Someone posted this on the Unsolved Mysteries subreddit, that the "Gabby's Bones" skeleton has actually been identified!

For those who don't remember, this case was about a man named Newell Sessions who was given a footlocker and some other possessions by a man named "Gabby". In 1992, Newell and his family opened the footlocker and found a human skeleton. Further testing revealed that the man had been shot to death. Gabby denied knowing about the skeleton, so there seemed to be no way of knowing who the man was.

However, on October 26, 2017, the Hot Springs County Sheriff's Office announced that the skeleton had been identified as a man named "Joseph Mulvaney". Joseph's daughter told police that her father had been shot by her uncle around 1960. He was then placed in the footlocker and buried in Iowa. Sometime later, the locker was dug up and transported by the uncle to Wyoming. The uncle left the locker there and moved to Mississippi where he committed suicide. DNA testing confirmed Joseph's identity.

Unfortunately, there isn't much more information about it. I'm not sure if "Gabby" is the uncle of the woman or if he got the footlocker from the uncle. Also, it doesn't mention if the uncle was ever arrested for the murder back in 1960s (or if anyone knew about it back then). Regardless, it's amazing that this case was finally solved! I honestly never thought it would be.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=789928571179248&id=570252019813572

That's incredible! That case always had so many more question than answers. Glad to see they were able solve it. I wonder if we'll hear more, though.

“I didn’t shoot the guy...” — Gabby :lol:

Impressive turnaround on that DNA sample. Collected on October 19th with full result and conclusion plus media mention barely a week later.

What the what!!!!???? Awesome! This is one of those I thought would never have a conclusion. Very cool.

Well that's weird.

News Story
http://www.kulr8.com/story/36717535/body-identified-in-1960s-missing-persons-case

News Story
http://www.kulr8.com/story/36717535/body-identified-in-1960s-missing-persons-case

We are very soon after the DNA connection. It will probably take a while for an actual news organization to take a look and provide more details. That link holds the same info as the Facebook blurb. The only aspect added from yesterday is that many tips sourced from the Unsolved Mysteries broadcast, and apparently contributed to the solve.

Wow. Always a case that fascinated me but never even a case I thought would ever be solved. I never even considered the possibility, that's how remote it always seemed. But I'm glad it was solved and it's good to see so many of those old cases finally get some resolution after all of these years.

I just watched this one today and was thinking it would never get resolved.

“I didn’t shoot the guy...” — Gabby :lol:

"I didn't shoot this dude." :lol:

I just saw this segment a few months ago and I'm rewatching it now. I never thought it would be solved. This is awesome news.

I never thought this would get solved simply due the supposed date of the murder, which seemed to be based only on the age of the bullet used. Turns out that the 1950's bag was the better clue to the date of the murder, and that an older gun was used - for instance, I own guns that fire the now less common .38 S&W, but it isnt as though those guns simply stopped existing.

The UM wiki has some confusing info - it makes it sound like 'Gabby' did the murder but then it mentions an uncle who committed suicide?

Just watched the segment again. The age and timelines are interesting.

Going by the info in the segment as well as the news story, it would seem that Gabby was likely the Uncle mentioned in the story. So presumably he killed his father, put him in the locker and then buried him for some time. Then when he left Iowa, he dug up the locker and took it with him to Wyoming. He then left it there with Newel, who was the one who found it.

The sheriff in the UM segment gives Gabby’s age in the early 1990s to be in his mid 40s. So let’s say he was 45. This would have him born around the later 1940s. So if the murder occurred in 1960, Gabby would have been in his mid teens when the murder occurred. Still young, but old enough to commit the crime and cover it up.

So we can assume that Gabby is now also dead as the story says the uncle commited suicide some time after the bones were found. It would be interesting to see what additional info comes out later on.

It seems to be glossed over in the press release that it was reported in the segment that the body was not first buried in the footlocker, but likely buried and then dug up and put in the footlocker sometime later. This is bolstered by the fact that both of the man's lower leg bones and one hand were missing.

