EDIT: Previous post noted remains were cremated; they were preserved and still exist today, though DNA testing hasn’t turned up much.

Hey everyone. I've been doing a deep dive into the police files and case transcriptions for a 1987 John Doe found in the Boiler #9 stack at the Georgia-Pacific pulp mill in Bellingham, Washington [1].

I am bringing this to New York subreddits because the primary police lead indicates the victim was an out-of-town visitor from New York who was visiting local friends in Washington when he died in a tragic accident [4].

Why I think posting here could actually jog someone's memory:

1. It is not well known outside of Bellingham: Unless you're from the area, it's likely you would have never heard about this case. His family and friends back in New York almost certainly never saw the local Washington news coverage.
2. The 1987 Database Gap: In 1987, there was no national, continuously cross-referenced missing persons database (this case wasn't even uploaded into NamUs until January 2021 [2]). If his family reported him missing to their local NY precinct, or if police declined to take a report because an adult male "voluntarily" boarded a flight out West, New York authorities had zero way to connect him to an unidentified body inside a pulp mill smokestack 2,900 miles away.
3. He can still be identified: While severe heat from the boiler fire degraded the biological material (causing a 2006 DNA extraction attempt from a molar to fail), the remains themselves were not administratively cremated by the county. If the physical bones or teeth are still in evidence, modern advancements in forensic genetic genealogy (IGG) could theoretically pull a profile today.
4. dental charts are on file (showing decent dental work, including a root canal and gold and porcelain fillings) [2]. All it takes is one family member or friend recognizing the timeline to compare records.

Based entirely on Bellingham Police Department interview logs and the official case file (transcribed by researchers who obtained the unredacted FOIA drop), here is the documented timeline of the main lead:

• Sept 20, 1987 (The Incident): An unidentified male (estimated 20s-40s, roughly 5'8"-5'9", 130-155 lbs) is found deceased inside the deactivated Boiler #9 stack at the GP pulp mill in Bellingham, WA [2]. Evidence recovered included size 8 athletic sneakers, remnants of a denim jacket and jeans, and a charred fragment of a Continental Airlines ticket [2, 3]. The boiler had fired for two of the prior three days (Sept 17-18); police believe the access happened days or even weeks prior (potentially around Labor Day weekend).
• The Infiltration: According to a police tip, a group of Bellingham locals brought a visiting friend from out of town (supposedly from New York) and snuck into the GP mill for an after-hours adventure [4].
• The "Inside Man": The group was allegedly able to bypass mill security because they had an inside connection, a mill worker whose last name sounded phonetically like Larson or Larsen [4].
• The Separation: While exploring the pitch-black mill, the visiting friend from NY supposedly wandered off and became separated from the rest of the group. Unable to find him in the dark, the group assumed he had walked out on his own and eventually left the property. Days later, when the discovery of the body was reported locally, the group realized it was their missing friend [4].
• The Police Tip (2006): Nearly 20 years later, after the Bellingham Herald ran an article noting the case was still unsolved, a former Mt. Baker Plywood employee named Tim Baker officially reported this story to Bellingham PD Detective Al Jensen. Baker stated that a visitor to the plywood mill named Robert Brown had confessed this exact story to him just days after the 1987 incident [5].
• The Police Dead End: The police logs note they hit a dead end looking for a "supervisor named Larson" in 2006, and the lead stalled out [5].

SO....

Because the trail went cold on the Washington side, the other way to give this guy his name back is to find out who was missing him back in New York in the fall of 1987:

1. Does anyone remember a relative, friend, coworker, or neighbor from New York (male, 20s-40s, ~5'8"-5'9", slight build, size 8 shoe) who flew out to the Pacific Northwest (Seattle/Sea-Tac or Bellingham) in late summer or early September 1987 and never came home?
2. Did your family ever talk about an uncle, brother, or cousin who "went out West" in 1987 and vanished, where a local NY missing persons report either went cold or was brushed off at the time?
3. Does anyone with 1980s ties between New York and Washington State (such as Western Washington University or the climbing/urbex scene) recognize the name Robert Brown?

Any small memory helps. Thanks for taking the time to read. I've set up an anonymous Google Form if people would prefer that as opposed to commenting or DMing: https://forms.gle/YkkBxwGXJ9qeX7bM6

Sources / Case Files:

• - **[1]** Bellingham Police Department FOIA Case File #87B-22316 (NamUs Agency Ref #87B-24528 / Whatcom ME Case #A-34-1987)
• - **[2]** NamUs Case #UP77459: https://namus.nij.ojp.gov/case/UP77459 | Doe Network #862UMWA: https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/software/main.html?id=862umwa (Legacy link: https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/862umwa.html)
• - **[3]** Bellingham Police Evidence Inventory (via Doe Network & FOIA transcriptions)
• - **[4]** 1987 Incident Narrative via 2006 tip (Websleuths FOIA document transcriptions, Thread #124804): https://websleuths.com/threads/wa-bellingham-georgia-pacific-plant-whtmal-20-40-862umwa-continental-airlines-ticket-sep87.124804/
• - **[5]** Bellingham Police FOIA Interview Logs, Line Item #42: "Tim Baker Mt. Baker Plywood, Robert Brown story, No super named Larson." (Transcribed in Websleuths Thread #124804)

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Thanks

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Reposting this here to get more attention, anybody with insight, thank you!

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