Identified! Canada - Regina, SK, WhtMale 720UMSK, 20-30, hit by train, Jul'95 - Michael Kirov (Lewis)

[Tom Friendly]

Found this the other day. It's a memorial written by the friend of a man named "David Lee Branton". In it he talks about his old friend and how he went missing in Jan 1993 from Allentown, PA. He was 33, 5'10", 170lbs with brown hair and blue eyes. Here is the Charley Project page on him:
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/b/branton_david.html

Anyway the writer says that David's family reported him missing and then dead about 2 years later. The writer was not able to confirm David's death and made note of this exact case and how much David looked like the unidentified.

Here are the pictures:

And here is the writers memorial filled with a lot of information on "David Branton" that other websites do not have:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=42093251

The writer mentions contacting authorities about this possible match and then being told that it had been checked into and would be checked into again.

What do you make of it all?

 

[CarlK90245]

... The writer mentions contacting authorities about this possible match and then being told that it had been checked into and would be checked into again.

What do you make of it all?

"it had been checked into and would be checked again" sounds to me more like someone called it in, they ignored it, and now that someone else called in again they actually took a look at it and decided that maybe it might be worth a "second" look.

 

[Danaya]

So Carl do you think he's been ruled out by now then?

ETA: I saw this on the website that was posted by Tom Friendly.

They confirmed they have considered him, pretty much ruled him out, but they did check again, probably more thoroughly or with new info, and have ruled him out definitively now.

I just wish I could find out who John Doe was, I think about him often.

 

[Tom Friendly]

So Carl do you think he's been ruled out by now then?

ETA: I saw this on the website that was posted by Tom Friendly.



I just wish I could find out who John Doe was, I think about him often.

Hi again,

I attempted to make contact with the author of that post to see if I could find out any more information on who originally wrote that article. The person who posted it on findagrave seems to be an admin or somebody who has posted a lot of memorials so I'm hoping they can tell more.

I'm also feeling pretty good about another recent connection that I'll post about this weekend when I have the time.

Danaya, Do you have a list of who has been ruled out and still in the running as a possible for the unidentified?

 

[Danaya]

Hi again,

I attempted to make contact with the author of that post to see if I could find out any more information on who originally wrote that article. The person who posted it on findagrave seems to be an admin or somebody who has posted a lot of memorials so I'm hoping they can tell more.

I'm also feeling pretty good about another recent connection that I'll post about this weekend when I have the time.

Danaya, Do you have a list of who has been ruled out and still in the running as a possible for the unidentified?

Oooooh, another recent connection related to john doe? I can't wait to hear that.

The detective I was e-mailing about two years ago has since left the cold case unit and the new detective in charge, I did e-mail him two possible matches which were posted on this same page, but I have not heard a response from him. If you want to e-mail the detectives in charge regarding rule outs or a possible match, I do have the contact info which I could give you. Maybe showing them there is more of a public interest than just me would be a good thing.

I PMed a member here, who is very popular and helpful in trying to identify UIDs, and he said he has never asked for just a rule out so I am hesitant to... Although they must have a list somewhere.

Regarding the crest. This is from the cold case detective in an e-mail to me when I asked her about the crest.

Hi (my name),
Yes I remember you. I would have to dig into the file but I do believe the crest had been identified.
I am just tied up on another file, if I find out what it was I will let you know.

She didn't let me know and I don't want to be a bother so I never pushed it. She is now in a different department. She did respond about Kelly Matheson saying he has been ruled out by dentals. I e-mailed her a couple of possible matches from here on WS, and she didn't say anything about them so I'm assuming they too have been ruled out.


RULED OUT:

Kelly Matheson (dentals)

 

[Cubby]

bump to move

 

[Danaya]

I have been searching through archived newspaper articles about this John Doe and I even looked at archived newspaper articles listing missing men in the hopes someone may be there that matches John's description who wasn't reported missing or got lost in the paperwork.

 

[Danaya]

Also ruled out as per the detective:

Phillip Koss
Donald Izzet

The detective in charge told me he thinks John Doe may be from Europe, which to me seems inconsistent since the man who supposedly traveled with John Doe said he talked about being from "back east". I wanted to ask the detective if he still believes that John Doe's fellow drifter is credible but didn't because that's not really here nor there and may sound pushy.

