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

[Ms Suzanne]

Have they had any leads or new leads of who this man could be?

 

[Ms Suzanne]

In this article it said there was an abandoned car found on the turnpike.They said it had no connection.I'd like to look into this abandoned car again.Does anyone know if this abandoned car was ever linked to someone or most importantly did it have a licence plate on it to say where the car came from?



Quote from the article.

A car found abandoned on the turnpike turned out to have no connection. No missing-person reports fit the puzzle.


http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20011209mrbones1209p4.asp

 

[Richard]

It has been 53 years since this unknown man was found. He remains unidentified.

 

[Eddie99]

My first post on w/s ! I would like to know what condition the cookware was in? From the photos they look very clean. It's fairly difficult to clean pots and pans. Especially in the woods.

Given the victim probably lived in Chicago - and the key he had was, evidently, made in NYC.
I image a scenario where perhaps; Mr. Bones got into trouble, and was running from it. The key may be for a secluded hunting cabin owned by a friend, or associate.

I can imagine him "getting out of town" heading for the cabin - somewhere along the way to the cabin trouble found him.

Perhaps at the truck stop.

He may have had to grab his stuff quickly, and take off. He may have just run into those woods - perhaps knowing in general where he was going, or just fleeing into whatever direction he could go. He may have made a stand, and fired a shot at who ever was following him. But they got him with the next.

This could explain why he was well prepared, buy not quite prepared enough for cold weather camping. Why he had no ID, and wasn't robbed.

 

[Ms Suzanne]

May I please ask if there are any updates on this unidentified male found.Any new leads of who he could be.

 

[Jbrown324320]

what about this man? he went missing from Canada Jan 1957 and was distraught that a woman would not marry him because she was already married. He took off with a dog and a gun and left all id and wallet behind.

"On Jan. 29, 1957, his mother reported to police that her 30-year-old son hadn’t been seen in a week. She said he’d left his wallet and identification at home, but that he’d taken his dog and his gun with him."

http://www.surreyleader.com/news/157841305.html

 

[CarlK90245]

what about this man? he went missing from Canada Jan 1957 and was distraught that a woman would not marry him because she was already married. He took off with a dog and a gun and left all id and wallet behind.

"On Jan. 29, 1957, his mother reported to police that her 30-year-old son hadn’t been seen in a week. She said he’d left his wallet and identification at home, but that he’d taken his dog and his gun with him."

http://www.surreyleader.com/news/157841305.html

Could be. The circumstances certainly fit. The article didn't indicate whether he left with a pistol or rifle, but it looks good to me.

 

[Jbrown324320]

he liked to dress well and wanted to see the world.
I don't see the page with ruleouts listed. Thought I would take a chance.

 

[Ms Suzanne]

I thought of him too.It does sound very good.I'm just curious what was the woman's name he wanted? Married? Did she have any children.Where is she?

 

[Magnum P.E.]

This one is right in my area and I never heard of Mr. Bones before.

OK, the key leads us to a keymaker in New York City. The inscription on the key is the keymaker's address.

No ID in wallet, no labels in clothes, weapon on the spot. This all says suicide to me.

Dental work and especially contact lenses says he had money.

The lenses came from the Chicago area.

The poetry books say educated.

Dressing in dungarees and motorcycle jacket says a guy trying to look like a motorcyclist, or really a motorcyclist.

LE seems pretty certain of the spring 1958 time of death. They must have had some way to feel that the remains had not "wintered over".

I collect leather jackets, and a real motorcycle jacket is protective gear. It is in fact very thick, heavy and uncomfortable to wear. The arms have a distinctive curve, in order to be comfortable in the riding position. There are a LOT of jackets styled that way for poseurs but thinner, straight armed, and not protective in a crash. I wish I had a good look at that jacket. For what it's worth, I wear a thick true motorcycle jacket for riding only in cool weather (and not for anything else), and one of my A2 pilot jackets (I also fly) when it is warm. They are very very different in construction and appearance. With no pic I will assume that the investigators in 1958 knew a motorcycle jacket from one of the many A-2s around after WWII.

