Identified! PA - Bellevue, WhtMale skeletel UP12237, Dec'13 - John Jones

[Paradise]

Yes, that is about right for the Pittsburgh area. There would still be a greasy coating on the bones for up to a year or 18 months. After that, dry bones.

Greasy coating, kind of gross but helpful. Thanks!

 

[Magnum P.E.]

Albert only went missing in June 2013, would his body have decomposed that quickly?

Yes, that is about right for the Pittsburgh area. There would still be a greasy coating on the bones for up to a year or 18 months. After that, dry bones.

I remember that I used to go often to a motorcycle shop, Larry Dyjak's Boulevard Cycle. It was just north of and next to the McDonalds. Really close to where the body was found.
The area between the businesses and the Ohio River is a kind of no-man's land, trees, shrubs, and junk of all kinds there. If this is a homicide, I can see that someone could pull off, dump a body, and be on their way in a minute.

 

[Paradise]

I've traveled all over the western PA area for work and I agree, there are some pretty desolate areas there. It's almost like some areas are stuck in a time warp. It was definitely a shock the first time I went out there, I'm originally from the Reading area and wasn't used to the amount of space between towns.

 

[dewey decimal]

I can't edit my previous post, but that should read SOUTHbound traffic headed into Pittsburgh.

This article quotes a man who remembered an odor of decomposition a few months ago:

http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/5243734-74/remains-allegheny-county#axzz2nM92f3mW

And it states the UID might be a male based on clothing, which is described as a t-shirt, shorts and tennis shoes.



Those are some very vintage items and they immediately bring to mind the Red White & Blue Thrift Store, which is 0.6 miles from the site where the UID was found. They carry items like this that appeal to the hipster/retro crowd.

The store uses a distinct price tag, with the price and date the item was put on the shelf written in permanent marker. If the items have these stickers, the dates on them would indicate when they were purchased and ended up in the woods with the UID.

I agree on the vintage items....I only knew Frogger as a video game title, but it turns out Milton Bradley made a board game version of it in the 80s. The game Aggravation looks like what I know as Chinese checkers.

Although they're not sure about the suitcase being connected to the remains, this plus the Reebok clothes and Casio watch make me think 80s. There's no way they would still smell if they'd been there that long, though. I'm very intrigued by this case.

Edit: duh, I didn't read the article that estimated he'd been there since July.

 

[Treelights]

I agree on the vintage items....I only knew Frogger as a video game title, but it turns out Milton Bradley made a board game version of it in the 80s. The game Aggravation looks like what I know as Chinese checkers.

Although they're not sure about the suitcase being connected to the remains, this plus the Reebok clothes and Casio watch make me think 80s. There's no way they would still smell if they'd been there that long, though. I'm very intrigued by this case.

Edit: duh, I didn't read the article that estimated he'd been there since July.

And those board games are for two or more people, so he wouldn't be playing a solitary game. Maybe those games have personal meaning, like from his past, like he owned them himself, or perhaps he did buy them at a thrift store, if those articles do belong to him.
If he was a transient....and those items were his, did he play board games with other people, perhaps?
IMOO.

 

[carbuff]

same article i posted also states that the remains were in shorts (not pants as the other article reported)



what does clad mean? I've heard of scantily clad, the wording just through me off. Were the clothes just thrown on the remains?

"Clad" means you're wearing it. So scantily clad means you're not wearing very much, like underwear, a skimpy bikini, a showgirl outfit.

 

[carbuff]

Albert only went missing in June 2013, would his body have decomposed that quickly?

Yes, that's about what the article estimates as the date when the UID went missing.

 

[Treelights]

Okay guys, I am really thinking out of the box on this one, but with the clothing items and other accessories perhaps from the 1980's, could it be possible that this UID was going to a Retro Party?
I found a link that has a meet and greet from April 2012 for an 80's themed party in the Pittsburgh area. Now, this may be too long ago, so perhaps this UID was going to an 80's themed party this year?
I know, it's outside of the box thinking, but hey just throwing ideas out here, ya know.

http://pgh-offroad.com/forum/showth...et-and-Greet-80-s-Themed-Party-Dormont-PA-7PM

IMOO.

