NY NY - Manhattan, WhtFem, UP104647, 70-80, found unresponsive after residential fire, tentative name Gilda Abramowitz, March 2023

[ralyla]

NamUs #UP104647

Sex/Race/Ethnicity: White Female
Estimated Age Range: 70-80
Height: 5'6" (measured)
Weight: 97lbs (measured)
DBF: March 24th, 2023
Location: Manhattan, New York
Circumstances of Recovery: Found unresponsive in an apartment after a residential fire. Tentative name of Gilda Abramowitz, but this name has not been verified and family has not been notified.
Condition: recognizable face (no photo on NaMus)
Hair Color/Description: Gray or Partially Gray, wavy, approximately 7"
Eye Color: Blue

FDNY: Woman killed in Kips Bay apartment fire

The flames broke out around 12:30 a.m. on the second floor of a building on East 31st Street.

www.cbsnews.com

Woman, 76, killed in Manhattan apartment fire

A 76-year-old Manhattan woman lost her life early Friday to a fire that ripped through her apartment, authorities said. The FDNY said it responded to a call at 12:35 a.m. about smoke coming from a …

www.nydailynews.com

The woman was declared dead at the scene. Her identity was not immediately released.

“She was quiet and didn’t go anywhere since her husband died last summer,” said Boris Sufayed, who owns a barber shop next to the fire scene.

Sufayed said the woman’s husband died last summer. “He went to the hospital and he never came back.”

“She was a good lady. She was quiet. She smoked a lot — 90% of the time, she was smoking.”

---

A 1967 article from The Reporter Dispatch in White Planes, New York lists Glinda as a survivor in her father, Harold C. Weiss' obituary:



In 2020, the NY Daily News listed Mrs. Abramowitz's name in the Unclaimed Fund listing and it includes the same apartment address as the article regarding the fire:



Marriage License Info from Ancestry:

Name	Gilda Weiss
Gender	Female
Marriage License Date	1962
Marriage License Place	Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
Spouse	Harry Abramowitz
License Number	10171

An article about her husband, his obituary, and Find a Grave:

95-year-old veteran still shows up to work every day

Twenty-one years ago, Harry Abramowitz retired at the age of 74. Three months later, he took at new job at an independent medical evaluation company now called ExamWorks. Now, just two days before his 95th birthday, Harry can still be found at his desk in Roseland, NJ performing his duties as...

www.fox5ny.com

Harry Abramowitz Obituary - Dix Hills, NY

Celebrate the life of Harry Abramowitz, leave a kind word or memory and get funeral service information care of I. J. Morris.

www.dignitymemorial.com

Harry Abramowitz (1924-2022) - Find a Grave...

www.findagrave.com

I cannot find any record of children or next of kin. I'm wondering if this poor woman was the last surviving relative. I'll keep searching records in an attempt to determine any next of kin.

 

[Susikatze]

Wait, she is unclaimed since 2020? Let me see if i can find jewish organizations that would bring her home.

 

[Laughing]

Wait, she is unclaimed since 2020? Let me see if i can find jewish organizations that would bring her home.

There are many synagogues in St. Louis -- possibly children grew up in that area?

Best wishes on your search!

 

[MarziPanda]

She had four siblings, so you'd think at least one would still be alive and if not, that there would at least be some nieces and nephews. Her father's obit mentions he had one grandchild, but she's the only one of the sisters mentioned as 'mrs', so I assume the others weren't married yet. David could have been married I suppose? So the grandchild could be Gilda's child, David's child, or perhaps a child out of wedlock for any of the siblings.

If none of the siblings, nieces or nephews are alive, her father had seven siblings, at least four of whom got married. So Gilda likely had cousins.

 

[Laughing]

Sometimes Google is my friend:

Hebrew Free Burial

Home - Hebrew Free Burial Association

Hebrew Free Burial Association exists to help Jewish families struggling with a loss obtain a free traditional Jewish burial.

www.hebrewfreeburial.org

On this page, both burial & genealogy are included as services:

What We Do - Hebrew Free Burial Association

www.hebrewfreeburial.org

 

[AliceInPain]

So much info, why is she "unidentified" and not "unclaimed"?
Or do they believe she may have been using the real Gilda's name?

