Why Did Lyle Drop The ‘C’ In ‘Stevick’?

Photo credit: FieryDragonLord / Foter / CC BY-SA

I often search the web to see if I can find anything about Lyle that hasn’t been discussed yet, seeking hidden clues on the more remote pages of Google that could help us put a name to this UID.

Earlier, I came across a guy called Dr. Doyle Stevick, who teaches at Indiana University. This is the search engine results page when you Google his name – pretty standard stuff. But what really interested me is that several websites have misspelled his name as Doyle Stevik (without the ‘c’). See here. One of the misspellings comes from a university in London – you would think that an educational establishment would double-check his name, but alas, they didn’t. Another example is the language learning expert Earl Stevick – again, sometimes mistakenly referred to as Earl Stevik. See here versus here. Surprisingly, some of the misspellings come from actual published books.

As Stevik and Stevick seem to be mistaken for one another quite frequently, it got me thinking about Lyle’s choice of alias. Could he have heard the name “Lyle Stevick” without even reading Joyce Carol Oates’ You Must Remember This? What if the novel was on a college reading list, and Lyle didn’t pay much attention at the time?

Fast-forward to September 14th, 2001: Lyle needed an pseudonym. He recalled the character but misspelled it because he just wasn’t that familiar with the novel. However, the name was sensible enough not to arouse suspicion, but impersonal enough to distance himself from his real identity. The suicide connection with Joyce Carol Oates’ character was just a coincidence; the Lyle Stevick in the book doesn’t actually kill himself anyway – in fact, no major character dies.

Or maybe Lyle saw someone reading the book when he was traveling to the motel; perhaps the passenger sitting in front of him on the bus was reading it, and Lyle glanced down and saw the name in print – it was the perfect alias to use on check-in. But if a London university and several published authors can’t seem to get the correct spelling of Stevick right, then why would Lyle? It isn’t a common surname  – Lyle just made a mistake.

This brings me to a post on Lyle’s subreddit that explores the Stevick/Stevik misspelling in greater detail. Someone removed the stem of the letter ‘k’ in this mock-up, and on first glance, it does somewhat look like a ‘c’ that’s quickly been changed, suggesting Lyle was trying to remember the spelling. Perhaps he hesitated somewhat, and dropped the ‘c’.

Courtesy: Reddit

As you can see, the handwriting in the middle is from the original registration form that Lyle signed when he checked-in. Above it, the stem of the ‘k’ has been removed; below it, what it would look like if Lyle had used the exact same spelling as the character in You Must Remember This. I’m not 100% convinced but it’s definitely an interesting theory.

Of course, this is all conjecture, and I could be way off the mark here. But misspelled names are more common than you might think. According to The Poynter Institute, The Los Angeles Times has referred to the actor Elliott Gould as “Elliot Gould” (one ‘t’) a whopping 47 times since 1985.

If Lyle recalled the character from You Must Remember This from his time at college, this opens up a plethora of avenues to explore. Finding out where the book was recommended reading in the years prior to his death could help us find out where Lyle studied, as well as his true identity.

3 Unidentified Decedent Cases Eerily Similar To Lyle’s

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Even though Lyle’s story is the most perplexing UID case that I’ve come across, you only have to do a Google search to find out that there are thousands of unclaimed bodies that lie in morgues and unmarked graves around the world. Here are three cases that share similar traits to Lyle’s…

1. Peter Bergmann

On Tuesday, 16 June, 2009, an unidentified man was found dead on a beach in Sligo, Ireland. Just like Lyle, he checked into a hotel and presumably gave a false name – Peter Bergmann. The man wasn’t asked for any identification, stayed at the hotel for three nights, and his cause of death remains unknown. If you have time, I recommend The Last Days of Peter Bergmann, a documentary that features plenty of closed-circuit television footage from his time at the hotel (it’s free to watch and it’s only about 20 minutes). There are quite a few parallels with Lyle’s story, and what’s really interesting is how Bergmann carefully disposed of all of his possessions during his weekend stay (although CCTV was unable to capture exactly where he had discarded these items, including his travel bag). I wonder if Lyle did the same in Amanda Park – slowly throwing away his belongings in nearby dumpsters to avoid detection.

2. Mary Anderson

Wednesday, October 9, 1996. A woman walks into a hotel in Washington using a fictitious name. Sound familiar? Approximately five years before Lyle was found in Amanda Park, this unidentified female gave staff a non-existent address and phone number in New York, and told them her name was Mary Anderson. When she didn’t check out of her room, staff found her dead on the bed – she had taken her own life. The similarities to Lyle are striking: Mary had no identification; she paid in cash for her room; she was neatly groomed; and a local newspaper was found in the room. In fact, her suicide was so well-planned, it baffled investigators. Just like Lyle, theories abound as to where Mary Anderson took her alias, with some suggesting she borrowed the name of the Hollywood actress who featured in Gone With The Wind.

