LA LA - Belle Chasse, WhtMale 16-17, UP88342, hanged, suicide note, 14 Feb 1975 #2

[ChatteringBirds]

So Charles' mother was right all along(!)

Who then is Belle Chase JD?

 

[summergirl1]

My guess would be he may have a similar story to Charles Wallace; or perhaps not.

 

[pol100gk]

Wow, I am glad that he Charles Wallace has been identified and his family has closure but I didn't expect this.

 

[Gemmie]

I can’t find his thread here (if he has one), but Charles Wallace has been identified via DNA as #UP5181 (who also does not have a thread here), found in Lee County, Arkansas, in 1977, so he is definitely NOT this person.

Remains identified as missing man after 48 years, ASP says

The Arkansas State Police has identified human remains discovered nearly five decades ago in rural Lee County.

www.actionnews5.com

@dotr started one yesterday for Charles Wallace #UP5181.

D

AR Thread 'AR- Near Tunica, Mississippi, Lee County John Doe, #UP5181, partial skeletal remains, Jan,.1997, DNA- Charles Howard Wallace, 21, 2025.'

Sep 5, 2025

After 48 Years, Lee County John Doe (1977) is Now Identified

Arkansas State Police Teams with Othram to Identify a 1977 John Doe

dnasolves.com

In January 1977, the partial skeletal remains of an unidentified individual were found in Lee County, Arkansas. Lee County is a rural area along the Mississippi River on the east side of Arkansas and is near Tunica, Mississippi and Memphis, Tennessee. Several law enforcement agencies responded to the scene and began collecting evidence and investigating. The remains were determined to belong to a man, likely between 16 and 30 years old, who likely died between 1972 and 1977. Despite a lengthy investigation...

• dotr
• Replies: 6
• Forum: Identified!

• 
• 

 

[Rolypolyoly]

I'm glad to see that Charles H. Wallace has been found. I was really convinced he was our Belle Chasse Doe.

RIP, Charlie.

Me too! I was convinced it was him. How bizarre for our John Doe to have a matching scar and dentals close enough to erroneously match with Charlie's.

Im very pleased to hear Charlie has been found and identified. May he rest in peace.

 

[Curious_in_NC]

Wow. I was convinced too. RIP Charles.

 

[pass-thru]

I was never in doubt that Belle Chasse John Doe is Bayard Cousins. Unfortunately, it will never be proved.

 

[Amateur Web Sleuth]

I was never in doubt that Belle Chasse John Doe is Bayard Cousins. Unfortunately, it will never be proved.

Right there with you, the circumstances make sense and both him and the UID look similar. Always hoping for a resolution in this case

 

[slinky22]

Has Dermot Faulkner Kelly been mentioned yet? Dermot Faulkner Kelly – The Charley Project The second photo really reminds me of the sketch.

Some quotes from his Charley Project bio:
"family and teachers stated he is extremely intelligent and capable of achieving better grades"
"His loved ones described him as a quiet and contemplative teenager who enjoyed reading. His father stated Dermot was troubled by what he saw as inequities and hypocrisy in society."
"his parents to believe he hadn't drowned but had run away from home instead"
"Dermot had said he wanted to go away and make a new life for himself"

It also mentions that he was raised comfortably in a middle-class household. He would've been a little over 19 at the time of his death, which doesn't quite match, but I also can't find how they determined the john doe's age (whether they did some tests or just guesses based off of appearance).

In his letter, he says "What frustrated me most in the last year was that I had built no ties to family or friends". In my head, this makes me think that he had been missing for a year prior to his death, trying to start fresh or find purpose.

Dermont had blonde hair but with how young he was, there was a chance that could have changed. I have older family members who were blonde until they hit around 18, at which point their hair went dark. The blue eyes are harder to excuse, plus the suicide note suggests that he was an only child, while Dermont had siblings. That said, he was clearly intelligent and trying to mislead detectives so suggesting that he was an only child could have been intentional.

Ultimately, even if it's not Dermont, I think that this young man had likely been missing for some time and had traveled far before his death. He did not want to be identified so would not have chosen a location close to home. He mentions being his parent's "missing" son, which suggests he may have heard news that they were already looking for him (though this could also very easily be a matter of him making a prediction). I also still think that the note suggests, whoever he was, that he had taken time to try and start fresh or find meaning in the year leading up to his death.

