CA CA - Los Angeles County, WhtFem 225UFCA 1 of 2 Children killed by dynamite, 1921-1951

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Tatsachen said:
It seems that the clothing the children wore will be the best thing to go on, as someone with a keen eye for fashion history could have a good idea as to what era certain articles belong to. I'm definitely *not* one, but when I looked at the boy's photo (nothing graphic, just the clothed bottom half of his body that was intact), I noticed that his boots seemed to be unique. Perhaps that may give a better idea of what time period we're looking at? My guess would be 1930s-pre WWII 40s, but that's guesswork at best.

Link to photo of boy's attire: Los Angeles John Doe (1921-1951)
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View attachment 215497
His pants appear to be some sort of khakis / chinos, with a wide leg and cuffed. The shoes look kind of like a Chelsea boot to me. The girl looked like she was wearing a white, collared, button-down shirt and some sort of dress / jumper / pants in a dark fabric with a faint check pattern.
 
His shoes look like pretty common loafers that you can still find today unfortunately. Her dress/skirt appears to be a heavy knit type fabric. Not much help, but the clothes look kinda heavy. Also if this did occur at a works project, there'd definitely be people who would skirt any publicity if at all possible.
 
I sound like a Debby downer for writing this but I don't think she will ever be identified due to poor record keeping,the witnesses are mostly dead or old and the authorities probably don't know where they are buried and if they do the bodies are too decomposed for a DNA example
 
Is it possible to use DNA phenotyping to get a reconstruction of the John Doe?

Assuming if the body still exists or if they can locate it, due to how old this case is and the poor record keeping as well.
 
Given that Huddleson (who took the pictures) is dead, and it is likely that most of his contemporary peers have likely passed as well, there is a good chance we may never know, unless someone has the time to really engage the LA police department and the County sheriff's office as well. Sadly, as everyone has noticed the pictures have so little info in them to base either a time frame or any other info from. And, for that fact, we don't know if maybe they were identified after the matter happened. I've no doubt that if the boy had a car, it would have been found, unless they were with others who abandoned their friends after the detonation and kept their mouths sealed about what happened.

As disaffected as the latino community apparently was in LA before the war, If the parents did make a report of missing kids, it may have been ignored, or it is possible they were from somewhere outside of the county.

Sad story, irregardless.
 
MadMcGoo said:
What a bizarre case. :confused:
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Yes it is, and unless someone with the resources of the Los Angeles police comes forward, we will likely never know the truth of this matter.

It is still a bit troubling as the injuries don't quite line up. The girl has extensive damage to her abdomen, missing left foot, and it looks like extensive damage to her right lower leg. Her face is mostly intact, save for some damage laterally to the left side of her mouth.

The young man, however, has devastating injuries to his head, missing right hand, and his legs and feet are both intact.

It raises some interesting questions.
 
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digitective said:
View attachment 215497
His pants appear to be some sort of khakis / chinos, with a wide leg and cuffed. The shoes look kind of like a Chelsea boot to me. The girl looked like she was wearing a white, collared, button-down shirt and some sort of dress / jumper / pants in a dark fabric with a faint check pattern.
Click to expand...

I found these illustrations and photos of men's clothing styles.
1920s Men's Pants History: Oxford Bags, Plus Four Knickers, Overalls

1930s Men's Casual Fashion

Men's 1950s Casual Clothing History

Cuffed pants on men and teen boys were popular in the 1920s and 30s. The width of the bottom of the pants varied according to the decade. ( See photos at links above). When World War 2 started, cuffs on pants were considered a waste of fabric due to the war effort and clothing designers did not put cuffs on men's pants. In the 1950s, cuffs on men's pants made a comeback, this time with a narrower pant leg than the 1920s/30s.
 
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I have a habit of going on the unidentified wiki and hitting the random page button and this case came up for me yesterday. It's one of the weirdest ones I've come across which drew me to it. I agree that the chances of identification aren't very good right now, but if someone in the area was interested in it and did a lot of research I'm sure we could learn something. This is one of those cases that I think should be considered to be more of a historical study than a modern cold case.

As far as the discrepancies in injuries it looks like the boy was the one who picked up the dynamite. That would be my guess. It looks like the boy picked up the dynamite and was badly injured and the girl was standing to his left and also injured. She probably turned her face away which is why it's mostly intact. A sad and strange case for sure.
 
As there bodies were probably cremated and dumped in a mass grave, like they did in the "old days" we will probably never know who this kids were, it's not even known when they were killed....so saying goodbye with respect....God Speed beauties.
 
I agree tis is a bizare case....some time ago checking Newspaper archive database....didnt find anything that can help these John/Jane Does...but I do remember come across some brief reports of persons killed/Injured in dynamite accidents.....it does make some questions to think:
1} Why didt the photographer at least date his pictures and add a case number as well?
2}] Could they have been used for an Unitenfied Persons bullitan ?
3} Why no press stories...cereetainly the nature of the deaths must have made some impression?
4} Could it be that these were "Immigrant workers" children....and not WASPS {White Anglo Saxon Protestants}? THus little if any newspaper coverage?
5} I dont claim to be an expert on fasion but could these be roughrly 1940-1951 period?
In that case as certain dress styles conform to certain periods....narrow it down prehaps?
At least this case is listed on DOE NEtwork and Unidentied Wiki
 
Startover said:
I agree tis is a bizare case....some time ago checking Newspaper archive database....didnt find anything that can help these John/Jane Does...but I do remember come across some brief reports of persons killed/Injured in dynamite accidents.....it does make some questions to think:
1} Why didt the photographer at least date his pictures and add a case number as well?
2}] Could they have been used for an Unitenfied Persons bullitan ?
3} Why no press stories...cereetainly the nature of the deaths must have made some impression?
4} Could it be that these were "Immigrant workers" children....and not WASPS {White Anglo Saxon Protestants}? THus little if any newspaper coverage?
5} I dont claim to be an expert on fasion but could these be roughrly 1940-1951 period?
In that case as certain dress styles conform to certain periods....narrow it down prehaps?
At least this case is listed on DOE NEtwork and Unidentied Wiki
Click to expand...

If only we could have answers to this questions. I sincerely believe that we are not going to solve this. The only possibility would be some DNA saved, somewhere and that could do the trick. I don't think there is anything left, but I don't know.....In those days nobody could have imagined how technology would evolve into what we know and can do today. You had to be a genius....case closed if you ask me. Very sad, but I'm convinced this is not going to be solved. Hope? always.
 
Has anyone thought about the traveling children's circus? It looks like they traveled the coast and stopped plenty in LA county.....Im not good enough with locations in California to know how close they would have been to the dam but Ive always had a feeling that could have been why they weren't reported missing or identified
 
Miss.chelsR said:
Has anyone thought about the traveling children's circus? It looks like they traveled the coast and stopped plenty in LA county.....Im not good enough with locations in California to know how close they would have been to the dam but Ive always had a feeling that could have been why they weren't reported missing or identified
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Those are the same thoughts I have about the Little Miss Nobody case from Arizona. One just never knows.
 
What reasons would there be for sticks of dynamite to be lying around?
 
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