Tonight UM showed the story of a man who received a chest from a friend UM identified only as "Gaby". Years later the man couldnt resist the temptation and opened the chest. Inside he found the human remains of an unidentified person.

When asked, Gaby said that he had bought the chest in an antique store but he couldnt remember even the state where this store was.

Investigators said that the victim was shot with a gun that was produced during the first years of 20th century. Although they found a plastic bag that wasnt made before the fifties.

Gaby was 40 yo at the time of the show. So IMO Gaby knew something about the crime (maybe he was protecting someone). I dont think he actually killed this person.

Do you know if there is an update of this story?

I've seen it on Lifetime, but never with an update. Take that for what it's worth I guess.

I always thought it was odd that "Gaby" bought the trunk and never opened it. But I also think it is unlikely he was involved or had any knowledge of the trunk's contents. I find it hard to believe he would have been that careless and given the trunk to someone else had he been fully aware of what was inside.

Yes, I dont think Gabby really knew who this guy was or anything like that. The only thing that kind of bothered me was Gabby's attitude, where he said "I didnt do the guy, I didnt shoot this dude." I mean it wasnt so much what he said but how he said it, it was just kind of in this tone I didnt care for.

Yes, this man had been dead for so long, Gabby didnt kill him, the sheriff thought Gabby knew more than what he was telling. While I see the point that Gabby wouldnt have left the trunk with someone else had he known there was a body in there, it could be Gabby thought the guy would never go to the trouble of taking a lock off a trunk that wasnt his.

It is my opinion that Gabby knew there was a body in the trunk before his former neighbor told him there was a body in the trunk. However it is also my opinion that Gabby really knew nothing more about it except convinently forgetting where he picked up the trunk at. How you could forget where you purchased a world war 1 era footlocker is beyond me.

Yes, I dont think Gabby really knew who this guy was or anything like that. The only thing that kind of bothered me was Gabby's attitude, where he said "I didnt do the guy, I didnt shoot this dude." I mean it wasnt so much what he said but how he said it, it was just kind of in this tone I didnt care for.

Yes, this man had been dead for so long, Gabby didnt kill him, the sheriff thought Gabby knew more than what he was telling. While I see the point that Gabby wouldnt have left the trunk with someone else had he known there was a body in there, it could be Gabby thought the guy would never go to the trouble of taking a lock off a trunk that wasnt his.

It is my opinion that Gabby knew there was a body in the trunk before his former neighbor told him there was a body in the trunk. However it is also my opinion that Gabby really knew nothing more about it except convinently forgetting where he picked up the trunk at. How you could forget where you purchased a world war 1 era footlocker is beyond me.

Yeah, this one is strange. It's hard to see why Gaby was so hostile about the whole thing, since it seems fairly obvious that he couldn't have been involved directly. Even if he knew who committed the murder - which seems unlikely - that person would have been old enough that it seems silly for Gaby to be aggressively evasive about the whole thing. Perhaps that's it --- he's protecting someone --- but then why, if he knew what the trunk contained, would he dump it with someone? Maybe Gaby's just a negative personality, but it's definitely weird.

I always got the impression that Gaby was just annoyed that he was brought into this. He's probably thinking "all this attention I'm getting over buying a stupid trunk". Especially considering it made a national tv show. I certainly don't think he's responsible, didn't they say the gun used to kill the guy was really old? It makes more sense it happened long ago.

I always got the impression that Gaby was just annoyed that he was brought into this. He's probably thinking "all this attention I'm getting over buying a stupid trunk". Especially considering it made a national tv show. I certainly don't think he's responsible, didn't they say the gun used to kill the guy was really old? It makes more sense it happened long ago.

I guess it's all a matter of personality. If I had bought a trunk with a 50 year old mystery locked inside it, I'd be excited to try to help solve it in whatever way I could. I'd go all Hardy Boys on that *.

I guess it's all a matter of personality. If I had bought a trunk with a 50 year old mystery locked inside it, I'd be excited to try to help solve it in whatever way I could. I'd go all Hardy Boys on that *.
Yeah, but some people are easily spooked by that stuff. A lot of my family and friends think I'm "wierd" because I look at doenetwork and websleuths, and follow UM so closely. Some people would much rather keep their distance. Sounds like a good segment, don't think I've ever seen it......

