NJ NJ - James Zapolski, 15, Princeton, 23 July, 1966

[LisMarit]

Just wanted to note something about Gacy here that I found to be a bit of a strange coincidence. Gacy was on a meteoric rise in the Jaycee organization at the time James went missing, Gacy was a Jaycee member in Waterloo IA at the time, but just noting, although there are all these regional chapters, the organization does have a national framework. So starting in 1962, the New Jersey Jaycees started doing what became this hugely successful event, Jaycee Classic pre-season pro football, Giants vs Eagles matchup. And this was a real moneymaker for them, it did very well for a long time, and was held every year at Palmer Stadium in Princeton, I'm seeing Aug 27 for 1966. Palmer Stadium no longer stands, it was torn down and essentially replaced by Princeton Stadium, and it's five miles from where James lived. It's like a 10 min drive to Rocky HIll. And Gacy was renowned for his fundraising in Jaycees, and he did travel in his role in Jaycees. And the national Jaycee president when that 1966 football classic in Princeton NJ took place-- the national president was himself coincidentally from New Jersey. Just finding that curious.

I also came across a snippet in a source from an old newspaper story, and it notes that Gacy actually had a very large US map in his basement, I guess with pins through it indicating places where he had lived and worked over the years. It was like riddled with pins, they were everywhere. And honestly, in light of the fact that he supposedly was working when he was 16 years old at that resort up in Elkhorn WI-- I tend to believe the pins. Does any of this mean anything in terms of James' disappearance? No idea, but I was pretty shocked when I found out how close Palmer Stadium was to James' home. You just never know. If that's an abduction, it was someone who knew what he was doing. And as far as capturing victims went, Gacy led a completely double life and appeared to an awful lot of people to be very funny and charming, I guess right to the point that he decided he no longer needed and/or wanted to be. He didn't just start dressing up as Pogo in the 70s, he was out in a clown costume when he was in Iowa in the 60s as well. It seems as though he could turn the charm on and off like a faucet, and he must have been pretty good at it because he remained a successful businessman right up to the point where LE was literally digging human beings' bones out of his basement. I can see why that program about him was called Devil in Disguise. So if it had been Gacy or someone like him, the idea of a bike left behind wouldn't surprise me because the devil really would be in the details...

Very interesting! I was looking at this case and wondering if perhaps someone had promised something to him? And on that very day he went to meet that person? Something related to cycling, etc.

 

[snooptroop88]

Wondering on this Doe, but this Doe could be many listed MPs. This Doe could also be an accident, I would think.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

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

www.namus.gov

Doe was recovered from nets of a fishing trawler, approximately 38 miles SE of Cape May, New Jersey. Cape May about 100 mls from Princeton NJ. Partial skeleton.

This is another Cape May Doe, they are specifying here this Doe may be a teenager. Found near Strathmere Upper Twsp NJ.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

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

www.namus.gov

 

[Richard]

I have mentioned this previously up thread, but there are some similarities between the case of James Zapolski and the disappearance nine months earlier (2 October 1965) of Richard John "Dickie" Huerkamp from Mapleton Minnesota.

- Both boys were 15 years old at the time of disappearance.
- Both boys were in their Sophomore year of high school (Dickie had just started, James about to start).
- Both boys were riding bicycles away from their homes.
- Their bicycles were both found 4 to 5 miles from their homes and near bodies of water.
- There is the possibility in both cases that the bicycles were staged in locations to be found later.
- Neither boy was found after much searching (including water searches: for Dickie in a river, for James in a canal).
- The "Ran away from home" scenario was initially considered by LE in both cases.

These two disappearances did occur some distance apart, Dickie in Minnesota and James in New Jersey. If they were the victims of abduction, both cases would have involved an element of random opportunity. There were no known similar abduction cases in either place. If they are related through the same perpetrator, it would indicate someone who traveled around, and someone who was careful to hide the bodies of his victims.

LINK:

MN Thread 'MN - Richard John ‘Dickie’ Huerkamp, 15, Mapleton, 2 Oct 1965'

Dec 23, 2023

Richard John “Dickie” Huerkamp (1950-1965) - Find...

www.findagrave.com

RICHARD JOHN ‘DICKIE’ HUERKAMP

Missing Since: October 2, 1965
Missing From: Mapleton, Blue Earth County, Minnesota
Sex: Male
Race: White
Age: 15 years
Date of Birth: September 1, 1950
Height: 4’9”
Weight: 78 pounds
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Clothing: Grey coveralls, a red shirt, blue jeans, a hunting cap and hunting boots with high buckles. He was carrying a 12-gauge shotgun that hasn’t been found.

Circumstances of...

• MadMcGoo
• Replies: 572
• Forum: 1960's Missing

• 
•