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

[Valiant]

“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.

I think his though was this: As long as he is missing his parents could hope he was alive and well out there living whatever life he wanted somewhere and they could find some comfort in that. But notifying them of the suicide would destroy that hope.

 

[Rootje]

Hi everyone, new to WS and have just stumbled on this case last night while procrastinating studying for my finals. Have enjoyed reading everyone's theories and input so far, and agree that Bayard Cousins is perhaps the most likely fit for the BCJD.

While this does not necessarily add anything to the case, but just had a thought with regards to the letter which JD had left, specifically the portion to the police. He says 'I implore you to see a psychiatrist in order that you might understand my death and my life.'
This puzzles and confuses me. How would a psychiatrist be able to give any more specific information based on the rather general information that BCJD has given? He has committed suicide, and from the extracts of the letter I have been able to see, he seems to have suffered from depression at least. To me, that alone which we have seen of the letter does not seem that a psychiatrist would be able to give further insight for understanding. Unless he has mentioned anything else earlier in the letter which specifies his condition? Is there a more complete copy of the letter somewhere that we can access for more context?

Apologies as this may all ultimately be irrelevant to finding his identity, but it would be interesting to know more on this issue.

that part of the letter almost sounds like he was under a psychiatrists care. like he’s telling his parents to talk to his psychiatrist because they know more about JDs struggles.

 

[Rootje]

Hi everyone, new to WS and have just stumbled on this case last night while procrastinating studying for my finals. Have enjoyed reading everyone's theories and input so far, and agree that Bayard Cousins is perhaps the most likely fit for the BCJD.

While this does not necessarily add anything to the case, but just had a thought with regards to the letter which JD had left, specifically the portion to the police. He says 'I implore you to see a psychiatrist in order that you might understand my death and my life.'
This puzzles and confuses me. How would a psychiatrist be able to give any more specific information based on the rather general information that BCJD has given? He has committed suicide, and from the extracts of the letter I have been able to see, he seems to have suffered from depression at least. To me, that alone which we have seen of the letter does not seem that a psychiatrist would be able to give further insight for understanding. Unless he has mentioned anything else earlier in the letter which specifies his condition? Is there a more complete copy of the letter somewhere that we can access for more context?

Apologies as this may all ultimately be irrelevant to finding his identity, but it would be interesting to know more on this issue.

that part of the letter almost sounds like he was under a psychiatrists care. like he’s telling his parents to talk to his psychiatrist because they know more about JDs struggles.

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 too, crossed my mind. but the “learn about my life and my death” part doesn’t match that.

 

[Rootje]

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

the last link says where he was buried. shouldn’t be that hard to find his body, i assume there aren’t many unmarked graves. it frustrates me how the officials seem to have forgotten about this case.

 

[PropaneYeeter]

the last link says where he was buried. shouldn’t be that hard to find his body, i assume there aren’t many unmarked graves. it frustrates me how the officials seem to have forgotten about this case.

His remains were displaced by a hurricane, IIRC.

 

[Baudelaire]

4DMOR- Brian Joseph Page - - - has he been included/exluded?

*bump as well

 

[branwynbreeze]

Thinking out loud and hoping this comes out clearly. I was contemplating the mental health angle and considered an Autistic gifted in reading/writing, perhaps other skills, but difficulty forming/keeping meaningful relationships. Taking into account his age, a number of people venture into first loves, but if friendships are a struggle, a deeper relationship may have seemed impossible. Perhaps Valentine's Day has a sadder meaning to this JD, never to have someone to be close to, teens can be so emotional over this thought alone even when interacting with others isn't a challenge.

In the 70s, some medical circles still considered Autism connected to schizophrenia, with Aspbergers just a little known theory. I wonder if medical experts told JD what his future might consist of based on popular theory of that time. Autism: A 70 Year History of Treatment - Guardian Liberty Voice

 

[Baudelaire]

I think mental illness or not 1) It's strange that such an articulate and eloquent young man would be wearing mismatched socks and 2) it's strange that his background sound so affluent yet nobody reports him missing, I can't think that affluent/wealthy people would hide their son's death.

 

[Susikatze]

I do not understand why nobody reported him missing. Because from what he writes, while he seemed to have had a difficult relationship with his parents, he apparently was not estranged from them. Has little to do with affluent or not but he seemed to have been in contact with his family.

I also think he may have been high functioning ASD, but that may also not help in identifying him as in the 1970s, it was not a medical diagnosis yet. Maybe some other condition, but not sure. He definitely was a very highly educated young man, that is all that is certain.

I think mental illness or not 1) It's strange that such an articulate and eloquent young man would be wearing mismatched socks and 2) it's strange that his background sound so affluent yet nobody reports him missing, I can't think that affluent/wealthy people would hide their son's death.

 

[branwynbreeze]

I think mental illness or not 1) It's strange that such an articulate and eloquent young man would be wearing mismatched socks and 2) it's strange that his background sound so affluent yet nobody reports him missing, I can't think that affluent/wealthy people would hide their son's death.

The stigma of mental illness might be a reason not to openly search for their child in all walks of life. I can only speak of Schizophrenia relatives, 2, and one kid I grew up with. All 3 died young institutionalized.

My mom was told her eldest brother was at boarding school when he was institutionalized off and on, my mom called him a scholar, not ill-that stigma thing. My cousin was institutionalized when he no longer cared well for himself, balanced meals, personal hygiene along with moments of irrational, sometimes dangerous behavior. A friend was institutionalized when a life of self-medication proved destructive, he was disowned by family as an embarrassment.

