CA CA- San Francisco, UnkMale, 15-25, UP5871, dismembered body in trash bags floating in the bay. September 1981.

[cheemsg]

This young man's torso was found wrapped in a plastic bag and floating in the water between pier 33 and pier 35.
Five days later, his severed head was found in Alameda County (no elaboration on how that was found). He had medium length dark hair that was slightly wavy. No H/W could be estimated.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[PatLaurel]

Article on the head found "on an Alameda beach": UP5871 - Newspapers.com

 

[PatLaurel]

UP5871 Head matched with torso - Newspapers.com

 

[PatLaurel]

UP5871 Found by Fishermen-B1 - Newspapers.com

UP5871-Shocked Fishermen find torso. B4 - Newspapers.com

UP5871 - Newspapers.com

 

[PatLaurel]

Interesting and relevant details, imo:
- Green plastic bag
- Carefully tied nautical knots (seaman's knot).
- Neatly dismembered body

@cheemsg, did you recently post a case with similar details? These details sound familiar...

 

[cheemsg]

Interesting and relevant details, imo:
- Green plastic bag
- Carefully tied nautical knots (seaman's knot).
- Neatly dismembered body

@cheemsg, did you recently post a case with similar details? These details sound familiar...

These two I posted are similar:
CA - CA- El Cajon, Wht/HispMale, 18-40, UP8911, dismembered body in trash bags in the dumpster, track marks. November 1986.
CA - CA- Baker, WhtMale, 18-30, UP8309, dismembered limbs in a trash bag at the side of the road, shaved legs, December 1984.

 

[PatLaurel]

These two I posted are similar:
CA - CA- El Cajon, Wht/HispMale, 18-40, UP8911, dismembered body in trash bags in the dumpster, track marks. November 1986.
CA - CA- Baker, WhtMale, 18-30, UP8309, dismembered limbs in a trash bag at the side of the road, shaved legs, December 1984.

None of these. It was something about the seaman's knot and nautical background. I've been reading too many articles on dismembered bodies lately... Maybe I'm just confused?!

 

[PatLaurel]

OMG! We have a "face"!!!
"(...) the victim may have been of East Indian or Central American extraction."

UP5871 - Newspapers.com

 

[cheemsg]

OMG! We have a "face"!!!
"(...) the victim may have been of East Indian or Central American extraction."

UP5871 - Newspapers.com


View attachment 383240

Amazing find, I'm blown away.

 

[PatLaurel]

Amazing find, I'm blown away.

A face!!!

 

[cheemsg]

A face!!!

View attachment 383253

I can't believe this started out with just a bare bones NamUs page and now we even have a reconstruction. This is brilliant to see, thank you.

 

[citizen_sleuth]

In other cases I’ve researched I discovered there were some pretty shady things going on in the fishing industry in the Bay Area in the 1970s and 1980s. Maybe he was a deckhand? Also, not to be too graphic, but a fishing boat would be a great place to dismember a body—easy to hose the blood right off the boat into the water.

I didn’t see anything mentioned about a possible cause of death—could he have been involved in some kind of boating accident and rather than risk an investigation, his body was disposed of?

 

[cheemsg]

In other cases I’ve researched I discovered there were some pretty shady things going on in the fishing industry in the Bay Area in the 1970s and 1980s. Maybe he was a deckhand? Also, not to be too graphic, but a fishing boat would be a great place to dismember a body—easy to hose the blood right off the boat into the water.

I didn’t see anything mentioned about a possible cause of death—could he have been involved in some kind of boating accident and rather than risk an investigation, his body was disposed of?

I feel like dismembering someone to cover up an accident would be an incredibly bizarre thing to do, even if you were up to something shady. Investigators have probably declined to release the specific cause of death. He was tied up in a knotted trash bag, and cut up with neat precision. It definitely doesn't scream 'oh I better quickly dismember this body of a man who died in a boating accident' to me. You'd definitely only go that far in a homicide.

 

[PatLaurel]

I can't believe this started out with just a bare bones NamUs page and now we even have a reconstruction. This is brilliant to see, thank you.

And I thank You!
Thanks to this thread this man has a face!

 

[citizen_sleuth]

I feel like dismembering someone to cover up an accident would be an incredibly bizarre thing to do, even if you were up to something shady. Investigators have probably declined to release the specific cause of death. He was tied up in a knotted trash bag, and cut up with neat precision. It definitely doesn't scream 'oh I better quickly dismember this body of a man who died in a boating accident' to me. You'd definitely only go that far in a homicide.

That’s true. I was more so thinking if the boat he was working on was being used for drug smuggling, there would be an incentive to cover up any deaths, but I think in that case a more likely scenario would be he saw something he shouldn’t have and/or may have contacted LE and was killed as a result. I’ll do some digging and see if I can find the old newspaper articles talking about the connection between drug smuggling and fishing in the Bay Area back then.

 

[cheemsg]

That’s true. I was more so thinking if the boat he was working on was being used for drug smuggling, there would be an incentive to cover up any deaths, but I think in that case a more likely scenario would be he saw something he shouldn’t have and/or may have contacted LE and was killed as a result. I’ll do some digging and see if I can find the old newspaper articles talking about the connection between drug smuggling and fishing in the Bay Area back then.

I mean, even if its drug smuggling and he dies by accident, wouldn't it make more sense just to chuck him over the side without doing anything? The bay is huge, they probably don't bring the calvary out for a man who shows up in the bay dead by accident, but they would for a man who was dismembered. Why would they neatly chop him up and tie him in trash bags with military grade knots?

I mean, I don't like to speculate but I think he was killed by someone he knew well. The killer/s went to extreme lengths that he wouldn't be identified.

 

[citizen_sleuth]

One possible match:

Timothy S. McCarty (NamUs MP30604)
Date of Last Contact: June 3, 1981
Missing from: Polk, OH (was visiting Castro Valley, CA at the time of his disappearance which is right outside of San Francisco)
Missing Age: 21
Height: 5'5"-5'8" (slightly above the 5'2"-5'3" estimate provided in one of the newspaper articles, although that estimate may be off since the legs were not recovered)
Weight: 125-130 lbs
Hair Color: Brown (UID's hair is said to be black and slightly wavy)
Circumstances of Disappearance: Timothy last contacted his family in 1981 from California. He has not been seen or heard from since that time. According to Timothy's family, he traveled from TX to Castro, CA to visit family.

 

[cheemsg]

One possible match:

Timothy S. McCarty (NamUs MP30604)
Date of Last Contact: June 3, 1981
Missing from: Polk, OH (was visiting Castro Valley, CA at the time of his disappearance which is right outside of San Francisco)
Missing Age: 21
Height: 5'5"-5'8" (slightly above the 5'2"-5'3" estimate provided in one of the newspaper articles, although that estimate may be off since the legs were not recovered)
Weight: 125-130 lbs
Hair Color: Brown (UID's hair is said to be black and slightly wavy)
Circumstances of Disappearance: Timothy last contacted his family in 1981 from California. He has not been seen or heard from since that time. According to Timothy's family, he traveled from TX to Castro, CA to visit family.

View attachment 383284View attachment 383285

That's a very intriguing match, does the JD himself have any rule-outs?

 

[citizen_sleuth]

That's a very intriguing match, does the JD himself have any rule-outs?

No rule outs are listed on Namus for the UID.