LA LA - Belle Chasse, WhtMale 16-17, UP88342, hanged, suicide note, Feb'75

[Tony1902]

Hello
I did one post here regarding the fact that this young man hung himself from a persimmon tree. As I explained, Plaquemine in Choctaw means persimmon. This is why I believed he must have had some knowledge of the area and it’s history.

During the 1970s Belle Chasse was considered very rural. It’s where the first Creole tomato was developed at an Ag station.

As to the idea that he might have had a different sexual orientation, that would not have been a problem in NOLA. I went to grammar school there and at the PTA you couldn’t tell the women from the cross dressers. That was in the 50-late 60s.

That leaves me wondering...just random thoughts from a local.

 

[Tony1902]

So sorry Bessie isn’t here to be my witness.

 

[nancy_drew_coldcases]

So sorry Bessie isn’t here to be my witness.

it could be that the area was named after the persimmon rather than the boy finding a rare, lone persimmon tree in a forest and choosing that because he wanted some deeper meaning. Not sure that the meaning behind the persimmon tree has to do with this young man picking the tree. There seems to be a number of persimmons grown in the area, so the parish was probably named after the fruit
not sure if that makes sense... it did in my head

 

[Tony1902]

it could be that the area was named after the persimmon rather than the boy finding a rare, lone persimmon tree in a forest and choosing that because he wanted some deeper meaning. Not sure that the meaning behind the persimmon tree has to do with this young man picking the tree. There seems to be a number of persimmons grown in the area, so the parish was probably named after the fruit
not sure if that makes sense... it did in my head

Yes it was during pre colonial period because the trees and fruit, rather small, were all around the area before it was established as a colonial parish. From the records it wouldn’t have been a single tree. JMO

 

[pippyleeshallot]

Hi there Pippy! Welcome! & Good luck on those finals!
I may be mistaken, but I believe that the portion of the letter in which he talks about the psychiatrist was in the section addressed "To Mom and Dad"
_________________________________________________
“I have wanted to do this for over a year. I am not sad or see this as tragic. I feel a release. This is the only way I knew to attain harmony.

(…)

I am no longer interested in the world and know that it is not interested in me. When you stop growing you are dead. I stopped growing long ago. I never did develop into a real person and I cannot tolerate the false and empty existence I have created.

(…)

I feel I have acted very methodically and coolly in my action and my words. It is best if I cease to live, quietly, than risk that later I will break and shatter by violence or linger years under care. I implore you to see a psychiatrist in order that you might understand my death and my life. Ask thoroughly about what I was and you will see that it is not tragic that I am gone but more natural than if I continued.”

___________________________________________

I do not think that the full suicide note has ever been released, and there is no DNA available because the body has been ultimately lost.

Thank you for the welcome, well wishes, and clarification on the note. Much appreciated

It really is such a shame that we cannot see more of the note (and unlikely that we will ever due to the police files/records being destroyed). In some ways, the fact that we only have extracts leaves more questions open than answered.

I wonder if he was considering that whomever finds him see a psychiatrist. Like acknowledging that it probably would be traumatic to discover a body.

I always wondered if he aimed to keep himself anonymous and was actually from somewhere else. I know his letter mentions 'Mom and Dad' but you'd think he would have been ID's if they were local.

This is a very interesting perspective. I had not thought of this at all! Would make more sense (at least to me) why he has implored the reader of the note to see a psychiatrist.

I also agree with your other point wholeheartedly. Due to the fact he had even mentioned in the letter he did not want to be identified, it is likely he was from somewhere else (ie. another state) knowing that distance, state borders, etc. would likely impede his identification. Especially as he was clearly intelligent and well-read, he was aware of this, and likely took it into consideration in advance when finding somewhere to commit suicide.

 

[Tabirey]

Hi there Pippy! Welcome! & Good luck on those finals!
I may be mistaken, but I believe that the portion of the letter in which he talks about the psychiatrist was in the section addressed "To Mom and Dad"
_________________________________________________
“I have wanted to do this for over a year. I am not sad or see this as tragic. I feel a release. This is the only way I knew to attain harmony.

(…)

I am no longer interested in the world and know that it is not interested in me. When you stop growing you are dead. I stopped growing long ago. I never did develop into a real person and I cannot tolerate the false and empty existence I have created.

