The Strange Case of the “Nameless Man” Suicide

Warning: The images contained in this article can be very shocking to sensitive people.

In life, he was evasive and strange. In his death, he became a 9/11 terrorist (World Trade Center attack), a ghostly apparition and a star on the Internet.

On Friday, September 14, 2001, Lyle Stevik arrived at a hotel across from Quinault Lake in Washington. "Welcome. Surfing is on the rise. Life is good, ”was the happily optimistic motto that stamped an old sign on the site.

Lyle, who looked to be in his twenties, did what countless people had done before: he took a pen and recorded his information in the hotel book.

There was nothing exceptional about this, especially given the context: three days earlier, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon left about 3, 000 people dead and triggered a national security crisis.

In 2001, the Lake Quinault Inn was still a family business: Barbara, affectionately named "Aunt Barb, " was at the front desk, and her nephew Gabe owned the hotel and an adjacent store.

The hotel, built in the 1960s, had six rooms in the main building and two in an annex. For under $ 50 a night, they were one of the cheapest stays in town.

Aunt Barb gave her new guest Lyle the key to her room, and he paid her in cash. Inside the room, Lyle found a double bed, a dusty rug, nicotine-stained curtains, a glass dressing table, and other simple furniture.

Less than an hour after entering the room, Lyle returned to reception - he was agitated, disturbed. Apparently, the park behind his dorm was very noisy. Barb wondered at the young man's uneasiness but gave him another key. This time the room was in the middle of the main building. He slept there that and the next night.

On Monday, September 17, hotel worker Maricela knocked on the new guest's door but got no response. It was almost noon, and check-out time was over. That being the only room occupied, she decided to try again.

Looking at the scene, the clerk asked if he was busy praying, but knew something was not right.

Getting no response, Maricela opened the door slowly. She found Lyle kneeling in a corner of the room: his back to the door, his arms at his sides, his head tilted back, looking up. On Saturday he had requested extra towels, and they were there, spread out on a wooden table. Three others were still carefully positioned on a chair. On Sunday, he said he did not want his room cleaned.

Looking at the scene, the clerk asked if he was busy praying, but knew something was not right. She called the owner of the property, Gabe, who ran into room 5 and cautiously headed toward the strange guest. Lyle didn't move. Her wrists were soft, her fingers relaxed, and her jeans hung loose at her slim waist.

Gabe approached and could see a leather belt wrapped around his neck and attached to the hangers. Her knees weren't really touching the floor. He was no longer breathing: he had hung himself.

On a bedside table was a folded card with the words "around the room." Inside, eight $ 20 bills - enough money to pay for the nights you were there and a generous tip.

Gabe called 911, and soon a paramedic arrived. Lyle's lean body was referred to a local coroner. The guest had left no identification in the room: no bank card or driver's license or passport.

Lyle Stevik simply was not in any database, phone directory, census or electoral register. Lyle Stevik did not exist.

The cops started looking for someone who knew the young man, but there was no clue. During the following weeks, no one sought a missing man in the area.

Predicting that Lyle was just a fake name, the officers used the young man's DNA and fingerprints and searched through all their databases: no sign. The address he had noted on the registration sheet belonged to another hotel, where no one recognized him either.

Lyle Stevik simply was not in any database, phone directory, census or electoral register.

Lyle Stevik did not exist.

Quinault Lake

When Detective Lane Youmans arrived in the bedroom, he set his coffee cup on the bedside table and studied the scene: Lyle was still in the corner with his belt around his neck. He took pictures of the place: the quilt was off the bed, hanging over the only window. Hangers were on the floor. The bathroom light was on and the door partially open.

He noted that the pillows were trapped between the wardrobe and the wall on both sides. Maybe Lyler predicted that she would struggle in her final minutes and created a makeshift barrier so no one would hear any noise.

Lyle's suicide was torturous. The hanger, where the belt was fastened, was low. He had to resist the visceral urge to simply get up when his body went into "survival mode."

In the back pocket of his pants were found eight dollar bills. In the drawer of one of the tables was a tube of toothpaste, a toothbrush, and a few more change. At the head, a Gideons Bible placed by the hotel itself in each room. There was a marker between pages 1050 and 1051, where the first passage was "This, he said, means that death must die."

In a small black trashcan was a newspaper and an empty glass. Next to them was a crumpled piece of paper that read "suicide" in block letters.

In comparing Lyle's handwriting on paper and his registration at the desk, Detective Youmans noticed some differences. “Lyle made his record with his normal handwriting. I believe he wrote 'suicide' in block letters as a sign to anyone who met him. He then realized it would be obvious and discarded the note, ”he concludes.

The detective also believed that Lyle came from an upper-middle-class family, since his clothes were good, he had no handicraft marks, and he looked great.

On Wednesday, September 19th, the coroner, Dr. Daniel Delove, watched Lyle's body: his clothes had been removed, but his neck was still wrapped in the worn leather belt. He had partially healed from the abrasions on his fingers, had an appendix removal scar, and was circumcised. The rest of the body was a blank canvas.

He had no tattoos or birthmarks. There was nothing wrong with his health either: his organs were in good shape, he didn't smoke, and he was totally sober when he hung himself.

He didn't have a funeral. Or a tombstone. Or any flowers.

Remarkably, the teeth were in excellent condition. Four had been removed - two upper premolars, two lower premolars - probably to make room for some braces as a result of expensive orthodontic treatments.

Your ethnicity could not be determined nor your nationality. He could have been Hispanic or North American or Middle Eastern. It was hard to say.

Lyle was buried in an unmarked grave at Fern Hill Cemetery. He didn't have a funeral. Or a tombstone. Or any flowers.

Months passed, and then years. The investigation cooled until, in 2006, the case ended up on the internet. Several people went through all the available evidence, discussed hypotheses, came up with theories, and tried to find the young man's family.

People were divided into lines of thought: some believed that “Lyle Stevik” was the young man's real name and that for some reason he had managed to stay out of any official record. Others thought Lyle was an illegal immigrant and recalled that "Stevik" is a very common surname in Norway.

Some even compared the case to the 1987 novel "You Must Remember This." In it, a 15-year-old girl develops feelings for her uncle, a professional boxer. His father, Lyle Stevick (with a C), goes into depression and hangs himself in the basement.

Sometimes I wonder what he would think of the hundreds of strangers who care so much and argue every day trying to give him back his name.

Some thought he might have lost a loved one in the 9/11 attacks. Others thought he was involved in the bombing.

You may be wondering why so many strangers are worried about solving a case after more than 15 years. One of the netizens accompanying the case published an explanation:

"Lyle immediately caught my eye because he was young enough to be my son, and the circumstances - suicide alone in a cheap motel - were so desperately sad, " he said. “Your polite note with the money blew me away. I can't shake the feeling that he killed himself because I believed no one cared about him. Sometimes I wonder what he would think of the hundreds of strangers who care so much and argue every day trying to give him his name back. ”

The mystery continues: Who is this man?

* Posted on 03/09/2016