Anyway, if anyone has time to search European databases, feel free. I don't have computer access at home right now.

 

[Donjeta]

Did he have an accent that placed him outside of Canada?

 

[Patience]

Also ruled out as per the detective:

Phillip Koss
Donald Izzet

The detective in charge told me he thinks John Doe may be from Europe, which to me seems inconsistent since the man who supposedly traveled with John Doe said he talked about being from "back east". I wanted to ask the detective if he still believes that John Doe's fellow drifter is credible but didn't because that's not really here nor there and may sound pushy.

Anyway, if anyone has time to search European databases, feel free. I don't have computer access at home right now.

What detective? Does said detective have a name? Please give proof when posting apparent facts.

 

[Danaya]

In respect of "said detective's" privacy, I don't feel comfortable posting his full name in a public forum escpecially since he never gave me permission to.

I will PM you his full name and department but I refuse to post it publicly out of common courtesy.

 

[Danaya]

Here is the entire e-mail that the cold case detective recently sent me explaining the possible European connection.





It is my personal feeling that John Doe is not from Canada and perhaps not even from North America but rather travelled from Europe. My suspicion is largely based on the exposure this file has received here in Canada together with the coordination of missing person databases, police agencies, coroners offices and people like yourself. Anything remains possible. You had previously passed on Phillip Koss and Donald Izzet as possible matches. At this time it appears neither are a match. Thanks for your interest.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hello

I have been searching through archived newspaper articles dating back to 1993 in the hopes of finding a missing man that may be John Doe. Do you think it is possible that John Doe was reported missing but was "lost in the shuffle" of paperwork and missing persons agencies? I did find a man missing from Ontario in '94 who was supposedly schitzophrenic and suicidal, Robert Knaupp, but when I search for him in a missing person database I can't find anything. Could John Doe have been schitzophrenic and made up his supposed past?

Thanks for you time

 

[Danaya]

Did he have an accent that placed him outside of Canada?

Great question! Since he supposedly had a traveling buddy that he met along his journey, who was interviewed by police, I would think this man would tell police of an accent.

I hope I don't sound nutty but I e-mailed him and asked about that.

 

[carbuff]

One thing about accents: they're tricky.

Spouse and I visited Australia a few years back. I'm from Montana and his accent is Queens, New York. We were never once identified as Americans -- everywhere we went we were taken as Australian. In Sydney, they thought we were from Queensland. In Queensland, they thought we were from Perth. In Perth, they thought we were from Melbourne or Sydney. They knew we weren't locals, but weren't familiar enough with US regional accents to identify us. It was really quite funny...

 

[CarlK90245]

One thing about accents: they're tricky.

Spouse and I visited Australia a few years back. I'm from Montana and his accent is Queens, New York. We were never once identified as Americans -- everywhere we went we were taken as Australian. In Sydney, they thought we were from Queensland. In Queensland, they thought we were from Perth. In Perth, they thought we were from Melbourne or Sydney. They knew we weren't locals, but weren't familiar enough with US regional accents to identify us. It was really quite funny...

When I was in Istanbul a few years ago, my Turkish tour guide spoke with an accent similar to Bill Clinton, although he was 100% Turkish. He learned English from a teacher who was from the Southeastern U.S.

 

[Fin]

I submitted the name James Michael Baker.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/b/baker_james.html

 

[Fin]

 

[Woodland]

I like your possibility Fin, but apparently the UID did not have any tats. The eyes and nose seem very similar between these two though.

I don't understand the composite sketch if the UID was found the same day he died. A morgue photo would be far better. Jmo.

 

[Fin]

I suspect that due to the mechanism of injury that a composite is a better image of what his face looked like than a morgue photo. The train was hauling 104 box cars and was unable to stop. It is possible that due to his injuries, the skin might not have been intact on certain body parts (affecting tattoo recognition). Or it is possible that this UID really did have no tattoos at all.

 

[Fin]

"The train ran over the man's head. Releasing photographs was out of the question. But police did hire an artist to make a sketch they think resembles him". The conductor was unable to stop for a half a mile.

Source: Canadian Broadcasting Company, news article from 2000:http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2000/07/28/mysteryman.html