Okay, just watched this segment and caught something. The bag that was found in the footlocker....I had to re-wind several times and turn up the volume very high to make out what Robert said, but I believe he said the bag was from a grocery store called Hy-Vee's (or Heidi's). Gaby had said he thought he could have bought the trunk in Wyoming, Iowa, Illinois, or Oklahoma. A grocery chain called Hy-Vee's is located througout Iowa and Illinois (where I'm from). So I'm thinking if he's telling the truth, he probably purchased the trunk from one of those 2 states. Doesn't really get us anywhere, but I was proud I could find that link. Haha, I'm such a fabulous detective :)

Hey Kamy, yeah I thought originally that he said Heidi's but after listening to it again, I think Stack was saying Hy-Vee. They said the big with that logo was made in the 1950's, at that time Hy-Vee was only in Iowa. In fact Hy-Vee did not expand to other states until the late 1960's when it expanded here into Southern Minnesota where I am. In fact we have two Hy-Vee's within a 10 mile radius of my town and my mom and I just went shopping there last weekend. In the 1970's, Hy-Vee expanded into Nebraska, Illinois and South Dakota and in the 1980's expanded into Kansas. Hy-Vee is now expanding into Wisconsin and has nearly 200 stores.

This one isn't solved either huh. Just saw the segment.

I wouldn't be so quick to exonerate Gabby so quickly.

1. The store wrapper that was found in the body was from the 1950s not the 1930s. So the body was put into that locker around the 1950s at least.

2. Gabby's shifting of his story about where he found the locker is too suspicious for it to just be him being annoyed. Gabby was nervous about something.

3. There is the huge missing clue of the identity of the man in the footlocker. Till his identity is discovered, nobody should be crossed of a suspect list.

One theory that comes to mind is that the body may be someone that was murdered by a old relative of Gabby. And that Gabby somehow was put upon to keep this a secret.

I wonder how easy it is to reset an old footlocker if you opened it?

Well, I still do not think Gabby killed the guy in the footlocker. Even if you believed that the man in the locker was killed in the 1950's, Gabby was in his mid 40's in the late 1980's or so when the segment was shot. So Gabby would have been at oldest in his mid teens when the man was placed in the footlocker. I think it is possible maybe even probably that Gabby's grandpa could have killed the man in the footlocker. But, did they say when the man in the trunk actually died? They said it was not before 1908 since the gun that killed him was not manufactured until then. I personally believe the man in the trunk had been buried once before and then at some point, for some reason was dug up once and then was put in the footlocker for some reason.

I personally believe the man in the trunk had been buried once before and then at some point, for some reason was dug up once and then was put in the footlocker for some reason.

I also watched this segment over the weekend, very interesting story. Kadrmas15, your hunch is right, someone in the segment (might of been the sheriff) believed that the bones had been buried and them dug up and placed in the box. I think the police should have "Gaby" do a polygraph test asking WHERE he bought that box. I'm sure he knows exactly where he bought that box.

I have not seen this segment (or if I have, it's been a long time and I do not remember). However, it reminds me of a case that just recently went to trial in New Orleans--a link about it can be found here:

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/07/jury_convicts_john_morgan_of_k.html

Essentially, the guy involved--John Morgan--lived in the French Quarter and was dating a woman who worked as a waitress there. In 2002, she disappeared. Since she had told a couple of people that she was thinking about leaving town, her friends and family thought she might have moved on and cut off contact. In reality, he had killed her, dismembered her, and stuffed her into a trunk. He then kept that trunk (which apparently stunk to all hell), using it as a coffee table even, and took it with him to a new apt. when he began dating a new girlfriend.

After Katrina, he and the girlfriend left town and left the trunk behind, telling the landlords of the apartment (who also happened to be her parents) to throw everything of their's out. The landlords dragged the trunk to the street and, curious about the smell, broke into it--and an arm fell out!

The reason I tell this story is that, in the case of this guy, he was so disassociated from reality that he didn't consider the possibility that, by dragging the body around in a trunk for several years, he was increasing the otherwise slim chances that he would be caught. I think it's possible in Gaby's case that, if he knew about the body in the trunk (or was even somehow involved), he may have adopted an "out of sight out of mind" mentality regarding the trunk. But, as I said, I haven't seen the segment, and I don't know much about it. Just throwing it out there.

