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

[Tower]

Interesting long shot...travel was very different in 1970s. It would not be recorded as it is now.

He left a Hospital and could because he was an adult.

Did he try to start over? Thinking things would change? Then discovered after a year or so, nothing changed?

What frustrated me most in the last year was that I had built no ties to family or friends.

D

Australia Thread 'Australia - Michael (Micky) Ian Croaker, 18, Prince Henry Hospital, Little Bay, 20 Oct 1973'

Aug 15, 2020

Mick disappeared, aged 18, in 1973 – his family want to stop the 'blanket of grief' happening to others
Aug 2020

Michael Croaker, who went missing in 1973, and his sister Trisha.(Supplied: Trisha Croaker)
''Saturday, October 20, 1973, was a significant day for many reasons.
''It was the day the Sydney Opera House was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II, with more than half a million people lining the harbour foreshore to celebrate, flanked by thousands of police officers wrangling the jubilant crowds.

It was...

• dotr
• Replies: 20
• Forum: 1970's Missing

• 

Michael Ian Croaker | National Missing Persons

www.missingpersons.gov.au

Mick disappeared, aged 18, in 1973 – his family want to stop the 'blanket of grief' happening to others

Michael Croaker went missing from a Sydney hospital in 1973. His family have never found answers — but it's hoped featuring him in the National Missing Persons Week campaign might bring fresh information.

www.abc.net.au

View attachment 564639

Really interesting, I’m not seeing a link between his writing style in the suicide letter and the description of Mick’s history, but I bet his sister would know if he could write in that style,

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Michael's case is so sad, but I don't think Belle Chasse John Doe 1975 could be Michael.

Michael disappeared from Australia. Why would he end up in Louisiana, USA? JMO.

I hope for a "miracle" and his sister finds out what happened to him, though.

 

[LucyOso]

Really interesting, I’m not seeing a link between his writing style in the suicide letter and the description of Mick’s history, but I bet his sister would know if he could write in that style,

It is interesting because the above article I posted, she noted he was developmentally delayed. But, in the note:

My brain always worked at cross-purposes to my real development. I refused to express any emotions or deal with people on a social basis. In effect, I refused to accept that I was an animal and that I needed social ties…
I was a withdrawn baby who became an unpleasant, withdrawn person. I have convinced myself and others that I am not capable of being an asset to society.
Autism has been mentioned before in thread. This could be a situation where this person had a colorful inner world, was extremely intelligent, but did not engage in others, hence the label of delayed.

If you pursue who I was (and spend hundreds of dollars) you will accomplish little.
Because the search is not in the United States?

than risk that later I will break and shatter by violence or linger years under care.

He was getting a psych evaluation. Shatter under violence-Sister noted he was bullied in many private schools....


Just some thoughts...

 

[LucyOso]

Michael's case is so sad, but I don't think Belle Chasse John Doe 1975 could be Michael.

Michael disappeared from Australia. Why would he end up in Louisiana, USA? JMO.

I hope for a "miracle" and his sister finds out what happened to him, though.

Many people travel. It is easy to do. People try to recreate themselves and escape.

 

[sunflowermomma]

I'm not a regular in this thread so my apologies if this has already been discussed. The mention of the Australian boy got my thinking about other international cases. What about Richard Riquier?

https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/software/mp-main.html?id=6526dmqc

Also, is anyone familiar with the 70s brands Puritan and Arrow? Could those be purchased in the US at the time?

 

[ChatteringBirds]

The mention of the Australian boy got my thinking about other international cases. What about Richard Riquier?

On Richard's thread, someone posted they found he's no longer missing, but I am honestly not familiar with Richard's case...

CANADA Thread 'Canada - Richard Riquier, 21, Montréal, QC, 17 April 1973'

Mar 21, 2022

Richard Damasse Riquier



Case Classification: Missing
Missing Since: April 17, 1973
Location Last Seen: Montréal, Québec, Canada

Description:

• Date of Birth: 1952
• Age: 21 yrs
• Race: White/Caucasian
• Gender: Male
• Height: 180cm / 5 ft 11 in
• Weight: 59kg / 130lb
• Hair Color: Brown
• Eye Color: Brown
• Nickname/Alias: Unknown
• Distinguishing Marks/Features: Unknown
• Clothing & Personal Items: Unknown
• Identifiers: Unknown

Circumstances of Disappearance:
Riquier was last seen in Montréal, Québec on April...