(…)

I feel I have acted very methodically and coolly in my action and my words. It is best if I cease to live, quietly, than risk that later I will break and shatter by violence or linger years under care. I implore you to see a psychiatrist in order that you might understand my death and my life. Ask thoroughly about what I was and you will see that it is not tragic that I am gone but more natural than if I continued.”

___________________________________________

I do not think that the full suicide note has ever been released, and there is no DNA available because the body has been ultimately lost.

These new posts about the letter he left behind made me think of my children's Dad.
He was a diagnosed sociopath. After almost a decade together, he told me that he didn't feel like he was a "real" person. He stated to me that he never felt emotions, that he faked reactions because that's what he thought he should do to look "normal". He said he was empty. He said he couldn't understand why someone would cry or be upset at the death of a loved one because he didn't know what sadness was. He was completely emotionless inside. This suicide letter sounds exactly like something he would have written.
I think our UID was a sociopath that wanted his parents to know the reason behind his suicide if his identity was found. I think he believed that a psychiatrist could explain this.
MOO

 

[nancy_drew_coldcases]

These new posts about the letter he left behind made me think of my children's Dad.
He was a diagnosed sociopath. After almost a decade together, he told me that he didn't feel like he was a "real" person. He stated to me that he never felt emotions, that he faked reactions because that's what he thought he should do to look "normal". He said he was empty. He said he couldn't understand why someone would cry or be upset at the death of a loved one because he didn't know what sadness was. He was completely emotionless inside. This suicide letter sounds exactly like something he would have written.
I think our UID was a sociopath that wanted his parents to know the reason behind his suicide if his identity was found. I think he believed that a psychiatrist could explain this.
MOO

Hi Tabirey,

First, I am so sorry to hear about the unfortunate circumstances surrounding your children's' father. Please feel free to reach out with anything you may need if you are still in a bad situation.
I hope you have found peace and happiness for you as well as your kids. I know the pain of being involved with a sociopathic person.
I agree with you that his clear lack of empathy is indicative of a personality disorder.

Best wishes,
Nancy

 

[Tristana]

I've always been quite fascinated by this case. And as a teenager who is diagnosed with mental illnesses, I do think that boy had a personality disorder of some kind. Sociopaths are still normal people who can feel love, sadness and anger. In fact, my own lack of empathy made me feel those even more intensely than a "normal" person.

Knowing that, I can easily understand how thinking nobody would ever love him if people found out about his condition and thinking his whole life was worthless pretend would have driven him to suicide. His suicide letter sounds like the ones I've written when I really had enough and thought dying was the only way out of a life where I was convinced no one would ever love me. It's hard to live with. Especially with all the stigma there is, because empathy is probably what our society values the most in a human being.

 

[Tabirey]

Hi Tabirey,

First, I am so sorry to hear about the unfortunate circumstances surrounding your children's' father. Please feel free to reach out with anything you may need if you are still in a bad situation.
I hope you have found peace and happiness for you as well as your kids. I know the pain of being involved with a sociopathic person.
I agree with you that his clear lack of empathy is indicative of a personality disorder.

Best wishes,
Nancy

Thank you Nancy!
Fortunately, the relationship ended barely a year before his passing in 2006. I was blessed to find my wonderful husband not long after the relationship ended who helped us all heal and has been an amazing Dad! I credit him with the amazing, caring adults our babies have grown to be!

 

[pippyleeshallot]

These new posts about the letter he left behind made me think of my children's Dad.
He was a diagnosed sociopath. After almost a decade together, he told me that he didn't feel like he was a "real" person. He stated to me that he never felt emotions, that he faked reactions because that's what he thought he should do to look "normal". He said he was empty. He said he couldn't understand why someone would cry or be upset at the death of a loved one because he didn't know what sadness was. He was completely emotionless inside. This suicide letter sounds exactly like something he would have written.
I think our UID was a sociopath that wanted his parents to know the reason behind his suicide if his identity was found. I think he believed that a psychiatrist could explain this.
MOO

I am very sorry to hear about your children's Dad. That is an incredibly unfortunate situation, and must have been/must still be a difficult situation to navigate. I wish you and your children the best and hope that you are able to find some relief in that.

