chart.

He was very appreciative and willing to discuss the case, but he didn't have the file in front of him so he wasn't sure of the exact timeline. I did mention UID #1 (found May 30 1980) and explained that I wasn't sure whether to submit it, since I wasn't sure of when he went missing. He said he would take a look when he gets a chance and let me know if the UID works with the timeline.

So the ball is rolling on UID #3...

 

[Odyssey]

Spoke/chatted to an extremely helpful librarian at San Francisco Public Library, they had a look in some more directories not available online and couldn't find 1144 in 1984 OR in 1974. And UN Plaza was basically completely finished by 1978, so there would really be no place to 1144 to be... I'm starting to think that either the year is wrong, or the address...

Ugh... I wonder if there are building/demolition permit records online (or someone to email for access) for San Francisco. I don't have time to look right now but I will try later on tonight...

ETA: I just sent an email to Caldwell's as well... maybe it was a memorable enough experience... I figured I had nothing to lose by trying.

Thank you alllads for researching that!!

 

[alllads]

Wow well done! Really glad LE are being helpful with this. Good to have the ball rolling with this.

RE: 1144, the only other thing I can think of is that it was still around in 1984 to be demolished, but was maybe in such bad condition that it wasn't even listed in directories because it was past vacant, and entirely derelict? I did find out that 1160, just a few buildings down, was DEFINITELY demolished to build UN Plaza http://sflib1.sfpl.org:82/record=b1002332~S0 Also if 1144 was an alternative street address for another building, like if it's entrance had been moved and the real street address was something else? Alternatively, it was a different building that WASN'T demolished, and was maybe just being internally stripped.

I emailed Caldwell's as well a few days ago, I don't know which email you used but I just found a new one on their Facebook page: <modsnip: broken link>

It's possible that someone might remember something, from what I could find they're a family company and the report did say it was the owner or director of the company, who would likely be the father or grandfather of whoever is running it now.

 

[alllads]

One small update is that librarian indicated that derelict as opposed to vacant buildings were usually not listed in directories even if still standing.

 

[Odyssey]

One small update is that librarian indicated that derelict as opposed to vacant buildings were usually skilled in directories even if still standing.

That's good to know, I was assuming they would be included... It looks like the front of UN Plaza has a big open area where they have farmers markets & stuff... I guess it's possible there may have been a building there.

I looked through the building permits online - they do go back that far, but I'm not sure if demolition permits are included in that database. Nothing came up for 1144 Market when I searched by address.

Property records online appear to only be from 1990-current so there wouldn't be anything there either.

 

[alllads]

That's good to know, I was assuming they would be included... It looks like the front of UN Plaza has a big open area where they have farmers markets & stuff... I guess it's possible there may have been a building there.

I looked through the building permits online - they do go back that far, but I'm not sure if demolition permits are included in that database. Nothing came up for 1144 Market when I searched by address.

Property records online appear to only be from 1990-current so there wouldn't be anything there either.

Oops, no idea why I said "skilled" where I meant "not listed". So I suppose it can go either way, there are dentals and DNA so it could still be him, provided that it's not the year that's off.

 

[Odyssey]

Oops, no idea why I said "skilled" where I meant "not listed". So I suppose it can go either way, there are dentals and DNA so it could still be him, provided that it's not the year that's off.

Lol I actually thought you meant "skipped".


I just entered him in NamUs... I spoke to someone who advised me to do it, and that it will prompt NamUs to track down the dental and DNA. He may not show up for a day or two, though, there's a verification process they go through to be sure bogus cases don't end up in there.

 

[Redbird]

I think we are going to find that the address is a mistake for that year. I am pretty sure the UN Plaza was long finished by 1980. Otherwise the building would have to be right in the middle of the plaza. I did go to that area sometime or other when I lived there. There were many homeless people camped out there. I considered it a dangerous place to be and did try to avoid that area.

 

[Odyssey]

I think we are going to find that the address is a mistake for that year. I am pretty sure the UN Plaza was long finished by 1980. Otherwise the building would have to be right in the middle of the plaza. I did go to that area sometime or other when I lived there. There were many homeless people camped out there. I considered it a dangerous place to be and did try to avoid that area.

Do you know what neighborhood that would be considered? Is it part of the financial district?