NJ Atlantic City- White Male, 50-60- Frontal lobotomy, healed craniotomies- December 23, 1983

[PatLaurel]

2086UMNJ - Unidentified Male​

To view post-mortem photos of the victim please click Photo 1

Date of Discovery: December 23, 1983
Location of Discovery: Atlantic City, Atlantic County, New Jersey
Estimated Date of Death: Hours prior
State of Remains: Recognizable face
Cause of Death: Unknown

Physical Description​

Estimated Age: 50-60
Race: White
Gender: Male
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 145 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown, graying with a full beard and mustache
Eye Color: Blue
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Scar on his scalp from a frontal lobotomy. Frontal lobotomy with two 7" stainless steel wire loops - two round 1 1/2 inch diameter, healed craniotomies of the posterior frontal bones with the bone plugs replaced.

Identifiers​

Dentals: Available. Edentulous
Fingerprints: Available
DNA: Not Available

Clothing & Personal Items​

Clothing: Green shirt, gray pants, brown swim trunks, red socks, and brown shoes
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown

Circumstances of Discovery​

The victim was found in a 2nd story bedroom of a vacant house on Bay Avenue in Atlantic City.

Investigating Agency(s)​

Agency Name: NJ Southern Regional Medical Examiner Office
Agency Phone Number: 609-861-3355
Agency Case Number: 01831044

Agency Name: New Jersey State Police
Agency Phone Number: 800-709-7090
Agency E-Mail: [email protected]
Agency Case Number: Unknown

 

[PatLaurel]

Warning: PM photo

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[PatLaurel]

2086UMNJ - Newspapers.com


<modsnip: removed copyrighted images>


2086UMNJ - Newspapers.com

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I hope he will be identified soon and laid to rest by relatives. He survived brain surgeries and homelessness... until he didn't. Maybe his relatives think he's out there all these years choosing to be unhoused. Maybe they tried to find him, but if his DNA isn't on file, he couldn't be identified.

Sad case, and hopefully he gets his name back somehow. But he was found a very long time ago...

 

[ProductiveOne]

I've submitted the following two cases to NamUs, and the National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains.

On November 13, 1973, Henry M’Lot was reported missing from Burnaby, British Columbia by his brother. At the time of his disappearance, he was despondent due to the separation with his wife. Then, on December 23, 1983, an unidentified homeless man was found in vacant house in Atlantic City, NJ killed by the freezing weather.

Both men have identical physical descriptions, AND Henry M’Lot had a burr hole from an operation on the right front side of his skull. A unilateral frontal lobotomy would create a burr hole (craniotomy), and the unidentified had a frontal lobotomy scar.

The orientation of the unidentified's head, and his unkempt appearance make it difficult comparing the two men, but I believe their faces align well enough, especially the lips. I question the hairline most.

Henry M’Lot (Case reference: 2014002118, Burnaby Reference Case#: 1973-25958)
Canada's Missing | Case details
CANADA - Canada - Henry M’Lot, 46, Burnaby, BC, 13 Nov 1973

Atlantic City, NJ Unidentified (NamUs #UP5186)
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[azure]

I just did a deep dive into the history of lobotomy which left me thoroughly nauseous. It seems that the loop method was less popular in the US than Walter Freeman's transorbital ("ice pick") lobotomy. The loop method was originated by a Dr. Moniz, the father of popular lobotomy, in Lisbon in the 1930s. Freeman began using Moniz's method in the US in 1937, but developed the transorbital method in 1946 and all but switched to that procedure, which (grotesquely) required neither a surgeon nor an operating room.

I suspect that our Doe was either from abroad or was subject to one of the early US lobotomies in his adolescence or young adulthood. I wonder if there is a medical historian who could help identify this man based on the type of lobotomy to which he was subjected.

 

[Chris M]

Circumstances of Discovery​

The victim was found in a 2nd story bedroom of a vacant house on Bay Avenue in Atlantic City

Maybe he was murdered there or his body was moved to that location.

 

[PatLaurel]

Maybe he was murdered there or his body was moved to that location.

The cause of death is listed as unknown but, according to the newspapers articles, he was "apparently killed by freezing weather" and " did not appear to be foul play involved".

 

[Chris M]

The cause of death is listed as unknown but, according to the newspapers articles, he was "apparently killed by freezing weather" and " did not appear to be foul play involved".

He was a "squatter" in the vacant house and was trying to stay warm by being indoors I guess. Thus he couldn't stay warm because the heat was turned off when the last homeowners or renters moved out. I don't blame him for trying to stay warm though inside a vacant house. Those Jersey Winters are brutal especially on the Jersey Shore with the currents or riptides coming from the Atlantic Ocean. I live in Jersey(non-Shore Area) so I know firsthand how it can get very cold on select days in the winter time.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

WARNING - Post-Mortem Photo
His profile on NamUs:

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

I wonder
- is it possible they can exhume him to attempt to get DNA, or has the chance been lost?
- does he have any listed exclusions?
- whether he was excluded as the MP, Henry, mentioned above?

But if they don't have his DNA profile, there will be MP he just can't be compared with, unfortunately.

 

[PatLaurel]

WARNING - Post-Mortem Photo
His profile on NamUs:

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

I wonder
- is it possible they can exhume him to attempt to get DNA, or has the chance been lost?
- does he have any listed exclusions?
- whether he was excluded as the MP, Henry, mentioned above?

But if they don't have his DNA profile, there will be MP he just can't be compared with, unfortunately.

Exclusion Details
Unidentified Person / NamUs #UP5186Male, White / Caucasian

Missing Person / NamUs # MP3840 Kenneth Schweighart, Male, White / Caucasian
Date of Last Contact March 2, 1982
State NJ
County Burlington

 

[PatLaurel]

He was a "squatter" in the vacant house and was trying to stay warm by being indoors I guess. Thus he couldn't stay warm because the heat was turned off when the last homeowners or renters moved out. I don't blame him for trying to stay warm though inside a vacant house. Those Jersey Winters are brutal especially on the Jersey Shore with the currents or riptides coming from the Atlantic Ocean. I live in Jersey(non-Shore Area) so I know firsthand how it can get very cold on select days in the winter time.

I was replying to your first post where you said "maybe he was murdered", to clarify that there was no evidence of foul play and, the John Doe most likely died of hypothermia.

Poor man, I don't blame him either, in fact I don't blame anyone trying to warm themselves on a cold winter. Even if that means break into a vacant house.

MOO