I agree there is arguably a lack of empathy expressed/indication of ASPD particularly from this quote, 'I feel I have acted very methodically and coolly in my action and my words. It is best if I cease to live, quietly, than risk that later I will break and shatter by violence or linger years under care.'
However, I guess this is just me adding my two cents (which reflects some previous posts made by other users), that a lot of what he has described I have myself experienced in the past due to severe depression. Particularly not feeling like a 'real person' and being 'no longer interested in the world'. Similarly, I have felt numb from depression before, and have acted in a way which might be described as 'methodically and coolly' too at times. At least in my experience, I found it hard to attribute these feelings to being depressed, even though I was aware that I was depressed, which similar to our BCJD led to persistent thoughts of suicide.

Regardless, it is clear he had a mental condition/illness of some sort, but personally I think on the information given in the note, it would be a difficult exercise to ascertain with reasonable certainty what exactly it was.

 

[peace+love]

This case is very intriguing. Does anyone have the NamUs ID for this case or have a link to an article? Did I read correctly that they lost his body?

 

[nancy_drew_coldcases]

This case is very intriguing. Does anyone have the NamUs ID for this case or have a link to an article? Did I read correctly that they lost his body?

There is no NAMUS link, presumably because his body has since been lost.

Unknown “Belle Chasse John Doe” Unknown...

The Left Bank...of the Coosa: A Jar Full of Note Paper, 1975

Plaquemines Parish john doe - Newspapers.com

 

[Tristana]

Did I read correctly that they lost his body?

There is no NAMUS link, presumably because his body has since been lost.

"Lost" ? How does one even lose a dead body, like he was buried in an unmarked grave and they don't know where the grave is anymore ?

 

[Sunshine95]

These new posts about the letter he left behind made me think of my children's Dad.
He was a diagnosed sociopath. After almost a decade together, he told me that he didn't feel like he was a "real" person. He stated to me that he never felt emotions, that he faked reactions because that's what he thought he should do to look "normal". He said he was empty. He said he couldn't understand why someone would cry or be upset at the death of a loved one because he didn't know what sadness was. He was completely emotionless inside. This suicide letter sounds exactly like something he would have written.
I think our UID was a sociopath that wanted his parents to know the reason behind his suicide if his identity was found. I think he believed that a psychiatrist could explain this.
MOO

This has been my opinion too!

 

[nancy_drew_coldcases]

"Lost" ? How does one even lose a dead body, like he was buried in an unmarked grave and they don't know where the grave is anymore ?

Yes. There are conflicting stories as to whether he was cremated or buried, there are no records left, they were lost due to a hurricane.

 

[MadMcGoo]

“All that can happen is that you will shatter the domestic peace and order of two innocent lives. Do not deprive them of the hope that their ‘missing’ son will return…Let me be, let it be as if I wasn’t ever here. Simply cremate me as John Doe.”

This bit of the letter suggests that his absence will not only “shatter” his parents’ life, but also not go unnoticed by at least them. I can’t help but think he was reported missing. I guess the question would be when and where from? This case is very heartbreaking.

 

[Triss]

This bit of the letter suggests that his absence will not only “shatter” his parents’ life, but also not go unnoticed by at least them. I can’t help but think he was reported missing. I guess the question would be when and where from? This case is very heartbreaking.

There's a theory that this John Doe might be Bayard Cousins missing since February 1975.
"Bayard Cousins left his residence while his parents were out of town. They came back to a note stating not to worry about him". If he's our Doe then he was indeed reported missing.
NamUs: The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[MadMcGoo]

Bringing forward a few posts containing links and a good summary of the letter’s contents.

Today was a good news/bad news day regarding the Belle Chasse suicide.

FACES Lab is unable to find any record of this young man. Without any records of his existence (other than newspaper articles), they are unable to enter him into their database or into NamUs. They also are unable to tell whether he was ever identified.

I'm disappointed but not surprised.

On to good news - I was able to obtain a description of this young man. I am going to try to link the newspaper article here

:https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=1386c2f62d1e0210&mt=image/tiff&url=https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=406eca9164&view=att&th=1386c2f62d1e0210&attid=0.1&disp=safe&zw&sig=AHIEtbSy5u3UbXZjerck2WebvAU5eeWZbQ

If that link doesn't work, here is the description:

Brown hair
Brown eyes
White
Found in Alliance at 11:30 p.m. (2/14/75)
6'0, 160 pounds
Believed to be 16-17 years old
Yellow shirt with maroon figures
Brown belt
Blue pants

That's a lot to go on, and I can thank a great librarian in Louisiana for her assistance in obtaining this information.

