PA PA - Bedford, 'Mr. Bones' WhtMale 30-35, 585UMPA, 30-06 rifle, gold dental wk, camping equip, Oct'58

[Yaya]

I'm sorry to inform you that Weldon Kees is not this John Doe.
The Doe Network has this information. Mr. Reidel has spoken with members of the Doe Network in past years.

I think it would be great if the Doe Network would post updates for people who have been ruled out and make this a public section on their site.

 

[Hollow]

I wonder on what basis Kees was eliminated as a match. I have just recieved the book Vanished act, I'm really interested in Kee's story anyways. I also wonder why Hart Crane, Weldon Kees and Lew Welch (emulated Kees, also a poet, wrote suicide note, walked into the woods and disappeared forever in the 70s) have never been listed on any missing persons data bases. Even though it is assumed they died, their bodies were never found and I've seen listings on these sites for girls that Bundy confessed to killing and they pretty much know he did, but yet, they are still listed. Ah, the tragic life of a poet!!!!:angel:

 

[shadowangel]

One of those tragic coincidences...In December of '96, a 14-year old boy was shot while hunting with friends-near the Midway Service Plaza located off the Penn Turnpike in Bedford, PA. Though thought to be an accident, the shooter was not immediately known....

 

[Beyond Belief]

"For those you who would like to explore the field of nonverbal communication, Jurgen Ruesch, phychiatrist and Weldon Kees, poet and film producer have written a volumne called "Nonverbal Communication". The book is illustrated with more than 300 photographs of people in action, of signs, shop windows, artifacts, and such, all carrying wordless meanings.
Chronicle Telegram, The (Elyria, Ohio) > 1957 > March > 9


I wonder if our guy was trying to give us a nonverbal message with the articles he left behind.

 

[anthrobones]

bumping up post

 

[Richard]

Interesting that you would bump this up. Just a couple of weeks ago I drove past the site where the body was found. The countryside around the highway oasis is still pretty much like it was in the 1950's. Got to thinking about the case all over again.

 

[Hollow]

Richard, found this and I can't find anything else about this fella, but maybe you can if you think he's a good prospect:

The Marion Star
Wed, July 7, 1954

MAN STILL MISSING
Cincinnati (AP) ... missing waterworks superintendant of nearby Cleves, indicted on a $4,320 embezzlement charge, has not been found. Fort Knox, KY Army authorities said yesterdayJohn W. Donnelly, 46, was a soldier there. But a recheck showed the GI was Donnelly's 18-year-old son.

 

[Richard]

Richard, found this and I can't find anything else about this fella, but maybe you can if you think he's a good prospect:

The Marion Star
Wed, July 7, 1954

MAN STILL MISSING
Cincinnati (AP) ... missing waterworks superintendant of nearby Cleves, indicted on a $4,320 embezzlement charge, has not been found. Fort Knox, KY Army authorities said yesterdayJohn W. Donnelly, 46, was a soldier there. But a recheck showed the GI was Donnelly's 18-year-old son.

I wonder if he ever turned up. He sounds like he would have been about 50 when Mr. Bones died, rather than in his 30's. His birthdate would have been 1907 or 1908 if the story is accurate.

It is hard to imagine that he would be wandering the country side for almost four years prior to Spring of 1958 (best estimate of Mr. Bones' death). But with no other strong candidates, the possibility is interesting.

 

[Hollow]

Ok, just so I can get this clear, he was a skeleton when they found him right ??? Do you know what points them to saying that they feel he died around the beginning of 1958 ??

 

[Richard]

Ok, just so I can get this clear, he was a skeleton when they found him right ??? Do you know what points them to saying that they feel he died around the beginning of 1958 ??

I spoke with the cold case officer assigned to the case some months ago and asked him what his best estimate was for the time of death. He told me that they believed it to have been Spring of 1958, some six months before discovery of the remains.

When I next asked him why the Doenetwork simply stated that he had died "in the 1950's" and why other sites had the death date as early as 1956, he replied that they wanted to expand the time frame in order to possibly generate more leads. They were trying to be more "inclusive" rather than trying to put out a specific date of death when they made up their websites and posters.

It was obviously his feeling that someone could have "disappeared" some years prior to the estimated Spring 1958 death of this man, and that if a definite date was given, someone with information might rule him out as a possible match.

I would not rule John W. Donnelly out on that basis, either. I only made the comment to indicate that it would have been a long time for him to have been missing prior to the death of Mr. Bones. It would certainly be interesting to follow up on Donnelly's disappearance to see if he ever turned up. If not, perhaps he should be added to the lists of missing persons and compared to Mr. Bones and other John Does.

 

[Hollow]

Thanks Richard, I knew why you said it. I was just wondering if there was something, possibly an item found at the scene that would have decayed if it were a longer time period than this.

Donnelly possibly had a motive for suicide, especially if his wife didn't know about his embezzling activities. Cincinnati is 369 miles, give or take, from Bedford. I looked all night and couldn't find another article about this man.

I'll look and see if I can find any matches closer to the actual time estimate.

