FL FL - Collier, Wht/HispMale 30-60, 568UMFL, Tattoo, Nicknames, Nov '82

[BrownBear]

568UMFL - Unidentified Male

Reconstructions of the victim by Natalie Murry and Tricia Blair; victim's tattoo.

Date of Discovery: November 21, 1982
Location of Discovery: Collier County, Florida
Estimated Date of Death: 1 day prior
State of Remains: Recognizable face
Cause of Death: Homicide by gunshot

Physical Description
Estimated Age: 30-60 years old
Race: White and/or Hispanic
Sex: Male
Height: 5'10" to 6'0"
Weight: 180 to 200 lbs.
Hair: Black, long and wavy. Clean shaven.
Eye Color: Brown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Large, poorly executed tattoo of man with a halo. He is walking on two crutches and displaying numerous wounds. In front of him are two dogs. The background indicates a church, a mountain, and a sun rise. An expert in the field has suggested that the image is of Saint Lazarus on crutches. The decedent may have come from a Catholic background. Or the image may symbolize the Santeria deity 'Babalu-aye,' who is considered the deity of healing. Multiple scars on forehead, well healed scar over right knee.

Identifiers
Dentals: Unknown.
Fingerprints: Unknown.
DNA: Unknown.

Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: Blue pullover sweater, another dark blue sweater, black slacks with brown belt, white underwear.
Jewelry: None.
Additional Personal Items: None.

Circumstances of Discovery
The victim was located by hunters approximately 115 feet north of US-41 on Burns Road, approximately 4 miles east of Ochopee. Subsequent police investigation and confession of a witness revealed that the decedent was brought to that location from the Miami area.

The police investigation revealed the name "Eduardo Bellito DeLina" as a possible name for the decedent but a records check on the name was conducted with negative results. Other names/ nicknames referred to are "Kuku" or "Cuckoo" and "Cuquito". No other information exists about the validity of these names.

Jose Julian Ortega, 29, was charged with first-degree murder after a witness came forward and told authorities that she had seen Ortega kill a man known only as Cuckoo. The charges were dropped.

Investigating Agency(s)
Agency Name: Collier County Sheriff's Office
Agency Contact Person: Detective William Still, III or Kim Cherney
Agency Phone Number: 239-252-0057 or 239-252-0050
Agency E-Mail: william.stillIII(at)colliersheriff.org or kim.cherney(at)colliersheriff.org
Agency Case Number: 82-48484

Agency Name: District 20 Medical Examiner's Office
Agency Contact Person: Marta Coburn
Agency Phone Number: 239-434-5020
Agency E-Mail: naplesme(at)d20me.net
Agency Case Number: 1982-00218

NCIC Case Number: Unknown
NamUs Case Number: 1266

Information Source(s)
FLUIDDB
NamUs
FLUIDDB
The Miami Herald (11/15/84)

Admin Notes
Added: Prior to 2005; Last Updated: 6/25/2021

 

[BrownBear]

Via FLUIDDB
Scars, Surgeries and Other Dental and Medical Information: Multiple scars on forehead including a 2.5 cm by 0.5 cm scar on the right anterior forehead, a 5 cm by 0.6 cm scar on the right side near the hairline, and multiple irregular scars at the midforehead, there is a well healed 3 cm by 0.4 cm scar over right knee. The upper jaw is completely edentulous. The lower jaw is partially edentulous. There were no dentures.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Updated recently. Is it the drawings that were updated? Maybe their doing DNA testing? Genetic genealogy maybe?

Last Updated: 6/25/2021

 

[BrownBear]

Updated recently. Is it the drawings that were updated? Maybe their doing DNA testing? Genetic genealogy maybe?

Last Updated: 6/25/2021

No idea, today was the first time I saw this case.

ETA - NamUs was updated today (Oct 20, 2021) No idea what was changed or added there either

 

[BrownBear]

1 Exclusion
Odelin V. Garcia Hernandez FL

 

[citizen_sleuth]

"Hunters find bullet-riddled body," News-Press [Fort Myers, FL], 22 November 1982, B1.

A group of hunters found the bullet-riddled body of a [sic] unidentified man Sunday morning near Burns Road about four miles east of Ochopee, a Collier County Sheriff's deputy said.

The dead man appears to be Latin, about 40 years old, 6 feet tall and 160 pounds with deep scars on his face and a large tattoo of a bearded saint with a halo on his back, Lt. Acey Edgemon said.