 

[slinky22]

Has Dermot Faulkner Kelly been mentioned yet? Dermot Faulkner Kelly – The Charley Project The second photo really reminds me of the sketch.

Some quotes from his Charley Project bio:
"family and teachers stated he is extremely intelligent and capable of achieving better grades"
"His loved ones described him as a quiet and contemplative teenager who enjoyed reading. His father stated Dermot was troubled by what he saw as inequities and hypocrisy in society."
"his parents to believe he hadn't drowned but had run away from home instead"
"Dermot had said he wanted to go away and make a new life for himself"

It also mentions that he was raised comfortably in a middle-class household. He would've been a little over 19 at the time of his death, which doesn't quite match, but I also can't find how they determined the john doe's age (whether they did some tests or just guesses based off of appearance).

In his letter, he says "What frustrated me most in the last year was that I had built no ties to family or friends". In my head, this makes me think that he had been missing for a year prior to his death, trying to start fresh or find purpose.

Dermont had blonde hair but with how young he was, there was a chance that could have changed. I have older family members who were blonde until they hit around 18, at which point their hair went dark. The blue eyes are harder to excuse, plus the suicide note suggests that he was an only child, while Dermont had siblings. That said, he was clearly intelligent and trying to mislead detectives so suggesting that he was an only child could have been intentional.

Ultimately, even if it's not Dermont, I think that this young man had likely been missing for some time and had traveled far before his death. He did not want to be identified so would not have chosen a location close to home. He mentions being his parent's "missing" son, which suggests he may have heard news that they were already looking for him (though this could also very easily be a matter of him making a prediction). I also still think that the note suggests, whoever he was, that he had taken time to try and start fresh or find meaning in the year leading up to his death.

I messaged a research professor with the LSU FACES Laboratory-- She confirmed that Dermont is on their list of possible identities but that they currently have no way to test and confirm/deny. Not sure if this is due to a lack of data on the John Doe or a lack of data on Dermont. (EDIT: From looking at the LSU Faces profile, it looks like they're missing both dental records and DNA for John Doe, so that's likely the issue)

 

[methodwriter85]

Hey, I don't know if this guy has been compared yet, but I was looking up Virginia Cold Cases and found this:

Bayard Cousins- Missing February 1, 1975 from Virginia Beach, Virginia

He was 22, but not too far out from the age range. The height and hair seem to match well, and the circumstances (educated kid who left his parents a note that he was okay) seem to fit the circumstances of Belle Chasse, who wanted his parents to think he had just gone off to live somewhere new. The timeline fits perfectly.

Has Bayard already been ruled out?

 

[snooptroop88]

Hey, I don't know if this guy has been compared yet, but I was looking up Virginia Cold Cases and found this:

Bayard Cousins- Missing February 1, 1975 from Virginia Beach, Virginia

He was 22, but not too far out from the age range. The height and hair seem to match well, and the circumstances (educated kid who left his parents a note that he was okay) seem to fit the circumstances of Belle Chasse, who wanted his parents to think he had just gone off to live somewhere new. The timeline fits perfectly.

Has Bayard already been ruled out?

Bayard fluent in Spanish and an ecology activist, so he's intelligent, he leaves notes, too, he left a note for his parents saying not to worry about him when they came back from being out of town. See him mentioned a while back by @Beekarina and a lot of other posters in here, and see a lot of speculation for him generally online. Height's about right, so's weight. I don't think he looks a lot like the image for the Doe, but that's often the case, even when the person turns out to be the Doe. Plus, there's only one image of Bayard. But the Doe was recognizable, so... that image is probably pretty accurate. And Bayard's in Virginia, why Belle Chasse around Valentine's Day? Sylvia Plath's suicide anniversary's right around that time, she wrote a novel Bell Jar, title symbolic of being trapped as if in the jar, and Tennessee Williams was obsessed with Louisiana. With all that said, a lot of people are convinced this Doe is Bayard, and jmo, they may well be right.

