"Lyle Stevik," mystery man who committed suicide in 2001, finally identified

Background about the case

I love the hotel room. It's so from another place.

I wonder why the family doesn't want their name revealed. It's been so many years. I'm assuming this guy had some type of mental illness. It was clear he was a bulimic, which is not so common for men to do.

The motel room & nature setting feels a bit like Twink Peaks.

OP probably started that other thread.

Because of all the inappropriate attention the case has gotten, r3.

Has this internet armchair sleuthing thing gotten so out of hand that you really can't understand why the family wants privacy?

I see the fraus at Webslueths have solved another one. LOL NOT.

[quote]Has this internet armchair sleuthing thing gotten so out of hand that you really can't understand why the family wants privacy?

No, I don't think it was the armchair sleuthing thing, because it seems as if his family didn't look for him at all. They assume he just wanted to be alone but 17 years, and there was no missing person file just to be sure?

There was a reason why this man starved himself and left home. It could possibly be due to mental illness and the shame that follows it.

So what’s his real name?

Creepiest meta-thread ever.

freaky

They won't say r9, really fucking annoying considering his pic has been floating around the web so long. Now his parents are coy and want privacy? And how the fuck did NO ONE who knew his family ever see this? I say they weren't looking too hard.

You’d think friends of the family would reveal his real name. It appears the family doesn’t care about all the sleuthing to solve this case. Ungrateful.

It's tied in with this (see link) in some way that I am not clear on (I know the family), but basically r13 is right they are obsessed with avoiding publicity

Wait, you know the family r14? And are you a DL'er? And how did you never come to tell them that the kid is being discussed all the time and people are trying to find who he is?

I hope he gets a proper burial with his real name on a grave marker.

Spill, r14!

I've seen him identified as "California runaway" in some low end blogs and news sites with no source. Did the family say he ran away? He was 25. Did he run away as a teenager or something?

I find all the cyber slueths who assumed he was a remorseful 9/11 terrorist due to the timing of his death and dark hair, to be disturbing and laughable at once. So many unsophisticated douches out there "solving" mysteries.

Couldn't he just have been depressed and/or mentally ill? I mean, Occam's Razor and all.

R17 hangs out at Websleuths.

Yeah r18, I'm sure he was, I don't think anyone is disputing that. Only the webfraus were saying he was a terrorist.

why does that photo look vaguely like kd lang?

The case is tied in to a teenage goober who fucked a Hot Pocket for viral-video fame?

^ Apparently. Still waiting, r14. Do tell!

No, perv R14 wanted to just post a teen boy in a sexual situation. Don't encourage him.

He managed to check in to a hotel with no ID and no credit card, kill himself and remain anonymous for almost 20 years. Of course he did it just under the 9/11 buzzer.

If you were to pull that off today, how would you do it? ID theft would have to be involved, no?

Reminds me of this one.

More DNA propaganda. The Illuminati want to catalog everyone's genes.

Meh, fuck this guy's family, now they want to clam up? His fucking picture has been floating around online for 17 years now, almost twenty fucking years and none of them ever saw it or knew anyone who did? Sounds like they weren't looking that hard and they probably weren't since he was clearly mentally ill and possibly gay. Now they want their privacy though, Whatever.

R28) Yep, my sentiments exactly. I'm R8) by the way.

[quote]He managed to check in to a hotel with no ID and no credit card, kill himself and remain anonymous for almost 20 years. Of course he did it just under the 9/11 buzzer. If you were to pull that off today, how would you do it? ID theft would have to be involved, no?

It's not that challenging. I accidentally forgot my ID, but I managed to check into a major hotel chain w/o it. I can imagine anyone can check into a dump motel w/o ID and a credit card.

[quote]it seems as if his family didn't look for him at all. They assume he just wanted to be alone but 17 years, and there was no missing person file just to be sure?

Why would there be? They thought he left on his own and didn't want to be part of the family, so why would they go to the police? The police wouldn't do anything anyway, since he was an adult who purposely left the area for specific reasons.

And of course they didn't see his photo. They never would have been looking for it. They may have searched his real name on Facebook or something but that never would have lead them to this John Doe case, because they apparently thought he was alive.

And that "now they want their privacy" bit makes no sense. There was no point in time where the family didn't want privacy, and they don't owe you anything.

[quote] They thought he left on his own and didn't want to be part of the family, so why would they go to the police? The police wouldn't do anything anyway, since he was an adult who purposely left the area for specific reasons.

Apparently, this man had issues. It would seem to me that they would make some type of effort to find him and not let 17 years go along without at least making sure their initial thought is true.

More anonymous people cared about Lyle than his own fucking family. I want to know his real name.

Now with this case solved I really hope that they find out who Joseph Newton Chandler III really was.

Minority-American disowned by his family, maybe? He looked Iranian to me.

He was Latino and Native American according to the DNA testing.

I've always found it strange that nobody who knew this guy never recognized him from the photos. This is a pretty well-known case. So odd that nobody he went to school with, former co-workers etc. never stumbled across this guys pics on the internet in the last 17 years. Such a sad story.