UK UK - London, WhtMale, ~25, possibly Canadian, killed by NTG blast, Dec'72

[CarlK90245]

Starting a thread per newbie request.

This man's body was found in the UK, but some of the items found with his body suggest that he might have been Canadian.

Tattoo on upper left arm.

http://www.missingpersons.police.uk/en/case/06-025334/MWl444F

Gender Male
Age Range 25 to 25
Ethnicity White European
Height (cm) 173cm (About 5'8")
Build Medium
Date found 14-Dec-1972

Circumstances: Headless body found on a footpath along the Grand Union Canal near Mitre Bridge. He was killed by a nitro-glycerine explosion.

Facial hair: Full beard
Eye color: Unknown
Distinguishing features: Tattoo - bird - Left - Upper arm
Scars - Right finger; Right leg.

Clothing: Navy blue Overcoat/Raincoat; Black Leather Jacket; Black Nylon Shirt; Blue Twill Trousers; Brown boots with Elastic sides; Black Tie

Possessions: £77 cash, Cigars Lighter, Remains of Canadian Passport, Remains of American Express Card, $100 Travellers Cheques x 5.

 

[Christiana]

I have found this gentleman...

http://doenetwork.org/cases/381dmon.html

Frank Henry Pratt IV


Same height, both had full grown beards, missing person from Canada, liked to travel it would seem, was in the war (may explain tattoo??)

UID went found 1972, missing gentleman listed in 1973 but no specific date so could be wrong?

 

[Christiana]

Also found this gentleman called Frank Henry Pratt who would be old enough to be the missing Franks grandfather or father... he was born in England (Wimbledon in London)and signed up for the war and moved to Ontario. Could the UID be this Frank Henry Pratt IV and he had gone to London to see his grandfathers birthplace?
http://www.canadiangreatwarproject.com/searches/soldierDetail.asp?Id=143024

 

[Christiana]

should I call that in? or is that not enough link?

 

[CarlK90245]

should I call that in? or is that not enough link?

It's not a real strong possible, but he is possible nevertheless. A match on height and a beard (without specific matching info about tattoos or known travel to the UK., and with an apparent problem with the dates) is probably not enough to call this a strong possible.

But if you feel strongly enough about it, perhaps you might want to give it a shot.

 

[Christiana]

sorry not sure where you got just a beard and height from... theres a lot more than that not sure if I wrote it properly, maybe its not clear?

 

[zwiebel]

1972 was the year direct rule was imposed on Ireland from England and IRA (Irish Republican Army) bombing campaigns were being waged in Ireland and England (mostly London).

I can't think of any reason other than bomb-making that someone should have their head blown off in central-ish London. Perhaps searching for missing Canadians with Catholic Irish links might turn something up?

Union Canal runs through Hackney. I don't know if it means anything but a well-known gangster called James Moody was released from prison in that year. He had strong links with the IRA. He lived in Hackney. When he was killed;

"A closer inspection of the body revealed attempts to remove tattoos of an eagle..."
Here's a link to a long article about him:
http://tinyurl.com/bxc32qt

 

[Swamp Fox Trot]

The tattoo appears to be of a bald eagle, the national symbol of the United States of America. The kind of people who go around planting bombs in foreign countries tend to use fake passports. Were the traveller's checks in U.S. dollars or Canadian?

 

[MadMcGoo]

UK Missing Persons Unit

Unidentified male UK 1972

Clipping found in Evening Post published in Bristol, Avon, England on 12/14/1972. Unidentified male UK 1972

www.newspapers.com

Unidentified male UK 1972

Clipping found in Hammersmith and Shepherds Bush Gazette published in Hammersmith, London, England on 12/21/1972. Unidentified male UK 1972

www.newspapers.com

Unidentified male UK 1972

Clipping found in Hammersmith and Shepherds Bush Gazette published in Hammersmith, London, England on 1/25/1973. Unidentified male UK 1972

www.newspapers.com

 

[bombardier]

Starting a thread per newbie request.

This man's body was found in the UK, but some of the items found with his body suggest that he might have been Canadian.

Tattoo on upper left arm.

http://www.missingpersons.police.uk/en/case/06-025334/MWl444F

Gender Male
Age Range 25 to 25
Ethnicity White European
Height (cm) 173cm (About 5'8")
Build Medium
Date found 14-Dec-1972

Circumstances: Headless body found on a footpath along the Grand Union Canal near Mitre Bridge. He was killed by a nitro-glycerine explosion.

Facial hair: Full beard
Eye color: Unknown
Distinguishing features: Tattoo - bird - Left - Upper arm
Scars - Right finger; Right leg.

Clothing: Navy blue Overcoat/Raincoat; Black Leather Jacket; Black Nylon Shirt; Blue Twill Trousers; Brown boots with Elastic sides; Black Tie

Possessions: £77 cash, Cigars Lighter, Remains of Canadian Passport, Remains of American Express Card, $100 Travellers Cheques x 5.

Updated link to the UK case report.

UK Missing Persons Unit

 

[Nate_Bro]

Has Allen Robert Foy been looked into? He was from Canada and although he said he was going fishing, his car was found sometime later at the International Airport in Montreal.

He went missing on September 1 1972, is about the right height. Is said to have a scar on upper left arm vs UID having a tattoo there. (potential mixup). His surname Foy is a known Irish and English surname. IRA were known to use false passports before this time and did have connections to Irish diaspora in Canada and the US.

Judging by all the circumstances imo it looks like the UID was trying to sabotage the railway but failed, although searching around, it looks like these types of attacks didn't start until "8 March 1973: The Provisional Irish Republican Army conducted its first operation in England, planting four car bombs in London."

https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/software/mp-main.html?id=6523dmqc

Canada's Missing | Case details

www.services.rcmp-grc.gc.ca

 

[MelmothTheLost]

I can't think of any reason other than bomb-making that someone should have their head blown off in central-ish London. Perhaps searching for missing Canadians with Catholic Irish links might turn something up?

A shotgun would also have that effect. Shotguns, especially sawn-offs, were the usual firearms used at this time by criminals.

Handguns and, to a lesser extent, rifles had been brought into the UK by returning soldiers after WWII as trophies but were not widely used by criminals who were reluctant to use them in the commission of crimes because of the existence of the death penalty. The latter was almost invariably imposed and carried out where firearms were used in the commission of crime, especially if used against police officers, eg the Derek Bentley case in 1953. The exception to this is the supply of firearms to the IRA and similar groups by the Libyan government and US sympathiser groups from the late 1960s to the end of the 1990s.

Handguns and other non-shotgun firearms did not start to come into the UK in great numbers for general criminal purposes until after the fall of the Iron Curtain in the late 1980s when they started to be smuggled in from Eastern Europe.