But tend to worry along with others on here that this may be a staged suicide. Don't contact the parents, don't look for anyone please, it's around Valentine's Day. A murderer's preference, too, that nobody does too much looking, I can as clearly see a murderer penning the note as the decedent, unfortunately, and maybe even mulling over the timing of the event. And if that's what happened, the layers of complication mount, and it becomes more and more difficult to even posit a guess. It's equally complicated in another scenario, if the boy took off with someone he knew (or alone for a time) and/or was abducted and then decided he'd commit suicide. See people noting Brian Page, I think he looks like him, too, but the height isn't aligned. Anthony Andrzejewski, see him on here, looks an awful lot like the Doe, but age doesn't align. Phillip Montoya looks quite possible, he's been mentioned, think by @Romulus . Have wondered about Perry Corlew, but he had green eyes, I haven't seen him in here yet (take that back, @MadMcGoo noted him). Looking at an image right now that I think looks just like this Doe, it's Michael Duane Burnett, missing from Oroville CA March 17 1971, which would make him about 18 in Feb 1975, Michael on left, age progressed in middle, & Doe on right, and he has been mentioned by @Romulus :

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

Michael Duane Burnett – The Charley Project

To me, this boy really, really resembles the Doe, and strongly. So much so I can picture it being him. I know there's no body, few records for this Doe... This will be an uphill if not impossible climb in terms of identification. Michael had a scar that was likely going to be permanent, and based on what it was for, it would probably be pretty noticeable. I don't know what to make of the scar information I see for the Doe, under the circumstances I'd fear it's not complete, but if they're noting prominent teeth, I would think more significant scar information would be there as well. This is one of the few cases where I wonder if this young man's even in the databases, usually I think there's hope he is at least in there. But even if he is, I think it's going to be very difficult indeed to ID him, based on what I've read. (JMO) Probably a suicide, but "don't look for anyone"-- pretty convenient for a murderer, unfortunately, so I can't completely discard that idea of staging, but jmo.

 

[snooptroop88]

Is Bobby Boyes mentioned in here? Bobby went missing at 9 yo from Port Republic MD day after Christmas 1968. He went to visit a friend, and he had his pet deer Pete with him. Bob was a very sensitive boy. He never made it back home with the pet deer from the friend's house. Pete did return home with the chain around its neck which Bobby used to walk him, but Bobby's never been seen again. So that would make Bobby about 16 or 17yo in Feb 1975. Brown hair & eyes, 4'0" scar on upper lip.

Compared to Belle Chasse Doe

Maryland State Police Continue Search For Calvert County Boy Missing Since 1968

news.maryland.gov

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

Bob Louis Richard Boyes – The Charley Project

 

[PatLaurel]

Unfortunately, this is one of those cases where all we can really do is try to guess who our John Doe was. The cemetery was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, and a lot of coffins were swept away by the floods, most broke open, mixing up the remains. It would take someone with a lot of determination (and maybe faith in miracles) to try checking if John Doe’s burial spot somehow survived. But that would also require knowing exactly where he was buried, and apparently LE, the cemetery, and the funeral home all lost their records to Katrina.

I was really convinced our Doe was Charlie H. Wallace, but now that he’s been found, Bayard Cousins seems the most likely to me.

MOO JMO

 

[summergirl1]

I believe this is where he is buried?

https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/69276/westlawn-memorial-park-and-mausoleum

 

[PatLaurel]

I believe this is where he is buried?

https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/69276/westlawn-memorial-park-and-mausoleum

The ones that got set adrift were reburied. The issue with our Doe is figuring out the exact spot. Someone here posted a great article about "Katrina’s cemeteries". If I remember right, Westlawn had around 100 caskets with unidentified remains, and the good thing they all have DNA for ID.
Depending on the type of DNA (SNP vs STR), I’d volunteer to do IGG for all of them if that would give our Doe his name back.

MOO JMO

 

[methodwriter85]

I was really convinced our Doe was Charlie H. Wallace, but now that he’s been found, Bayard Cousins seems the most likely to me.

Okay, I wasn't aware that they can't actually test the Doe. That makes sense, because I figured he'd have a lot of ruleouts by this point because it's a pretty well-known case in the true crime community.

