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

[turanna25]

bumping.. haven't be able to find any new info/details.. anyone else??

 

[reasypeasy]

Was trying last night to make sense of KOVW CA

Saw game profiles that had these letters as all or part of a name, but nothing that jumped out....maybe have to look into that more.

Thought maybe it was an acronym...King of ?? Knight of ?? or initials....Karl O. von Walberg or something like that? my son is a "von" and his initials would be XXvX for first, middle, von, last.

Clearly it meant something...why so cryptic? Is there any significance as to where it was written?

Puzzling.

I know that the Knights of Valor are indeed a World of Warcraft gaming guild. And considering his weight I doubt he filled his spare time with physical sports. The spiderman hat has that geeky sort of edge to it too.

If I hadn't already exceded my download and had my internet slowed this month I'd be going through their website
http://wowkov.dkpsystem.com/memberlist.php
opening the profiles of all their players who are AWOL. Although maybe he isn't up as AWOL yet, I've no idea how much they let a player miss before they change their rank.

 

[ikoihil]

I also just asked my husband about the X tattoo and Straight Edge. He says the X tattoos are usually on the back of the hand, not on the inside of the wrists. He is kind of old school, so maybe the tattooed area has changed in the last 20 years or so.

X means "Straight Edge" -- meaning a person who abstains from drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, etc. Usually, people around them do, but they do not partake. Kind of a different kind of hipster. Usually (even now - he's correct) the X is on the outside of the hand, but I've seen them on the wrists to cover suicide attempt scars, which attempts were usually done under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. If they are placed over the scarring on the wrist, it reminds them of the life they've left behind, in favor of this Straight Edge movement.

Straight Edge Tattoo Images
https://www.google.com/search?q=str...6E8rE2QXhn8z5Dw&ved=0CCUQsAQ&biw=1252&bih=645


http://iamstraightedge.com/

Straight edge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


So maybe emailing some of the local straight-edge groups (I'm guessing he was an active member but fell out recently, judging from his shirt and cigarettes) to see whether they recognize him? They have like monthly get-togethers and stuff, and would recognize a member of his stature, for sure.

http://www.meetup.com/StraightEdgeNYC/

http://www.meetup.com/nycpunk/

http://straightedge.meetup.com/members/us/ny/brooklyn/

 

[rickyv]

I know Namus has some updated info on who they ruled out for the UDI's identity, i know quite a few NYPD officers so I will snoop around and see if i can find anything, keep you all posted.

 

[rickyv]

in keeping with the Knights of valour theme, i came across this http://www.knightsofvalour.ca/gallery.html

 

[brownieccs2009]

http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/search?q=kovw&f=wowcharacter

That same gaming website has several characters with KOVW...probably one user with several accounts maybe...but all are inactive. Last login was March 2011.

 

[rickyv]

this particular website is a jousting troupe based out of Canada, being a native New Yorker and Brooklynite, from my experience there is not a big Straight Edge movement here, I feel he may be from out of state.

 

[webrocket]

Rickyv, I am assuming he was from Brooklyn. people can go anywhere but to show up wearing socks, a Spiderman beanie, identify an empty apartment number then jump to his death, I think he was familiar with the neighborhood.

I still think he was probably from somewhere in the former Soviet Union (I'd love to know if the doorman recognized an accent) and anyone who knew him is reluctant to step forward.

 

[rickyv]

to clarify, i meant to say he probably lived in the area but came from somewhere else

 

[ebbie]

I know that the Knights of Valor are indeed a World of Warcraft gaming guild. And considering his weight I doubt he filled his spare time with physical sports. The spiderman hat has that geeky sort of edge to it too.

If I hadn't already exceded my download and had my internet slowed this month I'd be going through their website
http://wowkov.dkpsystem.com/memberlist.php
opening the profiles of all their players who are AWOL. Although maybe he isn't up as AWOL yet, I've no idea how much they let a player miss before they change their rank.

I totally agree.... A gamer who gets obsessed or so into a game. Overweight from inactivity but a hero in the game...the spiderman beenie....It all goes together.

I don't think it's odd for this type of personality to tattoo on the bottom of a foot. Its one of the most sensitive parts. Since it looks homemade, it would be a sign of strength in his mind.

I don't buy the foreign stuff....greek or whatever.

 

[CarlK90245]

I don't think it's odd for this type of personality to tattoo on the bottom of a foot. Its one of the most sensitive parts. Since it looks homemade, it would be a sign of strength in his mind.

I don't think the writing on the sole of his foot was a tattoo. I believe it was written in pen.

 

[ebbie]

Ok.. Didn't catch it was pen on his foot.

Still I like the gamer theory best.

My thoughts....

