KY KY - Erlanger, WhtMale 40-55, UP76, Rent-A-Car receipt, Marlboros from Ohio, Red Eddie Bauer day pack, Clothed, Jan’03

[MadMcGoo]

Unidentified Person / NamUs #UP76
Male, White / Caucasian

Eddie Bauer pack similar to the one found with remains, dental x-ray
​

Date of Discovery: January 3, 2003
Location of Discovery: Erlanger, Kenton County, Kentucky
Estimated Year of Death: 1999-2003
State of Remains: Skeletal Remains
Estimated Age: Adult - Pre 60; 40-55 years
Estimated Height: 6'0 - 6'2
Weight: Unknown
Hair Color: Reddish brown; straight
Eye Color: Unknown

Distinguishing Marks/Features: Perimortem fracture of left wrist. He'd once broken seven ribs, maybe in an auto accident. Muscular build.

Clothing: Sleeveless green vest with multiple pockets; blue-gray long sleeved, hooded sweatshirt; quilted green, long-sleeved shirt; denim pants; dark blue sweatpants with logo of winged athletic shoe and Hilliard Track; multicolored gloves, dark blue or black athletic shoes, and a small, red, "Eddie Bauer" day pack.

Circumstances of Discovery
The victim was located behind dumpster. The man was probably homeless, maybe living in the brushy area where his body was discovered. Due to his dress -- the multiple layers of clothing -- which is consistent with different drifters. He had his personal property in plastic bags to keep it dry. He had a food source there where the remains were found and it was an area that sheltered him from the weather. Police believe that "food source" was probably the garbage bin behind Aldi's, adjoining the woods where the body was found. Aldi's employees read news stories describing what the man might have looked like, they told police that a man matching that description had frequented the area.

He was tall, with the same dark reddish-brown hair and wore the same multi-pocketed green vest found with the remains. The Aldi's employees recalled the man rummaging through the market's garbage for food. In fact, a bread wrapper like those sold at the store was found with the skeleton. An expiration date (November of 2000) printed on that bread wrapper label was used in conjunction with other evidence -- as well as "lack of evidence" -- to pinpoint when the man died. No house or car keys, no pictures or driver's license was found.

Investigators did find a receipt among the remains from Enterprise Rent-A-Car, but it had deteriorated to the point where they couldn't retrieve a name from it. Investigators called the rental car company's offices in Kentucky and in Ohio, after a pack of cigarettes was found with an Ohio tax stamp on the seal. But there was not enough to go on. There were no signs of foul play.

Dentals: Available
Fingerprints: Not available
DNA: Available (FBI NMPDD)

Kentucky Medical Examiner's Office
Amy Burrows-Beckham (502) 489-5209
Agency Case Number: FA-2003-03
NCIC Case Number: U050004056
Regional Program Specialist:
Amy Jenkinson (817) 304-8873

Sources
NamUs
The Doe Network

 

[MadMcGoo]

13 Missing Person Exclusions per NamUs:
MP19371 Craig Alexander 01/28/1985 Chittenden VT
MP9561 Harvey Kays 12/12/1988 Anderson KY
MP6277 Adam Lake 03/24/2001 Franklin OH
MP6932 Patrick Sukeforth 05/27/2002 New Castle DE
MP2358 Robert Weems 06/05/1997 Lauderdale AL
MP453 James Bradford 09/06/1996 Maricopa AZ
MP802 Bruce DeVoe 11/04/1997 Thurston WA
MP1289 Lonny McQuiston-Davis 1995 San Joaquin CA
MP2278 -- -- -- -- --
MP2438 James Shumaker 10/22/1995 Hillsborough FL
MP1850 Stephen Hughes 01/12/1986 Davis UT
MP1890 David Thomson 07/04/1979 Hennepin MN
MP623 Michael Reynolds 09/04/2001 Bernalillo NM

 

[victoriarobinson642]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Missing from OHIO in October 2002 so the timeline might be a bit off, however, what gets me is
"Has metal pins in his left leg, left hip, and left arm from an auto accident"

 

[MadMcGoo]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Missing from OHIO in October 2002 so the timeline might be a bit off, however, what gets me is
"Has metal pins in his left leg, left hip, and left arm from an auto accident"

Interesting find! The part about him being “walked out of his apartment by a male dressed in D.A.R.E. clothing”...makes me hmmm. Kind of an odd thing to mention without explanation. IMO. His vital stats pretty much match up. The only thing that makes me question him are the tattoos and metal hardware.

The tattoos because that seems like something the people who knew the Marlboro Man (thats what I call him lol) would have probably remembered tattoos like that being on his face and neck. There’s no mention of it one way or the other though.

The metal pins I think they’d locate even if his remains were skeletal, especially since he had them in several locations? Noel doesn’t look “muscular” to me, although there’s no telling when the photos were taken and how he could have changed. JMOO

 

[MadMcGoo]

Here’s one I came across by accident but seems very possible!
Kevin Mitchell Kulek

Missing from Pinconning, MI since Sept 2001
- 41 years old, 6’1”, 220 lbs., brown hair & eyes
(per The Charley Project):
“Kulek checked himself out of the Au Sable drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility on September 16, 2001. The next day, September 17, he tried to borrow his son's truck at Dean Arbour Ford in West Branch, Michigan.

He was last seen walking north away from the dealership. A clerk at a gas station in Pinconning, Michigan saw him getting into a semi truck that headed south on Michigan Highway 13. Kulek has never been heard from again. Few details are available in his case.”

Vital stats fit (although I’m not sure about the “reddish brown straight hair”), Kevin checked out of a rehab with obviously no transportation of his own, ended up catching a ride with a trucker headed south, and hasn’t been seen since.

None of his MP profiles mention foul play so he does fit the description of a “drifter”, as the UID was thought to be. MI Hwy 13 leads right to I-75 which passes straight through Ohio to Kentucky. Would explain the Marlboros and even the Rent-A-Car receipt since he was without a vehicle.

 

[MadMcGoo]

I still think this could be Kevin...(wait...the first Kevin ) but here’s another possible.

Kevin Perry Fields

Missing from North Carolina since July 2002
- 44 years old, 6’2”, 150 lbs., brown hair & eyes
- (per The Doe Network) Kevin Fields was believed to be living in his truck in Pasqoutank County (specifically in a section known as The Gold Mine) in 2002 but was last seen in Perquimans Couty on July 6, 2002. On September 28, 2002, his truck was found abandoned in a wooded area of Gates County, North Carolina.

 

[GJKJR]

January 30, 2003. The Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY.
(This title got me! I thought he'd been identified for a second... then I realized it was one of those that says they're identified as a certain sex, then lists basic information, oops!)

 

[MadMcGoo]

Yes. I agree titles can be deceiving. I had to read and re-read one generated by a keyword search - “body; still being probed” It will remain a mystery to me!

These skeletal remains have a PMI listed; (years) 1999-2003. Yet “muscular build” is listed on most reports. How is that possible?

 

[MadMcGoo]

Possible Matches:

1. Kevin Mitchell Kulek
2. Kevin Perry Fields, Kevin Fields