VA Bayard William Cousins, 22, Virginia Beach, 1 Feb 1975

[Romulus]

Does UP10999 have a thread?

IL - IL - Norwood Park Township, WhtMale UP10999, 17-22, victim of John Wayne Gacy, Dec'78

955UMIL - Unidentified Male Reconstruction of the victim by NCMEC and Betty Pat Gatliff. Date of Discovery: December 27, 1978 Location of Discovery: Norwood Park Township, Cook County, Illinois Estimated Date of Death: 1972 to 1978 (most likely August 6, 1976 to October 5, 1976 based upon...

www.websleuths.com

IL - IL - The Unidentified Victims of John Wayne Gacy

I noticed that the unidentified victims of John Wayne Gacy do not have listings on Doe Network. Were they ever identified? I know that there were nine unidentified boys/men and that Betty Pat Gatliff made reconstructions. I wonder if they were ever id'd based on the reconstructions she made.

www.websleuths.com

 

[ChatteringBirds]

@Romulus , thank you for creating a thread. What if someone here makes the identification...Though it would be very sad news for his relatives to hear.

 

[John/Jane Doe]

6081DMVA - Bayard William Cousins

 

[Sweetluv]

Bumping!!

 

[carbuff]

Bayard Cousins has been ruled out as being any of these unidentified remains:

Case # date found county state

UP5263 10/09/2008 Will IL
UP15644 03/12/1980 Ocean NJ
UP6149 01/22/1996 Halifax VA
UP6278 07/10/2007 Botetourt VA
UP6304 08/01/1993 Clarke VA
UP6481 04/14/1982 Orange VA
UP6513 01/01/1990 Brunswick VA
UP6515 04/19/1987 Albemarle VA
UP6530 05/18/1990 Chesterfield VA
UP6548 10/31/1990 Amelia VA
UP6637 10/07/2006 Fairfax VA
UP6639 07/28/2007 Fairfax VA
UP6700 07/01/1975 Amherst VA
UP6745 05/22/1981 Virginia Beach VA
UP9383 03/04/1975 Albemarle VA
UP9399 01/09/1983 Caroline VA
UP10908 08/29/2012 Fairfax VA
UP12425 04/04/2014 Spotsylvania VA
UP14360 08/14/2015 Bland VA
UP14518 04/03/2010 Shenandoah VA
UP12425 04/04/2014 Spotsylvania VA
UP2229 09/28/1990 Stafford VA

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

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

www.namus.gov

 

[Sweetluv]

He left a note to his parents saying don't worry about me.
Did he pack a bag..clothing..belongings?
What was his mode of transportation..car missing?

 

[Romulus]

Two UID

VA - VA - Sussex Co, WhtMale UP90152, 18-30, found adjacent to a rural highway, Apr'79

Unidentified Person / NamUs #UP90152 Male, White / Caucasian Date Body Found: April 1, 1979 Location Found: Sussex County, Virginia Estimated Age Range: 18-30 Years The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) Demographics SexMale Race / Ethnicity: White / Caucasian Possible...

www.websleuths.com

VA - VA - Chesapeake, Happy Acres Rd, WhtMale 20-30, UP9340, wooded area, clothes, Sz 9 shoe, Nov'83

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) Unidentified Person / NamUs #UP9340 Male, White / Caucasian Date Body Found: November 19, 1983 Location Found: Chesapeake, Virginia Estimated Age Range: 20-30 Years Circumstances of Recovery: Human skeletal remains were found in...

www.websleuths.com

 

[ekardh]

I am curious to know what exactly Bayard's letter said to his parents, or whether it was literally "Don't worry about me". I'm getting strong suicide vibes, and there's a lot of bodies of water, so drowning is viable.

 

[RedSlider]

I'm definitely curious if he took anything with him. Has his exclusion list been updated recently?

 

[Romulus]

Quoted an old post on Bayard from

LA Thread 'LA - Belle Chasse, WhtMale 16-17, UP88342, hanged, suicide note, Feb'75'

Nov 15, 2005

3832UMLA <mod note: added link to OP>

I ran across this while researching something else.

On Valentine's Day in 1975, the body of a 16-17 year old white male was found in Belle Chasse, Louisiana. He had committed suicide by hanging himself from a persimmon tree using a bedsheet. He was wearing a maroon and yellow knit shirt, blue trousers and unmatched socks. He was not wearing shoes. A jar laying against the tree trunk was filled with note paper.

He left a suicide note, addressed to "mom and dad" which read in part: "When you stop growing you are dead. I stopped growing...

