Missing: John William Gates

John William Gates was born in the early 1880s in Iowa. Before the 1900's he moved to Colorado and worked as a farm laborer. In 1903 he married his wife. By 1910 his occupation was listed as a teamster in the transfer. His family claimed that it means that he delivered supplies to miners in the mountains. 

On April 23, 1916, 34-year-old John left him home in Longmont, Colorado. It was believed he may have had an accident when he left. It may have been a mining accident or the wagon he used for movement of mining supplies fell off the mountain. At the time in Colorado, there were several mines open due to the need of tungsten for WWI. It's possible his remains were found on the mountain and they never identified as him. His fate is unknown though.  It isn't believed he left on his own. He was said to be a good provider and a good husband and a wonderful father.

When his wife in May of 1917 filed for "Mother's Compensation in Boulder county she had to explain why she needed help and her husband's disappearance. The Mother's Compensation Act was a way for mothers to provide for their children. This was long before social services.

John William Gates was 34 at the time of his disappearance. He was 5'7 to 6'0 and weighed around 160 to 180 lbs. He had brown receding hair and his eye color is unknown.

SOURCES

Daily Camera 

Find the Missing

Serial Killers: Hugo Schenk The Viennese Housemaids Killer

Hugo Schenk was born to a well off family. He began a life of crime around 1869 and 1870. He would pretend to be Prince Boleslav von Wilopolsky an escapee from the henchmen of the Tsar from Warsaw. He would convince women of this and would get a dowry from alleged brides. He was caught and sentenced on December 5, 1870, and served 2 out of 5 years for a number of frauds at the Mirov detention center.

 He was arrested again in 1881 and was released in 1883 at 34-years-old. This time he met a thief in there name Karl Schossarek who would help him with his crime spree. He started his ways again soon after, but with even worse plans for the girls. After his release, he met a 34-year-old Josefine Timal. He courted her and then promised her his hand in marriage. She was working as a maid in Vienna, Austria and convinced her to quit her job. She packed up all her stuff believing they were going on a honeymoon to Kraków. Instead, he took her near the Hranice Abyss raped, gagged and then tied her to a heavy stone and sunk her into the water. He then took all her stuff for himself.

He was convinced that Josefine's Aunt Katharina Tamil would find out what he had done. In order to cover himself, he wrote her on June 21, 1883, telling her they had married and invited her to his property. He picked her up from the station and drove her to Krummnußbaum. With Schossarek they then killed Katharina by sinking her into the Danube much like he had done with Josefine. He also stole her valuables.

Six weeks later he was onto his next victim, Theresia Ketterl, another housemaid. He had tried a different method on her. He brought a gun to their picnic at a gorge in Lilienfeld and taught her how to play Russian Roulette with an empty gun. He secretly loaded the gun and gave it to give it a try and she shot herself thinking it was empty.

In December his next con was 30-year-old Rosa Ferenczy. She was also a maid but also the illegitimate daughter of a Hungarian nobleman. Rosa was said that she suspected him in cheating, but didn't believe it when he showed himself. At Christmas, she stated to her landlady that "You'll either see me happy and married or never again." The next day Rosa's body was found in the Danube near Presbourg. The duo had killed the woman.


Schenk was already planning five more murders when he was caught on Jan. 10, 1884 and the next day Schossarek was arrested. He wanted to save up enough money to escape to America with Emily Höchsmann. He had supposedly fallen in love with her even though he originally intended for her to be another victim. He openly courted her and gave her jewelry (possibly from previous victims) and spent money on her. It's said that he spent the rest of his day with her right after he murdered Theresia.


The two were then sentenced to death by hanging on April 22, 1884. Schenk's skull was autopsied and neurologically examined after his death. His skull is now displayed in the Vienna’s Kriminalmuseum (Crime Museum),

SOURCES:
Murderpedia
Wikipedia
Revolvy

INFANTICIDE: April 21, 1926 Albuquerque, New Mexico Baby Doe

On April 21, 1926, Mrs. Maria Martinez, her mother, and her sister went to a vacant house on 1120 North 3rd street in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She stated that she went to the home with the intention to buy it. Inside the body of a baby boy was found behind a bathtub. His cause of death is unknown, but he was less than a month old at death. 

I assume that the baby was never identified as he was buried as Baby John Doe and his Find a Grave doesn't mention him being identified. 

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

Santa Fe New Mexican April 23, 1926

UNIDENTIFIED: June 4, 1933 Grand Canyon, Arizona John Doe

On June 4, 1933, on a cliff near Shoshone Point in the Grand Canyon, Arizona photographer Emery Kolb found a body of a suicide victim. The skeletal remains had a .22 or .32 caliber pistol was found by the right hand and a bullet hole was present in the skull. He had killed himself around 2 years older. Emery would photograph the scene and collect the remains.

After Emery's death in 1976 and in his garage, the remains and photographs would be found. He had placed the remains inside of a boat-mounted in the rafters of the building with the fragmented clothing. Emery had a history of being involved with coroner's juries, but it's unknown why he didn't turn over the remains to the corner. 

It was said the Emery was the last person seen with Glenn and Bessie Hyde who disappeared during a honeymoon trip on the Colorado River in 1928. These remains do not belong to Glenn though. 

He was a white male around 18 to 22-years-old and was around 6'0", He was wearing cheap clothing, a pair of khakis, a white cotton shirt, a sandal, and a belt. He was likely right-handed. 

