UT UT - Ellsworth Wilson Mielke, 33, Salt Lake City, 25 Aug 1947

[TinfoilYarmulke]

No. There's absolutely NOTHING that shows Ellsworth went back to New York. No records, no burials, no nothing. He had many siblings. Something would've came up.

His family wouldn't be opening his missing persons report 75 years later if they suspected that.

 

[crissianni]

REading between the lines tells me that Ellsworth was still alive and went back to San Born, New York to live with his parents. That would explain a lot. They just failed to inform the police he was still alive. In New York.

Does that sound plausible?

Infant Boy Meilke (1947-1947) - Find a Grave...

Father: Elsworth Wilson Mielke 1914–Deceased Mother: Helen Olive Hansen 1916–1990 -- NOTE: I am not sure why Cemetery Record specifies 'Boy'. Not a never, but a Rare recording, so I can imagine the family Who Gave the information, at the time, would have known the burial was for a girl. So I...

www.findagrave.com

Father Elsworth W Mielkie
white, age 31
Birth place Now York (I assume New York)
Chauffeur
self employed
Mother: Helen Hansen

View attachment 465229

View attachment 465230

I am also a genealogical researcher as well and have found no evidence of his existence after his son's stillbirth certificate. I do appreciate your point of view and I will investigate New York. HOWEVER, I think it is very clear to me that he suffered an episode. He had quite the military history. During his confusion, he either came to accident or foul play. To me this is the simplest explanation.

 

[crissianni]

Ok so to me this speaks clearly that Ellsworth Mielke is a likely UID. Hardly anyone lives to 103 years of age.

If he is a UID, what area would he have been found in?

If he is a UID, what decade would he have been discovered?

If he is a UID, what other information could help us connect him to ... him?

 

[TinfoilYarmulke]

Ok so to me this speaks clearly that Ellsworth Mielke is a likely UID. Hardly anyone lives to 103 years of age.

If he is a UID, what area would he have been found in?

If he is a UID, what decade would he have been discovered?

If he is a UID, what other information could help us connect him to ... him?

Unfortunately I agree.

He wasn't feeling well that day. His boss confirmed that. I think an episode was coming on. He left work and perhaps got confused on his way home. His house was in the opposite his truck was found after all.

It's possible he looked like an easy target to someone and met with foul play. Maybe he was confused and tried to hitchhike back to New York? Or it's possible just wandered away into an accident /misadventure. I would start with UIDs closest to Lagoon and work outwards from there.

It's too bad there aren't any notable characteristics listed. Maybe a pair of eyeglasses though. Leather would degrade far slower than say a cotton shirt or jacket. Any major dental characteristics MIGHT be ruled out using the photo of him smiling.

 

[crissianni]

Unfortunately I agree.

He wasn't feeling well that day. His boss confirmed that. I think an episode was coming on. He left work and perhaps got confused on his way home. His house was in the opposite his truck was found after all.

It's possible he looked like an easy target to someone and met with foul play. Maybe he was confused and tried to hitchhike back to New York? Or it's possible just wandered away into an accident /misadventure. I would start with UIDs closest to Lagoon and work outwards from there.

It's too bad there aren't any notable characteristics listed. Maybe a pair of eyeglasses though. Leather would degrade far slower than say a cotton shirt or jacket. Any major dental characteristics MIGHT be ruled out using the photo of him smiling.

@Laughing do you know a way to search his military records for any potential injuries that would leave a mark, or surgical scar? Did you see anywhere else he was familiar with militarily besides NY and UT? I only saw those two states.

I agree with @TinfoilYarmulke to start in Utah and spread towards NY if I am to search for UIDs. I agree with @Quoththeraven to also search New York back towards UT.

I haven't been active in a long time but this hit me in the feels. Am I missing anything? Do they do stuff with DNA now? I feel so behind the ball but my gut tells me, he had an episode and he went to what felt familiar.....

Was he from an area in New York with a lot of lakes? Could he have wandered towards the GSL? Bay is not far from Lagoon.

It's not often to have an old MP pop up like this and I think there are so many chances there is a hit there somewhere if we have the right link!

 

[meanmaryjean]

Remember when you.look at the map upthread that the beginnings of what would become the interstate highway system was a decade in the future. It likely was a much more circuitous route and took considerably more time to get from Point A to Point B.

 

[Quoththeraven]

@Laughing do you know a way to search his military records for any potential injuries that would leave a mark, or surgical scar? Did you see anywhere else he was familiar with militarily besides NY and UT? I only saw those two states.

I agree with @TinfoilYarmulke to start in Utah and spread towards NY if I am to search for UIDs. I agree with @Quoththeraven to also search New York back towards UT.

