Resolved NJ - Marlboro, Wht/OtherMale 17-34, UP1679, 452UMNJ, Stabbed, In steel drum, Clothes, Apr'02 - name withheld

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BrownBear

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452UMNJ - Unidentified Male
452UMNJ.jpg
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Left to Right: Reconstruction of Victim by Donna Fontana. Reconstruction of Victim by Lewis Trowbridge. Sketch of victim's teeth. Victim's clothing.

NOTE - 2 more photos on DoeNetwork (Boot and belt), there is a 5 image per message limit on WebSleuths so I couldn't copy them over

Date of Discovery: April 29, 2002
Location of Discovery: Marlboro, Monmouth County, New Jersey
Estimated Date of Death: Approximately one month prior
State of Remains: Not recognizable - Decomposing/putrefaction
Cause of Death: Homicide (stabbing)

Physical Description
Estimated Age: 17 - 24 years old
Race: White
Gender: Male
Height: 5'11" - 6'1"
Weight: 140 - 150 pounds
Hair Color: Curly black hair, 1/4 to 1/2 inch in greatest length.
Eye Color: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Very narrow hips. Long fingers.

Identifiers
Dentals: Available. 16 upper and 16 lower adult teeth. The lower teeth are crowded in front. There are two large spaces between various upper teeth but there is no space in the middle. There is evidence of regular dental care. Fillings and other evidence of regular care indicate that the victim's dental work was done by an American dentist.
Fingerprints: Available
DNA: Unknown. Full x-rays are available

Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: A short sleeved red, white, blue, and yellow striped golf type shirt with an inner tag reading Chaps Ralph Lauren and a size of XL. The words Chaps and Ralph Lauren are printed randomly all over the shirt. The shirt was available only for a six-month time period because it was not a big seller. Originally sold at Macy's, the shirt made its way to Marshalls and T.J. Maxx department stores for clearance in its short run. Investigators believe the shirt was given to the man as a gift.

Carhart utility or carpenter style jeans, size 34x32. A pair of ankle high Chuka style black Timberland boots size 9 1/2 wide. Hanes Jockey shorts, size 38; and A belt with a 3 prong belt buckle. The jeans were buttoned and zippered closed appropriately.

Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Two single one dollar bills were found in the left front pocket of the jeans.

Circumstances of Discovery
On April 29, 2002, a Marlboro, NJ family discovered a 55 gallon steel drum which had been dumped on their residential property. The steel drum had been originally located in a ravine on the property which contained a small stream. The drum was moved to the end of the driveway by family members. The family believes that the drum was placed on their property no earlier than the night of April 18, 2002.

On April 29, 2002, members of the Marlboro Police Department and the Monmouth County Health Department went to the property to remove the steel drum. The drum was found to be welded shut. Health Department officials utilized a probe to examine the interior of the drum and something solid was discovered.

The Major Crimes and Forensics Units of the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office immediately became involved. When the drum was opened, the body of a markedly decomposed, fully clothed adult male was discovered. No wallet or other identification was found with the body. The individual may be from central or northern NJ or one of the five boroughs of New York City.

Investigating Agency(s)
Agency Name: New Jersey State Police
Agency Phone Number: 800-709-7090
Agency E-Mail: missingp@gw.njsp.org
Agency Case Number: 02-05798

Agency Name: Middlesex Regional Medical Examiner Office
Agency Phone Number: 732-745-3190
Agency Case Number: 13020485

Agency Name: Marlboro Township Police Department
Agency Phone Number: 732-536-0100
Agency Case Number: NJ State Police case number, 02-05798

NCIC Case Number: U290002402
NamUs Case Number: 1679

Information Source(s)
NamUs
New Jersey State Police
Central Jersey

Admin Notes
Added: Prior to 2004; Last Updated: 5/12/18



Unidentified Person / NamUs #UP1679

Demographics
Sex Male
Race / Ethnicity Other
Possible First Name--
Possible Middle Name--
Possible Last Name--
Nickname/Alias--
Estimated Age Group Adult - Pre 40
Estimated Age Range (Years) 18-34
Estimated Year of Death 2002
Estimated PMI--
Height 6' 0"(72 inches) , Estimated
Weight 145 lbs, Estimated

Circumstances

Type Unidentified Deceased
Date Body Found April 19, 2002
NamUs Case Created March 31, 2008
ME/C QA Reviewed--

