CA CA - CA, San Diego, BlkMale, 25-35, UP98118, checked into a hotel room under name “James Larkins,” accessories from San Francisco, Jan '76.

[heartanium]

Newly added to Namus

Unidentified Male
Location Found: San Diego, San Diego County, CA
D.B.F: January 1, 1976
Estimated PMI: None given
Estimated year of death: 1975

Vital Statistics:
Race: Black/African American
Age: 25-35
Height: 5’10” (measured)
Weight: 134 lbs (measured)
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
Scars/Tattoos: None mentioned
Clothing: None Mentioned
Accessories: The decedent had a match book from San Francisco, a business card from San Francisco, and an envelope from San Francisco. There was no luggage or shaving equipment.
Circumstances: The decedent checked into a hotel room under the name "James Larkins" at Federal Hotel in downtown San Diego on 12/03/1975. He was last seen alive on 12/04/1975. A neighboring guest smelled a foul odor and got a ladder to look into the decedent's room to find him deceased. Police were then called to investigate.

Case Information:
ME/C Case Number
1976-00002

San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office - (858) 694-2895
Agency Case Number: 1976-2068
Kathy On, Medical Examiner Investigator

 

[Lwieckowicz]

Newly added to Namus

Unidentified Male
Location Found: San Diego, San Diego County, CA
D.B.F: January 1, 1976
Estimated PMI: None given
Estimated year of death: 1975

Vital Statistics:
Race: Black/African American
Age: 25-35
Height: 5’10” (measured)
Weight: 134 lbs (measured)
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
Scars/Tattoos: None mentioned
Clothing: None Mentioned
Accessories: The decedent had a match book from San Francisco, a business card from San Francisco, and an envelope from San Francisco. There was no luggage or shaving equipment.
Circumstances: The decedent checked into a hotel room under the name "James Larkins" at Federal Hotel in downtown San Diego on 12/03/1975. He was last seen alive on 12/04/1975. A neighboring guest smelled a foul odor and got a ladder to look into the decedent's room to find him deceased. Police were then called to investigate.

Case Information:
ME/C Case Number
1976-00002

San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office - (858) 694-2895
Agency Case Number: 1976-2068
Kathy On, Medical Examiner Investigator

Following

 

[cenazoic]

Federal Hotel in 1968:

1968 on F Street Looking West at First Avenue | City of San Diego Official Website

Photo taken in 1968 on F Street looking west at First Avenue. The Federal and Senator Hotels are on the left.

www.sandiego.gov

 

[cenazoic]

Sadly, the San Diego Times-Union isn’t on newspapers/newspaperarchive and runs their own archive for subscribers.

The James Larkin/s name doesn’t come up in the partial articles you can see without a subscription. I also searched for mentions of the Federal Hotel, and while those articles seem to indicate a rather lively joint, none seem to be relevant to this UID.

 

[cheemsg]

Here's a possible lead. James Lee Larkins was falsely arrested at Purdue Uni (Oakland, CA) in Jan 1975. He doesn't show up in Newspaper Archives again so might he be the John Doe?
Another article I found indicated James was also black, and an upcoming sportsman. The false arrest could have led him to spin out of control and taken him to die this way at this hotel.

Article clipped from Oakland Tribune
Article clipped from Press-Telegram

 

[cenazoic]

Interesting find! I’m not sure that’s the right person. Our “James Larkins” is listed as 5’10. 135, and 25-35.

James Lee Larkins of Purdue was a college freshman in 1974 (so, 17-18), and described as 6’2 and a defensive back (US football). Defensive backs tend to be large men.

Also, he won a varsity letter in 1977.

 

[cheemsg]

Interesting find! I’m not sure that’s the right person. Our “James Larkins” is listed as 5’10. 135, and 25-35.

James Lee Larkins of Purdue was a college freshman in 1974 (so, 17-18), and described as 6’2 and a defensive back (US football). Defensive backs tend to be large men.

Also, he won a varsity letter in 1977.

Okay, couldn't find anything about his age in the articles I found. We can rule that out then.

 

[pigbunny]

Interesting find! I’m not sure that’s the right person. Our “James Larkins” is listed as 5’10. 135, and 25-35.

James Lee Larkins of Purdue was a college freshman in 1974 (so, 17-18), and described as 6’2 and a defensive back (US football). Defensive backs tend to be large men.

Also, he won a varsity letter in 1977.

Hopefully this isn’t too speculative, but football stats are often beefed up so the team looks scarier. (My 5’10 husband was listed at 6’0 when he played freshman football) so I wouldn’t exclude him based on that, but as I read further I noticed he didn’t have a conclusive age. Just wanted to note that sports rosters might not be as accurate and he very well could be shorter.


Edited to add: presumably if these are the same JL but downthread I saw they weren’t so disregard my rambles

 

[heartanium]

Just realized I forgot to put the Namus link in the 1st post:

UP98118

Still no rule out's