IN IN - Richmond, WhtMale UP12980, 25-30, obese, in motel room, May'79

[Cymro]

This is the first I've heard about either case. And I can't help but wonder...why would someone who intends to commit suicide want to keep their body unidentified? I was thinking about this, and the only things I can think of are....

1) insurance reasons (doesn't want spouse or whoever to be able to collect insurance payouts).
2) hates family and just wants to "disappear". But that strikes me as odd since, why would you care if they found you dead if you don't care about them?
3) wasn't really suicide (although in this instance it would be hard to fake, especially since he gave a fake name when he checked in)

Sorry, this part was just bugging me, since suicide victims typically WANT to be found, for one reason or another......

How about: wants to die, but doesn't want anyone he knows or loves to find or identify the body, or wants to give them false hope that he ran away and is happy somewhere else?

People accuse suicide victims of being selfish: *if* you perceive suicide as selfish, this might be seen as kinder for those who are left behind (though not necessarily those who find the body or who are somehow otherwise involved).

 

[j123]

Although I'm totally convinced this is Nicholas, it does seem odd that this was his way of "disappearing." 1979 wasn't that long ago- assuming this is him, it surprises me that he (correctly, apparently) figured out this would be a good way to accomplish his goal of ending his life without being found (for awhile, at least). It really does surprise me that this connection wasn't made sooner, and I don't know how he could have anticipated that would have been the case. I would imagine there were other ways at his disposal to "disappear" to an even larger degree that wouldn't have resulted in a body even being found.

Nicholas sounded like a very intelligent person. This line of thinking is the only "contradiction" I see with this being him, but I don't actually see it as meaningful. I'm sure there were numerous reasons why he chose the method he did, and I'm guess I'm just curious to better understand them.

 

[CallMeTres]

Is there any way to find out if Zizzamia was left handed? It appears the UID may have been.

 

[carbuff]

Wanting to disappear via suicide doesn't seem to be that unusual. There are at least a dozen unidentified people on Websleuths who tried to wipe out their identity: "Lyle Stevik," "Mary Anderson," the guy in the NJ motel, Annandale Jane Doe, the Myrtle Beach woman a couple of years ago, are a few that come to mind.

 

[DevoidOfRedemption]

I've suffered from chronic depression my entire life and when things get bad, my first thought is how much I just want to walk out of my life and not be found. For most people (including me) this is just a fantasy, but some individuals actually go through with it. Point being that wanting to "disappear" when severely depressed is very common.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Detective's cold case research halted by a missing grave marker

A week after 22-year-old Nicholas Peter Zizzamia disappeared from his Cherry Hill home May 12, 1979, the body of a young man of similar build and appearance was found 580 miles away in a Richmond, Ind., motel room.

The city's Palladium-Item newspaper reported that the man had apparently slashed his right wrist and bled to death watching TV.

Authorities did not find a driver's license or other identification in the room, for which the deceased had anonymously paid $13.52 in cash the day before.

Could he have been Nick Zizzamia, the shy, sensitive, somewhat melancholy fellow who once told a Bishop Eustace classmate that he planned to vanish someday without a trace?

"We have full dental records on Nicholas," notes Hafner. "We have DNA from his parents."

What the Cherry Hill Police Department doesn't have is access to John Doe. Before a court can issue an order that his remains be exhumed, the location of the grave - the marker is missing - must be ascertained.

"The problem is we're talking about records from back in the '70s," notes Sgt. Scott Jarvis, a supervisor of Indiana State Police detectives for the territory that includes Richmond, a city of 36,000.

The Richmond Police Department "has not retained any of the evidence on a suicide case from that far back," Jarvis adds.

 

[Springrain]

I am hoping it is him, for answers for his family. Of course, it is tragic either way, but I suppose it's better than wondering forever.

 

[giagreen]

So first they have to FIND Jon Doe? Am I understanding that right? Seems weird.

 

[CarlK90245]

So first they have to FIND Jon Doe? Am I understanding that right? Seems weird.

Not that weird.

I can think of a couple other cases where they have pretty solid possible matches, but can't find the body in the cemetery to prove it.

One case in Oklahoma 1983, they dug up the wrong body twice, and now they are back to the drawing board to try to find the body on a third try.

Another case in Mississippi, they dug up the wrong body once, and the judge refuses to let them try a second time.

 

[zelda_s]

Not that weird.

I can think of a couple other cases where they have pretty solid possible matches, but can't find the body in the cemetery to prove it.

One case in Oklahoma 1983, they dug up the wrong body twice, and now they are back to the drawing board to try to find the body on a third try.

Another case in Mississippi, they dug up the wrong body once, and the judge refuses to let them try a second time.

That's quite severe, missing bodies. How does that even happen? How does a body get lost? Very strange indeed.

