International Courant
An aged individual, referred to as Seven, was buried in a Chicago Catholic cemetery in 2015, marked solely by a numbered cement cylinder.Seven’s id was lately found by Cook dinner County sheriff’s workplace investigators utilizing autopsy fingerprints.She was recognized as Reba C. Bailey, a Girls’s Military Corps veteran lacking because the Seventies.
Buried on the fringe of a Chicago Catholic cemetery are an aged individual’s stays marked solely by a cement cylinder deep within the floor labeled with the numbers 04985. The individual died in 2015 at a nursing dwelling not remembering a lot, together with their very own title.
They glided by Seven.
Now police specializing in lacking individuals and chilly circumstances have found Seven’s id in one of the uncommon investigations the Cook dinner County sheriff’s workplace has pursued and one that would change state regulation. Utilizing autopsy fingerprints, investigators recognized Seven as 75-year-old Reba C. Bailey, an Illinois veteran lacking because the Seventies.
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The breakthrough is bringing closure to generations of relations and associates. However whether or not they knew the title or the numeral, the investigation has unearthed extra mysteries about how Reba, a Girls’s Military Corps veteran raised in a big household, turned homeless with no recollection, other than desirous to be recognized as a person known as Seven.
A cement marker in a bit for unclaimed individuals is seen on the Mt. Olivet Cemetery on Nov. 13, 2023, in Chicago. Cook dinner County, In poor health., Sheriff’s Commander Jason Moran’s group, who investigates lacking individuals, discovered the true id of a girl by means of navy data. The impersonal marker will finally get replaced with a U.S. veteran’s marker. (AP Picture/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Public data, interviews, newspapers and police work have provided some perception concerning the individual with two lives, even with a lot nonetheless unknown. Investigators say the following step is to honor them with a brand new headstone and navy honors.
“That’s a horrible circumstance that somebody might die and nobody is aware of who they’re. That’s why we pursue these circumstances so strongly, out of dignity,” mentioned Commander Jason Moran, who oversees the sheriff’s lacking individuals unit. “An individual deserves a reputation.”
Sheriff Tom Dart’s workplace took on the case of Seven Doe — the title in some official data — final yr. The workplace has gained notoriety for chilly case work, together with figuring out victims of serial killer John Wayne Gacy.
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However Seven’s case, involving an individual who was unidentified each in life and dying, is uncommon.
“We by no means had something like that earlier than,” Dart mentioned. “This one is totally different and it simply saved getting extra totally different.”
Seven died from coronary heart illness with dementia and diabetes as contributing elements, in response to the Cook dinner County health worker in 2015. Fingerprints taken on the time had been run towards police databases however there was no match. Seven was buried at Mount Olivet Catholic Cemetery within the part for unidentified individuals.
Eight years later, Cook dinner County investigators took the case. Since foul play was dominated out, they began with the postmortem fingerprints, working them throughout a number of databases, together with navy data.
A match got here up for Reba, who enlisted within the Military in 1961.
Whereas all of Reba’s 5 siblings are useless, she has greater than half a dozen nieces and nephews. Most by no means met her, however they’d heard of her.
Rick Bailey, the son of Reba’s late brother Richard, was “completely in shock” when he received a name from investigators about his long-lost aunt.
“My dad had looked for years to try to discover his sister,” mentioned Bailey, who’s 65 and believes Reba’s siblings would rejoice the information. “They might all be thrilled in the event that they had been right here.”
Investigators had been capable of piece collectively elements of Reba’s life.
She was born in 1940, the daughter of a carpenter who usually moved for work. Tragedy hit Reba’s life at age 10 when she misplaced her mom in a automobile wreck that additionally left her, her father and her brother injured.
A few decade after the accident, she joined the navy, serving in Alabama, Texas and California. Investigators discovered she was briefly married to a fellow veteran, John H. Bilberry, who handed in 1989.
Navy data present she was honorably discharged in 1962 “resulting from marriage.”
What occurred to Reba between getting back from the navy and exhibiting up at a Chicago employee home with no reminiscence stays a thriller.
Kinfolk heard tales a few battle between Reba and her father, however there are totally different variations on what it was about. Some say it was concerning the choice to hitch the navy. Others heard it was about sexual orientation.
Additionally they don’t know what prompted the reminiscence loss, the change in gender id or the title Seven.
Many individuals who might need had perception have died or knew Reba as Seven, an individual with no previous recollections.
Denise Plunkett discovered Seven on a chilly day within the late Seventies on the porch of St. Francis Catholic Employee Home. It’s a hospitality home for people who find themselves homeless and others who wish to reside in a neighborhood.
Plunkett mentioned the individual she discovered spoke of themselves within the third individual, known as themselves a person and didn’t reply private questions.
When requested their title, they’d usually say “Mr. Seven.”
Earlier than too lengthy, Seven turned the home cook dinner. When phrase of Seven’s hearty casseroles and rice and bean dishes unfold, crowds began lining up for meals.
“No person might have achieved extra to assist the homeless,” Plunkett mentioned of Seven.
Seven spent many years on the home earlier than leaving in 2003 after a well being scare. Seven handed out within the hallway, which medical doctors later mentioned was diabetic shock, and was then moved to a nursing dwelling for medical care.
Since Seven didn’t have a authorized title or identified household, Chicago police launched an investigation, however had been unsuccessful. Seven turned a ward of the state and died in 2015.
Kinfolk who’ve discovered extra about Reba’s later years have discovered consolation.
“We all know she was cared for,” mentioned Amanda Ingram, who would have been Reba’s nice niece. “That’s the greatest that my grandfather might have ever requested for.”
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Cook dinner County investigators have up to date the entry for Seven Doe in a federal database of lacking individuals, including Reba Bailey’s title and picture. Their subsequent step is a brand new headstone and navy honors within the spring.
The case might additionally change Illinois regulation.
The sheriff’s workplace needs to amend the state’s Lacking Individuals Identification Act to require postmortem fingerprints be checked towards all out there state and federal databases. The thought is a fuller search on the time of dying might assist determine individuals sooner.
In Reba’s case, household might have had the possibility to plan funeral providers. Dart’s workplace is drafting laws.
Relations did take into account shifting Reba’s physique nearer to household. However shifting the physique could be costly and sophisticated.
“We determined as a household to not disturb her,” Rick Bailey mentioned. “At the very least we all know the place she is now.”
Illinois chilly case investigation identifies veteran lacking since Seventies
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