• Marilynilpa
• Replies: 1,049
• Forum: The Unidentified

• 
• 
• 

At post number 431

xoMoonRoseox said:
It does look similar in face and features in a way. The hair stands out but not to mention I had a family friend who had claimed to be a neighbor to the Bayard cousins back in 1975, he was 10 at the time and he said the sketch does look similar to that of David Bayard. The family friend said that a week before he disappeared a year before he was acting very strange when they were invited over to the Bayards house for dinner one night. He apparently excused himself early and shut himself up in his room for the rest of the night and wasn’t heard from since. I do believe this might be him but I’m not entirely sure since the body was so decomposed even the sketch was hard to pinpoint to David. Let’s hope something will come up one of these days.

Is this the key for Bayard missing?

 

[Sweetluv]

Missing since Feb 1, 1975...thinking of Bayard!

 

[DD Byrd]

What stands out to me is Bayard seems to have said his piece right when he disappeared, both in the act of leaving a note in the first place, and by stating "don't worry about me." He could very well be alive, or was initially, IMO.

Belle Chasse Doe, on the other hand, not only writes a long letter, but clearly wants it to be found. Putting it in a jar tells me he wanted it protected from the elements and may not have anticipated being found as soon as he was, but nonetheless wanted it readable indefinitely. More potentially important is that It's addressed to "Mom and Dad" not something like "Whoever Finds Me."

So either he hoped or figured (or both) that he'd eventually be identified and his parents would know or he just used that salutation by rote. I lean towards the former because my sense is he knew his language style and things he said would confirm to his parents it was him, even if he was bones. In 1975 he was likely not envisioning DNA testing, or possibly even dental findings. Not writing his own name says to me he didn't want everyone knowing who he was (possibly to shield his family), but knew if the letter came out, and his parents read it, they'd know it was him.

Zodiac letters had been published through 1974, and while a totally different message, I can definitely see a kid before the internet or hundreds of TV channels thinking his letter being viewed and recognized.

Meanwhile, we know there are reporting inaccuracies, but Bayard is notably taller, and older than Belle Chasse Doe. So barring more information on Bayard, I don't think they're the same person.

 

[Sweetluv]

Bayards note to his family said not to worry about him. I'm curious to know if he packed a bag with clothes and personal items (indicating he went somewhere) or did he just up and go, leaving everything behind?
Did he own a car and take it ?
How was Bayard acting the week leading up to his disappearance ?

 

[pass-thru]

What stands out to me is Bayard seems to have said his piece right when he disappeared, both in the act of leaving a note in the first place, and by stating "don't worry about me." He could very well be alive, or was initially, IMO.

Belle Chasse Doe, on the other hand, not only writes a long letter, but clearly wants it to be found. Putting it in a jar tells me he wanted it protected from the elements and may not have anticipated being found as soon as he was, but nonetheless wanted it readable indefinitely. More potentially important is that It's addressed to "Mom and Dad" not something like "Whoever Finds Me."

Bayard tells his parents "don't worry about me..." and Belle Chasse begs the finder not to tell his parents, because he doesn't want to crush their hope that he would return.....those two sentiments are entirely consistent with each other.

Belle Chasse was obviously well read and very smart, Bayard just graduated from UVA.

 

[Sweetluv]

To leave a note to his parents, who were out of town, stating simply "dont worry about me," as a parent reading that, how could you not worry?!!
At that point, why bother to leave a note at all?
Unfortunately, this case lacks alot of detail.

 

[Romulus]

Bayard just graduated from UVA.

Did he graduate in? Who knows if with his degree he then started a new life somewhere else, perhaps under a false name.

 

[DD Byrd]

I think if he wanted to keep his parents out of the loop in terms of them being sought, he wouldn't have addressed it to Mom and Dad. That's immediately putting the fact that there were indeed existing parents into the picture.

 

[Romulus]

Another link

Bayard Cousins

Bayard William Cousins was a man who disappeared from Virginia Beach, Virginia, on February 1, 1975. Very dark brown hair. Hazel eyes. Cross scar on unknown finger. Wore glasses. Bayard Cousins at NamUs Bayard Cousins at the Doe Network

int-missing.fandom.com

 

[RBC69]

I was wondering why the focus on Cousins, but the resemblance is quite remarkable. Why Louisiana, though? And the case received national coverage so why wasn't there a connection made at the time? I wonder if there's been any DNA matches of the decedent in the intervening years. I figure since it sounds like the young man came from at least a middle-class background there's a possibility they are the type of family to have someone checking on their DNA roots so maybe there's a match out there.

 

[Pennysmom1]