WA - Unidentified Male: "Lyle Stevik", Grays Harbor, 17 Sept 2001 - #4

[anneonymous]

I keep thinking it's worth revisiting the alt.suicide.holiday connection. It came up earlier as a potential source of instructions for Lyle's hanging method (Steven's suspension hanging). Alt.suicide.holiday was a newsgroup, an early form of internet message boards grouped by topic. I never read or posted in that group, but the timeline does seem feasible.

I remember that by 2001, newsgroups were so full of spam that very few kept their sense of community. Newsgroups had a reputation as the seedy anonymous underbelly of the internet-- file sharing & *advertiser censored*, especially the bad stuff. Most community groups had moved on to some combo of private message board software (like websleuths uses), and maybe IRC for chatting. Google groups has an archive of the newsgroup, filterable by date, and there were still active, human posters having conversations in 2001. It must have been one of the few 'survivors'.

The web archive page says it is a snapshot from mid 2002. If Lyle was looking to the internet for help on how to commit suicide, he would have been able to find that content, whether via the newsgroup, the group's website (it appears they also had a geocities page) or someone else rehosting their content elsewhere.

A year earlier, this person talks about leaving their ID and keys behind, taking a bus trip through Washington state, and deciding whether to disappear or commit suicide. Just like Lyle. Too eerie.

 

[anneonymous]

Note: that particular poster was known to be alive after Lyle was found.

 

[outofthedark]

Is there any way we can contact anybody from that group and ask them if they recognize Lyle? Well, anybody who posted on there around 2000/2001.

 

[q64ceo]

The timing seems a bit weird for me, so close to 9/11.
Its probably just coincidence.

What if he is not Hispanic? What if he is Arab?

 

[outofthedark]

The timing seems a bit weird for me, so close to 9/11.
Its probably just coincidence.

What if he is not Hispanic? What if he is Arab?

We went over the Arab possibility on here, but I'm not sure how far we got with that.

Weren't Arab Americans/Naturalized Arabs detained and or questioned in the days following 9/11?

If he had come across the border from Canada, wouldn't he have been stopped or questioned? It's a suggestion.

 

[akashana]

I've always wondered if there wasn't a 9/11 connection somehow to Lyle. I don't see him as Arab, and I am not implying he was involved in terrorism in any way, but perhaps he lost someone dear in the towers and it was the proverbial last straw to an already stressed and fragile life. It could also explain why nobody has identified him.

Here's one possible scenario: Say Lyle was gay and his homosexuality had estranged him from his family for some time, years perhaps. And he was involved with someone who either worked in the towers or was involved in the search and rescue operation, i.e., a policeman or firefighter, whom he learns was killed on that day. It is more than he can bear, so he takes off on a one-way journey to off himself far, far away from a place where anyone could ever identify him. His family doesn't know he is "missing" because there has been no contact, and now his lover is gone also. There was such chaos and confusion following that horrific day that anyone who wanted to slip off the grid at that time had a perfect opportunity. This is just one possible scenario; there could be more. I think that event was like a zeitgeist moment of great upheaval on so many levels, personal included. Somebody on the brink of suicide could definitely have been swayed by 9/11 to finalize a plan they had been considering.

 

[Ambercat]

Hi, I think Coldcaseman said that happened when he opened Lyle's eye for the photograph. That is as I remember.

It is so encouraging to see posters still serious about solving this mystery. I think about him often and am always drawn to his unusual chin, trying to figure out his ancestry. I think if we discover that, it will tell us so much about the who and why of Lyle's case.


xox

He looks Lebanese or like he could be from somewhere else on the eastern Mediterranean, but that is JMHO.

 

[outofthedark]

He looks Lebanese or like he could be from somewhere else on the eastern Mediterranean, but that is JMHO.

Or possibly Africa.

 

[Ambercat]

What if he is not Hispanic? What if he is Arab?

I was thinking about this, primarily because "Lyle" has a look that some Lebanese men have. I wonder if anything showed up in his dental work to indicate if he came from outside the US? I'm not sure that all Middle Eastern dental work is this distinctive, but when a good friend of mine (who is from Saudi Arabia and had dental work done there) went to a dentist here (in California), something looked really different because the dentist and hygienists kept talking about it and going over to look at the x-rays. In the waiting room, I felt really embarrassed for him. I would think, that if Lyle had something that different, LE would have said, right?

