In 1950, in none other than New York City, a man named Rudolph Fentz mysteriously appears on the street resembling a man that disappeared in 1876 and is then hit by a car and killed.
According to the legend, items were found on the body including $70 worth of old money, business cards telling his name and address, a token for a beer worth 5 cents, a bill for the care of a horse and carriage, and a letter sent to him dated 1876.
Rather than summarize, I'll post the investigation results here:
"Captain Hubert V. Rihm of the Missing Persons Department of NYPD tried using this information to identify the man. He found that the address on Fifth Avenue was part of a business; its current owner did not know Rudolph Fentz. Fentz's name was not listed in the address book, his fingerprints were not recorded anywhere, and no one had reported him missing. Rihm continued the investigation and finally found a Rudolph Fentz Jr. in a telephone book from 1939. Rihm spoke to the residents of the apartment building at the listed address who remembered Fentz and described him as a man about 60 years who had worked nearby. After his retirement, he moved to an unknown location in 1940. Contacting the bank, Rihm was told that Fentz died five years before, but his widow was still alive but lived in Florida. Rihm contacted her and learned that her husband's father had disappeared in 1876, aged 29. He had left the house for an evening walk and never returned. All efforts to locate him were in vain and no trace remained.
Captain Rihm checked the missing persons files on Rudolph Fentz in 1876. The description of his appearance, age, and clothing corresponded precisely to the appearance of the unidentified dead man from Times Square. The case was still marked unsolved. Fearing he would be held mentally incompetent, Rihm never noted the results of his investigation in the official files."
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolph_Fentz
This case apparently has never been solved. A year later, this story began appearing in books. It seems it inspired authors such as Jack finney.
P.S. Please note: Yet another link to Florida. All the strange stuff comes from Florida.
According to the legend, items were found on the body including $70 worth of old money, business cards telling his name and address, a token for a beer worth 5 cents, a bill for the care of a horse and carriage, and a letter sent to him dated 1876.
Rather than summarize, I'll post the investigation results here:
"Captain Hubert V. Rihm of the Missing Persons Department of NYPD tried using this information to identify the man. He found that the address on Fifth Avenue was part of a business; its current owner did not know Rudolph Fentz. Fentz's name was not listed in the address book, his fingerprints were not recorded anywhere, and no one had reported him missing. Rihm continued the investigation and finally found a Rudolph Fentz Jr. in a telephone book from 1939. Rihm spoke to the residents of the apartment building at the listed address who remembered Fentz and described him as a man about 60 years who had worked nearby. After his retirement, he moved to an unknown location in 1940. Contacting the bank, Rihm was told that Fentz died five years before, but his widow was still alive but lived in Florida. Rihm contacted her and learned that her husband's father had disappeared in 1876, aged 29. He had left the house for an evening walk and never returned. All efforts to locate him were in vain and no trace remained.
Captain Rihm checked the missing persons files on Rudolph Fentz in 1876. The description of his appearance, age, and clothing corresponded precisely to the appearance of the unidentified dead man from Times Square. The case was still marked unsolved. Fearing he would be held mentally incompetent, Rihm never noted the results of his investigation in the official files."
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolph_Fentz
This case apparently has never been solved. A year later, this story began appearing in books. It seems it inspired authors such as Jack finney.
P.S. Please note: Yet another link to Florida. All the strange stuff comes from Florida.
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