As far as Aspberger, the few I've knowingly interacted with appeared to have a low-stress threshold and acted more on an emotional level than a logical one with problem-solving.

 

[xoMoonRoseox]

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.
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.

It does look similar in face and features in a way. The hair stands out but not to mention I had a family friend who had claimed to be a neighbor to the Bayard cousins back in 1975, he was 10 at the time and he said the sketch does look similar to that of David Bayard. The family friend said that a week before he disappeared a year before he was acting very strange when they were invited over to the Bayards house for dinner one night. He apparently excused himself early and shut himself up in his room for the rest of the night and wasn’t heard from since. I do believe this might be him but I’m not entirely sure since the body was so decomposed even the sketch was hard to pinpoint to David. Let’s hope something will come up one of these days.

 

[Susikatze]

I cant really put my finger on it but my gut feeling on this case is that the young man was indeed once reported missing but it got lost in LE or was never publicized or nobody made the correct connection so far.... would not be the first and not be the last case like that.
I mean it was 1975, a lot of water went down the river since then.... his identity may be hidden in some old file somewhere in some police archive...
I dont think all reports have been digitized so far.

 

[Baudelaire]

What about that one missing person where between 2 LE forces, the file got lost but it sounded as if the sheriffs had agreed on a likelihood of him being that young man. If the file is lost, it cannot be digitized and it wont show up on missing sites either.

There's no going foward here if the file is gone but if we can work backwards we might have a chance. Do we know what happened with the remains?

It would be really nice if we could work backwards and give him back his name too - Like Baby Jane aka Delta Dawn

 

[branmuffin]

It does look similar in face and features in a way. The hair stands out but not to mention I had a family friend who had claimed to be a neighbor to the Bayard cousins back in 1975, he was 10 at the time and he said the sketch does look similar to that of David Bayard. The family friend said that a week before he disappeared a year before he was acting very strange when they were invited over to the Bayards house for dinner one night. He apparently excused himself early and shut himself up in his room for the rest of the night and wasn’t heard from since. I do believe this might be him but I’m not entirely sure since the body was so decomposed even the sketch was hard to pinpoint to David. Let’s hope something will come up one of these days.

How do you know the body was in advanced stages of decomp?

 

[branmuffin]

I read the whole thread today. It certainly is a fascinating story. Unfortunately, it's not fiction, it's real life of the most distressing kind.

So many theories and suggestions, many of which are viable. My take on this young man is that he was incredibly intelligent and unlike many young people who experience the volatility and angst of the teenage years, knew his issues were much deeper. It may be because he had been misdiagnosed with some mental illness and been assigned a psychiatrist. I believe, though, that he was probably on the autism spectrum, which at that time was yet to be identified. So kids with autism or Asperger's were sometimes treated like they were just weird. They had a hard time integrating into the social aspect of school and the value of making friends. And not for lack of trying; it's just that sometimes their methods didn't mesh with societal norms.

Where I grew up in Ontario, there were certain groups of kids in high school: the browners (nerds) the canoe clubbers (preppy dressers, wealthy) the jocks, the stoners, and the smallest, most unique group, the weirdos. Not all those labels are politically correct, but it was the norm back then. The reality of it is, within all those groups, there was still some interaction, kind of like a Venn diagram. Except for the last group. If our UID was a member of the last group I could see how frustrated, angry and depressing life could be.

Initially, reading the excerpts of his suicide note, I felt there was an undercurrent of some act he may have committed that he was ashamed of, even criminal if found out, and that he was terrified he may not be able to control his behavior. I could be completely off the mark there, though.

The mismatched socks don't register with me since many men are colour blind. I wondered if his shoes were missing because he didn't arrive at his final destination by road but by water. Which might explain the notes being in a glass jar to protect them from water damage. He may have been in a runabout that lost power, jumped in the water and lost his shoes. I doubt the ME checked his clothing for brackish water evidence.

As much as Bayard Cousins resembles the artist's rendition I don't believe he is our John Doe. Partly because he was devoted to the environmental movement. There was a huge awakening in America during the early 70s that spawned the Environmental Protection Agency. His focus on this activity doesn't jibe with the person who wrote that note. In my opinion. IMOO

 

[Rootje]

It does look similar in face and features in a way. The hair stands out but not to mention I had a family friend who had claimed to be a neighbor to the Bayard cousins back in 1975, he was 10 at the time and he said the sketch does look similar to that of David Bayard. The family friend said that a week before he disappeared a year before he was acting very strange when they were invited over to the Bayards house for dinner one night. He apparently excused himself early and shut himself up in his room for the rest of the night and wasn’t heard from since. I do believe this might be him but I’m not entirely sure since the body was so decomposed even the sketch was hard to pinpoint to David. Let’s hope something will come up one of these days.

You’ve seen post mortems then?

 

[Romulus]

I believe that for this case there are other old cases, it is necessary to hope that new cases of disappearance will enter the Namus; I remember that Elizabeth LaMotte entered Namus only 30 years or more after her disappearance; his case was then solved by comparing her to a Jane Doe found murdered in TN; probably this boy has not yet been reported missing.

 

[Romulus]

Is there a thread for Bayard Cousins? I googled his name but didn’t find anything other than links to this Doe.

Open the thread case now!
VA - Bayard William Cousins, 22, Virginia Beach, 1 Feb 1975

 

[Romulus]

Roger Merton Day? The resemblance is uncanny!!

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[Sweetluv]

This individual was mature for his age...the struggle within and inner turmoil he must of been wrestling with! Hope he is at peace..just wish suicide was not his solution. So sad...