 

[outofthedark]

I was thinking about this, primarily because "Lyle" has a look that some Lebanese men have. I wonder if anything showed up in his dental work to indicate if he came from outside the US? I'm not sure that all Middle Eastern dental work is this distinctive, but when a good friend of mine (who is from Saudi Arabia and had dental work done there) went to a dentist here (in California), something looked really different because the dentist and hygienists kept talking about it and going over to look at the x-rays. In the waiting room, I felt really embarrassed for him. I would think, that if Lyle had something that different, LE would have said, right?

I think CCM said that his dental work was done within North America. An anthropologist would be able to determine where his dental work was done. I don't think LE did any isotope tests, that would have determined where he may have come from or spent time.

 

[Ambercat]

A thought occurred to me recently about Lyle -- I was thinking that he could be a university student who did really badly on the first midterms of the Fall 2001 semester. How extensively did LE look into the university link?

 

[outofthedark]

A thought occurred to me recently about Lyle -- I was thinking that he could be a university student who did really badly on the first midterms of the Fall 2001 semester. How extensively did LE look into the university link?

We should send his info and pictures out to various universities/colleges!

 

[Sleuthster]

In regards to the appendectomy scar, it was noted that Lyle appeared to have lost quite a bit of weight. Wouldnt that make the scar appear smaller?

 

[outofthedark]

In regards to the appendectomy scar, it was noted that Lyle appeared to have lost quite a bit of weight. Wouldnt that make the scar appear smaller?

I know this is from a forum about acne, but it looks handy: http://www.acne.org/messageboard/index.php/topic/220095-weight-loss-effect-on-scars/

There's a different answer from each poster.

 

[outofthedark]

Great news, CCM has joined the Lyle group on FB. It'll be good to hear from him again

 

[Ambercat]

Great news, CCM has joined the Lyle group on FB. It'll be good to hear from him again

Is this the "Can You Identify Lyle Stevik?" group on FB?

I was thinking about something else -- the character in the book's surname was "Stevick" I was wondering he hadn't actually read "You Must Remember This" and had discussed the book prior to his death with his girlfriend or another friend (hence the spelling was phonetic).

 

[outofthedark]

Is this the "Can You Identify Lyle Stevik?" group on FB?

I was thinking about something else -- the character in the book's surname was "Stevick" I was wondering he hadn't actually read "You Must Remember This" and had discussed the book prior to his death with his girlfriend or another friend (hence the spelling was phonetic).

Yes it is!

I didn't know Lane was on Facebook! I learn something everyday!

I just remembered that you can email the FB team about any account issues. I just realized I could have emailed them about the "Lyle Stevik" account that the Murha posters discovered, and ask them why it no longer exists. I found it that it no longer existed after I sent the link to CCM. Could be just a coincidence, and maybe he had nothing to do with it's deletion.

I know that FB has "impostor accounts" listed under "Report a Violation" on their "Report Abuse or Policy Violations" page: http://www.facebook.com/report/

 

[ginestra]

ok while searching around, I think I might of found Lyle. This was found off of Utah's department of Public Safety. Here is the Info:

"Harold William Galvis

MISSING SINCE: 8/28/2001

DOB: 10-31-1974
AGE: 34 at time of disapearance
HEIGHT: 5'10"
WEIGHT: 160 lbs
HAIR: Brown
EYES: Brown
RACE: White




MISSING PERSON - Harold has memory lapses and sometimes does not know where he is. He has been missing since August 28, 2001. Contact the Unified Police of Greater Salt Lake with any information"
http://publicsafety.utah.gov/bci/UTAHmissingpersons.html#haroldgalvis

time is right, height is a little off, but the part that got me is the memory loss, which would explain the random addresses, and "you must remember this" references.

 

[CherBearSTL]

ok while searching around, I think I might of found Lyle. This was found off of Utah's department of Public Safety. Here is the Info:

"Harold William Galvis

MISSING SINCE: 8/28/2001

DOB: 10-31-1974
AGE: 34 at time of disapearance
HEIGHT: 5'10"
WEIGHT: 160 lbs
HAIR: Brown
EYES: Brown
RACE: White




MISSING PERSON - Harold has memory lapses and sometimes does not know where he is. He has been missing since August 28, 2001. Contact the Unified Police of Greater Salt Lake with any information"
http://publicsafety.utah.gov/bci/UTAHmissingpersons.html#haroldgalvis

time is right, height is a little off, but the part that got me is the memory loss, which would explain the random addresses, and "you must remember this" references.

I think you may be on to something here.

Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using Tapatalk 2

 

[ginestra]

I wrote to Utah dept of public safety , and also Doe network, hopefully someone will get back to me.