Author Topic: BURLINGTON JOHN DOE: WM, 25-35, buried in a wooded area - 22 May 1975  (Read 199 times)

Akoya

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8173
    • View Profile





The victim was located in a wooded area on May 22, 1975 in Burlington, MA. The partially decomposed body had been buried in a shallow grave in a wooded area near Muller Road. It is believed that the man had probably been buried for about 6 months or longer before he was found.

The location he was found was used as a "lovers lane" at the time. The burial site wasn't very far from the road. It was probably within view of passing traffic. There were, and still are, some houses nearby. The rest of the area at that time would have been wooded and isolated. There are a lot of industrial parks nearby now. It's within a mile of Route 95 (what was then only Route 128) and Route 3.

The best clues available to identify the victim are the distinctive belt buckle and the very unique medallion, suggestive of association with a motorcycle gang. At that time, there were reports of motorcycle gangs in town. There were a couple of houses where four or five of them lived.

Black socks and gold fillings in those days indicated one was associated with the military or law enforcement. Dental records would easily confirm the man's identity.

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter


Akoya

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8173
    • View Profile
https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/14005?nav



Unidentified Person / NamUs #UP14005Male, White / Caucasian
Date Body Found
May 22, 1975
Location Found
Burlington, Massachusetts

Case Information
Case Numbers

NCMEC Number
--
ME/C Case Number
AK75-44

Demographics
Sex
Male
Race / Ethnicity
White / Caucasian

Estimated Age Group
Adult - Pre 40
Estimated Age Range (Years)
--
Estimated Year of Death
1975
Estimated PMI
--
Height
6' 0"(72 inches) , Estimated
Weight
Cannot Estimate

Circumstances
Type
Unidentified Deceased
Date Body Found
May 22, 1975
NamUs Case Created
July 5, 2015
ME/C QA Reviewed
June 5, 2016

Location Found Map
Street Address
Wooded area off Muller Rd
Burlington, Massachusetts
County
Middlesex County
GPS Coordinates
--
Circumstances of Recovery
found in wooded area.
Details of Recovery
Inventory of Remains
All parts recovered
Condition of Remains
Not recognizable - Decomposing/putrefaction

Physical Description
Hair Color
Brown
Head Hair Description
long dark brown
Body Hair Description
--
Facial Hair Description
Some evidence of facial hair.
Left Eye Color
Unknown
Right Eye Color
Unknown
Eye Description
--
Distinctive Physical Features
Item
Description
Artificial body part/aidFull upper plate.

Clothing and Accessories
Item
Description
Clothing army fatigue jacket size regular small (See label image), pale blue sweater-like upper garment or Tee shirt, garrison belt and Levis. On the Body
Footwear stockings and sneakers. On the Body
Jewelry Thin metal chain attached to which is an orange metal medallion (see image), impressed with the Thespian masks of comedy and tragedy. On the Body

Investigating Agencies
Mass. SP
--
Agency Case Number
--
Peter Sennott, Sgt.

Akoya

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8173
    • View Profile
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/481umma.html

481UMMA - Unidentified Male

 




Date of Discovery: May 22, 1975
Location of Discovery: Burlington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Estimated Date of Death: 1975
State of Remains: Decomposed
Cause of Death: Homicide - 2 gunshots to the head

Physical Description
Estimated Age: 25-35 years old
Race: White
Sex: Male
Height: 5'8" to 6'0"
Weight: Unknown
Hair: Dark brown, long. Evidence of facial hair.
Eye Color: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Unknown

Identifiers
Dentals: Available. Upper denture. Extensive dental work with several gold fillings and professional extractions.
Fingerprints: Not available.
DNA: Not available.

Clothing & Personal Items

Clothing: Army field jacket (size regular small), a t-shirt, jeans, cheap canvass sneakers with black socks, a garrison type belt with a distinctive buckle.
Jewelry: Necklace with a unique medallion attached to it.
Additional Personal Items: Unknown.