Best line by far - "oh my! It's a skeleton!"

for instance, I own guns that fire the now less common .38 S&W, but it isnt as though those guns simply stopped existing.

That's what I'd always figured, too. I've got some obsolete firearms, as do some friends of mine, and while ammunition isn't plentiful, it still exists in many cases.

according to the Unsolved Wikia, Gabby is the one that shot the guy that was in the trunk. I never would have guessed


http://unsolvedmysteries.wikia.com/wiki/Gabby%27s_Bones

Two things: although I believe their conclusions, hilariously the picture of Joseph Mulvaney looks absolutely nothing like the facial reconstruction that they did for the show. He was killed when he was 37, so he didn't look dissimilar to that young looking image. They were waaaaay off.

Secondly, obviously how would you forget that you have a f**ing skeleton in a chest? I leaned toward believing "Gabby" partly because someone insisted that the lock was put on it before he was born and partly because... who would be so effing stupid?

Secondly, obviously how would you forget that you have a f**ing skeleton in a chest?

There was a case in New Orleans of a body found in a trunk during the cleanup post-Katrina. The guy (John Morgan) had killed his girlfriend in 2002, dismembered her, and kept her in a trunk for 3+ years, during which time he moved to a new apartment with a new girlfriend and brought the trunk with him. When they were given FEMA relief checks, he and the girlfriend went to North Carolina and left the trunk behind. The body was discovered by the landlord cleaning out the apartment. Here's a story from the trial (http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/07/jury_convicts_john_morgan_of_k.html). It was also profiled in an episode of "Disappeared," season 4, episode 26, "Hard Life in the Big Easy."

By all accounts, this guy John was insane and deeply manipulative. Thought he could get away with it, or that he'd be able to talk his way out of it. I suspect there's a dissociative element, where once the body is in the trunk, it on some level doesn't "exist" to you any more. Otherwise, how could you get by day to day? If there's no body, there's nothing to feel guilty about.

And so I think something similar may have happened with Gaby. He didn't forget so much as remove himself (in his mind) from the scenario that led to the bones getting there. Maybe he thought the trunk would never be opened; if it was he could claim he didn't know anything about it. Which he did, and was only caught too late to face the consequences.

Secondly, obviously how would you forget that you have a f**ing skeleton in a chest?

Better than having a.......SKELETON IN YOUR CLOSET! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Thank you....thank you, ladies and gentlemen. I'll be here all week. :wave:

If Gabby was the murderer all along... how comes Unsolved Mysteries did not do enough research to be able to present in the segment that Gabby’s father just happened to have mysteriously disappeared, which he obviously must have done?

My first thought was that it was a miracle it was solved; now that I know the whole story it seems kind of hinky that it took as long as it did - the police should have figured out pretty quickly who this guy probably was once his bones were discovered!

Are we absolutely sure that "Gabby" from the Unsolved Mysteries segment and this woman's uncle who allegedly committed the murder are one in the same?

I have tried to find a source aside from the UM wiki that has this information, but have been unable to.

Are we absolutely sure that "Gabby" from the Unsolved Mysteries segment and this woman's uncle who allegedly committed the murder are one in the same?

I have tried to find a source aside from the UM wiki that has this information, but have been unable to.

I got the information from this source: Bones identified after being nameless for 25 years (http://www.thermopir.com/story/2017/11/02/news/bones-identified-after-being-nameless-for-25-years/4822.html)

Sessions told Lumley the trunk had been left behind by John David Morris, aka David Tanner, when he moved in 1986.

They recreated the scene with Sessions opening the trunk for the first time and interviewed Lumley. They then traveled to Texas where they interviewed Morris, who refused to be seen on camera and was filmed in silhouette. Because of his reluctance, the crew dubbed him, "Gabby."

Quote from the granddaughter:
Her mother told her she believed Joseph had been killed either by his wife or an uncle, John Morris. The strange thing was, John Morris had never been around until the family moved back to central Illinois.
"He might not even be my uncle," Shelley said. "He is the one who had the trunk, and he was a bad guy."