1. You cant live being 6'8" and 500 lbs without being well known. Just your size makes you a local celebrity.

2. I think the 'X' tattoo is straight edge. I searched and found other examples (photos) on the inner wrist, back, arm, etc....

My take:

Gamer..poor self esteem in real life, hero in the game, distinguishes himself from druggie losers with straight edge, trying to be cool with the piercings, etc... but self esteem and other problems win out (maybe his character died or he lost his job which paid for his ISP or a chance of a girlfriends slipped away). He commits suicide.

Still I would like to know what name he gave to the doorman to call. Was it totally phoney or did he say , for example, I want to see the guy in apt. 17b?

 

[cj327]

Looks like the woman that fell three months earlier from the same building left a note.

_____________________________
Woman’s Fall Was Suicide

June 6th, 2011 11:34 am

Police now say that the death of 86-year-old Lida Arakelyan last week from a fall out of a 10th floor window was likely suicide. They initially reported it was an accident, but Courier Life heard from a police spokesperson who says they found a suicide note in her apartment.

Source:
http://www.kensingtonprospect.com/?s=suicide

 

[rickyv]

have we confirmed he jumped from that window?? It is very frustrating that he remains unidentified when he is such a recognizable guy. Perhaps he knew the woman personally or was a family member.

 

[ClaireNC]

This is certainly an odd one. The writing on the foot is particularly strange. Maybe it is some odd form of suicide note, but I wonder if a man weighing over 500 lbs would be able to reach his foot to write on it.

 

[cj327]

I think the woman who jumped was Armenian. Don't see much resemblance.
Like others have already done, I did a lot of googling on the letters on his foot.
I think the letters probably are some sort of farewell message, or at least related to his death in some way. They look fairly freshly written. I mean, how long would ink last on the bottom of someone's foot? Wouldn't that be gone after a shower or a sweaty walk wearing shoes? (which he was not!)
The only think else I can gather is the size of the letters might have some relevance. If you look at the letters (on NamUs), look at how they are arranged. Very odd; it must have some relevance. The lowercase "c a" arranged horizontally. Also, to me the K and the W look larger than the v and perhaps the o. I know it would be hard to write on your own foot, but I am guessing he did it himself.
Every instance of KOVW that I found online was part of a greek phrase or sentence, or written by someone who was Greek. Even those instances that were associated with gamers were associated with Greek gamers. As was mentioned earlier on here, it means "cut" or "cutting", and when I entered all 6 letters into google translate, it returned "cut u" however I am highly skeptical of this being what he intended to write. I assume if he were writing in greek, he would have used at least one Greek letter! So I am leaning toward it having some other meaning, rather than being a greek message.

 

[CherBearSTL]

When I first looked at the writing on his foot I thought it was KOUW and not a V. Kouw is a common last name, although not as common as Smith or Jones. I have spent the better part of the morning trying to somehow connect the UID with someone by the last name of KOUW, but I am not having any luck. I was thinking that the "ca" could be California, but most of the Kouw's that I am finding are north and east. There is a C.A. Kouw that died in the past 20 years, but I can't find anything on him except his gravestone.

I just thought I would throw this out there in case anyone else was thinking the same thing.

 

[cj327]

When I first looked at the writing on his foot I thought it was KOUW and not a V. Kouw is a common last name, although not as common as Smith or Jones. I have spent the better part of the morning trying to somehow connect the UID with someone by the last name of KOUW, but I am not having any luck. I was thinking that the "ca" could be California, but most of the Kouw's that I am finding are north and east. There is a C.A. Kouw that died in the past 20 years, but I can't find anything on him except his gravestone.

I just thought I would throw this out there in case anyone else was thinking the same thing.

Thanks for bringing this up. I also thought about the possibility that it was a "u" instead of a "v", so you are not alone on that.

The other thing that keeps nagging at me is the arrangement of the letters. Why put one vertical and the other horizontal? It's not like he ran out of room or something. Why use lowercase for the "ca"? Those two things really make me wonder.

 

[CherBearSTL]

I also agree that it would be tough for someone of his size to write on his foot. I think it would be tough for me to write on my foot, and I'm a small person. I guess it's not impossible, but I would say it's unlikely.

With the fact that he was running around with no shoes, wearing a spiderman beanie, leads me to believe that there could have been some mental health issues (respectfully, but obviously), and the writings on his foot may mean absolutely nothing.

After looking at the "Grace" tattoo, I think I'm going to do some searching around that. It could be the name of a child or some other special person. The "x"s on the wrist still have me baffled. I'm not sure if they mean "straight edge" or if they are just something he would have wanted. Most of the Straight Edge tattoos that I saw were 3 Xs.

 

[rickyv]

Question, I live in the area and am tempted to visit the doorman and ask him if the guy had an accent or anything like that, do you think if i ask in a respectful manner and say that i am part of a volunteer effort to help identify this guy, would that be OK?