Circumstances of Discovery
The victim was located in a wooded area on May 22, 1975 in Burlington, MA. The partially decomposed body had been buried in a shallow grave in a wooded area near Muller Road. It is believed that the man had probably been buried for about 6 months or longer before he was found.

The location he was found was used as a "lovers lane" at the time. The burial site wasn't very far from the road. It was probably within view of passing traffic. There were, and still are, some houses nearby. The rest of the area at that time would have been wooded and isolated. There are a lot of industrial parks nearby now. It's within a mile of Route 95 (what was then only Route 128) and Route 3.

The best clues available to identify the victim are the distinctive belt buckle and the very unique medallion, suggestive of association with a motorcycle gang. At that time, there were reports of motorcycle gangs in town. There were a couple of houses where four or five of them lived.

Black socks and gold fillings in those days indicated one was associated with the military or law enforcement. Dental records would easily confirm the man's identity.

Investigating Agency(s)
Agency Name: Massachusetts Office of Chief Medical Examiner
Agency Contact Person: Joseph Cahill
Agency Phone Number: 617-267-6767
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: AK75-44

Agency Name: Burlington Police Department
Agency Contact Person: Detective Gary Burdick
Agency Phone Number: 781-272-1212
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 04833

NCIC Case Number: U270005907
NamUs Case Number: 14005

Information Source(s)
NamUs
Burlington Police Department
Woburn Daily Times - 4/7/05

Admin Notes
Added: Prior to 2005; Last Updated: 1/20/19

Akoya

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8173
    • View Profile
http://massachusettsunidentified.blogspot.com/2009/07/unidentified-remains-massachusetts.html

The Doe Network:
Case File 481UMMA



Unidentified White Male


The victim was discovered on May 22, 1975 in Burlington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.
Estimated Date of Death: 6 months - 1 year (May 1974-November 1974)
Decomposed Remains
Cause of Death: 2 gunshots to head

Vital Statistics

Estimated age: Late 20's - early 30's
Approximate Height and Weight: 5'8" - 5'11"; 150 -170 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: The man was probably thin and he appears to have had dark hair. Unknown eyecolor.
Dentals: Available. Upper denture. Extensive dental work with several gold fillings and professional extractions.
Clothing/Jewelry: He was wearing an army field jacket (size regular small), a t-shirt, jeans, cheap canvass sneakers with black socks, a garrison type belt with a distinctive buckle and a necklace around his neck with a unique medallion, attached to it.
Fingerprints: Not available
DNA: Not available



 

Case History
The victim was located on May 22, 1975 in Burlington, MA. The partially decomposed body had been buried in a shallow grave in a wooded area near Muller Road. This man was the victim of a homicide. It is believed that the man had probably been buried for about 6 months before he was found.

The Scene of the Crime :

The area is wooded and was used as a "lovers lane" at the time. The burial site wasn't very far from the road. It was probably within view of passing traffic. There were, and still are some houses nearby. The rest of the area at that time would have been wooded and isolated. There are a lot of industrial parks nearby now. It's within a mile of Route 95 (what was then only Route 128) and Route 3.
The best clues available to identify the victim are the distinctive belt buckle and the very unique medallion, suggestive of association with a motorcycle gang. At that time, there were reports of motorcycle gangs in town. There were a couple of houses where four of them, five of them lived.
Also, the black socks and gold fillings in those days usually meant you were associated with the military or law enforcement. Dental records would easily confirm the man's identity.

Investigators

If you have any information about this case please contact:
Burlington Police Department
Detective Gary Burdick
781-272-1212
You may remain anonymous when submitting information.

Agency Case Number: 04833

NCIC Number:
U-270005907
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information:
Burlington Police Department
Woburn Daily Times - 4/7/05

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/481umma.html

Akoya

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8173
    • View Profile
http://www.veterandoe.com/john-doe-massachusetts-1975.html



John Doe Middlesex County, Massachusetts
​​Late 20's - early 30's (Estimated age: Adult - Pre 40) White Male

Discovered on May 22, 1975 in Burlington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.