 

[Laughing]

So much info, why is she "unidentified" and not "unclaimed"?
Or do they believe she may have been using the real Gilda's name?

Housekeeper???

 

[ralyla]

Wait, she is unclaimed since 2020? Let me see if i can find jewish organizations that would bring her home.

Since March 2023 when the fire happened. Thank you for looking up orgs!

She had four siblings, so you'd think at least one would still be alive and if not, that there would at least be some nieces and nephews. Her father's obit mentions he had one grandchild, but she's the only one of the sisters mentioned as 'mrs', so I assume the others weren't married yet. David could have been married I suppose? So the grandchild could be Gilda's child, David's child, or perhaps a child out of wedlock for any of the siblings.

If none of the siblings, nieces or nephews are alive, her father had seven siblings, at least four of whom got married. So Gilda likely had cousins.

I am going to do some more digging into ancestry and her siblings today.

 

[ralyla]

Well, this is odd. It seems there is a Gilda Abramowitz linked to Harold C Weiss and Anna Weiss (nee Kaplan) who died April 24th, 2012 in New York.

 

[AliceInPain]

Yeah that's the same (approx) year of birth as in the 1940s census.
So this woman may have been living as "Gilda" for ten+ years?
I'm assuming they've questioned hubby's family, they must have noticed if his wife suddenly had a different face.
And I wonder if "family has not been notified" because they realized the real Gilda was dead already.
Or am I thinking wrong here...

 

[Susikatze]

That is odd.

 

[Susikatze]

I guess gilda is buried then. So who is this woman?

 

[Susikatze]

My theory is that hubby was widowed and lived together with another woman who was never registered at that address. He dies, she continues to live there until a forgotten cig starts a fire and kills her. LE finds an older womans body and looks up the last one registered there. They likely now also figured out it cant be Gilda and that is why the woman is UID

 

[Lusitana]

Well... this is sad.

 

[Susikatze]

I guess whatever personal documents the woman had were consumed in the fire. And if not, she may have assumed Gildas identity for whatever reason (not legally in the country or hiding some past or simply posing as Gilda being able to access the husbands bank accounts etc.). Strange case

Jmoo

 

[MarziPanda]

That's very odd. Why release Gilda's name at all then if they know it's not her? Unless Gilda being deceased in 2012 was some kind of mistake in the records? Or they want Gilda's family to come forward to confirm if it is or isn't her?

The plot thickens.

 

[Lusitana]

That's very odd. Why release Gilda's name at all then if they know it's not her? Unless Gilda being deceased in 2012 was some kind of mistake in the records? Or they want Gilda's family to come forward to confirm if it is or isn't her?

The plot thickens.

Because whoever died in the home most likely was going by that name?

 

[kaen]

From the Fox article above:
Driving from his apartment on Central Park South (that he’s had since 1963) through the Lincoln tunnel to work every day


This deceased person lived on w 31st street...... I am not sure they are from the same couple as the 2020 unclaimed also states a 31st Street address.

 

[AliceInPain]

From the Fox article above:
Driving from his apartment on Central Park South (that he’s had since 1963) through the Lincoln tunnel to work every day


This deceased person lived on w 31st street...... I am not sure they are from the same couple as the 2020 unclaimed also states a 31st Street address.

And "the woman’s husband died last summer". The Harry A. in the linked obit and Find a Grave died in January.
Could be the neighbour remember it wrong I guess.
But 113 E 31st St looks correct since there's a barber shop next door.
Yeah probably a different Harry, but not a super-common name...

 

[bettyboop]

Wow. I would think a case like this would be easy to solve. Ha!
You are all great at finding things. I think there might be more Gilda Abramowitz's out there than just one or two. Just as an aside, I'm thinking of Gilda Radner now with this case. Such a great comedian. JMO MOO