 

[carbuff]

Okay guys, I am really thinking out of the box on this one, but with the clothing items and other accessories perhaps from the 1980's, could it be possible that this UID was going to a Retro Party?
I found a link that has a meet and greet from April 2012 for an 80's themed party in the Pittsburgh area. Now, this may be too long ago, so perhaps this UID was going to an 80's themed party this year?
I know, it's outside of the box thinking, but hey just throwing ideas out here, ya know.

http://pgh-offroad.com/forum/showth...et-and-Greet-80-s-Themed-Party-Dormont-PA-7PM

IMOO.

Looking at the photos in the initial newspaper articles, it appears that he was found in an area where there's other junk that's been thrown down the hill. It looks like you can back up in the parking lot, dump something, and be gone in only half a minute or so. So the suitcase might easily have been dumped separately.

I was wondering if he had been shopping at that retro/secondhand shop down the road from where he was found, and the suitcase was just to make carrying easier. But the retro party aspect is a good thought.

 

[Wolf Dreamer]

Alternatively, could he have been carrying a suitcase full of stuff from his childhood? In which case, I wonder if someone may have called the store late spring/early summer to enquire if they were interested in buying such items?

 

[Magnum P.E.]

I've traveled all over the western PA area for work and I agree, there are some pretty desolate areas there. It's almost like some areas are stuck in a time warp. It was definitely a shock the first time I went out there, I'm originally from the Reading area and wasn't used to the amount of space between towns.

This area is actually passed by thousands of cars each day, not desolate at all. It is only a few miles away from Heinz Field and PNC Park. Who knows how many people unknowingly passed within 200 feet of the body since it has been there. The businesses there are between the highway and the river. The strip behind the businesses is where the body was found.

 

[TripleA]

I don't think that the suitcase has been directly connected to the UID so it may have just been dumped there at some point.

 

[Phoenixrising]

Certainly quiet on this one. I wonder if they have any ideas on who this is? I have not seen anything in news since discovery.

 

[tatertot]

This MP disappeared in May 2011:

http://pennsylvaniamissing.com/cromerkevin.html

He's four inches taller than the upper end of the height estimate, four years younger than the lower end of the age estimate, and probably wouldn't wear size 32 shorts, but his last known location wasn't far, he did go missing in warm weather and he left his wallet and phone behind, and the UID wasn't found with any belongings (unless LE is withholding that information.)

 

[Phoenixrising]

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/c...levue-are-of-missing-man/stories/201312230186

The title of the article makes it sound like they had a positive ID. grrrrr...
The contents of article are nothing new.

 

[tatertot]

I agree, that article's title was misleading. While remains can be "identified" as those of a male without knowing his actual name, it's not certain that he was reported missing.

Another possible: http://pennsylvaniamissing.com/storychristopher.html

The height is significantly off, but the MP had a slim build as did the UID and the clothing description is close. The MP didn't disappear until August 2013.

I'm curious if the estimated date of death was based on decomposition level as well as when the man looking at the garage for sale smelled something he thought was a dead deer. Whitetails aren't uncommon on local roads and there's nothing to say a deer couldn't have been struck and wounded, then staggered off to die in the woods.

 

[MacPlus512]

Bumping this to see if there are any updates on this case.

I currently live about four miles from this site and have driven along that section of 65 before. In fact, I have stopped at that thrift store looking for old electronics on at least one occasion, although this was long before this body was found. Still, I'm one of those drivers who undoubtably drove right past this body while it was sitting there last summer/fall.

I know for a fact there are 80s nights around Pittsburgh, but I'm not sure what they involve or where they take place. I have seen some of my old high school friends post about going to them on Facebook, and I'm guessing they're more or less club/bar type events (I don't go to clubs and am not what you'd call a barfly--I have two I go to here and one I like in NC but that's it).