 

[CosmicLatte]

That's quite severe, missing bodies. How does that even happen? How does a body get lost? Very strange indeed.

I don't think the problem is that the body is lost, since the graveyard/cemetery is usually known. It's more that with 50+ bodies in a plot of land, if some of them don't have markers or the markers have eroded, you've got a LOT of bodies to go through to find the one you're looking for, and we tend to have a bit of a cultural taboo against repeatedly disturbing gravesites.

 

[Dylgem22]

why would they have not done a facial sketch to try to identify him back then? I wish we knew what the deceased looked like so we could compare to Nicholas .. or do they just not release that to the public? I would they would since he is a John Doe .. :thinking:

 

[bcf]

Today marks the 39th anniversary of his death. :rose:

I'm trying to fill a FOIA request for his case files. Could anyone guide me through the process?

 

[carbuff]

I don't think the problem is that the body is lost, since the graveyard/cemetery is usually known. It's more that with 50+ bodies in a plot of land, if some of them don't have markers or the markers have eroded, you've got a LOT of bodies to go through to find the one you're looking for, and we tend to have a bit of a cultural taboo against repeatedly disturbing gravesites.

Also, weather conditions like excessive rainfall, freezing and thawing, etc. can cause the ground to shift, and the coffins shift with it. If the cemetery's on a hillside sometimes a whole area can slide. I remember when I was growing up there was some road construction going on, and after a period of heavy rain, an entire small cemetery slid onto the highway. My ghoulish ten-year-old self thought it was pretty exciting but my parents were horrified.

 

[Westy27]

FindAGrave has information relating to this John Doe: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/92287024/john-doe.

According to the articles on Find A Grave the John Doe was buried in King Cemetery in Richmond, Indiana. King Cemetery is described as being small, but the site mentions that no memorial stone was found in March 2012 when the graveyard was being restored. The article also mentions that Klute Beach and Henry funeral home handled his internment. It looks like they are still in operation. Maybe they would have more information in regard to the location of the John Doe's internment?

Edit: Just realized that this information had already been posted. Hopefully LE consulted with the funeral home about a possible location for the John Doe's internment.

 

[Nate_Bro]

Today marks the 39th anniversary of his death. :rose:

I'm trying to fill a FOIA request for his case files. Could anyone guide me through the process?

Has anyone received any updates on this? Seems there have been several lines of inquiry so thought i'd ask.....

 

[MadMcGoo]

I wonder if anything new has developed concerning the location of his remains. Nicholas seems like a good match. The Doe Network had some additional information I’ll post for the sake of refreshing the thread...
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2388umin.html
2388UMIN
Circumstances of Discovery
The man's body was found in his room at the Town & Country Motel at 3643 E. Main St. The man had slashed his right wrist and then calmly sat and watched television as he bled to death.

Police searching the room found nothing to help them identify the man. Investigators backtracked his movements and found that he had refused to register for the room, paying cash for one day's stay. Police later learned the man had been picked up by a taxi at 16th and East Main Streets May 15th and was taken to the Holiday Motel at 3004 E. Main Street, where he checked in and remained until May 18th when he left for the Town & Country Motel. Investigation revealed that the man signed the Holiday Motel register as Vincent Cuomo of 6858 E. 78th St., New York, N.Y. Police in Brooklyn, N.Y. were asked to assist, but sent word that there is no such address in that city. Several Cuomo families lived in the area at that time, but none apparently knew of a missing family member named Vincent.

Fingerprints were taken from the body and sent to the Indiana State Police and the FBI, but did not lead to the man's identity. An attempt to trace telephone calls apparently made by the man from a pay booth across from the Holiday Motel was fruitless.

He is buried in King Cemetery. A temporary marker bearing the inscription "John Doe, name unknown" was placed on his grave, but vanished over the years.

 

[Bit of hope]

I wonder how many graves are not accounted for, have no name or tombstone. Maybe naive but couldn't they narrow the possible grave site for this John Doe down, by deciding which graves are known/named?

 

[Goecke]

As a recovered self harmer, I can confirm the UID was most likely left handed.
I'd also be shocked if this isn't Nicholas Zizzamia. The UID gave a fake address in New York, too, which isn't super far away from where Nicholas lived. It just sounds like it's a matter of finding the UID's body in order to compare via DNA. Doe Network says the UID has fingerprints available; I'm assuming Nicholas doesn't?

 

[Goecke]

Also, with the address labels on the magazines and the tags from all of his clothing being removed, it sounds like he went to great lengths to make sure he wouldn't be unidentified. Very Lyle Stevik-esque.

ETA- If he was in recognizable condition, I wonder why no postmortems have been released? Does Indiana usually not release PMs?