He was wearing an army field jacket (size regular small), a t-shirt, jeans, cheap canvass sneakers with black socks, a garrison type belt with a distinctive buckle and a necklace around his neck with a unique medallion, attached to it.

Also, the black socks and gold fillings in those days usually meant you were associated with the military or law enforcement. Dental records would easily confirm the man's identity.

Race:  White
Sex: Male
Weight (pounds):  Cannot Estimate
Height (inches): 72, Estimated
Hair color: Brown - long dark brown
Eye color:  Unknown or Missing

​Circumstances: Found in wooded area.

Body conditions: Not recognizable - Decomposing/putrefaction
Estimated postmortem interval: Probable year of death to 1975
Facial hair: Some evidence of facial hair.
Artificial body parts and aids: Full upper plate. (dental / dentures)
Clothing on body: Army fatigue jacket size regular small (See label image on link below), pale blue sweater-like upper garment or Tee shirt, garrison belt and Levis.
Footwear: stockings and sneakers.
Jewelry: Thin metal chain attached to which is an orange metal medallion (see image on link below), impressed with the Thespian masks of comedy and tragedy.
Fingerprint information is currently not available
​​Dental information / charting is available and will be entered later
DNA: Sample is currently not available
https://identifyus.org/en/cases/14005
John Doe News Articles
http://www.woburnonline.com/frontpage/april05/4705-4.html


Police seek answers in 30-year Burlington mystery
By STEVE DeMARCO news@woburnonline.com

BURLINGTON It is a grave at Chestnut Hill Cemetery that is just grass, there is no stone, but it does have a designation Section D, No. 550. An unidentified man is buried there whose body was discovered in a wooded area off Muller Road nearly 30 years ago.

The site's emptiness reflects the fruitless results of the work of some detectives in the Burlington Police Department, who have tried off-and-on for those 30 years to identify the man.

According to Inspector Frank Nardone, the man was murdered (shot twice in the back of the head), and his body was buried in about two feet of dirt off Muller Road, near what was known as a "lover's lane" in 1975 (the entrance has since been blocked off with large hay bales).

Since that time, "We have had several leads, and they have all come up short," said Nardone.

"I figured that with all of the computers (accessibility to data) we have now, we would have identified him by now," Nardone went on to say. "But some of those missing-person sites, they can be very depressing.

"We (Nardone, Inspector Gary Burdick, Sgt. Glen Mills, and State Trooper Peter Sennott) have been going at this for the last two years full-blast," said Nardone. "There has got to be an answer out there somewhere."

In defining the difficulty he has had in trying to make strides in the case, Nardone said he received the autopsy on the body just two years ago. The law requires that autopsy reports only go to next-of-kin and the district attorney's office.

"He has to have family, hopefully, his family is alive," Nardone said. "Sometimes, people leave, lose complete contact with their family. That could be the case here."

"This is someone who lost his life, but they stole his name," Nardone went on to say. "Some people may have thought he was bad, but he started out good.

"If I can do this (identify the body) before I retire," Nardone continued, "I feel I will have accomplished something."

Possible military connections

Reports indicate the body was discovered May 22, 1975, by two men who were in the Muller Road woods walking a dog.

"He was wearing an army field jacket, dungarees, and canvas sneakers with black socks," said Nardone. "Wearing black socks in those days usually meant you were associated with the military or law enforcement."

Police officials deduced at the time that the body had been buried there "anywhere between six months and a year."

He had "excellent dental records" of the man, Nardone said, but "all dental records were sent to St. Louis in the late 1970s and were destroyed in a fire."

The inspector added that there were several gold fillings in the man's mouth, and "the only people who had gold in their mouths in '75 were mostly military people."

Nardone also said the man was wearing a belt with a unique, Garrison-style buckle, and a medallion suggestive of association with a motorcycle gang.

"At that time, there were reports of motorcycle gangs in town," Nardone recalled. "There were a couple of houses where four of them, five of them would live."

