NY NY - Hudson River, 6 Males found dismembered in garbage bags “Bag Murders”, 1970s

[JovanSrna]

So, one of them was identified because of a tattoo?

 

[madamx]

So, one of them was identified because of a tattoo?

Yes it seems like it. That was the first article I ever saw that mentioned a tattoo and that one guy was identified.

So does that mean that there were 7 and still 6 remain unidentified. Or it was 6 and 5 remain unidentified? I need to see if I can find more info on the tattooed guy

 

[madamx]

The Leather Man
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/19/...r-shop-not-for-the-uptight-stands-strong.html
Fifty Years On, a Pioneering Leather Shop (Not for the Uptight) Stands Strong (Published 2015)

I posted this link about The Leather Man shop because in 2015 when the article was written it stated that the shop had made 50 years. So Iam wondering if this is the leather fetish shop that is being mentioned. I have passed by this shop many times in my lifetime.

 

[madamx]

I wish we had more info on the guys in the bags. I found this guy who went missing in 1977 I thought I would post.
NY - Randy Maciuba (19) - Lackawanna NY, 1977

 

[MarziPanda]

How sad that it seems this case isn't being investigated at all. No modern attempts to identify them. I guess the unidentified victims were either cremated or buried, possibly in unmarked graves. I don't think anyone investigating cared to put the work in to identify them back then. It would be hard to identify them now. I wonder if there could have been victims who were never found. I imagine not every bag of body parts thrown in the Hudson has washed up.

 

[carbuff]

New York City seems to have very little interest in any of its cold cases. Hardly anybody, UID or missing, is in Namus. I've never had a response to a query to a NYPD case.

I take that back. I did have one person take the time to tell me they were sorry but they're too busy dealing with today's crimes to have time for questions like mine.

 

[JSolt1210]

New York City seems to have very little interest in any of its cold cases. Hardly anybody, UID or missing, is in Namus. I've never had a response to a query to a NYPD case.

I take that back. I did have one person take the time to tell me they were sorry but they're too busy dealing with today's crimes to have time for questions like mine.

And just my opinion as someone who lives in NYC, they're not dealing with today's crimes either.

 

[BigKeyManatee]

How sad that it seems this case isn't being investigated at all. No modern attempts to identify them. I guess the unidentified victims were either cremated or buried, possibly in unmarked graves. I don't think anyone investigating cared to put the work in to identify them back then. It would be hard to identify them now. I wonder if there could have been victims who were never found. I imagine not every bag of body parts thrown in the Hudson has washed up.

For over a century New York has buried their indigent, unclaimed and unidentified in mass graves in Potter’s Fields on Hart Island.
Now believed to contain the interred remains of over 1 million individuals, Hart Island recently made national news when drone photography showed massive trenches being dug for the coffins of Covid-19 victims.
Not surprisingly Hart Island has a long history of being an epidemic burial ground, including those dying from AIDS.
NY artist Melinda Hunt created the non-profit The Hart Island Project. with the intent of making information and access available to family members and the public.
The website invites the public to visit the cemetery virtually and search the data for those interred in the mass graves since 1980.
These murders occurred in the 1970’s, and unfortunately I have no idea if it is possible to search data for any remains prior 1980.

 

[HopeRains]

I'm still looking but have found Nothing regarding these cases in newspapers.com or newspaperarchives for either NY or NJ during the time period. There are quite a few stories on dismemberment cases however none appear to be specifically identified as related to this series of murders. There was a man, Waldo Grant, charged in January 1977 with the murder of 4 of his lovers. One of his victims was dismembered. I've included an article below.

The article ends with "Grant also volunteered information about additional murders, police said." I do wonder given the time frame, and what appears to be the "end" of the murder series referenced in the thread as through 1976, if perhaps he was involved. I will see what else I can find on him in particular and share.

From newspapers.com - Daily News (New York, New York) 12 Jan 77, pg 278

 

[HopeRains]

Waldo Grant | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers

 

[madamx]

And just my opinion as someone who lives in NYC, they're not dealing with today's crimes either.

I’ll second that!