• TheArtfulDetective
• Replies: 16
• Forum: 1970's Missing

• 
• 

 

[sunflowermomma]

I did find both brands Puritan and Arrow as manufactured and based in the US in the 70s, in PA and NY respectively. I don't know enough about the supply chain in the 70s to know if this could indicate our Doe is from the northeast, or if that's simply where US textile manufacturing has always been centered and is a red herring.

Puritan seems to be a fairly nice brand, I found some deadstock items on Etsy with original packaging and it seems to be high-end (but not designer).

 

[JSolt1210]

Interesting long shot...travel was very different in 1970s. It would not be recorded as it is now.

He left a Hospital and could because he was an adult.

Did he try to start over? Thinking things would change? Then discovered after a year or so, nothing changed?

What frustrated me most in the last year was that I had built no ties to family or friends.

D

Australia Thread 'Australia - Michael (Micky) Ian Croaker, 18, Prince Henry Hospital, Little Bay, 20 Oct 1973'

Aug 15, 2020

Mick disappeared, aged 18, in 1973 – his family want to stop the 'blanket of grief' happening to others
Aug 2020

Michael Croaker, who went missing in 1973, and his sister Trisha.(Supplied: Trisha Croaker)
''Saturday, October 20, 1973, was a significant day for many reasons.
''It was the day the Sydney Opera House was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II, with more than half a million people lining the harbour foreshore to celebrate, flanked by thousands of police officers wrangling the jubilant crowds.

It was...

• dotr
• Replies: 20
• Forum: 1970's Missing

• 

Michael Ian Croaker | National Missing Persons

www.missingpersons.gov.au

Mick disappeared, aged 18, in 1973 – his family want to stop the 'blanket of grief' happening to others

Michael Croaker went missing from a Sydney hospital in 1973. His family have never found answers — but it's hoped featuring him in the National Missing Persons Week campaign might bring fresh information.

www.abc.net.au

Honestly, at this point, your long shot is as good a guess as any.

This could be a situation reminiscent of the unsolved murder of Blair Adams. After several attempts to cross the Canada/US border, he managed to enter from Vancouver to Seattle where he purchased a round-trip ticket to Frankfurt, Germany. He then decided to change this ticket for a one-way trip to Washington DC, drove to Knox County, Tennessee, where he knew no one, and was subsequently murdered there by person(s) unknown.

Or like Gordon Lopez, who disappeared from Portland, Oregon and seems to have died in Chicago, Illinois near a theater named after his favorite author.

Similarly, Michael could've felt an affinity for New Orleans, Louisiana for some reason and decided to end his life there.

 

[Himako14]

i don’t think the autopsy report would be available to the public since LA doesn’t consider them public records. LE or maybe a lab would have to request it and only if they believe it to be related to a criminal offense, per LA R.S 44:19. The death certificate should be available 50 years after the year of the death, so either late this year or next year. I can keep an eye on the records for it.

 

[cenazoic]

I’ve wondered if we’re able to request them as we’re not ‘entitled’, as defined here:

https://ldh.la.gov/page/how-to-order-death-records

That said, certificates older than 50 years are supposed to go to the state archives, where the public can request a copy for (currently) $10.

Here’s the list of people at the archives when searching for ‘unidentified’; the oldest date currently is 1972:

Louisiana Death Records

So that’s probably the most likely source we can eventually get it from.

I’m also tempted to get some of the others - likely more unlisted mysteries there. As a side note, I suspect most of the unidentifieds from 1957 are Hurricane Audrey victims.

 

[snarast]

It’s quite a narrow age range. That’s a bit risky.

 

[Diavola]

"When you stop growing you are dead"
This quote seemed so familiar when I read the suicide note, like I have heard something like it before, maybe in a book or something. But I cannot remember where. Googling it I get William S. Burroughs "When you stop growing you start dying".

 

[Himako14]

The book it comes from is an interesting read. It’s a line from Burroughs book Junky, published in 53/54, can’t remember right off hand. It’s about a drug addict who is also a homosexual in the 1950s and travels from NYC to New Orleans and then other places, Texas and Mexico City.

 

[snarast]

The book it comes from is an interesting read. It’s a line from Burroughs book Junky, published in 53/54, can’t remember right off hand. It’s about a drug addict who is also a homosexual in the 1950s and travels from NYC to New Orleans and then other places, Texas and Mexico City.

