NY NY - Mitchel Weiser, 16, & Bonita Bickwit, 15, Narrowsburg, 27 July 1973

[dotr]

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Bonita, circa 1973; Age-progression to age 58 (circa 2016)

http://charleyproject.org/case/bonita-mara-bickwit

 

[dotr]

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Mitchel, circa 1973; Age-progression to age 53 (circa 2009)

http://charleyproject.org/case/mitchel-fred-weiser

 

[Carolina Jacks]

The only 2 ways that i can think of to solve this case. Would be first to go to Burdett NY and look for them door to door. Or ask around. Which would be an invasion of their privacy. Or second .. to go to the forest on the route from the camp to Watkins Glen and scour the woods for any sign of them. The camera could actually still be in tack. Or Possibly try to find the truck driver that last dropped them off. But he is probably deceased by now.

 

[dotr]

If Mitchel's hair went much lighter in the summer, this unidentified male would come to mind. speculation.
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?92402-Canada-Whitney-Ont-WhtMale-HC95-18-29-Algonquin-Park-campsite-Apr-80&highlight=Algonquin+Park
[h=2]Canada - Whitney, Ont, WhtMale HC95, 18-29, @ Algonquin Park campsite, Apr'80[/h]

 

[Two for the road]

If Mitchel's hair went much lighter in the summer, this unidentified male would come to mind. speculation.
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?92402-Canada-Whitney-Ont-WhtMale-HC95-18-29-Algonquin-Park-campsite-Apr-80&highlight=Algonquin+Park
[h=2]Canada - Whitney, Ont, WhtMale HC95, 18-29, @ Algonquin Park campsite, Apr'80[/h]

That's a great quote! You never know, it could have been lighter. That recon and his other details line up almost perfectly. Although, I wish the article said whether the stamp and $20 bill were US or Canadian.

dotr, did you turn this tip in? I think it's worth a shot!

 

[dotr]

Just trying this one on for size, granted this case nicknamed " The Sweetheart Murders, " occurred in 1987 and was some distance away from NY, but it reminded me of this case, because it involved a very young couple on a journey.
There is a new composite released of the perp, noting just case it rings a bell in Bonita and Mitchel's disappearance..
FWIW, speculation, imo.
https://www.google.ca/maps/dir/Watkins+Glen,+New+York,+USA/Washington,+District+of+Columbia,+USA/@40.6144179,-79.707376,7z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x89d0590a7bd9618f:0xd42cbd119e511709!2m2!1d-76.8732921!2d42.3806287!1m5!1m1!1s0x89b7c6de5af6e45b:0xc2524522d4885d2a!2m2!1d-77.0368707!2d38.9071923!3e0

[url]https://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?230061-WA-Jay-Cook-20-amp-Tanya-Van-Cuylenborg-18-Skagit-County-24-Nov-1987
[/URL][h=2]WA - Jay Cook, 20, & Tanya Van Cuylenborg, 18, Skagit County, 24 Nov 1987[/h]

 

[Two for the road]

Just trying this one on for size, granted this case nicknamed " The Sweetheart Murders, " occurred in 1987 and was some distance away from NY, but it reminded me of this case, because it involved a very young couple on a journey.
There is a new composite released of the perp, noting just case it rings a bell in Bonita and Mitchel's disappearance..
FWIW, speculation, imo.
https://www.google.ca/maps/dir/Watkins+Glen,+New+York,+USA/Washington,+District+of+Columbia,+USA/@40.6144179,-79.707376,7z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x89d0590a7bd9618f:0xd42cbd119e511709!2m2!1d-76.8732921!2d42.3806287!1m5!1m1!1s0x89b7c6de5af6e45b:0xc2524522d4885d2a!2m2!1d-77.0368707!2d38.9071923!3e0

[url]https://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?230061-WA-Jay-Cook-20-amp-Tanya-Van-Cuylenborg-18-Skagit-County-24-Nov-1987
[/URL][h=2]WA - Jay Cook, 20, & Tanya Van Cuylenborg, 18, Skagit County, 24 Nov 1987[/h]

I think it is very loosely possible. Especially since the woman's camera was stolen and Mitch had a camera. I wonder if police ever looked into Mitch's camera being pawned?

However, IMO the killer in the above mentioned case would probably be a better suspect candidate for couples murders in the PNW region like Karen Lee and Rodney Grissom. The suspect went all the way to Portland to pawn her camera lens. My guess is that wasn't by accident.

I think if Mitch and Bonnie were killed, it was either by a trucker, or by an unknown serial killer in the new England area. But that's just MOO, anything is possible. That's what makes this case so intriguing and frustrating at the same time. I wish I had the ability to go and retrace their possible route to WG.

 

[dotr]

I think it is very loosely possible. Especially since the woman's camera was stolen and Mitch had a camera. I wonder if police ever looked into Mitch's camera being pawned?