 

[madamx]

I'm still looking but have found Nothing regarding these cases in newspapers.com or newspaperarchives for either NY or NJ during the time period. There are quite a few stories on dismemberment cases however none appear to be specifically identified as related to this series of murders. There was a man, Waldo Grant, charged in January 1977 with the murder of 4 of his lovers. One of his victims was dismembered. I've included an article below.

The article ends with "Grant also volunteered information about additional murders, police said." I do wonder given the time frame, and what appears to be the "end" of the murder series referenced in the thread as through 1976, if perhaps he was involved. I will see what else I can find on him in particular and share.

From newspapers.com - Daily News (New York, New York) 12 Jan 77, pg 278

View attachment 335814

I can’t believe nothing was ever written about these dismembered bodies. I even checked NJ since they actually go back to the 1970s and I found nothing too

Unidentified Persons - Deceased | New Jersey State Police

That is interesting about Waldo Grant . I never heard of this guy before.
He was convicted for 4 …. but OMG what are the additional murders he confessed about? And how many additional murders and were they all in NYC???… omg I have so many questions.. this guy needs a thread..

 

[madamx]

For over a century New York has buried their indigent, unclaimed and unidentified in mass graves in Potter’s Fields on Hart Island.
Now believed to contain the interred remains of over 1 million individuals, Hart Island recently made national news when drone photography showed massive trenches being dug for the coffins of Covid-19 victims.
Not surprisingly Hart Island has a long history of being an epidemic burial ground, including those dying from AIDS.
NY artist Melinda Hunt created the non-profit The Hart Island Project. with the intent of making information and access available to family members and the public.
The website invites the public to visit the cemetery virtually and search the data for those interred in the mass graves since 1980.
These murders occurred in the 1970’s, and unfortunately I have no idea if it is possible to search data for any remains prior 1980.

Yes searching back past the 1980s in NYC is difficult. Hart island project has some from 1979 but that’s as far as it goes. Then there are these 2 other sites which I posted on this thread I linked below that have some from the 1970s but that is it. I have not found anything else.
NY - UID's from New York

 

[madamx]

Long story short a while back I started a thread for this guy Leonard Edward Johnson who went missing in July 1975.

Today I decided to bump and refresh his thread… and Boom!!!!….@apearn had posted some articles on this UID I thought could have been Leonard and that UID in the plastic bag is connected to other plastic bag men.

@apearn posted an article which has some really good info. I am going to see if I can copy and post it here. All credit goes to @apearn for the great find!

NY - NY- Leonard Edward Johnson Jr. 24, NYC. March 1, 1975

 

[madamx]

The article @apearn found I posted below


Mentions one guy had a studded belt and handkerchief with a monogrammed A.

the one with tattoo had 3 one on left arm . One on chest that was cut and one on right arm that was cut


There is a lot more info .

 

[madamx]

I found this guy . The only guy I found w the letter A that was missing around the time. Just need to know really when the article was written.


Missing Person / NamUs #MP59005Alphonso Mathis, Male, Black / African American
Date of Last ContactJanuary 1, 1976
Missing FromJacksonville, Florida


The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[carbuff]

Wow, lots of good work there, @madamx and @apearn !

 

[madamx]

I came across this guy today and thought time frame and how he was found reminds me of this case. I just thought I would post him on the thread.

Larry Anderson​

On January 29, 1976 a plastic bag was found in a drainage ditch by workers along Rt. 80 in Knowlton Twp. Contained inside of this bag were a skull, several vertebrae, and a long bone (femur). These recovered bones were submitted to the New Jersey State Police Laboratory for analysis. On August 15, 2015 these remains were positively identified as Larry Bernard Anderson (DOB 7/71954) by DNA which had been provided by Mr. Anderson’s sister, during an initiative by the NYPD/NYCMEO. During the subsequent interview of Mr. Anderson’s sister he was last seen in May of 1975 in Brooklyn, NY

::Warren County Prosecutor's Office

The Warren County Prosecutor holds a public office created by the New Jersey Constitution and is appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate for a five year term. Working under the authority of the Attorney General, the Prosecutor is the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of...

www.wcpo-nj.us

 

[madamx]

Bumping for Bag Murders

 

[SolVic]

Wait, were they literally never identified, or were their identities simply never made public?