I found this article about this boy that I don't think I've posted here before:

Lakeland Ledger - Google News Archive Search

ETA: sorry, this was posted a while back by someone else, but I'll leave it here for those who missed it.

I was so happy to finally put a face on this young man that I had to post the sketch immediately. I'll come back later with a link.

The sketch was published here in the Times Picayune on March 06, 1975. He was buried in Algiers in June, 1975. I think we might already have that information, though. Mothe Funeral Home handled the arrangements.

ETA: T-P March 06, 1975

T-P February 15, 1975

I don't think it's a dumb question at all! Unfortunately, in this case I doubt the answer provides a clue, though. This article says the sheet was tied at the neck in a slipknot.

belle chasse john doe 02151975-tp-a.JPG

Unsure if this has been posted, have sometime an open TP archive account adding as many articles to MP/UID's as I can find

Times Picayune Article - 06/17/75
View attachment 113647

RSBM.

Sources say the note itself concludes with "I am no longer interested in the world..." etc. so I've kept that at the end.


The Letter:

[Emile Durkheim calls suicide] “an inner direction of homicidal feelings against someone else.”

I am a bomb of frustration and should never marry or have children. It is safest to defuse the bomb harmlessly now. I do not want to bother with being a ‘reformed and cured’ person limping through life. I am this self-centered.

Why you should not feel responsible

I never did develop into a real person and I cannot tolerate the false and empty existence I have created… I was born with a definite pervasive melancholy… What frustrated me most in the last year was that I had built no ties to family and friends. There was nothing of lasting worth and value. I led a detached existence and I was a parody of a person—literally and figuratively. I didn’t tell jokes—I was a joke.

[To the police]

You are bound to preserve domestic peace and order. If you pursue who I was (and spend hundreds of dollars) you will accomplish little. There are no legal consequences of my death or any kind of entanglements. All that can happen is that you will shatter domestic peace and order of two innocent lives. Do not deprive them of the hope that their ‘missing’ son will return… Let me be, let it be as if I wasn’t ever here. Simply cremate me as John Doe.

I am no longer interested in the world and know that it is not interested in me. When you stop growing you are dead. I stopped growing long ago.

Mom and Dad,

You have provided me with excellent advantages and privileges and experiences. I am extremely grateful for all of your sacrifices, time and support. I am now repaying you with an arrogant act. In this light, I do see it as criminal. I can only hope that you see that it was me who caused it.

I feel I have acted very methodically and coolly in my action and my words. It is best if I cease to live, quietly, than risk that later I will break and shatter by violence or linger years under care. I implore you to see a psychiatrist in order that you might understand my death and my life. Ask thoroughly about what I was and you will see that it is not tragic that I am gone but more natural than if I continued.

I have wanted to do this for over a year. I am not sad or see this as tragic. I feel a release. This is the only way I knew to attain harmony.

Sources:
• Embracing Eternity: Living Each Day with a Heart Toward Heaven, page. 150
• Fort Scott Tribune, March 27, 1975
• Toward the Creative Nothing, citing a longer version of the above article
• The Evening Independent, June 17, 1975
• Reddit, citing this Websleuths thread

Found on February 14, 1975 at 11:30 p.m.
Found in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana
- White Male
- 16-17 years old
- 6'0”
- 160 pounds
- Brown hair
- Brown eyes

 

[MadMcGoo]

I know this is probably not Mark because the stats don’t match up, but his friend David is also missing. For whatever reason, there isn’t a profile or photo for David. I’m using this mostly as an example, but what if this Doe became ‘missing’ under similar circumstances. His family, and everyone else, presumes he was lost, maybe he staged his own disappearance, and left with the sole intention of committing suicide. His parents would obviously be distraught thinking he lost his life in an accident, so breaking this kind of news to them would surely “shatter” them. I don’t know, just a theory.
http://charleyproject.org/case/mark-lindsey-bachelder
Mark Lindsey Bachelder – The Charley Project

Re: Bayard Cousins. I think that’s a very close match. I just wonder about the age. Looking through missing persons today, I forgot just how young 16 or 17 was. But this young Doe seems wise beyond his years in some ways.

 

[MadMcGoo]

His facial features, especially chin, look like Perry’s. This could support the theory that he went missing about a year prior to his death. And it seems that Perry likely left of his own accord and could have been alive for sometime after he was last seen.
Perry Otto Corlew – The Charley Project