Gabby was in his mid 40's in the late 1980's or so when the segment was shot. So Gabby would have been at oldest in his mid teens when the man was placed in the footlocker.

Being 14 or 15 doesn't necessarily preclude him from being capable of murder. As we have seen several times there have been kids that age that have killed.

Maybe this was an accident that Gaby had playing with some vintage pistol and his parents helped cover it up by placing the body in the chest. Maybe Gaby had a hazy memory of this or didn't realize what was done until after he gave up the footlocker.

Unsolved Mysteries left out a bunch of details. I have this whole thing on VCR tape, as the sheriff at the time, is a close friend of mine. This happened right here in Thermopolis. It seems like Gabby had been thru here, stayed at Newell Sessions place (where the box was found).
The box and remains were sent to DCI in Cheyenne according to our local paper. An identification of the remains was made, once a casting was made who it could have been. But for some reason the show left that part out.
The remains are thought to have been possibly Butch Cassidy, who did live in these parts

I wouldn't be so quick to exonerate Gabby so quickly.

1. The store wrapper that was found in the body was from the 1950s not the 1930s. So the body was put into that locker around the 1950s at least.

2. Gabby's shifting of his story about where he found the locker is too suspicious for it to just be him being annoyed. Gabby was nervous about something.

3. There is the huge missing clue of the identity of the man in the footlocker. Till his identity is discovered, nobody should be crossed of a suspect list.

One theory that comes to mind is that the body may be someone that was murdered by a old relative of Gabby. And that Gabby somehow was put upon to keep this a secret.

I wonder how easy it is to reset an old footlocker if you opened it?

The remains are thought to have been possibly Butch Cassidy, who did live in these parts

You have a web site link, detailing this?

Unsolved Mysteries left out a bunch of details. I have this whole thing on VCR tape, as the sheriff at the time, is a close friend of mine. This happened right here in Thermopolis. It seems like Gabby had been thru here, stayed at Newell Sessions place (where the box was found).
The box and remains were sent to DCI in Cheyenne according to our local paper. An identification of the remains was made, once a casting was made who it could have been. But for some reason the show left that part out.
The remains are thought to have been possibly Butch Cassidy, who did live in these parts
Butch Cassidy?! Whoa..

Uhhh hello? Don't leave us hanging here, capt777737. If you have some proof this could be Butch Cassidy, let's see it.

No response?

I was hoping there might be some evidence it was William H. Bonney's remains in Gaby's chest.:D

Solve two Unsolved Mysteries at once!:D

Gaby's belligerence and changing of the story about the chest is too much for me to dismiss.

My two cents has been that Gaby didn't know there was a body in the chest originally.

But when he found out there was a body in there, I think it dawned on him who it might be.

Gaby knows of someone that was murdered or disappeared when the box was opened in the 1950s.

Here's a thought:

Maybe a relative of Gaby's shot this person back in the early 50s. Buried the body on their property. Then as the years went by they packed up and moved. Perhaps paranoid that remains could possibly be found and then linked to them, they dug up the body then packed it in the trunk and moved away. It may have been a family secret of sorts that was eventually passed to Gabby.

When Gabby left the trunk with his friend, he may not have expected his friend to be so nosey and open the trunk. Since it was not his own crime, it may have been that he had the out of sight out of mind mentality and didn't conceive of any real consequences.

That at least seems possible and would even explain why parts of the body were missing since it had been buried once already.

Just a thought...

Are we sure that Gaby even bought this trunk at some random yard sale like he claimed? (I haven't seen this in a while so I don't recall the details.) With him being so vague about where he bought/acquired the trunk, I'm thinking it could have easily been in the family or it came from a friend or something.

Regardless of his age, Gaby still could have been the killer. Young people do commit murder. Some even plan the crime well enough to conceal the body and other evidence. The Columbine killers were teens. The King brothers, were about 12 and 13 when they killed their dad. There's also Jeffrey Dahmer, who first murdered, dismembered, and concealed the victim's body while he was still a teenager, IIRC.

