CA CA - Montara - Male #UP10639, 7-8, dismembered w/plastic piece in rib cage, Jan'75

[Goecke]

JOHN DOE / CASE #77-1048

December 18, 1977, a hiker found what appeared to be a human on the rocky area at Point Montara Light House in Montara. The decedent appeared to be a young male of possible European ancestry with remnants of blue denim material around the waist area. The remains were comprised of a decomposed...

www.smcgov.org

According to this, the official COD is drowning. So I guess that confirms a lot of our suspicions- I guess the rocky beaches in this area are just really, really rough on human remains.

 

[Goecke]

Should we have the title changed, since he wasn't actually dismembered?

 

[citizen_sleuth]

Apparently police believed at the time that the body belonged either to 8-year-old Pavlo Tapete, who drowned along with his father after slipping off a rock on Dec. 24, or to Danny Sweetland, 8, who was presumed lost at sea along with his parents and three siblings following a plane crash near Half Moon Bay on Dec. 27.

It seems if police could obtain DNA samples from the families of Pavlo Tapete and Danny Sweetland, this boy could very well get his name back.

"Torso Found on Coast Beach," Times [San Mateo, CA], 13 January 1975, 21.

A torso of a young person was recovered on a beach near Montara today. It is believed to be that of an eight-year-old Oakland boy who drowned along with his father Dec. 24, officials said.

Pablo Tapete and his son, Paulo, were knocked off a rock by a heavy wave at the bottom of Devil's Slide while fishing. The father's body was recovered that day.

Sheriff John R. McDonald said that personel [sic] friends of his discovered the torso late Sunday, and called him at his home. High tide prevented a search Sunday night. The torso was recovered shortly before 7 a.m. today.

An attempt to identify it will be made by the coroner's office.

"Body Found," Pacifica Tribune, 22 January 1975, 10B.

The County Coroner has not been able to identify the body, which appears to have been in the ocean for at least two weeks.

A spokesman for the coroner's office said the body could either be that of the eight-year-old boy who drowned along with his father on Dec. 24, while fishing at the base of Devil's slide, or the body of a child who was lost in a plane crash off Half Moon Bay on Dec. 27.

----

Articles about the Dec. 27 plane crash and the father and son who drowned on Dec. 24:

"Oakland man, son drowned while fishing," Palo Alto Times, 25 December 1974, 2.

Pablo Sandoval, 40, of Oakland told police that he, Pablo Tapete, 52, and Tapete's son, Pavlo, 8, were fishing from a rock when waves swept them into the sea.

Sandoval told San Mateo County Sheriff's deputies and state highway patrolmen that he grabbed a piece of floating driftwood and swam to shore. He said he threw the wood out to Tapete and his son, but the victims by then were already dead or unconscious.

Sandoval scrambled to the road, flagged down a highway patrol squad car. A Coast Guard helicopter was flown to the scene. The elder Tapete's body was recovered but the boy was still missing and presumed drowned.

"Plane's Wing Section Found," Times [San Mateo, CA], 30 December 1974, 9.

A Washington couple and their four children are presumed lost at sea in a private plane crash off Half Moon Bay Friday, and the Coast Guard has suspended the search for survivors or wreckage.

Coast Guard spokesmen said this morning that a six-foot section of wingtip had been recovered Sunday two miles off Point Montara.

[...]

Missing and presumed dead are Deniel [sic] Sweetland, 28, his wife, and their four children.

The family was en route from Astoria, Ore., to San Diego, and then Mexico, in their twin-engined Piper Cherokee Six, when pilot Sweetland radioed the Federal Aviation Administration's Terminal Radar Approach Control Center (TRACON) in Oakland that he was having difficulties.

Bob Peterson, "Sweetland family presumed dead," Longview Daily News, 30 December 1974, 1.

Last year the Sweetlands and their four children, Loren, 13, Debbie, 12, Danny, 8, and Patti, 7, moved to [...] Longview.

Bill Hunter, "Drama Off Shore: Massive Search," Pacifica Tribune, 1 January 1975, 1.

[Daniel] Sweetland, 39, was owner of Emergency Medical Ambulance Service, which he started with his wife, Lucy, 34, in Longview, Wash., in 1971, later expanding the company to serve Kelso, Astoria, Ore., and Seaside, Ore., all nearby communities. Their four children ranged in age from 7 to 13.

 

[sorcoy14]

Apparently police believed at the time that the body belonged either to 8-year-old Pavlo Tapete, who drowned along with his father after slipping off a rock on Dec. 24, or to Danny Sweetland, 8, who was presumed lost at sea along with his parents and three siblings following a plane crash near Half Moon Bay on Dec. 27.

It seems if police could obtain DNA samples from the families of Pavlo Tapete and Danny Sweetland, this boy could very well get his name back.
<RSBM>

I wonder if anyone has contacted them about DNA… I also can’t find if our Doe has DNA in the system.

Also there are no new rule outs since the last post in February.

 

[citizen_sleuth]

I wonder if anyone has contacted them about DNA… I also can’t find if our Doe has DNA in the system.

Also there are no new rule outs since the last post in February.

I think I will send the ME these newspaper clippings and see if it is possible to do a DNA comparison. It quite possible that after almost 50 years, they might not have reviewed the case files in a long time. Given that they have two potential IDs for the body, it should be a relatively easy case to resolve.

I will also submit Pablo Tapete and the four members of the Sweetland family who are still missing (Deborah's body was recovered a month after the crash) to be added to NamUs.

 

[carbuff]

There are four ruleouts:

MP3826 James Bordenkircher 06/12/1965 Placer CA
MP5867 Thomas Bowman 03/23/1957 Los Angeles CA
MP4545 Todd Collett 01/23/1964 Santa Barbara CA
MP4624 Bruce Kremen 07/13/1960 Los Angeles CA

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

These are still the only exclusions for this Doe.