Andrew Bookless was a man whose body was found near Somers, New York on June 13, 1993. He was identified on January 25, 2008 following a picture he had in his possession being recognized by a member of the public when it was circulated.
Background[]
Andrew Bookless was born in 1964 to John and Marianna Bookless in Bellport, New York. Few details are available in Andrew's life, but it is known that he would disappear for months. He was eventually reported missing by Marianna in 1999. After John's death in 1994 and her death in 2004, his older siblings had him declared dead.
Discovery[]
On June 13, 1993, an unknown man was found in the Titicus Reservoir in Somers, New York. He had a backpack with 38 pounds of rocks in it. He had no identification, and the only clue to his identity was a photograph that was found in the backpack. The photograph, taken in black and white during the 1950s or 1960s, depicted a baby being held by an elderly man. Investigators believed the victim was the toddler and the elderly man was his grandfather. The background of the photograph was believed to be western Massachusetts.
Authorities believed the victim fell through the ice in the winter of 1992-1993 before the body was found months later and drowned, but whether the death was an accident, a suicide, or possibly foul play is not known to have been determined.
The photo that police discovered in Andrew's backpack. It depicts him as a toddler carried by his grandfather.
Authorities took the victim's dental records and put them in a national database but could find no match. The New York State Police requested that the TV show Unsolved Mysteries air the case, but it was declined. He was eventually buried in New York, although the burial details are unknown.
Identification[]
In 2008, authorities sent the photograph to The Berkshire Eagle Newspaper, a newspaper that covers Berkshire County, Massachusetts, and nearby New York communities. After the newspaper circulated the picture, retired teacher Terry Yacubich recognized the building in the photograph's background. It was the auditorium of the Mary Immaculate Roman Catholic Church in Bellport, and she contacted a retired police detective and friend named Donald Mullins. Mullins went to Bellport and found the spot, which was now an empty lot. He went through the land deeds until he discovered the Bookless family had a house there before it was destroyed in a fire.
On January 25, 2008, the unknown man was identified as Andrew Bookless by a dental record comparison. His siblings were notified of his death and they informed the authorities that the elderly man in the old photgraph was indeed their grandfather.