What was the name of that boy who was about 13 when he committed the premeditated murder of his friend and disposed of the body in the weekly trash? He tried to say they were playing cops and robbers with a real gun and that it was an accident. I don't think the victim's body was ever found.

I also like the theory posted previously that the body could have been removed from it's original location and transferred to the foot locker for some reason.

It's possible that Gaby could have left the foot locker behind with friends while knowing that it contained the remains of a murder victim. One case where this happened was that crazy woman who killed many of her newborns and put their bodies in bins inside a rented storage locker. She stopped paying her rent on the storage facility causing them to open the locker and discover the bodies. I think it's pretty much common knowledge that if you stop paying your rent, they open those things up and start selling off the stuff to recover their lost rental income. Like that woman, Gaby could have known about the body and that it would eventually be found.

As I recall in the segment it said that they believe that the body had been buried previously and then stuffed in the footlocker. Perhaps there is some soil samples (extremely small samples obviously) that could be tested to see where the body might have been buried. And it could also explain the bag found in the trunk.

On a different note when I first saw this segment I wondered if the man in the trunk was a relative of mine (seriously). My great great grandfather was president of a mining company that operated in the Rocky Mountain states but in the 1930s he literally fell off the face of the earth. The assumption is that he died sometime in the 1930s or 1940s (due to his age) but we have no idea where, when, or how, and certainly no body or burial place. I know it's a long shot but it makes more sense than anything my family has been able to come up with.

As I recall in the segment it said that they believe that the body had been buried previously and then stuffed in the footlocker. Perhaps there is some soil samples (extremely small samples obviously) that could be tested to see where the body might have been buried. And it could also explain the bag found in the trunk.

On a different note when I first saw this segment I wondered if the man in the trunk was a relative of mine (seriously). My great great grandfather was president of a mining company that operated in the Rocky Mountain states but in the 1930s he literally fell off the face of the earth. The assumption is that he died sometime in the 1930s or 1940s (due to his age) but we have no idea where, when, or how, and certainly no body or burial place. I know it's a long shot but it makes more sense than anything my family has been able to come up with.

Wow. Just curious but do you have any old family photos? If not of your great great grandpa, then perhaps other relatives that may resemble him? If so, is there a chance that any of them resemble the composite made from the mold of the skull of the foot locker body?

Wow. Just curious but do you have any old family photos? If not of your great great grandpa, then perhaps other relatives that may resemble him? If so, is there a chance that any of them resemble the composite made from the mold of the skull of the foot locker body?

Yeah I do. It's hard to compare the photo with the composite though because of the angle and because my great great grandfather has a mustache in the photo. This is a facebook page I made for him and it has the photo, in case anyone wants to weigh in: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Do-you-know-this-man/130439350323305?v=info

I'm not saying it is him but you never know.

Thanks for the link. I am no expert, but I will say that the cheek bone structure looks similar.

The problem with the composite on UM is that the artist would have no way of knowing the weight of the person. They say in the segment that the eyes (I am assuming the eye color is what they are meaning) and the hair are guesswork. But the weight seems like an issue to me. They would have no way of knowing if the person had a slim looking face, or pudgy, or whatever.

The picture on your page shows a man with a bit more pudge (not to say he's fat, just has more puffy cheeks) than the composite on UM. Of course this is based on one photo. Most people look at least a little different from picture to picture even if taken only days apart.

It would be interesting to see any more photos if you ever come across them. The timeline you have seems to match up. I wonder if there are any more details out there you could cross reference?

Oh and just to touch on the subject, I am not certain that Gaby could be the killer. I mean, He was in his mid 40s in the late 80s- early 90s. Without being certain of the exact age of Gaby or when the case aired, lets just assume he was 45 in 1990. I think that is a fair assumption give or take a couple of years.

The bag in the locker with the body was made in the early 1950s (exact time of manufacture was not specified any clearer in the segment) lets say probably no later than 1953. If you then assume that the body was murdered and placed directly into the locker, Gaby would at best be around 8 years old at the time. Certainly not impossible to have killed someone, but don't forget the other factors.

-Where ever this crime occured, it would have to have been at least somewhat messy. Obviously the bullet did not go all the way through, and was from a small caliber gun, but head wounds bleed a lot.