I haven't been active in a long time but this hit me in the feels. Am I missing anything? Do they do stuff with DNA now? I feel so behind the ball but my gut tells me, he had an episode and he went to what felt familiar.....

Was he from an area in New York with a lot of lakes? Could he have wandered towards the GSL? Bay is not far from Lagoon.

It's not often to have an old MP pop up like this and I think there are so many chances there is a hit there somewhere if we have the right link!

I checked Fold3. All that's listed is his draft card registration. His brother George was in the Army WWII is all I found regarding military service.

 

[crissianni]

I checked Fold3. All that's listed is his draft card registration. His brother George was in the Army WWII is all I found regarding military service.

I saw like 20 different registrations and I was like... ok I'm not cut out for this tonight. He clearly served our country and we owe him his body back...tysm for any resource you can send my way... you seem really good with the records as well. I have a punch in my gut feeling that this man is a UID somewhere already in the system.... hard punch on this one.

 

[Quoththeraven]

Ok so to me this speaks clearly that Ellsworth Mielke is a likely UID. Hardly anyone lives to 103 years of age.

If he is a UID, what area would he have been found in?

If he is a UID, what decade would he have been discovered?

If he is a UID, what other information could help us connect him to ... him?

I agree, he's probably a UID. No sign of him in online New York records. His sister Nellie's obit, 1991, lists one brother surviving, George, and George's obit, 1994, lists Ellsworth as deceased. Source: Ancestry.com

He's also listed as deceased here.

FamilySearch.org

Discover your family history. Explore the world’s largest collection of free family trees, genealogy records and resources.

ancestors.familysearch.org

 

[TinfoilYarmulke]

I wonder how much he needed his glasses. Would his military records mention this?

Like what if he lost his glasses while confused during an episode and literally couldn't see where he was going?

 

[TinfoilYarmulke]

I agree, he's probably a UID. No sign of him in online New York records. His sister Nellie's obit, 1991, lists one brother surviving, George, and George's obit, 1994, lists Ellsworth as deceased. Source: Ancestry.com

He's also listed as deceased here.

FamilySearch.org

Discover your family history. Explore the world’s largest collection of free family trees, genealogy records and resources.

ancestors.familysearch.org

Interesting. I've noticed every where he is listed deceased at, there is not a date listed and no records attached to verify or confirm it.

Obviously, by now at over 100 he's likely deceased, but I think the lack of death records is quite telling.

 

[crissianni]

This suggests to me he was declared deceased, but not necessarily deceased (although probably deceased).

Could we start with.... 1947-1955 UIDs? Narrow swath from UT to NY?

 

[ifindedout]

I checked Fold3. All that's listed is his draft card registration. His brother George was in the Army WWII is all I found regarding military service.

There was a fire in the Military Personnel Records Center outside St. Louis in 1973 that might have destroyed his service records (80% of Army discharge records between 1912 and 1960 were lost).

National Personnel Records Center fire - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[TSL7584]

Is Ancestry usually accurate? I'm not very familiar with it. I found this, but I don't know if it means anything. It states Ellsworth passed away in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1949. Could he have been considered deceased after missing for 2 years?

Ellsworth W Mielke, b.1914 d.1949 - Ancestry®

Ellsworth W Mielke born 1914 in Wilson (Niagara), NY genealogy record - Ancestry®.

www.ancestry.com.au

 

[Quoththeraven]

Is Ancestry usually accurate? I'm not very familiar with it. I found this, but I don't know if it means anything. It states Ellsworth passed away in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1949. Could he have been considered deceased after missing for 2 years?

Ellsworth W Mielke, b.1914 d.1949 - Ancestry®

Ellsworth W Mielke born 1914 in Wilson (Niagara), NY genealogy record - Ancestry®.

www.ancestry.com.au

Five years, I believe, to be legally declared dead. That Ancestry entry could be an error. You'd have to contact the person who did the genealogy to make sure. They might know something we don't. Or it's just another error like on his son's death certificate, which had several.

(e)	An individual whose death is not established under Subsection (1)(a), (b), (c) or (d) who is absent for a continuous period of five years, during which the individual has not been heard from, and whose absence is not satisfactorily explained after diligent search or inquiry, is presumed to be dead.

Utah Code Section 75-1-107

le.utah.gov

 

[alb1on]

Five years, I believe, to be legally declared dead. That Ancestry entry could be an error. You'd have to contact the person who did the genealogy to make sure. They might know something we don't. Or it's just another error like on his son's death certificate, which had several.

(e)	An individual whose death is not established under Subsection (1)(a), (b), (c) or (d) who is absent for a continuous period of five years, during which the individual has not been heard from, and whose absence is not satisfactorily explained after diligent search or inquiry, is presumed to be dead.