However, IMO the killer in the above mentioned case would probably be a better suspect candidate for couples murders in the PNW region like Karen Lee and Rodney Grissom. The suspect went all the way to Portland to pawn her camera lens. My guess is that wasn't by accident.

I think if Mitch and Bonnie were killed, it was either by a trucker, or by an unknown serial killer in the new England area. But that's just MOO, anything is possible. That's what makes this case so intriguing and frustrating at the same time. I wish I had the ability to go and retrace their possible route to WG.

Just realized that once again i have mixed up the two Washingtons, oh well still a bump for both and now with your suggestion, a third similar case to consider!

 

[Two for the road]

My fear is that Mitch and Bonnie are in unmarked graves on Hart Island. If they were buried before 1977 their records were destroyed in a fire. So IF that happened (just speculating), they were unidentified because NYC police didn't know they were missing and they were sent to Hart Island and their records were destroyed... There is literally no way of knowing if it was them. Another possibility in the endless possibilities in this case.

Just doing some research on Hart Island, I wonder if anyone has gone through the available records and cross referenced them with Namus to see if any of the unidentified buried there are in the system. Just a random thought.

 

[dotr]

My fear is that Mitch and Bonnie are in unmarked graves on Hart Island. If they were buried before 1977 their records were destroyed in a fire. So IF that happened (just speculating), they were unidentified because NYC police didn't know they were missing and they were sent to Hart Island and their records were destroyed... There is literally no way of knowing if it was them. Another possibility in the endless possibilities in this case.

Just doing some research on Hart Island, I wonder if anyone has gone through the available records and cross referenced them with Namus to see if any of the unidentified buried there are in the system. Just a random thought.

Interesting..
https://www.thehour.com/nation/article/DNA-tests-can-help-identify-dead-buried-on-Hart-8189047.php
2012

[h=1]DNA tests can help identify dead buried on Hart Island[/h]

DNA samples weren't regularly taken from all bodies until about 2006, so the only way to identify many bodies is to exhume them, once DNA samples can be matched up with a description of a corpse, like in Maurer's case.
Fifty-four bodies for which the medical examiner's office had no DNA samples have been disinterred from Hart Island. The exhumation, performed by city inmates, is part of a larger effort to gather data on the unknowns. So far, 50 have been identified, including some who were exhumed.

To date, the scientists have gathered data on more than 1,200 unidentified bodies and entered it into Namus, the public database that is run by the National Institute of Justice -- the research arm of the Department of Justice --

 

[JerseyGirl]

still missing: http://www.newyorkupstate.com/expo/erry-2018/05/4f21d550a87610/missing_children_teens_may_201.html

 

[JerseyGirl]

still missing: 48 children and teens are missing right now in Upstate NY: Have you seen them? (July)

 

[Two for the road]

We are coming up on 45 years,

Where, oh where could they be?

 

[Archangel85]

Still missing

 

[Two for the road]

Bumping for Mitch and Bonnie who have been missing for 45 years.


Any ideas on how to restart the investigation?

 

[dotr]

Bumping and hoping someone will come forward with a tip that will launch a fresh investigation into this intriguing but tragic case.

Mitchel Weiser and Bonnie Bickwit
JULY 27, 1973
Forty years ago, Brooklyn teenagers Mitchel Weiser and Bonnie Bickwit went to an upstate concert and never came home.

Mitchel, then 16, of Midwood, and Bonnie, then 15, of Borough Park, set out to Summer Jam at Watkins Glen, featuring groups such as the Allman Brothers, Grateful Dead and the Band.

With $25 between them, they hit the road, hitchhiking along State Route 97. They vanished.
At first, it was just assumed the two may have gone off to a commune somewhere — two hippies who’d eventually go straight.

But as days have turned into decades, there’s been no sign of the two.

Weiser’s older sister, Susan Weiser Leibgott, refuses to say Yizkor, the Jewish prayer of mourning for the dead.

“I won’t say it until he’s found,” she told The Post. “It’s been 40 years and someone knows what happened. Someone has to come forward and say they saw something. They have to find my brother.”

The case is being investigated by the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office, whose Undersheriff Eric Chaboty told The Post that the case remains open and that all leads so far “have gone nowhere.”

Over the years, there have been intermittent efforts to refocus attention to the case. In 2000, their alma mater, John Dewey High School, held a special reunion, where an eight-foot maple tree was planted in their names.

“I always thought they were going to turn up,” said Stuart Karten, Mitchel’s best friend who started a Web site, mitchelandbonnie.com, to bring attention to the case. “Mitchel was a very ethical kid — almost honest to a fault. I don’t believe that they ran away or they did anything like that. I always figured foul play was involved.”

 

[Two for the road]

Can someone please post the UIDs that they've been ruled out as matches to per Namus? Afaik, Bonnie has only been on one rule out and Mitch has been on a couple.

 

[CCJD]

Exclusions for Bonnie - It says there are 13 but only 12 are listed.