Bit of a classic.

 

[Diavola]

The book it comes from is an interesting read. It’s a line from Burroughs book Junky, published in 53/54, can’t remember right off hand. It’s about a drug addict who is also a homosexual in the 1950s and travels from NYC to New Orleans and then other places, Texas and Mexico City.

I didn't look too far into the origin of the quote - I got distraced by the author's life, as he murdered his wife.

Bit of a classic.

Would it be something a teenager would read though?
Maybe he identified with the subject matter or maybe he was a reader and just identified with that particular quote.

 

[cherrymeg]

Honestly, at this point, your long shot is as good a guess as any.

This could be a situation reminiscent of the unsolved murder of Blair Adams. After several attempts to cross the Canada/US border, he managed to enter from Vancouver to Seattle where he purchased a round-trip ticket to Frankfurt, Germany. He then decided to change this ticket for a one-way trip to Washington DC, drove to Knox County, Tennessee, where he knew no one, and was subsequently murdered there by person(s) unknown.

Or like Gordon Lopez, who disappeared from Portland, Oregon and seems to have died in Chicago, Illinois near a theater named after his favorite author.

Similarly, Michael could've felt an affinity for New Orleans, Louisiana for some reason and decided to end his life there.

Would an accent draw attention in Belle Chase? If someone was new in town especially if they were from an other country would that be something people would notice? If you were going to commit suicide it seems like something you do while depressed but not something you travel that far to do. Not with suicide in mind. I’m not thinking of assisted suicide so people can die with dignity. This is a teenager so was it planned. It seems like if he was local someone would have recognized him or noticed a missing student or neighbor.

 

[cenazoic]

Interesting quote from Burroughs. (Einstein has been attributed even earlier with the similarish “Once you stop learning, you start dying.”)

Googling it I get William S. Burroughs "When you stop growing you start dying".

The next line is: “An addict never stops growing.”

 

[LucyOso]

Would an accent draw attention in Belle Chase? If someone was new in town especially if they were from an other country would that be something people would notice? If you were going to commit suicide it seems like something you do while depressed but not something you travel that far to do. Not with suicide in mind. I’m not thinking of assisted suicide so people can die with dignity. This is a teenager so was it planned. It seems like if he was local someone would have recognized him or noticed a missing student or neighbor.

I agree and disagree. An accent is an accent. In areas with tourists, accents aren't uncommon. People move all the time and recreate themselves. People ride the same train, bus, or subway to work for decades with the same people and never know their names or anything about them. I have lived places for years and never spoke to some neighbors. They wouldn't know if I had an accent or not.

What frustrated me most in the last year was that I had built no ties to family or friends.

I especially think teenagers and young adults often think moving, trying new hairstyles, revamping a wardrobe believe these changes will make a permanent difference. See the outside influences as creating misery or holding them back. As we get older we understand, wherever you go, there you are.

 

[JSolt1210]

Would an accent draw attention in Belle Chase? If someone was new in town especially if they were from an other country would that be something people would notice?... It seems like if he was local someone would have recognized him or noticed a missing student or neighbor.

I agree and disagree. An accent is an accent. In areas with tourists, accents aren't uncommon.

I would also add that he was found only three days after Mardi Gras. New Orleans is just 10 miles away, and I'm sure even back in 1975 people from all over the world would go there to celebrate. Therefore I don't think someone with an accent would stand out at this time of the year.

I still lean towards him being local, or at the very least from the US. But after 50 years of zero answers, maybe we do need to start looking outside of the country.

I note, however, that he called himself "self-centered," using the American spelling. People from the UK, Canada, or Australia would write "self-centred," though I don't know how strictly they would adhere to that spelling, especially 50 years ago.

 

[Himako14]

I both agree and disagree with the accent. In a larger city like NOLA, accents are probably not going to be remembered. However if he spoke to anyone in a smaller community, someone may have mentioned it. I grew up in a small community about 90 minutes away, and we always remembered unusual accents. Of course this was 20 years ago vs 50 for our doe.

I asked one of my aunts about New Orleans Mardi Gras in 1975. She was still young, but she remembered that it was bigger than she had seen at that time. Paul McCartney was apparently in New Orleans for Mardi Gras and a few days later. May be a useless facts, but thought I would share.