Utah Code Section 75-1-107

le.utah.gov

But subsection (d) does give flexibility in allowing circumstantial evidence (which may be taken to include disappearance and no further evidence of life). This is common elsewhere and used to advance a declaration of death where issues such as dealing with insurance or the estate of the missing requires a declaration.
On a minor point discussed earlier, I am unsure of the sex of the stillborn baby. The two Ancestry trees with the best provenance (one from a nephew and the other from a grandson - I think) either support the girl registration (nephew) or hedge the bets by including both options (grandson). But I do not think the gender is relevant to the disappearance.

 

[mlhenn]

Ellsworth Wilson Mielke – The Charley Project

Casefile added Nov 1, 2024

Ellsworth Wilson Mielke​

• 
• 

Mielke, circa 1947

Details of Disappearance​

Mielke, a truck driver, drove a large truck to Tremonton, Utah on August 17, 1947. On August 25, he returned to his employer, the Gould Gasoline Transportation Company in the 900 block of Beck Street in Salt Lake City. Between 11:00 a.m. and noon, Mielke said he felt sick; his boss told him to go home early. He did leave but never arrived home and has never been heard from again.

On September 19, Mielke's truck was found parked at the Lagoon Resort, eighteen miles north of Salt Lake City; witnesses said it had been there for some time. His lunch bucket and his cap were still inside the vehicle, the keys were left in the ignition and there was half a tank of gas. There was no indication of Mielke's whereabouts.

At the time of his disappearance, he lived with his wife and three children in the 1500 block of Sunset Avenue and was noted for having a good character. His wife was heavily pregnant at the time of his disappearance. On September 30, a month and a half after Mielke went missing, his wife gave birth to their stillborn son.

Mielke's loved ones stated he was not depressed, but his back sometimes bothered him. They stated he had previously experienced blackouts, but hadn't had a blackout in some time before he went missing. Little information is available as to Mielke's fate.

 

[John/Jane Doe]

5923DMUT - Ellsworth Wilson Mielke

 

[Quoththeraven]

Something fishy about this case...
Timeline:
1) Went missing August 25, 1947, working for Gould Gasoline Transportation Company as a truck driver.
2) Truck or car (depending on the source) found at Lagoon Resort September 19, 1947, which is the day his wife tells police he had been missing over a month after they came to her home to say they had found his car.
3) Helen and Ellsworth's baby is stillborn September 30, 1947. Certificate of stillbirth lists Elsworth (One L) W. Mielke as the INFORMANT. It also lists him as a chauffeur and self-employed.

My question is if he disappeared August 25,1947, how can he be the informant of a stillbirth one month later on September 30, 1947?
Also, if you look at his draft card, he signed his name with 2 L's in Ellsworth, not one. Also, how can he be self-employed as a chauffeur when he was an employee of a trucking company as a truck driver?

Source of death certificate and draft card: Ancestry.com's historical records.

 

[TinfoilYarmulke]

Something fishy about this case...
Timeline:
1) Went missing August 25, 1947, working for Gould Gasoline Transportation Company as a truck driver.
2) Truck or car (depending on the source) found at Lagoon Resort September 19, 1947, which is the day his wife tells police he had been missing over a month after they came to her home to say they had found his car.
3) Helen and Ellsworth's baby is stillborn September 30, 1947. Certificate of stillbirth lists Elsworth (One L) W. Mielke as the INFORMANT. It also lists him as a chauffeur and self-employed.

My question is if he disappeared August 25,1947, how can he be the informant of a stillbirth one month later on September 30, 1947?
Also, if you look at his draft card, he signed his name with 2 L's in Ellsworth, not one. Also, how can he be self-employed as a chauffeur when he was an employee of a trucking company as a truck driver?

Source of death certificate and draft card: Ancestry.com's historical records.

View attachment 543396

View attachment 543398

All of these points were addressed previously in this thread.

1. Correct. He went missing after returning to work, telling his boss he felt ill.

2. His personal vehicle was later found parked at Lagoon. The police traced it back to his house/wife. She explained he had been missing for a month. She explained that he had black out spells before and thought it was just like before and he would return.

3. The death certificate is riddled with errors. His name is Even spelled incorrectly. I don't think he'd misspell his own name. The signatures between the two documents also do not match. Therefore, it cannot be for certain he was the "informant". As pointed out up thread, back in the 1940's, these drivers were sometimes called chauffers. Literally chauffeuring the gasoline in Ellsworth's case. If you look up the Gould Gasoline company he worked for, there is a mention about a "Truckers and Chauffers Union" as well.