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Is there anything about the age of the lighter? I know the watch was over 20 years old, but the lighter with the inscription, do we have a sense if this was newer in 1977 or not? I was wondering if this guy's parents might be John and Lauri.
I also would like to know more about the presence of military personnel in the area. Clean shaven, short hair, purchased all new clothing...could he have been on leave? AWOL? Recently discharged?
The only thing about Jessie Cooley that doesn't add up is they list his hair as Red and eyes as Blue. I haven't heard back from anyone in North Carolina about him.
Nothing on the lighter specific...other then the names. I've been made aware that "Lauri" is also a male name overseas.
The Great Lakes Naval Training Center is very close to Gurnee, IL where the car was stolen from. The site has been around for over 100 years. The Waukesha CO detective handling the case said that no one had been reported missing, AWOL, or escaped (prison or hospital).
Now recently discharged is possible, and by all accounts logical considering that not a single "John", nor anyone matching his description was reported missing in the area (from what I was told it was the entire SE Wisconsin/Northern Illinois area).
If he truly wasn't somewhat local, there really wouldn't be a reason for him to travel to Wheaton, IL to buy new clothes and then steal a car an hour north of Wheaton in Gurnee,IL and then perish 60 miles east of Madison, WI/just outside of Milwaukee. Gurnee would be the halfway point from Wheaton to Delafield....his pattern of travel was literally like a yo-yo if the detectives have it correct. :twocents:
If he truly wasn't somewhat local, there really wouldn't be a reason for him to travel to Wheaton, IL to buy new clothes and then steal a car an hour north of Wheaton in Gurnee,IL and then perish 60 miles east of Madison, WI/just outside of Milwaukee. Gurnee would be the halfway point from Wheaton to Delafield....his pattern of travel was literally like a yo-yo if the detectives have it correct. :twocents:
or perhaps if there any 'halfway' houses in the Wheaton area at the time who worked with troubled men to help them get back on their feet.
It's time to open it up the case for closure. That 34 yrs of being UID is too long time.
Gerald Davis seems like an interesting candidate to me. Nice find.
It's possible his Army record contains more photos of him, and that could be partially obtained through a FOIA request.
The above classmates link doesn't work without a membership. I tend to agree with you regarding the eyebrows and lips. They both appear much fuller on GLD than the UID.
Also, it looks like GLD has dna but not dentals available and our UID has no dna available making this difficult for comparison.
the only thing I can wonder which might help rule GLD out as our UID is if WI had or is able to date the scars found on the UID. GLD only lists a scar on top of his head. The UID has scars on his hands and knee IIRC. If the ME could determine the scars on our UID are older than when GLD was last seen they may be able to rule out that way. I've had one possible match ruled out by dating scars.
hth
I wish we had DNA on this case. I really do because if we could not only get the DNA in namus I'd like to inquire with Colleen Fitzpatrick about the Y-dna to see if we can determine a possible male surname for this guy. This is one case I would love to see solved!