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A Wyoming resident finds human bones in a military footlocker.  There was a skeleton in the footlocker  They found a bullet in the skull CASE DETAILS  3-D reconstruction of the man in the box In 1986, a long-time resident of Thermopolis, Wyoming, whom we will call Gabby, moved away. He left some of his belongings in a shed, including an old, locked trunk. He left the shed with a friend, Newell Sessions. Then, six years passed. Finally, Newell couldn’t stand the suspense another minute and opened the trunk. What he found, shocked him:
Newell’s wife told him he had to call the sheriff. Before he did, though, Newell felt obliged to contact Gabby. Gabby told Newell that he’d never even opened the footlocker. He thought he’d bought it at a garage sale. But according to Newell, when it came to the time and the place, Gabby’s memory failed him:
Newell Sessions contacted John Lumley, the sheriff of Hot Spring County. Right from the start, Sheriff Lumley was suspicious:
Two days later, the skull was examined by an x-ray machine. The tests revealed that a bullet was lodged in the skull. Now Sheriff Lumley thought he might have a murder case on his hands. He decided to have a chat with Gabby. But Gabby was unsure about the details. He said he might have bought the trunk in Wyoming, Iowa, Illinois, or maybe Oklahoma. It might have been as early as 1973, but maybe not. According to Gabby, he just wasn’t sure:
But Sheriff Lumley’s primary concern was not Gabby’s age:
On March 31, 1992, Sheriff Lumley turned the skeleton over to the Wyoming State Crime Lab in Cheyenne, in hopes that maybe the bones could tell him what Gabby could not. Sandra Mays was the lab technician that examined the skeleton:
In an effort to identify the victim, Sandra Mays created a three-dimensional facial reconstruction out of clay. Only the eyes and hair are guesswork. Otherwise, Sandra’s facial recreation should be a good likeness of the man who somehow got a bullet in his head, sometime after 1908. But who was the man? How and why did he die? The old trunk appeared to have been used by someone in the U.S. Armed services between World War I and World War II. Perhaps the trunk, alone, holds the key to unraveling this bizarre mystery. UPDATE: After 25 years, the work of the Hot Springs County Sheriff’s Office has brought this case to a close. In October 2017 a DNA sample was submitted by a woman who said that her father had been shot in the head sometime in 1960 by her uncle, and her father’s remains were placed in a trunk. The uncle transported the trunk to Wyoming, and then left it behind. The DNA sample was a 99% match to to the bones, which have now been identified as Joseph Mulvaney.
 Joseph Mulvaney Joseph Mulvaney Joseph Mulvaney Watch this case now on Amazon Prime in season five with Robert Stack and in season five with Dennis Farina. Also available on YouTube with Dennis Farina. Various seasons available now on Hulu. SUBMIT A TIP |
JacyM
Very strange case. Never heard about this one until now. It is very interesting that someone would buy a trunk like that at a yard sale and not want to try and open it right away. He does not even remember at all where he got it? I feel like you could pinpoint that down in your memory with it being something as a big as an old war trunk. The weirdest thing of all is now that we know who the person in the trunk actually was, the facial reconstruction was wayyyy off…. I know they are not always 100% accurate, but it wasn’t close at all. I’m guessing “Gabby” was the uncle who shot his brother? I’ll have to look up more details on this case.
Jackie
Kathy, sorry for your loss. “Thank you” to your dad posthumously for his service to our country. –Jackie
S. Young
The uncle in question was “Gabby”. Gabby shot his brother Joseph in 1960 then buried him in the trunk. He later unburied him and transported him to Wyoming where he left with him with his friend Newell Sessions. Gabby later committed suicide, probably due to the fact that he knew he was going to get caught or maybe he couldn’t deal with the guilt. Either way, Gabby aka John Morris killed Joseph. Case closed!
Brazilian Idol
According to the deceased’s daughter, it was her mother and half-brother (“Gabby”) who took her father’s life. She said that according to Gabby’s daughter, he didn’t pass away and is still hiding (information from 5 years ago)
Anthony
So was it “Gabby” all along? Is “Gabby” the uncle? Something always seemed fishy that you would leave the trunk behind with a dead body but have no idea that there was indeed a dead body inside.
One of the crazier stories from Unsolved Mysteries!
Kathy
It was my step brother. I gave my dna and it is my dad.
Jennifer
They claim this is now solved!
Kathy
Yes it is. It is my dad. I did the dna sample
James Coates
This case has been solved!!! I live in Thermopolis and work with local law enforcement, the following is from the Hot Springs County Sheriff’s Office facebook page:
On 10-26-2017 after 25 years of investigation The Hot Springs County Sheriff’s Office has finally made a positive identification on a case that has been nicknamed the (Bones Case).