You have to sign up to read the article, unfortunately, but it's a free trial I believe.

EDIT: Here's another article which has similar information:
55 Year Old Murder Case: Solved in Thermopolis (http://www.kcwy13.com/content/news/Very-Cold-Case-Solved-in-Thermopolis-458242843.html)

Two things: although I believe their conclusions, hilariously the picture of Joseph Mulvaney looks absolutely nothing like the facial reconstruction that they did for the show. He was killed when he was 37, so he didn't look dissimilar to that young looking image. They were waaaaay off.

Secondly, obviously how would you forget that you have a f**ing skeleton in a chest? I leaned toward believing "Gabby" partly because someone insisted that the lock was put on it before he was born and partly because... who would be so effing stupid?

The lady said it was probably of a man around 60. She was way off lol, think it was more than the eyes and hair which were guesswork.

Also I think on UM wiki Gabby committed suicide, so yeah case closed basically.

“I didn’t shoot the guy...” — Gabby :lol:

I didn't do the dude. :D

What...in the actual....

Wow - this is an especially strange case, and showcases the stupidity of this criminal/murderer. If the resolution of this case is accurate, this guy kept the bones of the person her killed in a case/trunk for years - and then gave the case to someone else for "safe-keeping" while he went out of state.

While he was gone, the person/people he had entrusted the case to decided to open this, and found the bones of the person he had allegedly killed.

What a dummy. Why didn't he get rid of the bones at some point after the crime, instead of keeping them for years?! And, if he did feel he had to keep them, why did he give the case - with the bones - to someone else?! He should have known there was a chance they would have opened the case in his absence. What extreme stupidity.

I did a bit of digging around on this case and found this (https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2019/03/20/gabbys-bones-identified-joseph-mulvaney-iowa-missing-person-wwii-veteran-cold-case-homicide-murder/3129555002/) article. Among other things, it mentions that Joseph Mulvaney met Mary Alyce McLees in California while working for the railroads and after he left the military. A date is not given. Mary had one child from a previous relationship, John David Morris. Morris is who UM referred to as Gabby. In the early 1960's, the couple and their children all moved to Iowa, which is where Mary was from. Shortly after they purchased a home together in 1963, Mulvaney disappeared.

I do not believe any missing reports were filed on Mulvaney and apparently he didn't have any other family. Mary passed away in 2009. The article mentions that the granddaughter says they marriage between Joseph and Mary was not a very good one. I think it's pretty obvious that either Mary or John killed Joseph and buried him in the backyard. Then John dug him up and carried him with him via the trunk for some years before giving the trunk to Sessions. The fact that he was missing for almost three decades by the time his body was found, yet Mary did not file a missing persons report or do anything to locate him, tells me she was very much involved in either the murder or the concealment of his body.

The fact that he was missing for almost three decades by the time his body was found, yet Mary did not file a missing persons report or do anything to locate him, tells me she was very much involved in either the murder or the concealment of his body.

My thoughts exactly. As soon as I read all of the updates to this case it seemed pretty self-explanatory. Mary didn't like her husband very much and as soon as he signed for a house she simply killed him, having used him for all he was worth to her. It's likely she had Morris help her as an accomplice which would explain how he obtained the bones. It's possible she even convinced him, only 16 at the time with Joseph only being his step father, to do the deed himself. Regardless, the fact this happened as soon as they signed for their new house and no one reported his disappearance screams "She did it!" to me.

What always cracked me up about this case was Robert Stack's narration, Stack was almost always neutral about these cases, or at least he came off that way even though most accounts are he brooded about and took a lot of these cases very seriously, and Unsolved Mysteries was serious business to him.

But in this one, you can clearly hear him mocking Gabby's story, he clearly knew something was off about this guy. And the very fact that they knicknamed him Gabby tells you a lot too. :lol:

The kicker for me was when he said that he wasn't even as old as the gun that shot this guy. I was like what the hell difference does that make? A young person can't shoot an old gun?