Gabby's chest

[FanfromES]

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?

[justins5256]

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.

[kadrmas15]

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.

[mozartpc27]

Originally Posted by kadrmas15

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.

[crystaldawn]

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.

[mozartpc27]

Originally Posted by crystaldawn

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 *.

[kamy]

Originally Posted by mozartpc27

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......

[kamy]

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

[kadrmas15]

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.

[everybodylovesrs]

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

[Mastermind]

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?

[kadrmas15]

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.

[UMfan77]

Originally Posted by kadrmas15

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.

[deuce5000]

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/2...rgan_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.

[Mastermind]

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.