An autopsy revealed the man died from five gunshot wounds to his torso and right leg, Collier County Medical Examiner Dr. Henrich Schmid said.

Chuck Curry, "Detectives Seek Identities in Separate Slayings," Naples Daily News, 22 November 1982, 3A.

Both men were found fully clothed and neither man was bound or gagged, the detective added.

"Shot Victim I.D. Sought," Naples Daily News, 24 November 1982, 3A.

Examination of the body also revealed that the man has a large tattoo on his back. The tattoo depicts a bearded man on crutches, standing with two dogs at his feet. A church is in the background of the tattoo.

Smith said the figure is believed to be Saint Lazaro, the bearded saint.

Hunters found the body lying beside Burns Road, about four miles east of Ochopee and 40 miles west of State Road 27. Officials said earlier in the week they believe the man is an east coast resident who was taken to the remote spot and executed.

Chuck Curry, "Clues Sought From Tattoo Found on Body," Naples Daily News, 25 November 1982, 1B, 3B.
[part 1] [part 2]

The tattoo on the back of a man found shot to death last weekend near Ochopee indicates he was a Mariel boatlift refugee who had been in a Cuban jail or mental institution prior to coming to the United States, a medical examiner in Miami said Wednesday.

Dr. Charles Wetli, a five-year veteran in one of the world's busiest medical examiner's offices, said the tattoo of Saint Lazaro (or Lazarus) on the man's back in a common tattoo among the Mariel refugees.

[...]

"Prior to the boatlift in 1980 we saw very few," Wetli said of the tattoos. "We now see them frequently."

Wetli said it is his understanding that tattooing is outlawed in Cuba, so nearly all the tattoos done in that country take place in jails or mental institutions.

[...]

Collier County investigators had been told the tattoo might mean the man belonged to a criminal gang, but Wetli said other tattoos are used to signify such membership.

[...]

During the past two years, Smith said, Rivera's department has photographed many Mariel refugees and has found numerous variations on the bearded saint theme.

Wetli said it would be his guess that the man had the tattoo made to signify his favorite saint. Other theories, he added, is that the man may have been very religious, possibly being in the hierarchy of a sect.

 

[sorcoy14]

Still only the one exclusion-
Odelin V. Garcia Hernandez from Florida. He has no Namus profile.

 

[PatLaurel]

I agree with Dr. Charles Welti guess on the tattoo. It was the UD's "favorite saint" and the UD was most likely Cuban.
After the adoration of Virgen de La Caridad del Cobre, San Lázaro is one of the Cubans' strongest devotions.
My guess is, if not a devotee of San Lázaro, maybe the UD was born on Dec 17? Or maybe he was from El Rincón, where the San Lázaro Sanctuary is?
El Santuario Nacional de San Lázaro: lugar de culto y peregrinación en Cuba

A Documentary to San Lázaro that evidences the ancestral cult of the Saint

MOO JMO

 

[PatLaurel]

Not sure what to make of this... Our JD was identified in 1984 and a man was indicted for his "slaying"

568UMFL - Newspapers.com

 

[Hochman]

Not sure what to make of this... Our JD was identified in 1984 and a man was indicted for his "slaying"

568UMFL - Newspapers.com

View attachment 423699

You should send this in to the LE. Maybe the name couldnt be confirmed?

 

[PatLaurel]

You should send this in to the LE. Maybe the name couldnt be confirmed?

I believe LE is aware of this. The DoeNetwork states the charges on Ortega were dropped and the witness knew the man only by Cuckoo.
It's the relative I'm curious about. Maybe he didn't have any legal documents to prove the JD's identity?!

I found some Marielitos with the same last names, Bellido DeLuna but none with the first name Eduardo, and all of them younger than our JD. And I also found a lot of people with the last names Bellido DeLuna already living in the US before the Mariel Boatlift. This makes it hard to know when our JD arrived in the US.

MOO JMO

 

[PatLaurel]

Dropping this here, just in case someone is looking for their long lost loved one who left Cuba in 1980, from the Mariel Harbor... never to be seen again.
There are so many people people with the last names "Bellido De Luna" living in Florida and in Cuba... Hopefully this thread will jog someone's memory.
With luck there's a photo of "the man with the San Lazaro tattoo"... forgotten in a drawer somewhere in the beautiful Cuba.

MOO JMO

586UMFL- 1980 Marielito? - Newspapers.com