Identified! NV - Reno, WhtMale 45-65, UP7633, 'Carlos F Otero', Bronx address, suicide by IV, Aug'99 (name withheld)

[MarziPanda]

His NAMUS is loading for me. You can sorta see on his chest what looks like IV tubes, but there's no photos of how he did it/the 'elaborate device'. The IV solutions were hanging from the shower rod apparently. I wonder where he got all that stuff. I agree that he was probably a medical professional. My mind went to nurse, though, since they usually do the more hands on stuff.

His NAMUS since the old link in the first post doesn't work: The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) (WARNING: postmortem photo)

 

[LadyL]

I guess he didn't leave any clues in his suicide note? Very sad.

 

[annemc2]

I guess he didn't leave any clues in his suicide note? Very sad.

It's frustrating that even parts of notes aren't released. Even if the content is completely generic (which I doubt), there could still be something useful. Maybe he had some really unique handwriting. Maybe he used Spanglish. Little clues that could make a loved one say "oh that's him!"

 

[Irishknit]

Anesthesia technicians would be able to set it up. The venipuncture to self administer could be accomplished if he was left handed. JMO (retired nurse)

 

[lightofmine99]

His NamUs was modified today. There are still only 4 public exclusions.

 

[kforbes862]

This is a strange case that I hope is solved soon

 

[DS2021]

Identified. Name withheld

After 26 Years, Washoe County John Doe (1999) is Identified

Washoe County Regional Medical Examiner Teams with Othram to Identify a 1999 John Doe

dnasolves.com

 

[kforbes862]

Great to hear that this has been closed.

 

[kforbes862]

I had no idea othram was working on this one

 

[Gemmie]

Identified. Name withheld

After 26 Years, Washoe County John Doe (1999) is Identified

Washoe County Regional Medical Examiner Teams with Othram to Identify a 1999 John Doe

dnasolves.com

I wonder why his name has been withheld since the family has been notified?

The man's family has been notified of his identification.

After 26 Years, Washoe County John Doe (1999) is Identified

Washoe County Regional Medical Examiner Teams with Othram to Identify a 1999 John Doe

dnasolves.com

And how long does it take for NamUs to get updated as to his identified status? He's still showing as unidentified as of this time.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

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

www.namus.gov

 

[The4TierBridge]

I wonder why his name has been withheld since the family has been notified?

The man's family has been notified of his identification.

After 26 Years, Washoe County John Doe (1999) is Identified

Washoe County Regional Medical Examiner Teams with Othram to Identify a 1999 John Doe

dnasolves.com

And how long does it take for NamUs to get updated as to his identified status? He's still showing as unidentified as of this time.

View attachment 622181

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

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

www.namus.gov

The answer to your first question would normally be "because this death was a suicide", but the state of Nevada doesn't seem to publicly announce their case resolutions very often, no matter the involved circumstances. I don't know if this has something to do with a specific law or anything like that though (New Jersey and Massachusetts were two others where I had noticed this pattern).
I suspect that his name might have actually just been Carlos F. Otero though, because the announcement from Othram doesn't mention his "alias" at all, which they usually do.

The answer to your second question is "whenever the government shutdown ends and the ME/C remembers to archive his profile".

 

[Gemmie]

The answer to your first question would normally be "because this death was a suicide", but the state of Nevada doesn't seem to publicly announce their case resolutions very often, no matter the involved circumstances. I don't know if this has something to do with a specific law or anything like that though (New Jersey and Massachusetts were two others where I had noticed this pattern).
I suspect that his name might have actually just been Carlos F. Otero though, because the announcement from Othram doesn't mention his "alias" at all, which they usually do.

The answer to your second question is "whenever the government shutdown ends and the ME/C remembers to archive his profile".

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. As you can see, I'm pretty ignorant on the subject.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

The answer to your first question would normally be "because this death was a suicide", but the state of Nevada doesn't seem to publicly announce their case resolutions very often, no matter the involved circumstances. I don't know if this has something to do with a specific law or anything like that though (New Jersey and Massachusetts were two others where I had noticed this pattern).
I suspect that his name might have actually just been Carlos F. Otero though, because the announcement from Othram doesn't mention his "alias" at all, which they usually do.

The answer to your second question is "whenever the government shutdown ends and the ME/C remembers to archive his profile".

Good point about this possibly being his real name.
How else would LE know how to find family..... who I think he referenced in his suicide note....

And just doing a quicky on Ancestry... that name is pretty much like Bill Smith.. many many appear to be from Puerto Rico.
One with a bit of fame--patents from university in NY....
Maybe this could be a reason for family to want to keep this all quiet....

maybe they even KNEW...

 

[Gemmie]

Good point about this possibly being his real name.
How else would LE know how to find family..... who I think he referenced in his suicide note....

Perhaps the DNA evidence Othram found? Just a guess on my part.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Perhaps the DNA evidence Othram found? Just a guess on my part.

Well they do obviously know...
I am just pretty curious as to why no formal identification.

 

[Hochman]

dbm

 

[heartanium]

I wonder why his name has been withheld since the family has been notified?

The man's family has been notified of his identification.

After 26 Years, Washoe County John Doe (1999) is Identified

Washoe County Regional Medical Examiner Teams with Othram to Identify a 1999 John Doe

dnasolves.com

And how long does it take for NamUs to get updated as to his identified status? He's still showing as unidentified as of this time.

View attachment 622181

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

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

www.namus.gov

Right now it looks like Namus has had no updates since the government shutdown, with the last profile upload and updates being on October 1, 2025. His profile will likely be taken down whenever the government re-opens up.

 

[summergirl1]

It's interesting the Doe Network had him as "White" when he used a Hispanic name/ alias, and also his postmortem photo shows he clearly looked Hispanic. I'm not sure what NamUs had for ethnicity as his NamUS has obviously been taken down.

 

[Gemmie]

It's interesting the Doe Network had him as "White" when he used a Hispanic name/ alias, and also his postmortem photo shows he clearly looked Hispanic. I'm not sure what NamUs had for ethnicity as his NamUS has obviously been taken down.

It's how the US census bureau defines it. It's the difference between ethnicity and race.

Hispanic refers to an ethnicity, not a race, so a person can be both Hispanic and White (or any other race). So.... his race is white, but his ethnicity is Hispanic IMO (from what little I know about him).

 

[summergirl1]

The Doe Network lists others as "White/Hispanic", though, so why not him?