UP6279
12/18/1996
Fairfax, VA

UP8419
01/16/2001
Isle of Wight,VA

UP14969
11/15/1978
Hampshire, MA

UP5024
04/21/2007
Cayuga, NY

UP12683
06/06/2014
Newport News, VA

UP6661
02/03/1991
Stafford, VA

UP2607
07/31/1988
Monroe, NY

UP1567
06/01/1987
Knox, TN

UP8493
12/06/1993
Fairfax, VA

UP6249
11/14/1980
Rockingham, VA

UP8398
10/16/1997
Madison, AL

UP5614
10/08/2000
Salt Lake, UT

 

[CCJD]

For Mitch

Exclusions 80
78 Unidentified Person Exclusions

UP17386
07/23/2017
Middlesex, NJ

UP12854
05/23/2014
Cuyahoga,OH

UP12163
06/30/1995
Accomack, VA

UP6245
02/23/1982
Hanover, VA

UP14360
08/14/2015
Bland, VA

UP6639
07/28/2007
Fairfax, VA

UP9382
11/13/1973
Dinwiddie, VA

UP6746
01/29/1982
Newport News, VA

UP6149
01/22/1996
Halifax, VA

UP2230
08/19/1991
Richmond, VA

UP6474
06/12/1990
Prince William, VA

UP14901
11/14/1980
Cuyahoga, OH

UP2667
08/18/2008
Dinwiddie, VA

UP6762
10/08/1995
Richmond, VA

UP6637
10/07/2006
Fairfax, VA

UP6640
08/30/1984
New Kent, VA

UP6530
05/18/1990
Chesterfield, VA

UP9399
01/09/1983
Caroline, VA

UP14518
04/03/2010
Shenandoah, VA

UP13739
03/28/2015
Virginia Beach, VA

UP9383
03/04/1975
Albemarle, VA

UP8418
02/24/1992
Henrico, VA

UP6643
04/11/1987
Caroline, VA

UP9385
11/01/1976
James City, VA

UP4399
09/19/1979
Los Angeles, CA

UP4399
09/19/1979
Los Angeles, CA

UP6515
04/19/1987
Charlottesville, VA

UP9398
08/28/1979
Charles City, VA

UP6278
07/05/2007
Botetourt, VA

UP10941
09/18/1973
Caroline, VA

UP6304
08/01/1993
Clarke, VA

UP6719
03/02/1986
Alleghany, VA

UP6513
01/01/1990
Brunswick, VA

UP9340
11/19/1983
Chesapeake, VA

UP12266
06/20/1977
Hampton, VA

UP9509
02/23/1983
Virginia Beach, VA

UP4547
08/09/1973
Harris, TX

UP4547
08/09/1973
Harris, TX

UP6301
11/10/1988
Caroline, VA

UP11248
08/20/2012
Alexandria, VA

UP2626
02/01/1991
Virginia Beach, VA

UP9342
07/20/1982
Chesapeake, VA

UP5532
04/07/1992
Newport News, VA

UP6303
01/26/1997
Warren, VA

UP2560
03/05/2003
Norfolk, VA

UP6305
07/30/2002
Prince William, VA

UP6057
09/05/1983
Onondaga, NY

UP10226
04/01/2012
Carroll, VA

UP6473
03/08/1988
Loudoun, VA

UP6638
04/06/2006
Fairfax, VA

UP6171
12/26/2005
Pittsylvania, VA

UP6507
11/10/1988
Caroline, VA

UP7605
07/21/2010
Mecklenburg, VA

UP6700
07/01/1975
Amherst, VA

UP2672
04/05/2008
Prince Edward, VA

UP2229
09/28/1990
Stafford, VA

UP9513
11/13/2011
Hartford, CT

UP8466
10/09/1995
Putnam, NY

UP763
12/16/2003
Hennepin, MN

UP2114
02/29/1988
Washoe, NV

UP6056
06/16/1976
Onondaga, NY

UP7860
05/20/1999
Sequoyah, OK

UP6315
11/21/2009
Mecklenburg, VA

UP6702
07/01/1979
Augusta, VA

UP512
10/31/2005
Blount, AL

UP2100
07/11/1987
Washoe, NV

UP7469
11/22/1985
Washoe, NV

UP6725
06/08/2000
Virginia Beach, VA

UP6095
06/26/1995
Greensville, VA

UP2104
11/18/1984
Washoe, NV

UP1212
01/05/1988
Miami-Dade, FL

UP5239
01/01/2008
Lynchburg, VA

UP1305
04/26/1980
Pinellas, FL

UP1271
08/23/1982
Pasco, FL

UP787
02/09/2002
Richmond, VA

UP6512
04/25/1985
Greensville, VA

UP6480
09/14/2006
Lincoln, OR

UP1296
10/10/1980
Pinellas, FL

 

[dotr]

Thanks for that CCJD!