-Also, UM suggests that the body had been buried for some time before being placed in the locker. IMO this would imply that the person was dead long before that plastic bag was manufactured as the body would have to decay to a certain extent before soil samples would be left on the bone itself (again, I am no expert. Just a guess based on what was presented on the show).

If I am right in my assumptions, I will also put one more out there. I will guess that the plastic bag was relatively new when placed in with the body. So if Gaby is the killer, where does this leave us? Did a 5 or 6 year old Gaby kill someone, bury the body, clean up any crime scene there may have been, manage to keep quiet about this for several years only to dig up the body and place it in a trunk a couple of years later and toss in a plastic bag?

That just doesn't work for me. Obviously the person could have been killed when Gaby was much older. There was no reason that an old gun couldn't have been used. But the plastic bag gives at least some clue as to the time the body was put in there. Most people don't hang on to plastic bags for extended periods of time.

All of that being said, I do feel that Gaby knows more than he is telling. He is very cold hearted and evasive in the interview. I would even buy the whole, not sure where I bought it. But he gave like 6 different possiblities. If I went to a lot of garage sales and bought something as unique as that locker, I can almost gurantee that I would at least be able to narrow it down to what state I bought it in. Maybe he travels a lot. Who knows? I will even concede that if he did not want to damage the locker or the lock, he may have waited to open it and just over time, put it on the back burner and forgot about it. But at least cooperate a little more, especially if there is a chance you could be connected to something you may not have done.

I think he knows something. I feel it is as I said before, this is something that was likely a family secret of sorts and Gaby just got cought without a chair when the music stopped.

Thanks for the link. I am no expert, but I will say that the cheek bone structure looks similar.

The problem with the composite on UM is that the artist would have no way of knowing the weight of the person. They say in the segment that the eyes (I am assuming the eye color is what they are meaning) and the hair are guesswork. But the weight seems like an issue to me. They would have no way of knowing if the person had a slim looking face, or pudgy, or whatever.

The picture on your page shows a man with a bit more pudge (not to say he's fat, just has more puffy cheeks) than the composite on UM. Of course this is based on one photo. Most people look at least a little different from picture to picture even if taken only days apart.

It would be interesting to see any more photos if you ever come across them. The timeline you have seems to match up. I wonder if there are any more details out there you could cross reference?

Only known photo. Back in the early 80s my mom contacted a very old lady (she was in her 90s then) whose late husband had worked with my great great grandfather in the mining business. She said she had photos and other documents and that my mother could drive up and take whatever she wanted. Unfortunately my mom didn't have a driver's license then and no one in her family wanted to drive her. A little while after that the old lady's phone was disconnected (she was living off of Social Security and didn't have the money to pay the bill) and my mom never heard from her again. Obviously given that this was over 25 years ago she has more than likely passed away but it was such a shame and a missed opportunity.

I've seen it on Lifetime, but never with an update. Take that for what it's worth I guess.

I always thought it was odd that "Gaby" bought the trunk and never opened it. But I also think it is unlikely he was involved or had any knowledge of the trunk's contents. I find it hard to believe he would have been that careless and given the trunk to someone else had he been fully aware of what was inside.

Opening such a footlocker can become a baffling ordeal if you don't have the necessary tools on hand. :lol:

It's possible that Gabby was belligerent because he was hiding a secret and knew the murderer or it's possible that Gabby was belligerent due to being accused of murder.

I just can't wrap my mind around the idea of committing a murder, burying the body in the ground, digging it back up years later, stuffing it in a trunk, carrying it around with you...then giving it to someone else and just hoping that they won't open it and discover your secret! Or your relative's secret, if they are the one who committed the crime.

The idea of buying a trunk and not looking in it doesn't make much sense either, but I think it makes slightly more sense than the above scenario.

The idea of buying a trunk and not looking in it doesn't make much sense either, but I think it makes slightly more sense than the above scenario.

It can be annoying to buy something and not have the necessary tools to operate it. I've had this happen before when I bought something that required AAA batteries that I did not have so I understand Gabby's perspective of not having tools and just leaving the footlocker lying around. He probably didn't spend much money on it and just didn't much care to pursue it.