There were only a few motorcycle jacket makers in 1958, one of whom is still a family business in NYC, Schott. They have helped me ID vintage jackets before. If this guy was a motorcyclist OR a poseur, and he had enough money for contacts, without even seeing the jacket I bet he had a Schott Perfecto.

I ride an old Triumph, and British bikes of his time had the shifter on the right and brake on the left as mine does. The opposite of modern bikes. Most American bikes (not all) had a hand shift and foot clutch, leaving no distinctive wear pattern on the boots. If he was truly a rider, his right boot might show a wear spot on the top over the right big toe, because you shift up that way. I favor old army jungle boots for riding, and all my old boots have wear in that pattern.
The body was found 1/2 mile from a rest stop on the PA Turnpike. He well could have hitchhiked there, hence no vehicle.

I would look for a big guy missing from a well to do family in Chicago or New York City at about that time. We may be down to DNA again (sigh). Hope this is of some help. Dang would I like to see that jacket.

 

[Magnum P.E.]

I forgot to add something that is possibly significant.

I am pretty familiar with the PA Turnpike. The section from Irwin to Carlisle is the original part, opened in 1940. Since it is a divided high speed highway, there were separate service plazas on each side of the Turnpike, meaning that if he were dropped off while hitchhiking, he would presumably have been heading west if his body was found north of the turnpike. Otherwise, he would have had to cross a high speed highway toting a full load of camping gear and a rifle. Unlikely.

Except for one thing; Midway, and ONLY Midway of all the plazas, had a small building and a parking area on the north side (westbound) and a service plaza with public dining and dorm type sleeping facilities (for truck drivers) on the south side (eastbound). They were connected by a tunnel under the turnpike. There are now separate service plazas on each side, and the tunnel is unused. I went through it as a kid. Anyway, the upshot is if he were dropped off on the turnpike he could have been travelling east OR west. And that's the only plaza at which he could have done that.

 

[Magnum P.E.]

I forgot to add something that is possibly significant.

I am pretty familiar with the PA Turnpike. The section from Irwin to Carlisle is the original part, opened in 1940. Since it is a divided high speed highway, there were separate service plazas on each side of the Turnpike, meaning that if he were dropped off while hitchhiking, he would presumably have been heading west if his body was found north of the turnpike. Otherwise, he would have had to cross a high speed highway toting a full load of camping gear and a rifle. Unlikely.

Except for one thing; Midway, and ONLY Midway of all the plazas, had a small building and a parking area on the north side (westbound) and a service plaza with public dining and dorm type sleeping facilities (for truck drivers) on the south side (eastbound). They were connected by a tunnel under the turnpike. There are now separate service plazas on each side, and the tunnel is unused. I went through it as a kid. Anyway, the upshot is if he were dropped off on the turnpike he could have been travelling east OR west. And that's the only plaza at which he could have done that.

 

[CCJD]

what about this man? he went missing from Canada Jan 1957 and was distraught that a woman would not marry him because she was already married. He took off with a dog and a gun and left all id and wallet behind.

"On Jan. 29, 1957, his mother reported to police that her 30-year-old son hadn’t been seen in a week. She said he’d left his wallet and identification at home, but that he’d taken his dog and his gun with him."

http://www.surreyleader.com/news/157841305.html

Mr Wilkinson was significantly shorter than Mr Bones

[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Police are asking for the public’s assistance to help bring some closure to the Wilkinson’s family search for answers.
[/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Albert is described as an eight-four year old Caucasian male, 5'6", 140 lbs, with brown hair with sideburns and blue-grey eyes. He was last seen wearing a dark green touque, green jacket, black wool sweater, black plaid shirt, and knee-high gumboots.[/FONT]

http://myvalleysun.homestead.com/Main2/Features/2012/G-WilkinsonColdCase-1.html

 

[Magnum P.E.]

If Mr. Bones was 5'6" and 140 when he left Canada, and 6'2" to 6'4" and over 200 when found in Pennsylvania the next year, he surely did not have that growth spurt eating the food on the PA Turnpike. It was nearly inedible back then as I recall. Even as a famished fat kid I would not touch it! By comparison it is now as if it came from a Parisian bistro.