A witness came forward in the 1980s whom Nardone initially considered credible, he said. He led them to a motorcycle group in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., "but that trail eventually went cold," Nardone stated.

Nardone said he later learned this witness "spelled his last name two different ways," which cast further doubt on his credibility.

Next steps

Nardone said he would like to exhume the body, and that is a daunting task, he said, "because there are a lot of hurdles you have to get through, you just can't exhume a body."

That will require a court order, Nardone said, as well as permission from the local Board of Health because "we are digging up a body. I am trying to get the state (medical examiner's office) to exhume the body."

If the body is exhumed (it is first sent, casket and all, to the state medical examiner's office) that could ultimately reveal a lot, Nardone said.

"With all the technology and advances, we can do a lot more than we could do in 1975," he said. "I have an artist who could draw a picture of his face, and two other people I have could make a clay model of his skull."

Nardone also said advances with DNA could aid in identifying the man.

A local funeral home has offered to donate a new casket for the body, Nardone said, because the original casket "has likely been destroyed, or at least decayed."

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com

Crime beat: Medallion links valley to cold case near Boston

Police seek ID of man, shot in head, whose body was found in '75
Jan 14, 2013


BURLINGTON, MASS.  Police in Massachusetts investigating a 1975 cold case homicide hope mid-Hudson Valley residents will recognize a medallion found on the victim's body  which is linked to a former motorcycle club in Poughkeepsie and help authorities identify the man.

The man died of two gunshot wounds to the head. His body was found in a shallow grave in the woods in Burlington, less than 20 miles outside Boston. The man may have been buried for about six months when his body was found May 22, 1975, the Burlington Police Department said.

The victim is described as a white male, about 5 feet 8 inches to 6 feet tall, and possibly in his late 20s to early 30s. He was wearing a T-shirt, jeans, canvas sneakers, an Army fatigue-type jacket (size small), a military-style black leather belt with a metal buckle and a medallion on a necklace, police said.

It's precisely that necklace that police hope will create new leads in the case.

In the 1980s, a man recognized a photo of the medallion printed in a newspaper article about the case. He told authorities in Burlington the medallion was made by a jewelry store in Boston for a motorcycle club on Church Street in the City of Poughkeepsie, police said.

The club was not named in the man's statement, but he had told authorities the medallion was given to all of its members. It was coined in either 1970 or 1972, and 1,500 were produced.

Police said they think the victim was a member of the club.

Burlington police Lt. Glen Mills said that, in recent years, police have not been able to track down the man who gave that statement. They do not know the name of the Poughkeepsie motorcycle club or the jewelry store in Boston.

The only link we had to New York was the medallion, and the group was supposedly from there,Mills said. The only thing that's really solid about this whole thing is the medallion. And who even knows if that's accurate, too?

He said the man does not match anyone reported missing from New York at the time. He said the man might have served in the military.

Mills said the department's priority is to identify the man so his family can be notified.

I'm sure he has some relatives,Mills said. His parents are probably pretty old right now.

Detective Sgt. Walt Horton of the City of Poughkeepsie police said he had heard of this case before. The department thinks the club was headquartered in a barn behind a house on the south side of Church Street, a short distance east of South Clinton Street, he said.

Efforts, years ago as well as recently, have been made to try and identify the club or anyone who might have information about the club,Horton said. However, those efforts, so far, have been unsuccessful.

Also, the construction of the arterial in the late 1970s changed the character of Church Street.
(The case) predated the highway,he said.

A problem is that time has passed, he said, and records from the mid-1970s aren't as accessible as more recently recorded information.
We're relying on people's recollections of whether or not the club existed and who from the area had been affiliated with the club,he said.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Mills at the Burlington Police Department: 781-272-1212.
http://doenetwork.org/cases/481umma.html

Akoya

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8173
    • View Profile


Muller Rd
Burlington, MA 01803

Akoya

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8173
    • View Profile


Burlington
Massachusetts

Akoya

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8173
    • View Profile

Akoya

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8173
    • View Profile

Akoya

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8173
    • View Profile