Identified! MO - Troy, WhtMale 40-80, UP5012, GSW, Bill Blass suit & coat, Jun'84 - Jack Langeneckert

[Betty P]

Regarding the car at the airport. Rex Lee Douglas was last seen at St Louis airport in 1984, and didn't board his flight. He was there to conduct a 'land transaction'. The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Almost sounds like there was some organized crime activity in real estate development there. Seems unlikely it’s a coincidence that two developers end up missing with their cars abandoned at the airport.

Douglas disappearance sounds especially odd because he checked his baggage into an airport locker, then told his wife he might take some side trips to places that were several hours drive away.

 

[summergirl1]

Before Jack was identified there were suggestions that those could be Rex Douglas's remains. He was a pastor. It would be interesting to learn more about his land transaction and if the similarities to Jack Langeneckert's case are just coincidence or more than that.

 

[tifflee]

Wow, so glad to check back on Websleuths after a long time away and see that this case was identified! I remember emailing in the potential match to Rex Douglas back in 2015 and later reading in the newspaper articles that it led to the exhumation and rule-out, with the win being that the UID's DNA was entered into the system. It's great to see Othram was able to match with forensic genealogy! It shows how far we've come from just a few years ago on Websleuths, perusing profiles to try to catch details on spread out databases and websites that might make a match... All the way to now with matches made via DNA genealogy. Very cool!

 

[tifflee]

Article from January 2024 with some additional details:

DNA Detectives: Solving decades-old mysteries with forensic genealogy

DNA Detectives: Solving decades-old mysteries with forensic genealogy

Advances with DNA and genetic genealogy technology are leading to more cold cases across the country being solved.

www.uppermichiganssource.com

Russ Marty was in his 30s the last time he saw his uncle, Jack Langeneckert, who went missing in 1982.

“At the time we thought that he probably ran away somewhere,” Marty, now in his 70s, said. “We never did hear from him.”

But what Marty remembers most about the day his uncle disappeared was the reaction his mother and grandmother had when they discovered thousands of dollars in stocks and bonds had vanished with him.

“I remember my mom and my grandma going absolutely bonkers,” Marty recalled. “I mean they were really upset. They were more upset the second day when they found out he had emptied out my grandma’s bank account.”

 

[summergirl1]

The fact he vanished with stocks and bonds is very interesting. Why? To pay someone back? There is no other evidence that has been publicly released at least that he actually intended to leave despite his car being found at the airport.

As for emptying his mother’s bank account, was there actual evidence he did that, or could it have been someone impersonating him? Or through a ATM? I'm not sure what you could do with ATMs back then. It just seems suspicious when there's no evidence he intended to leave. Maybe someone made him do it under threat of death? And then killed him anyway? It makes you wonder. I don't think he was actually going to show a home the day/evening he left. I think he was probably going to meet someone. I wonder how that person or persons got the body into the pump house especially since it appears they weren't supposed to be on the land as it doesn't appear the land had any connection to anyone he knew.

 

[Betty P]

The fact he vanished with stocks and bonds is very interesting. Why? To pay someone back? There is no other evidence that has been publicly released at least that he actually intended to leave despite his car being found at the airport.

As for emptying his mother’s bank account, was there actual evidence he did that, or could it have been someone impersonating him? Or through a ATM? I'm not sure what you could do with ATMs back then. It just seems suspicious when there's no evidence he intended to leave. Maybe someone made him do it under threat of death? And then killed him anyway? It makes you wonder. I don't think he was actually going to show a home the day/evening he left. I think he was probably going to meet someone. I wonder how that person or persons got the body into the pump house especially since it appears they weren't supposed to be on the land as it doesn't appear the land had any connection to anyone he knew.

The whole situation makes you wonder what happened to the money, stocks and bonds.

It sounds like he owed someone money. Was he into drugs or gambling?

 

[MelmothTheLost]

The whole situation makes you wonder what happened to the money, stocks and bonds.

It sounds like he owed someone money. Was he into drugs or gambling?

It's an interesting question with regard to the stocks and bonds. If they were registered securities, ie the companies who issued them kept a register of who owned them, they would have to go through a transfer process if they were sold or given to another party. There would also need to be a record of how, to whom and where to pay any dividends. As such, they would have had very limited value to a thief.