Some factoids about that area that may help:

1. Route 65 begins on Pittsburgh's North Side and continues through many neighborhoods to the northwest of the city. It eventually leads past what are classified as "Northern" neighborhoods (i.e. Bellevue) and goes toward the airport. I'm not sure if any services are using 65 as an alternative to the always-congested I-376 for airport transit, but it's the way I go from the airport to the city if I know 376 is going to be crowded.

2. Some of the communities further north on 65 are becoming blighted. I definitely wouldn't want to live in Ambridge. I have a friend who lives there, and I find myself escorting every single one of my friends to their cars when we leave his place at night--even the guys. I also don't feel comfortable in that neighborhood past 10PM period and try to avoid it when I can.

3. Bellevue itself is becoming blighted. As recently as 10-15 years ago, it was a pretty decent suburb to live in. Many of the residential areas are still pretty good, especially those which border Ross. However, the North Side of Pittsburgh, a bad area for quite some time now, has started to move into Bellevue. The high school around there, Northgate, is not a place I'd want to send my children. I have been in this building before, and unless you're in with the right crowd, it's like a bad city school.

4. In general, the people moving into the surrounding Bellevue/Avalon area are either lower SES or younger people wanting to live in more communal settings. However, the main street up from 65 (Lincoln Avenue/California Avenue) isn't exactly the best anymore.

5. The 65 corridor is the newer section. There are restaurants and other businesses down there, and while these aren't exactly upscale, they are the newest development you'll find down that way. I have eaten at the McDonald's along this stretch (back when I ate fast food, that is) and while this was a long time ago, it didn't quite have the clientele of the McDonald's in a suburb like Wexford or Hampton. (That's not to say things can't happen there; I know there was an abduction in Hampton about ten years back).

6. There seems to be a false sense of security in Bellevue/Avalon sometimes. A lot of people think it's safe because it's out of the city and has historically been safe. This leads to a lot of people not looking out for suspicious activity. The fact a body was dumped along 65 doesn't really shock me. Someone could do that in many of the safer areas of Pittsburgh and nobody would raise an eyebrow if they saw someone behind a building or something in most cases (unless they're one of those hyper-observant people like most of us probably are).

7. Keep in mind this could be someone whose disappearance was not even reported. When I lived in the south, had I not been employed, I doubt anyone would have noticed if I had gone missing simply because I was an unknown for the most part--didn't really have any close friends there. If this person was unemployed and didn't have any family he kept in contact with, he may have simply vanished without anyone raising an eyebrow.

 

[LisaB]

same article i posted also states that the remains were in shorts (not pants as the other article reported)



what does clad mean? I've heard of scantily clad, the wording just through me off. Were the clothes just thrown on the remains?

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/clad?s=t

 

[Richrd]

PA - Identified - W/M/47 - Allegheny County - John Jones - UP # 12237 - 12 Dec '13

The Bellevue area of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, is in South-Western, PA.

Wed., Jan 7th: http://www.wtae.com/news/skeleton-found-on-ohio-river-boulevard/23452012:

Cause Of Death, & Manner Of Death Currently UNdetermined

DNA, DeoxyriboNucleic Acid Sample Used
Pronunciation of DNA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfwqH4xhbWo

NamUs: UP # 12237: https://identifyus.org/en/cases/full_report/12237

Recovery Area : http://www.bing.com/maps/#Y3A9NDAuN...yMEJsdmQlMkMlMjBQaXR0c2J1cmdoJTJDJTIwUEElMkM=

Zoom -- Bird's Eye View -- Rotate All 4 Directions


Our Condolences to John's Loved Ones.

 

[tatertot]

Thank you for finding the news article about the identification.

Mods, here's his other thread to be merged: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...nd-Partially-Buried-Dec-13&highlight=bellevue

May John Rest in Peace.