PA PA - Breezewood, off I-70, MxdMale 35-43, 541UMPA, clothes, glasses, wallet, keys, watch, Oct'91

[webrocket]

If the dog last picked up Dale's scent by the glass furnace, I wonder if he was incinerated.

 

[bflocket]

It's 182 miles south from Bradford to Breezewood. I'm also questioning that date on the coin -- could it possibly have been 1986 and the coin was corroded somehow?

Dale's truck keys were found in the ignition and what I assume were the keys he carried as a security guard were found on a cafeteria table with his lunch and newspaper. The UID was found with a keyring. It would be great to know what type of keychain (if any) was on there and what type of keys they appeared to be.

Kerstetter looked like a great match at first glance, but I'm leaning away from him being this UID.

The main reasons for that are the robbery and the state of the remains. Plus the coin.

The robbery was important whether he actually did it or, moreso, a victim. If he took the platinum and was rolling in the dough after that, I don't know why he would sit down and die by the Interstate.

That brings up the state of remains. He's called "victim" but neither DoeNet or NamUS say anything about cause of death. I think if a body were dumped off the interstate, they would already have to have some kind of homicidal trauma beforehand.

I would also discount him based on the coin, if the coin WAS the victim's. He was found with a coin-purse and coins. I take it that they were in the coin-purse but it doesn't say.
If the coins were just "near" his body and weren't physically in his pockets or the coin-purse, that would strengthen Karstetter's likelihood of being this Doe. Then 1988 could be thrown out of the equation.

 

[tatertot]

Pennsylvania Missing Persons states the UID died of a gunshot wound: http://pennsylvaniamissing.com/breezewoodjd10791.html

It also states the UID's remains had been pulled apart by animals with about 75 percent recovered, so now I'm also wondering about the location of the coin. You brought up a great point. If the squeeze coin purse and/or coin wasn't even in his pocket but just found over the embankment and assumed to be his, there are many other ways it could have ended up over the hillside just off the road sometime between 1988 and 1991 when the UID was found.

 

[scrambledeggs]

How about George Pooler? http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/p/pooler_george.html

'witnesses' say he was stabbed to death but who knows...

 

[webrocket]

One easy way to rule out Kerstetter would be the teeth. From all accounts he was a heavy smoker which would have stained his teeth. That is something that is rarely noted on UID records. I've seen it on some but most don't mention something that important.

 

[bflocket]

Pennsylvania Missing Persons states the UID died of a gunshot wound: http://pennsylvaniamissing.com/breezewoodjd10791.html

THAT IS SO "expletive" RIDICULOUS!
I wish I'd thought to look there. I must not have thought about that site because of the "missing" in its name, even though I've mostly looked at it in the past for UID's (Stiver girls, Beth Doe, etc) rather than MP's.

I was just assuming that something as important as "death by gunshot wound" would have been listed in either DoeNet or NamUS since....
Hell, it just should've been noted! They're both huge databases that try to link the missing to the unidentified. How can that happen, when something as critical as murder victim v/s non-murder-victim isn't mentioned?

I guess I should stop "assuming" some things!


I'd been looking over maps and satellite photos checking out what was in the area since I was still thinking this may have been a transient (with no "cause of death" known) trying to figure out why they'd be there.

That said, I'd snipped from a 1990 PA-DOT map of Bedford County and tried to mark roundabout where he was found. I might as well post that and see if it works. OK, I think it did. He would have been found around the yellow highlighted area.

 

[tatertot]

It's hard to say why the cause of death isn't listed on NamUs and DN but yes, PMP is a valuable site and very well-researched. And Scrambledeggs, your MP looks like a good possibility too, for the short height and possible ethnicity.

If I understand what I'm seeing correctly, the UID's teeth might be stained from smoking, unless that's just discoloration that happened post-mortem or from causes other than smoking (coffee/tea drinking) while he was still alive. And his teeth appear to be misaligned, which also appears to be the case in Kerstetter's third photo on Charley Project:

** WARNING: Post-mortem (skull only) photos at site below:**
https://identifyus.org/cases/7325

When I was a kid, Breezewood was always a stop on the drive to see our Pittsburgh-area relatives, and while it was such a fun place to get a burger, watch all the semis pull in and people-watch (so busy!) it's sad to think that all that time, this man was lying just off the road that we and others drove. I'd love to see him get his name back.

I at first thought that he could have been a postal carrier because of the clothes, but then he would have at least one patch on his shirt. I wonder if there are any other cases like Kerstetter's where a security guard disappeared, only with little or nothing of value missing from the company he worked for and thus the case received far less media attention.

 

[bflocket]

Now that we KNOW that he was a murder victim changes things. Ugh!

Kerstetter would be a great possibility if we could know if that damned coin was his (or not).

 

[carbuff]

Looking at the skull, his face really is very flat.

 

[rats]

Bumping. There are no ruleouts in NamUs... The skull pic is pretty creepy.

 

[carbuff]

Updated Namus link: Unidentified Person Case

No ruleouts listed.

 

[CCJD]

An early news article from the Pittsburgh Press, October 24, 1991.

 

[carbuff]

The eyeglasses case makes me think the decedent probably didn't wear glasses full time. That's not something glasses wearers usually carry unless they need to take their glasses off part of the time, but often contact lens wearers carry glasses in case they need to take their contacts out. Or maybe he needed them for distance but not near vision, or vice versa.

 

[DSCrime]

Breezewood John Doe was profiled in the latest video from the Mysterious WV YouTube channel:

JOHN DOES: Pennsylvania John Does

Hopefully this will bring more attention to the case

 

[carbuff]

Pennsylvania Missing Persons states the UID died of a gunshot wound: The Ultimate Blog About Pennsylvania | Living in Philadelphia Guide

It also states the UID's remains had been pulled apart by animals with about 75 percent recovered, so now I'm also wondering about the location of the coin. You brought up a great point. If the squeeze coin purse and/or coin wasn't even in his pocket but just found over the embankment and assumed to be his, there are many other ways it could have ended up over the hillside just off the road sometime between 1988 and 1991 when the UID was found.

Pennsylvania Missing seems to have become a "move to Pennsylvania" site. No trace of the UIDs and missing people.

 

[CCJD]

Pennsylvania Missing seems to have become a "move to Pennsylvania" site. No trace of the UIDs and missing people.

Closed it down June 2019 at the 15 year anniversary.

 

[CCJD]

Intelligencer Journal 10/9/1991
9 Oct 1991, 75 - Intelligencer Journal at Newspapers.com

 

[helpfulcharlie]

I hitchhiked to Breezewood from MD in the 80s. Encountered a couple of normals, one concerned young woman, and one creepy middle-aged man who propositioned me. The experience pretty much cured me of hitchhiking.

 

[carbuff]

Closed it down June 2019 at the 15 year anniversary.

Aw that's too bad. It was a wonderful site while it lasted. Thank you for doing it for so long.

 

[CCJD]

Aw that's too bad. It was a wonderful site while it lasted. Thank you for doing it for so long.

Thank you, @carbuff