Identified! NJ - Camden, UID remains along Delaware River, Apr'10 - Christopher Wise

[LadyL]

mtrooper - great thinking & fantastic job

if you don't end up getting credit elsewhere, know that you are appreciated here

it's gotta feel good to know your efforts made a difference *hugs*

 

[mtrooper]

Dont get me wrong, I don't do this for the credit...But I get sick of LE not looking into leads because they "thought" it was nothing, and then taking all the credit once it is solved. And honestly, the real reason I am frustrated is because I am trying to get some street credit with LE, but every time I make a good tip/ identification no one knows it but the one officer that I made the tip with..,.NOT who I am trying to get some street credit with. I thought that if maybe I could put together a portfolio or something showing my usefulness, maybe they would take me more seriously....Sorry for the rant.

 

[Mensch]

Dont get me wrong, I don't do this for the credit...But I get sick of LE not looking into leads because they "thought" it was nothing, and then taking all the credit once it is solved. And honestly, the real reason I am frustrated is because I am trying to get some street credit with LE, but every time I make a good tip/ identification no one knows it but the one officer that I made the tip with..,.NOT who I am trying to get some street credit with. I thought that if maybe I could put together a portfolio or something showing my usefulness, maybe they would take me more seriously....Sorry for the rant.

Hi mtrooper,
I have read the article and I know the area.
You did not have the 'inside info' LE had and yet you were the one who zoned in on the shirt. That was a logical place to start without any other info. Guess what? These 'brilliant' boys in uniform KNEW there was a man who jumped from a bridge north of that spot in December. What did they do? So, a body washes up on the banks just south of the bridge where the victim was seen jumping and LE wants the public to help them identify the victim? They KNEW WHO JUMPED! They could NOT connect the dots from that information to the victim being found!

Instead of doing a search OR calculating the water flow to get an estimate of location where the victim would likely turn up, they did nothing (well, maybe went for coffee and talked about it).

What you had was only a clothing description and you made the logical first step - try to narrow down clothing items if they are unusual.

Don't sweat the small stuff. The ss being inept LE in this case. They were not about to give credit to anyone but their department for their 'fine investigative work'.
I don't think anyone here wants personal recognition or reward money. If so, you have better chances at the lotto. Just a heads up - LE is not likely to give anyone credit. They have to justify government funding and they can't do that if John/Jane Q Citizen is doing their work for them.
You did great! Surely you now see why you (any of you) cannot give up!
Carry on!:woohoo:

 

[CarlK90245]

I agree with Mensch that most of us don't seek the public pat on the back, but it would be nice if the public could be made aware that this group exists so that by some remote chance the person who happened to know Buckskin Girl, Caledonia Jane Doe, Walker County Jane Doe, or any one of the hundreds of other lost souls that appear in this forum might come here and say "Hey - I know that person!!".

Can you imagine how fast some of these people would be ID'd if Nancy Grace, Geraldo, or Greta would do a quick blurb on their show with a good-quality facial reconstruction saying something like "Do any of you remember anyone who looked like this back in 1981 who you haven't seen since then?"

I was brought to this site last fall when the Jaycee story broke. My eyes still well up when I see the 1991 video clip of Terry Probyn standing in front of the El Dorado County Police Station with Jaycee's bunny rabbit doll in her arms and her face twisting in agony saying "Pray for my baby - that she comes home safe". I see that video and know that her pain persisted for 18 years. And there are thousands of other mothers and family members who are feeling the same kind of pain that never stops. And if I can be part of relieving someone's pain, even if it doesn't have a happy ending like Jaycee's story, I want to be part of it.

 

[Mensch]

I agree with Mensch that most of us don't seek the public pat on the back, but it would be nice if the public could be made aware that this group exists so that by some remote chance the person who happened to know Buckskin Girl, Caledonia Jane Doe, Walker County Jane Doe, or any one of the hundreds of other lost souls that appear in this forum might come here and say "Hey - I know that person!!".

Can you imagine how fast some of these people would be ID'd if Nancy Grace, Geraldo, or Greta would do a quick blurb on their show with a good-quality facial reconstruction saying something like "Do any of you remember anyone who looked like this back in 1981 that you haven't seen since then?"

I was brought to this site last fall when the Jaycee story broke. My eyes still well up when I see the 1991 video clip of Terry Probyn standing in front of the El Dorado County Police Station with Jaycee's bunny rabbit doll in her arms and her face twisting in agony saying "Pray for my baby - that she comes home safe". I see that video and know that her pain persisted for 18 years. And there are thousands of other mothers and family members who are feeling the same kind of pain that never stops. And if I can be part of relieving someone's pain, even if it doesn't have a happy ending like Jaycee's story, I want to be part of it.

I love your attitude regarding this kind of volunteer work! I think we need to get serious about documenting problem areas we are having both with LE, the media and the public. We can use our own experiences to find the pattern of roadblocks to a successful resolution in these cases. Standardization is a priority, in MHO. Every agency must get on the same page and check their ego at the door. This is about respect for human life and helping the families. It is more than emotional need to find closure, although that is a real biggie. There are many logistical reasons to get people identified and have their cases cleared. I don't mean to sound uncaring, but to name a few would be insurance claims, marital status and other public concerns. I briefly stated there are religious concerns in burial laws, etc.
We really need to think about working toward reform of the broken system we have now. As things stand our only real help comes from the medical examiners (MO). They are great to work with!

 

[tatertot]

Rest in Peace, Christopher Wise, and ya done good, MTrooper. I do think you (and the owners of 80stees) should have received a mention for your roles in solving this one. Yes, there are mass-market Transformers t-shirts available at Wal-mart but this one turned out to be unique, its manufacturer volunteered to send a list of local purchasers to law enforcement, and one of those customers turned out to have been reported missing. Thus this UID was able to be identified by dentals instead of (I would assume) a far more expensive and time-consuming DNA test.

I wish there was a way to give Websleuthers who have contributed to a solve some kind of button on their profile briefly describing their contribution, but either way you have our respect here!

 

[maggieo]

You are definitely appreciated around here, trooper -- if nothing else, you're giving Websleuths a good name among LE. Next time someone calls them, maybe they'll think twice about dismissing the tip.

This was the first thread I posted to this forum. I almost didn't, because he'd only been unidentified for a day and I thought the chances were that LE would identify him pretty quickly anyway. But a little voice in the back of my head said, What if someone's looking for him?

I'm so glad this got resolved so quickly.

 

[mtrooper]

Dont get me wrong, I personally don't need the credit. I was trying to get the name out there of Trackmissing, an organization that I am trying to help get up and going. When ever I make a call, I get...Track who? And it would be nice if eventually they would have an idea of who we are....Oh I heard about you guys helping out the New Jersey guys. There are not enough resources out there for families with missing persons. My goal is to become an informational source for families. So many people go missing, and the family doesn't know what to do. They go to LE, get blown off 9 times out of 10, and then thats it. They don't know who to contact or the organizations that are out there helping with this exact cause.