SOURCES:

Doe Network

NamUs

Unidentified Wiki

Coconino County

Daily Sun Arizona

Orren Mercer killed his Illegitimate son

Orren Mercer and his unnamed wife were both former slaves. The two would have two young children, but unfortunately, she would die. This resulted in Orren to look for love. He started to pay considerable attention to a woman named Lizzie Taylor. She was also a widower and lived in the neighboring plantation in Edgecomb County, North Carolina. The two would soon become intimate and Orren was virtually regarded by neighbors.

Lizzie would then become pregnant. This was when 45-year-old Orren stopped seeing her as often. Even though she claimed the baby was his, he claimed that it wasn't. She would then give birth to a beautiful baby boy. He denied the baby as his and she brought him to court for child support. This was when he created a solution to his problem.

On April 15, 1872, Lizzie started her day and went to work. Nellie, Lizzie's 12-year-old daughter, would stay home with her 5-month-old little brother.  Soon after her mother left she cleaned up the home and fed her younger brother. This was when Orren arrived at the home.  

When he walked in he had a coat over his head to disguise himself. This scared the young girl. This is the conversation that went between the two. He asked a series of questions. The little girl confirmed she didn't know who he was and it was just her, her brother and mother that lived there. He then asked if the baby was asleep and if he could drink water. She stated he was asleep and couldn't drink water as he was too little for that. He then asked if he could hold the baby and she said yes.

Nellie kept an eye on the man not trusting him. He then picked up the boy and stared him in the eyes. This moved his disguise and she realized the man was Orren. Orren then turned his back to the girl while still holding the baby. He then took a black vile out and fed it to the baby. He then placed the now crying baby back on the bed.

He then threatened the girl that it wouldn't be good for her if she told anyone he'd been there. He then left the two children alone. The baby was wailing and crying in agony. in a matter of moments, the baby's cheeks became blackened and his tongue stuck out and was also black. This frightened the girl and she ran to her mother for help.

On the way back to the home they came across Dr. Mercer (not related) and told him of the baby. When they arrived he examined the baby and was unable to help him. He died in the next few hours. By that time his scalp and skin had begun to fall off. It was found that he was killed with lye (caustic potash).

Soon after a warrant for Orren's arrest was done. He was then arrested and was found guilty at trial. He was supposed to hang on June 14. He had an appeal go to the Supreme Court, but he was still found guilty and sentenced to death.

He made a statement along the lines that Lizzie was constantly trying to get him to marry her. That he tried to be with other women, but she scared them off. He said that Nellie lied and did not see him kill her little brother. That he had nothing to do with the boy's death and wasn't at the home at the time. He said that the murderer was possibly a man named Redding Stanton who Orren claimed people told him that he said: "I have got him as I want him". Orren said he had no idea why Redding would have a grudge against him and convinced the young girl to lie about her brother's death.

When Orren realized he was going to be hung. He decided to try to starve himself to death first. He was unable to starve himself to death. He did become very weak before his execution. He still declared he was innocent of the crime on Jan 16, 1872.

On Jan 16. He was hung. His neck did not break and it took a few minutes for him to die. He was then decalred dead 25 minutes later.

SOURCES:
Legal Executions In North Carolina and South Carolina: A Comprehensive Registry, 1866-1962 by Daniel Allen Hearn
The New Berne Times May 26, 1872
The Tarabourogh Southerner December 12, 1872
The Tarabourogh Southerner December 5, 1872
New York Daily Herald Jan 19, 1873

UNIDENTIFIED: April 13, 1946 Oak Grove, Oregon Jane Doe

Early morning of April 13, 1946, three fishermen found a fully clothed torso floating in the Williamette River.  She had been dismembered as her head, arms and legs were sawn off. The next day here arms and legs were located in the river about 6 miles from the body. Fishermen stated that they have seen the sack floating in the river for at least 30 days earlier. It was estimated she died weeks prior.

On October 13, 1946 her head was discovered by a couple strolling along the river bank. Her head had been wrapped with rags and weighed down. It was shown she was killed by a blow to the right side of her head. It was stated the person dismembering may have an acknowledgment of anatomy as they were cut neatly.

She was a white female between 30 and 59 years old. She was 5'2" to 5'4" and 115 to 125 lbs. She had brown greying hair and had curlers and pins in.  She had false upper teeth and lower teeth had fillings. She was wearing brown slacks, dark blue sweater, long underclothing, black dress material, and topcoat.

SOURCES:
NamUs
The Doe Network 
The News-Review 
The Capital-Journal 

Serial Killers: Hadj Mohammed Mesfewi

Hadj Mohammed Mesfewi who was described as an old man was a shoemaker and public letter writer in Marrakesh, Morroco. He and an accomplice 70-year-old woman named Rahali (Annah) would invite Morrish young women over for dinner. They would then put a narcotic in the food that would cause them to pass out. While asleep he would murder the women by beheading them, rob them, and bury 26 under his home and 10 more on his property.

It was noticed in April of 1906 many women were going missing. One of the women was traced to the cobbler shop. They decided to torture information from Rahali she admitted that they drugged and killed the women. She would die from the torture, but everything she stated turned out to be true. Hadj would then confess to the murders.

He was supposed to be executed on May 2, 1906, by crucifixion, but foreign diplomats found that to be too brutal. He would be whipped daily until June 11, 1906. He would be walled up and left to die inside. It would take two days for him to die on June 13, 1906.


SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Murderpedia

Scoop Empire

People Pill

The Age September 6, 1906

The Times and Democrat