The case originated on 03-31-1992 when a skeleton was located in a trunk on the Sessions property. It was later determined that the person who had been placed in the trunk had been shot in the head. Many leads were investigated including leads that were brought to the Sheriff’s Office by the hit show Unsolved Mysteries.
After DNA testing became more sophisticated and was completed by the Wyoming State Crime Lab it was held pending a viable tip.
On 10-19-17 a DNA sample was obtained from an adult female from Iowa who had relayed that her father had been shot in the head by her uncle some time in 1960 and then was placed in a trunk prior to being burried in Iowa. It was then stated that the uncle then dug the trunk back up and transported it to Wyoming where the uncle was working. The uncle then left the trunk behind. The uncle then moved to Mississippi where he later committed suicide.
The Wyoming State Crime Lab was able to determine that the female who had submitted the DNA sample was indeed a 99.99% match to the bones that had been collected.
The bones have now been identified as being Joseph Mulvaney who was born in 1923. Joseph will now be able to get a proper burial and the Mulvaney family can rest easy knowing that their family member has been found.
The Hot Springs County Sheriff’s Office wants to thank the Wyoming State Crime Lab, Jessica Hager with the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), Shelley Statler (granddaughter of Joseph) who never stopped trying to locate Joseph, Mitchellville Police Department, and all the dedicated Sheriff Deputies who worked this case to its finish.
(Included in this post is the original facial reconstruction that was completed by the Crime Lab and was later shown on Unsolved Mysteries)
https://www.facebook.com/hotspringscoso/posts/789928571179248
Sverre Vestboestad
My granduncle Tennes Rapstad disapeard in Worland in desember 1951. He was a caucasian male, 58 years of age. he is described beiing 5`7.He was from Norway, was a bachlor and had no.living relatives in the US. Worland is close to Thermopolis where the skeleton was found.
This summer i was in Thermopolis and gave my DNA to the police there. Will be interesting to see the result of that.
Jerimie Kraushaar
Sverre unfortunately the dna returned as not being a match for your grand uncle. But there was good news! The bones have been identified
Andre
The facial reconstruction looks like Judge Crater, he went missing in the 30’s and was never found.
It would make sense that the bones were moved into the steam trunk if where he was buried had to be relocated due to maybe relocation for construction or selling property.
Ryan
The Wikipedia page on Judge Crater says in 2005 the wife of a NYPD detective left deathbed notes that a corrupt cop killed him, and buried him at Coney Island, the site of where 27 years later the NY Aquarium was built. The crime lab staff did say it looked like the victim had been buried, and then dug up and placed in the foot locker. Interesting to think about.
anonymous
you may want to check the dna against some of jimmy hoffas relatives
Blue bird
Who Is This Person? Whoever This Person Was RIP My Freind! And God Bless You!
Joe Kulik
There was no DNA testing in 1986, but today it’s possible to even extract DNA from the leg bones & the teeth of a skeleton. If they did that, then the police could do a search thru Ancestry.com & other DNA databases to find family members of this skeleton. Ancestry.com finds family members that were long separated from the main “family tree” everyday for the general public. They’d probably do it for free for this case just for the publicity. … joseph.kulik.919@gmail.com
Joe Kulik
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njvSETeDNyk )–> As unbelievable as Gabby’s story is, this “Forensic Files” episode is about a 55 gallon drum containing a dead body that sat in the basement of a suburban NY home for 27 years & through 6 different homeowners w/o ANYONE Ever wondering what was in it. This barrel sat there as each new owner was happy to “inherit” from the previous owner & then to pass it along to a new owner a few years later, w/o ever being curious about what an industrial size barrel was doing in their basement. I guess SOME People are not the “curious type” !!! … joseph.kulik.919@gmail.com
Ronald Davis
The box looks like Greg edmondson
Jas
My grandpa Newell!!! I remember that unsolved mysteries filming. It was well below freezing and misserable
anonymous
Maybe he did purchase the trunk at a yard sale and does not want to give the details of where because he doesn’t want it to be discovered that he purchased it empty. The date of the trunk and lock and gun should be irrelevant – maybe he collects old things?? Did they ever investigate whether “Gabby” was a collector of old guns? Of course he may have gotten rid of that particular collection.
SJ
My thoughts exactly. One would definitely remember where they bought an old trunk like that. He wasn’t exactly elderly with a failing memory. Due to human nature, no person could resist the urge to open a trunk that was 50+ years old at the time. I don’t believe for a second that Gabby can’t remember.anything regarding the origin of the trunk, or his statement of never opening it. I’m with the former Sheriff on that hunch. Tabby isn’t being completely honest.
HNH
Did they ask the guy who lived there before or could they not find him?
Anonymous
The man that had the trunk originally claimed to have purchased it at a yard sale.
TygerMn
neat article post.Really thank you! Fantastic. fiverrr23Jz
C. Wright
From what I have read in the past there was a bag from a grocery store chain located in Iowa found in the trunk as well.