I'm going to stick with Bayard Cousins, then. The age is slightly off but not that badly off.

 

[Lebowski]

Hey, I don't know if this guy has been compared yet, but I was looking up Virginia Cold Cases and found this:

Bayard Cousins- Missing February 1, 1975 from Virginia Beach, Virginia

He was 22, but not too far out from the age range. The height and hair seem to match well, and the circumstances (educated kid who left his parents a note that he was okay) seem to fit the circumstances of Belle Chasse, who wanted his parents to think he had just gone off to live somewhere new. The timeline fits perfectly.

Has Bayard already been ruled out?

bayard cousins has often been mentioned as possibly a match for this john doe. i would say he was one of the top two contenders (if we assume he's a known missing person...) along with charlie wallace. and wallace was recently DNA-matched to a different john doe. so i think cousins is now the favorite by default.

i agree, it's a good match in many ways. height, weight, timing. doe sounds educated, cousins was. doe seems to have been from a middle-class or wealthier family. the cousins family seems to have been middle or upper-middle class. doe left a note to his parents, concerned about how his death would affect their peace and tranquility. cousins left a note to his parents saying not to worry about him.

distance is a mismatch, but the doe was never matched to someone in the area, so i think it's reasonable to look further. he was only ~10 miles from the greyhound station in new orleans, which was a major hub in the 70s. that provides a reasonable possible explanation for how he got there.

the one thing that makes me hesitate is that, reading the doe's suicide note, i get the strong impression he was an only child. cousins had a sister. however, it's possible that, for whatever reason, he didn't choose to address his sister in his suicide note. maybe they weren't close or something. cousins didn't address his sister in the note he left to his parents. it's not a deal-breaker.

i would bet a considerable amount of money the doe is cousins.

---------

it is often stated that the location of his grave was lost because records were destroyed in hurricana katrina, which would mean the case is hopeless. but someone recently told me (wish i remembered who and where -- maybe someone on reddit?) that amateur investigators have talked to the cemetary management and learned that they actually do know the exact location of his grave, they just (of course) won't reveal that information without a court order, and allegedly local law enforcement is not interested in reopening the case.

i'm not sure what any of these statements are based on or how much weight to give them.

 

[Mfleish]

won't reveal that information without a court order, and allegedly local law enforcement is not interested in reopening the case.

I have written down that they won't reopen without consent from family, but since family is not known, it's kind of at an impasse. I think this was mentioned in the first thread on the case, if someone can locate it.

 

[PatLaurel]

it is often stated that the location of his grave was lost because records were destroyed in hurricana katrina, which would mean the case is hopeless. but someone recently told me (wish i remembered who and where -- maybe someone on reddit?) that amateur investigators have talked to the cemetary management and learned that they actually do know the exact location of his grave, they just (of course) won't reveal that information without a court order, and allegedly local law enforcement is not interested in reopening the case.

i'm not sure what any of these statements are based on or how much weight to give them.

BBM
And, quoting myself for context:

Unfortunately, this is one of those cases where all we can really do is try to guess who our John Doe was. The cemetery was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, and a lot of coffins were swept away by the floods, most broke open, mixing up the remains. It would take someone with a lot of determination (and maybe faith in miracles) to try checking if John Doe’s burial spot somehow survived. But that would also require knowing exactly where he was buried, and apparently LE, the cemetery, and the funeral home all lost their records to Katrina.

I was really convinced our Doe was Charlie H. Wallace, but now that he’s been found, Bayard Cousins seems the most likely to me.

MOO JMO

The ones that got set adrift were reburied. The issue with our Doe is figuring out the exact spot. Someone here posted a great article about "Katrina’s cemeteries". If I remember right, Westlawn had around 100 caskets with unidentified remains, and the good thing they all have DNA for ID.
Depending on the type of DNA (SNP vs STR), I’d volunteer to do IGG for all of them if that would give our Doe his name back.

MOO JMO

Apparently I was wrong and Mr. Mothe knows the exact location of the grave?!

LA - LA - Belle Chasse, WhtMale 16-17, UP88342, hanged, suicide note, Feb'75 #2