However, if they were bearer securities, ie they were the legal property of whoever had physical possession of the certificates at any given time, they were as good as cash and could have been handed over to a creditor in settlement of a debt without any formality or leaving any record of the transfer. Such securities could pass through half a dozen possessors in very quick succession, leaving no paper trail until such time as their holder of the moment chose to "surface". This meant that bearer securities can be used for layering in money laundering and terrorist financing activities and why the global banking system has been phasing them out for several decades.

 

[LookingForClues]

It seems like he was involved in some sort of lawsuit at the time of his disappearance

Commerce Bank of Fenton v. BPJ ENTERPRISES

This is a post from 2023, after Jack Langeneckert was identified.

BPJ Enterprises, the initials are probably from the first names of Jack and his other associates, Bart L. Jaurigui (President) and Paul L. Jaurigui. They're all also associated with Lomelli Real Estate Company, Inc., the other company named in the lawsuit (Bart was President of both companies). We know Jack was described by his family as a real estate agent. They probably all considered themselves to be in the real estate business. I'm not certain why they formed BPJ Enterprises. But there was trouble brewing in the real estate market in the early 1980s.

In the 1980s, Missouri (the entire Midwest, really) was undergoing a farm crisis because of mortgage rates for all properties, commercial and residential, being at least 18%. Also, farmland values plummeted. Lots of creative land/property/residential deals going on so people could afford to buy. I'm guessing this is all related to that, and they got caught up in shady dealings.

Farm Progress is a farming trade publication:

https://www.farmprogress.com/marketing/taking-a-look-back-at-the-1980s-farm-crisis-and-it-s-impacts

 

[Betty P]

This is a post from 2023, after Jack Langeneckert was identified.

BPJ Enterprises, the initials are probably from the first names of Jack and his other associates, Bart L. Jaurigui (President) and Paul L. Jaurigui. They're all also associated with Lomelli Real Estate Company, Inc., the other company named in the lawsuit (Bart was President of both companies). We know Jack was described by his family as a real estate agent. They probably all considered themselves to be in the real estate business. I'm not certain why they formed BPJ Enterprises. But there was trouble brewing in the real estate market in the early 1980s.

In the 1980s, Missouri (the entire Midwest, really) was undergoing a farm crisis because of mortgage rates for all properties, commercial and residential, being at least 18%. Also, farmland values plummeted. Lots of creative land/property/residential deals going on so people could afford to buy. I'm guessing this is all related to that, and they got caught up in shady dealings.

Farm Progress is a farming trade publication:

https://www.farmprogress.com/marketing/taking-a-look-back-at-the-1980s-farm-crisis-and-it-s-impacts

I remember that. Interest rates in the early 80's were very, very high. Anyone borrowing money for real estate development was having a tough time. Home sales dropped like crazy, as I recall. Commerce Bank was/is a nice local bank that did invest locally in local businesses. I got my first car loan from them for a used car. Nice people.

 

[summergirl1]

Perhaps whoever killed him might have known the farm was a good place to hide a body from selling or having knowledge of nearby land? It makes you wonder, anyway. The farm where he was found was known as the Flynn farm.

 

[LookingForClues]

Anyone know if the Flynn Farm was operational when he was killed? If it was not fully operational, or perhaps in foreclosure, it would explain why his body wasn't found for more than 2 years. Maybe his body was discovered after a new owner bought the property. I don't remember ever hearing the circumstances of the discovery of his body.

 

[Betty P]

Anyone know if the Flynn Farm was operational when he was killed? If it was not fully operational, or perhaps in foreclosure, it would explain why his body wasn't found for more than 2 years. Maybe his body was discovered after a new owner bought the property. I don't remember ever hearing the circumstances of the discovery of his body.

People who work in real estate development or similar fields spend a lot of time driving around looking at properties. My impression is that it was also chosen because of its location near the interstate highway. It was easy and quick to get off the highway, hide the body and get back on the interstate to disappear.

I doubt the killer would have dumped the body on property they owned, but the farm might have been in an area the killer was otherwise familiar with. It would be interesting to see what kind of real estate development was happening in that general area back then.

Here’s a link to Historic Aerials showing a 1983 aerial photo of I70 near Troy, MO.

Historic Aerials: Viewer

www.historicaerials.com

It sounds like he (possibly with his partners) borrowed money from someone involved in organized crime. It would explain his theft of cash, stocks and bonds from his family. The lenders took his money and killed him anyway. Wasn’t leaving a victim’s car at the airport a common ruse to make police believe the victim disappeared voluntarily? If not, it buys some time for the killer as family searches for the missing person.