Identified! NY - Brooklyn, WhtMale, 20-30, 6'8", 539 lbs, Sep'11 - Kenneth Ecker

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Good point. Do you think he knew which apartment was vacant or do you think he just got lucky and picked an empty one? Even though he jumped off the roof, I wonder if that specific apartment had any significance to him, such as it used to be his or someone he knew.

I would say that he knew a particular apartment was empty. Not unusual because it is common for specific apartments to be advertised whether online or elsewhere as available to rent:

Circumstances of death

Decedent entered the 17-floor private apartment building and stated he was there to see one of the residents. While the doorman was on the phone to call that resident, the decedent ran into the elevator. He was found 20 mins later in the courtyard of the building. The specific apartment he stated he was visiting is unoccupied.


https://identifyus.org/cases/full_report/9421

However, I can't be sure from the way the above is written as to whether or not he was able to provide the doorman with the actual name of a specific tenant there. If he did, the apartment he provided was not the one in which the tenant he named resided in.
 
I am finding this case particularly frustrating. There are so many distinguishing features that somebody should know who this poor man is. I have searched national databases such as NamUS and went through 100's, if not 1000's of pictures on state and local databases in the northeast and mid-Atlantic states.

Could the ca in the writing on his foot mean Canada? It looks like there is not one national database for Canada, but it goes by state/territory. Does anybody have expertise in wading through those databases?
 
Good point. Do you think he knew which apartment was vacant or do you think he just got lucky and picked an empty one? Even though he jumped off the roof, I wonder if that specific apartment had any significance to him, such as it used to be his or someone he knew.

Well, contradicting my earlier statement (guessing he chose the building more or less randomly based on its height), it does sound to me like he knew that apartment would be empty - because he ran past the doorman without waiting for the doorman to talk to the tennant. He may have known nobody would answer.

I agree that he might have seen an ad (would they have listed the apartment number in the ad?) or known someone who had just moved out - but in the latter case he would have had to know or assume that nobody had moved in yet.

I am mainly trying to figure out why he was at that particular building...did he live nearby? (he wasn't recognized apparently, assuming the word got out) Did he know someone in the building? (I would assume the police followed up on this possibility)
 
this is truly frustrating because of his unusual size, SOMEBODY has to know this guy or at least seen him around, a question, if he is indentified, how can we find out??
 
this is truly frustrating because of his unusual size, SOMEBODY has to know this guy or at least seen him around, a question, if he is indentified, how can we find out??

If he is identified, his casefile will be removed from public view in NamUs.
 
I am finding this case particularly frustrating. There are so many distinguishing features that somebody should know who this poor man is. I have searched national databases such as NamUS and went through 100's, if not 1000's of pictures on state and local databases in the northeast and mid-Atlantic states.

Could the ca in the writing on his foot mean Canada? It looks like there is not one national database for Canada, but it goes by state/territory. Does anybody have expertise in wading through those databases?

This is kind of what I was figuring....Canada or California..... My hunch is more Canada though. And I'm still thinking he had something to do with gaming..... Knights of Valor was a guild in Warcraft....or maybe "ca" is for Cataclysm the latest WoW expansion. Maybe he identified himself with his guild more than his family.

I still think he looks like Shannon LaBue although it looks like no one else does!
 
This is kind of what I was figuring....Canada or California..... My hunch is more Canada though. And I'm still thinking he had something to do with gaming..... Knights of Valor was a guild in Warcraft....or maybe "ca" is for Cataclysm the latest WoW expansion. Maybe he identified himself with his guild more than his family.

I still think he looks like Shannon LaBue although it looks like no one else does!

I did look at Shannon today. My biggest concern is the mention of the dragon tattoo. Our UID didn't have this, or at least it wasn't listed.

Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using Tapatalk
 
Just a couple of random thoughts. Probably not helpful.

Most of us are assuming he is a gamer, but the (possibly) surgical scars on his leg could be from a sports injury. Someone of that size could have been recruited for football at least in jr high or high school. He could have put on much of the weight after that. There are a lot of high schools in this country, so that doesn't really help narrow it down.

