My OCD is in overdrive this weekend, so I thought I'd try to put it to good use and found this guy...
Timothy Clayton Crissman (Charley Project)
Timothy Clayton Crissman (NamUS)
He was about the same size/age as this fellow (39-y/o, 5'10", 200-lbs), had both brown hair/eyes and was "possibly suicidal" when he was last seen.
NamUS lists him as coming up missing on 8/10/1996. For some reason, Charley gives a timeframe (8/10-11/3/1996) as his date of last contact.
He went missing from his farm in Armstrong County, PA (not sure of the location in the county). That is a little NE of Pittsburgh (adjoining county). Taking the Canadian/French items into consideration, it's about a couple hundred miles from Buffalo (NY) and Niagara Falls. I couldn't find anything about him having (or
not having) access to a vehicle, but he was apparently in a car wreck shortly before his disappearance was noted (so sometime in early-8/1996).
Watertown, NY (where the duffel bag was from) is around the "next eastward" main crossing point (from the Niagara Falls area) to Canada. By that, I mean where a river serves as the border (not one of the Great Lakes). The victim was way too old for the "Class of '94" on the duffel bag, but he could have either found it or got it at a flea market or Goodwill store in that general area.
The main things I see that point to this
not being Crissman are a few physical things. His legs are a couple inches different in length and have burn scars from a prior motorcycle accident.
He also may have had MS, which I thought would have been noted for the UID. I said "may" about the MS because Charley mentions it and NamUS doesn't.
The timing for Crissman may also seem off, but if he really was suicidal (or had some kind of "mental breakdown") he could have wandered or traveled around afterward. We at least know that the UID was a wanderer for a little while before he died.
I also thought of a couple things to ponder regarding the UID. Forgive me if they've already been brought up and I missed them...
He probably had GERD or an ulcer or something of that nature due to all of the TUMS found. I don't know if many people would have known about him having such, as TUMS (or Rolaids, Gaviscon, etc) were just about the only "heartburn" meds you could get easily back then. Pepcid, Prevacid and other meds like that all still required doctors back then and there were fewer of them available Many of them are OTC now, at least in smaller doses.
Also, what kind of antidepressants did he OD on if that's what killed him? He likely got them from a doctor somewhere. I don't know of a "
black market" for antidepressants (i.e. patients selling or trading pain/nerve pills).
...Unless some drugs like Xanax or Valium were generically called "antidepressants" due to them being used for mental (rather than physical) health. I've seen that happen before.