Location Found

Location Marlboro, New Jersey
County Monmouth County
GPS Coordinates (Not Mapped)--
Found On Tribal Land--
Circumstances of Recovery On April 19, 2002, a Marlboro, NJ family discovered a 55 gallon steel drum which had been dumped on their residential property. The steel drum had been originally located in a ravine on the property which contained a small stream. The drum was moved to the end of the driveway by family members. The family believes that the drum was placed on their property no earlier than the night of April 18, 2002. On April 29, 2002, members of the Marlboro Police Department and the Monmouth County Health Department went to the property to remove the steel drum. The drum was found to be welded shut. Health Department officials utilized a probe to examine the interior of the drum and something solid was discovered. The Major Crimes and Forensics Units of the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office immediately became involved. When the drum was opened, the body of a markedly decomposed, fully clothed adult male was discovered. No wallet or other identification was found with the body. It is believed that this decedent had been dead for approximately one month. Individual my be from central or northern NJ or one of the five boroughs of New York City.

Details of Recovery

Inventory of Remains All parts recovered
Condition of Remains Not recognizable - Decomposing/putrefaction

Physical Description

Hair Color Brown
Head Hair Description Curly dark brown or black, 1/4 to 1/2 inch in greatest length.
Body Hair Description--
Facial Hair Description--
Left Eye Color Unknown
Right Eye Color Unknown
Eye Description--

Distinctive Physical Features

Item
Description
Other distinctive physical characteristic
Very narrow hips. Long fingers.

Clothing and Accessories
Accessories
Two single one dollar bills were found with body. Cell phone found.
Near the Body

Clothing
Ralph Lauren Chaps shirt, size XL which is red, white, blue and possibly yellow striped pullover shirt. The words "Chaps" and "Ralph Lauren" are printed randomly all over the shirt. Carhartt jeans, size 34x32. Belt with 3 prong buckle. White socks. Size 38 Hanes jockey underwear.
On the Body

Clothing
--
Near the Body

Footwear
9 1/2 wide ankle high black Timberland boots.
On the Body

Jewelry
--
On the Body
 
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A short sleeved red, white, blue, and yellow striped golf type shirt with an inner tag reading Chaps Ralph Lauren and a size of XL. The words Chaps and Ralph Lauren are printed randomly all over the shirt. The shirt was available only for a six-month time period because it was not a big seller. Originally sold at Macy's, the shirt made its way to Marshalls and T.J. Maxx department stores for clearance in its short run. Investigators believe the shirt was given to the man as a gift.

Anyone have any info on the dates the shirt was originally available at Macy's?
 
the steel drum. The drum was found to be welded shut.

According to Dr. Google, dimensions and material type determine the weight of a 55-gallon steel drum; it appears to me that the rough guestimate is 50 lbs.
Adding that to the estimated weight of this young man (160) yields a total weight of around 200 lbs. This would seem to me then to indicate this was not a "1-person job".

When you consider his body was put into this drum, which was then welded shut, and transported in some type of vehicle accommodating such to a location where the drum then had to be off-loaded to leave it where it was found ... there's been a significant effort put into concealing his death. Likely multiple people involved who had a known link to the victim.
 
Snippet from included article on the "professional" manner in which the steel drum was sealed. The 2nd page of article theorizes possible mob connection, in addition to the murder taking place at the same location of the steel drum origin and that all activities took place fairly quickly as there was no indication of insect activity.
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According to Dr. Google, dimensions and material type determine the weight of a 55-gallon steel drum; it appears to me that the rough guestimate is 50 lbs.
Adding that to the estimated weight of this young man (160) yields a total weight of around 200 lbs. This would seem to me then to indicate this was not a "1-person job".

When you consider his body was put into this drum, which was then welded shut, and transported in some type of vehicle accommodating such to a location where the drum then had to be off-loaded to leave it where it was found ... there's been a significant effort put into concealing his death. Likely multiple people involved who had a known link to the victim.

Good point. Although a drum like that can be moved by tipping it slightly and rolling it on the bottom rim, it's still not easy. It might not take two people but the solo person would have to be fairly strong.
 
Good point. Although a drum like that can be moved by tipping it slightly and rolling it on the bottom rim, it's still not easy. It might not take two people but the solo person would have to be fairly strong.

Somewhere in the thread, one of the articles, the authorities indicated they felt this was a group effort, with the death and body occurring in the same place (no evidence of insect activity), taking place where both the drum and subsequent welding seal would take place, and very possibly mob-related.
 
THE body of a man found in a 55-gallon steel drum dumped on a family property is at the heart of a cold case mystery.

Investigators are hoping to identify the victim, whose body was found twenty years ago a few yards from the driveway of New Jersey house.
 