The X tattoos don't look much like Straight Edge Xs. Too thin and they have the bold serifs or whatever on the ends. I don't know what else an X tattoo would mean. It could be any number of things, or it could have some personal meaning that we would never guess. They are obviously not oriented like a cross would have been.

Looks like the eliminated people in NamUs were simply tall people. I did the same search and ended up with the same tall people.

Hope he had some friends that would eventually report him missing...
 
This is kind of what I was figuring....Canada or California..... My hunch is more Canada though. And I'm still thinking he had something to do with gaming..... Knights of Valor was a guild in Warcraft....or maybe "ca" is for Cataclysm the latest WoW expansion. Maybe he identified himself with his guild more than his family.

I still think he looks like Shannon LaBue although it looks like no one else does!

I came up with Shannon LaBue too, but the dragon tattoo didn't match.

My thought on it being Canada rather than California is the use of lower case letters ca, which is often used by Canadian website ending in .ca If it was California, I think it would be capital letters CA.

I don't know anything about the gaming culture, so I can't comment on that.
 
Shannon LaBau does bear a fairly strong facial resemblance, but he also has a scar between his eyes that I did not see on this UID.

At this point, my best guess is that he was living somewhere in the city, probably in another neighborhood. Maybe he was sharing a place with some other people and they did not report him missing. Until someone reports him missing, roommates or family, or until we get more information, it could be tough to track him down. He is obviously a very visible person physically, but without a way to get the word out... I am still thinking though...
 
I keep thinking the only reason to write something on your foot before committing suicide is to help anyone looking for you confirm your identity... like writing something on the sole of your foot for the coroner to find when he/she attaches a toe tag. And maybe, in his distraught state, he was thinking noone would go looking for him, so he didn't want to identify himself, just give enough to confirm it. It's a very sad thought for our UID. =(

I can think of plenty of possibilities where the KOVW initials are his name, especially with a surname like Van Winkle or Van Wyck
 
He is obviously a very visible person physically, but without a way to get the word out... I am still thinking though...

That should tell us something though.....

A guy of 500+ lbs can NOT move around in society as easily as someone of more average size. Seats on public transportation or booths in restaurants....general stuff is not made for people of this size. It leads me to believe that he did not really get out much. Not sure how a homebody makes money to survive but I'm ignoring that part right now.

His world probably existed in the walls of an apartment mostly. He probably ordered pizza or Chinese....and a lot of it! Some delivery guy probably know exactly who this guy is.

If he lived alone, it would take a concerned landlord with a heart to file a missing persons as opposed to just chucking his stuff in the trash to let the next guy rent his place.
 
If he lived alone, it would take a concerned landlord with a heart to file a missing persons as opposed to just chucking his stuff in the trash to let the next guy rent his place.

if he had a job you'd think someone would be missing a co-worker.

you'd be surprised how many people, especially in urban ethnic areas, are completely below the radar. sleeping on couches, no credit cards in their name, working odd jobs for cash, etc.

the ink must mean something but I can't for the life of me figure it out. I wonder if it has some Eastern European meaning but the letters don't seem to spell anything.
 
I keep thinking the only reason to write something on your foot before committing suicide is to help anyone looking for you confirm your identity... like writing something on the sole of your foot for the coroner to find when he/she attaches a toe tag. And maybe, in his distraught state, he was thinking no one would go looking for him, so he didn't want to identify himself, just give enough to confirm it. It's a very sad thought for our UID. =(

I can think of plenty of possibilities where the KOVW initials are his name, especially with a surname like Van Winkle or Van Wyck

Respectfully, BBM

Yes, so sad. I agree that he intended it as his personalized toe tag with a twist. Rather than print his name in ink, he intentionally penned a puzzle.
 
This is sad and not meant to be offensive in any way.

BUT...

When my girls were small, I spent a lot of time at the school. There was a foster mother that had a lot of kids in the school system also, and we would frequently have to work together on fundraisers and such.