 

[Reality Orlando]

Not sure if this link has been posted yet, but there are some pics here:

http://www.pennsylvaniamissing.com/585umpamrbones.html

 

[Reality Orlando]

From the above link:

"Cause of death was a gunshot wound that shattered his skull, but whether it was an accident, suicide or homicide remains unknown. Investigators learned that the rifle had been shipped to a store in Fort Wayne, IN in 1938 but there were no records indicating who had purchased the gun." Maybe another link?

 

[Magnum P.E.]

I forgot to add something that is possibly significant.

I am pretty familiar with the PA Turnpike. The section from Irwin to Carlisle is the original part, opened in 1940. Since it is a divided high speed highway, there were separate service plazas on each side of the Turnpike, meaning that if he were dropped off while hitchhiking, he would presumably have been heading west if his body was found north of the turnpike. Otherwise, he would have had to cross a high speed highway toting a full load of camping gear and a rifle. Unlikely.

Except for one thing; Midway, and ONLY Midway of all the plazas, had a small building and a parking area on the north side (westbound) and a service plaza with public dining and dorm type sleeping facilities (for truck drivers) on the south side (eastbound). They were connected by a tunnel under the turnpike. There are now separate service plazas on each side, and the tunnel is unused. I went through it as a kid. Anyway, the upshot is if he were dropped off on the turnpike he could have been travelling east OR west. And that's the only plaza at which he could have done that.

Not exactly an earthshattering break in the case, but with great difficulty I have IDed Mr. Bones's mess kit as a Kiffe Kook-it. The Kiffe Company was located at 523 Broadway, NYC. This kit is apparently relatively uncommon. It is much like the kind that the Boy Scouts used, very different from military mess kits. I don't know if Kiffe made any for the Boy Scouts but kits by Regal and other makers all look pretty much identical. Kiffe sold knives, bayonets, and many different sporting goods some by mail order catalogue. Old sales records would be nice but I ain't holding my breath for any to show up. They don't seem to have survived the 70s, and a shoe store occupies their old address.

 

[Magnum P.E.]

Other identical kits WITH a Boy Scout logo were sold by Palco, WearEver, and Regal, that I know of. I could not find a Kiffe with a Boy Scouts of America logo on it, so I don't think that we could necessarily postulate any scouting association for Mr. Bones; these were really just a civilian camper mess kit. Those sold through the Boy Scouts apparently had their logo on the folding handle/strongback. You can still buy a virtually identical kit at Wal-Mart for about $10.00, Wenzel brand.
These are made of a very soft aluminum, and people often scratched their name in the kit. In fact they scratch, dent, and scorch pretty easily. I saw nothing much in the pix like that, and the kit seems hardly used. Most experienced campers do not bother with these kits, using old houseware instead. It is cheaper and holds up better. Note that if you actually use the skillet as a skillet the bare aluminum handle will burn the holy bejeezus out of your hand if you touch it without a potholder. The handle also tends to pivot with the weight of hot food in it. Greenhorn camper?

I doubt that any of this will identify Mr. Bones but best to leave no stone unturned. (sigh)

 

[Magnum P.E.]

Hmm. 195 Avenue A is in Greenwich Village, 1.5 miles from the Kiffe sporting goods store at 523 Broadway.

http://maps.google.com/maps?

saddr=195+Avenue+A+New+York+New+Yorn&daddr=523+Broadway+New+York+New+York. Hmm. Poetry books, motorcycle jacket, Greenwich Village. I wonder if we are getting closer or it is an illusion. What do you guys think? We don't know if it's the right Avenue A or if Mr. Bones ever shopped in Kiffe's. Time to throw a line in the water now that I have a small something that may draw a strike. I think I will go to some poetry sites and see if anyone knew this guy or someone like him.

 

[Magnum P.E.]

A company that gives tours of the Village (among many other parts of NYC) will post the sketch of Mr. Bones and a small story about him on their blog. 3500 people read it. It's been a long time so I don't expect much to result from this, but maybe somebody's memory will be jogged by hearing about him.