Ken Ritter, The Associated Press

''LAS VEGAS (AP) - Stories about long-departed Las Vegas organized crime figures are surfacing after a second set of unidentified human remains were revealed as the water level falls on drought-stricken Lake Mead.
The reservoir on the Colorado River is about a 30-minute drive from the mob-founded Las Vegas Strip.
“There's no telling what we'll find in Lake Mead,” former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said Monday. “It's not a bad place to dump a body.”


''Goodman was a defense attorney who represented Mafia figures including ill-fated Anthony “Tony the Ant” Spilotro before serving three terms as a martini-toting mayor who made public appearances with a showgirl on each arm.

He declined to speculate about who might turn up in the vast reservoir formed by Hoover Dam between Nevada and Arizona.

“I'm relatively sure it was not Jimmy Hoffa,” he laughed, referring to the former labor boss who disappeared in 1975. But he added that a lot of his former clients seemed interested in “climate control” - mob speak for keeping the lake level up and bodies down in their watery graves.''

''Geoff Schumacher, vice president of The Mob Museum, said he expects “a lot” of whatever bodies lie beneath the lake's surface will turn out to be drowning victims. But he said it's clear whoever was in the barrel was a target.

Stuffing a body in a barrel has a “signature of a mob hit,” said Schumacher, whose museum is in a renovated historic downtown Las Vegas post office and federal building. It opened in 2012 as The National Museum of Organized Crime & Law Enforcement.\
He and Green both cited the death of John “Handsome Johnny” Roselli, a mid-1950s Las Vegas mobster who disappeared in 1976. A few days later his body was found in a steel drum floating off the coast of Miami.''

''David Kohlmeier, a former police officer who now co-hosts a Las Vegas podcast and fledgling TV show called “The Problem Solver Show,” said Monday that after offering a $5,000 reward last week for qualified divers to find barrels in the lake, he heard from people in San Diego and Florida willing to try.

But National Park Service officials said that's not allowed and that there are hundreds of barrels in the depths, some dating to the construction of Hoover Dam in the 1930s.

Kohlmeier said he also heard from families of missing people and about cases like a man suspected of killing his mother and brother in 1987, a hotel employee who disappeared in 1992, and a father from Utah who vanished in the 1980s.''
 
Ken Ritter, The Associated Press

''LAS VEGAS (AP) - Stories about long-departed Las Vegas organized crime figures are surfacing after a second set of unidentified human remains were revealed as the water level falls on drought-stricken Lake Mead.
The reservoir on the Colorado River is about a 30-minute drive from the mob-founded Las Vegas Strip.
“There's no telling what we'll find in Lake Mead,” former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said Monday. “It's not a bad place to dump a body.”


''Goodman was a defense attorney who represented Mafia figures including ill-fated Anthony “Tony the Ant” Spilotro before serving three terms as a martini-toting mayor who made public appearances with a showgirl on each arm.

He declined to speculate about who might turn up in the vast reservoir formed by Hoover Dam between Nevada and Arizona.

“I'm relatively sure it was not Jimmy Hoffa,” he laughed, referring to the former labor boss who disappeared in 1975. But he added that a lot of his former clients seemed interested in “climate control” - mob speak for keeping the lake level up and bodies down in their watery graves.''

''Geoff Schumacher, vice president of The Mob Museum, said he expects “a lot” of whatever bodies lie beneath the lake's surface will turn out to be drowning victims. But he said it's clear whoever was in the barrel was a target.

Stuffing a body in a barrel has a “signature of a mob hit,” said Schumacher, whose museum is in a renovated historic downtown Las Vegas post office and federal building. It opened in 2012 as The National Museum of Organized Crime & Law Enforcement.\
He and Green both cited the death of John “Handsome Johnny” Roselli, a mid-1950s Las Vegas mobster who disappeared in 1976. A few days later his body was found in a steel drum floating off the coast of Miami.''

''David Kohlmeier, a former police officer who now co-hosts a Las Vegas podcast and fledgling TV show called “The Problem Solver Show,” said Monday that after offering a $5,000 reward last week for qualified divers to find barrels in the lake, he heard from people in San Diego and Florida willing to try.

But National Park Service officials said that's not allowed and that there are hundreds of barrels in the depths, some dating to the construction of Hoover Dam in the 1930s.

Kohlmeier said he also heard from families of missing people and about cases like a man suspected of killing his mother and brother in 1987, a hotel employee who disappeared in 1992, and a father from Utah who vanished in the 1980s.''
Even though both does were found in barrels, i doubt these cases have anything to do with each other.
 
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