She was huge, weighing at least 500 lbs...maybe more. I went to a couple of her garage sales and she ordered ALL of her clothing by mail, and most were size 6X.

To get to my point, she always had nice looking clothing but never, ever did she wear shoes. Not sandals, tennies, flip flops, slippers or any footwear of any kind.

I was told by someone else that she was too heavy to find shoes that fit her swollen feet.

Maybe the UID couldn't find shoes for someone of his stature/weight.

Just a thought, not important or pertinent, and not gonna help us find his identity.

Not being physically able to wear shoes would certainly be enough to depress ME.

JMHO.
 
the ink must mean something but I can't for the life of me figure it out. I wonder if it has some Eastern European meaning but the letters don't seem to spell anything.

I ran across some misc. forum posting talking about Bible stuff....A sea of glass down through which you'd be looking at hell and the only way to communicate with those below is by writing on the soles of your feet.

Anyone know the bible or Enoch? This guy had a tattoo of "grace"....isn't that religious? Can anyone verify this isn't crap made up by a poster?
 
Just brainstorming...it's a stretch, but perhaps he once attempted to break into the entertainment wrestling industry at an earlier time (depending on his actual age) due to both his extreme height and weight (perhaps, 200 lbs lower at one point), as well as indications of prior injuries and possible surgery. The straight edge (possibly) tattoos, Spiderman beanie and piercings could be leftover props of an earlier, failed attempt to break into that world.
 
I ran across some misc. forum posting talking about Bible stuff....A sea of glass down through which you'd be looking at hell and the only way to communicate with those below is by writing on the soles of your feet.

Anyone know the bible or Enoch? This guy had a tattoo of "grace"....isn't that religious? Can anyone verify this isn't crap made up by a poster?

If the X tattoos are symbolic of straight edge, then the GRACE tattoo fits with that lifestyle.

I don't know the answer to your question, but your post reminded me of this.

Another possible association with GRACE might be Jeff Buckley's only completed album which is GRACE:

Lyrics to Grace
written by Jeff Buckley
From GRACE album

There's the moon asking to stay
Long enough for the clouds to fly me away
Though it's my time coming, I'm not afraid, afraid to die
My fading voice sings of love,
But she cries to the clicking of time,
Of time

Wait in the fire...


http://www.sing365.com/music/Lyric.nsf/Grace-lyrics-Jeff-Buckley/81A32A966FEA9560482568840026F078
 
His shoes/sneakers/footwear probably would have made his identity more easily and quickly traceable...uncommon size at his height, uncommon width at that weight. Could trace him too easily and he did not wish that.

My gut is he deliberately ditched them with his other belongings before entering the apartment building.
 
For whatever reason, pro wrestling also popped into my mind very early on. But then later I started thinking may high school football.

Looking at the letters, the K and the W look largest. On twitter, there is someone with the user name of these same four letters, in the same order. In their user name, the K and the W are in caps and the middle two letters are not. The letters are a play on the person's own name, if you compare the name to the letters. I googled the person's name and got their facebook account (Czech; the person and all their friends seem to be in that country). For privacy reasons and WS policy, I am not suggesting we all flock there, but I will say that I already looked over the person's (public) list of friends and none bore any resemblance to the UID. The twitter account was basically opened but never really used.

I had not thought specifically of the toe tag thing, but it is looking pretty logical at this moment. I do think the simplest explanation for the letters is that they are his initials. I looked at "van W*" names, mostly Dutch. And thought about K first names. I even saw a former football player who fit the initials K vW who was 6'6" and the right age, but it's not him. Maybe his reason for putting the "ca" in lower case was simply to differentiate it from the letters above.

Unfortunately I don't know of a good way to do a web search for a person using that kind of wildcard - like K* van W* or K* O* van W*. On the off chance that he was listed in a phone directory, looking over the names the old fashioned way would be easier than online, in this case.
But there is a good chance he is not in a local phone directory anyway, so it might be more useful to do a broader search if that were possible.
 

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