 

[Richard]

Thanks Richard, I knew why you said it. I was just wondering if there was something, possibly an item found at the scene that would have decayed if it were a longer time period than this...

As you know, there were quite a few items found with this man's body which might have given investigators clues as to the estimated date or time frame of death.

Aside from the prescription contacts, rifle serial number and purchase date, publication dates in books, ammunition lot dates, dates on dollar bills, etc, they might have looked at the decay and weathering of all those items, as well as the decay level and scattering of the bones.

I do not, however, know exactly what forensic clues pointed them to the Spring 1958 estimate.

 

[anthrobones]

giving thread another bump

 

[Beyond Belief]

Can they get dna from bones this old?

 

[Richard]

Can they get dna from bones this old?

The answer would be that it depends on how the bones were preserved or stored, rather than the age of the bones. In this particular case, the bones were gathered in October 1958 from an outdoors area where they had been lying for about 6 months or more. Since that time, they have been kept in a container in an evidence locker of the Bedford County Sheriff Department.

Temperature, humidity, etc might break down the DNA, and who knows whether or not the bones had been cleaned with chemicals at some point.

I do not know whether or not DNA was successfully extracted from these bones, but even if it was, you would need a relative's DNA to compare it to before a positive identification could be made.

It might be possible to make some general statements about the deceased by studying his DNA, such as what race he might have been, but at this point what is needed is an identification before the case could progress.

 

[anthrobones]

bump up post

 

[Rle7]

Mr. Bones” probably won’t be buried anytime soon.

The skeletal remains of the unidentified man – nicknamed “Mr. Bones” by police – have been stored in Bedford County, Pa., for nearly half a century.

Three years ago this month, state police released a composite sketch of what the man likely looked like at the time of his disappearance.

Despite numerous inquiries, no one has given him a name or shed light on this long-unsolved mystery.

“We received calls from all over the country and everything we received we have checked out,” said Trooper Joseph Kovel. “But we still have not been able to identify him.”

Kovel is lead investigator for what authorities believe is an unsolved murder.

Most of the inquiries have been about distant relatives who went missing, Kovel said.

People have called about a missing parent, or recalling someone else talking about an uncle or cousin who could not be located, he said.

http://www.starbeacon.com/statenews/cnhinsall_story_047132559.html

 

[Richard]

This AP feed story was picked up by a number of news services around the country on 18 and 19 February 2007. Note that it is a brief summary of the longer story and that some things have been left out or somewhat misstated in the article.

For example, it is believed by police that he most likely committed suicide in Spring of 1958, rather than in 1956. They released the earlier date as a possibility in the hope that it might generate more leads.


-------------------------------------
Remains found near Bedford in 1958 to remain unburied
By The Associated Press
Sunday, February 18, 2007

BEDFORD, Pa. - Unidentified skeletal remains found almost a half-century ago — nicknamed "Mr. Bones" by police — won't be buried anytime soon because Bedford County prosecutors still contend that they contain evidence of an unsolved crime.

"It's really an unusual case," District Attorney William Higgins said. "But the bottom line is that you really have to preserve any evidence you have, just in case someone would come forward."

The remains were to be buried in 2001 after Sheriff Gordon Diehl and his employees found a donated cemetery plot, gravestone and casket. Even a preacher had been lined up. But then-District Attorney Dwight Diehl got a court order to stop the burial and the remains were handed over to the state police.

Police released an FBI composite sketch three years ago showing a 6-foot-4, 200-pound man with brown hair between the ages of 30 and 35.
Crews installing a natural gas line found the body in October 1958 in a marshy area near a turnpike plaza in Bedford Township, about 85 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.

Authorities believe the man was shot in the head in 1956. They found a book of classic literature, a book of poetry, a shaving kit, a camp stove, a rifle and ammunition in the vicinity of the body. The rifle was traced to a gun shop in Fort Wayne, Ind.

Police also found a large sum of cash with the body, leading authorities to believe robbery was not a motive for the killing. "We received calls from all over the country and everything we received we have checked out," said Trooper Joseph Kovel. "But we still have not been able to identify him."


Source:
Remains found near Bedford in 1958 to remain unburied - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

LINK:
http://a.tribalfusion.com/p.media/a...jWGZbjRAQmTdJ5UbFPQVADYRCyUZd/808856/pop.html

 

[Yaya]

Police also found a large sum of cash with the body, leading authorities to believe robbery was not a motive for the killing. "We received calls from all over the country and everything we received we have checked out," said Trooper Joseph Kovel. "But we still have not been able to identify him."

Is this a mistake in the news release or something new? I don't remember anything about a large sum of money being found with him... only $38 in a wallet.

 

[Richard]

Is this a mistake in the news release or something new? I don't remember anything about a large sum of money being found with him... only $38 in a wallet.

Thirty eight dollars in 1958 money would be worth a couple hundred dollars in today's dollars.

Still, it seems more like a suicide than a murder/robbery. If someone had wanted to rob him, they would have taken his money, rifle and ammunition - I would think.