3. Annandale Jane Doe

An unsolved mystery for 19 years – who was the unidentified female found dead in a cemetery in Annandale, Virginia? Like Lyle, this Jane Doe left money at the scene, which she specified was for her cremation – perhaps she felt her impending suicide would be a burden. The woman – estimated to be around 60 years old – was located close to the section of the cemetery where infants are buried, with most of the headstones nearby being fairly recent. Just like the Amanda Park motel, this seems like a very specific place to end one’s own life, and the lack of any identifying details suggests her suicide had been meticulously planned.

What’s In A Name?

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Even though it’s pretty much a given that ‘Lyle Stevik’ was a pseudonym of sorts, there’s still an element of doubt. The fact Lyle dropped the ‘c’ from Lyle Stevick – the correct spelling of the character from Joyce Carol Oates’ You Must Remember Me – suggests this unidentified male might not have even taken his name from the book. For the purpose of this post, let’s pretend that Lyle Stevik was this unidentified man’s real name. Where does it originate from? And how common is it?

According to the genealogy website Forebears, Stevik is most common in Norway, with 72 people sharing this surname as of 2014. Next up is Serbia, with 34 instances, followed by Czech Republic, with 7. However, put back the ‘c’ and it’s a completely different story. Stevick is most common in the United States, with 615 instances, followed by Canada, with 5. Funnily enough, Washington – where Lyle was found in 2001 – is the fifth most common US state to bear the surname Stevick, after Pennsylvania, Texas, California, and Michigan.

What about Lyle? Well, that’s most common in Indiana, followed by Ohio, California, and Texas.

Did Lyle Really Have Intentions of Suicide When He Arrived at Amanda Park?

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The general consensus is that Lyle planned his suicide before he arrived at the motel. One of the most popular theories goes something like this: Lyle chose this place to end his life because it held a special significance for this troubled young man, and that he was familiar with the motel or local area. But what if he was playing it by ear? Or if he had no intentions of suicide until something happened to him during his stay? Throughout the weekend, there were a number of things that could have possibly gone “wrong” and scuppered his plans – adding credence to the hypothesis that Lyle’s suicide was a last-minute decision.

1. What if Lyle needed identification to book his room?

According to the police file, Lyle was asked for identification during check-in. But, because he looked “okay”, he was given the keys to Room 8 (and then later Room 5) anyway – no more questions asked. But what if ID was absolutely mandatory? What would he have done? Would Lyle have left the establishment red-faced and looked for somewhere else?

This has always troubled me somewhat. Yes, Lyle might have thought ID wasn’t going to be necessary. After all, it was 2001, and this wasn’t some upscale hotel in New York City or Los Angeles. But even then, Lyle would have had to have been 100% sure that no problem would arise if he was planning on ending his life in this very specific location.

The fact that the manager asked Lyle for documentation suggests there were identification requirements on check-in, even if these were lax. Because of the way he carried himself, she let it slide. Fair enough. But I’ve always wondered what would happened if Lyle was unable to book a room here in the first place.

2. What if the motel was fully booked?

If Lyle had planned his suicide for that weekend, did he phone ahead to make sure there were rooms free? Remember – he did manage to switch rooms at a moment’s notice, suggesting there was more than one room free that Friday. But how would he have known that? Turning up without a reservation could have wrecked his plans before he had even put the wheels in motion. Lyle had to be sure there would be rooms free that weekend if he specifically wanted to die here. Seeing as this particular motel has always been poorly advertised (as of 2015, it still doesn’t have a website), perhaps Lyle was familiar with the area. Or was he passing and booked a room on the spur of the moment?

3. Why didn’t Lyle pay for all three nights in advance?

Lyle couldn’t have been planning his suicide for Sunday. After all, he only paid for one night – so didn’t intend to stay here for very long. But did he quickly change his mind? We know that when Lyle returned to the front desk to change rooms about an hour after checking in, he informed the motel manager of his plans to stay a little bit longer. It sounds like Lyle didn’t really have any concrete plans at this point, and decided to extend his one-night stay. Perhaps his intention was to end his life in Room 8 but for some reason he couldn’t – maybe the coat rack was broken or he had second thoughts. Whatever was going on his mind, his behavior suggests uncertainty – unlike someone who had chosen this location for a very specific reason.

So if Lyle didn’t have intentions of taking his life here, why did he arrive at the motel? For a secret rendezvous? An overnight stop-off? We know Lyle took a shower soon after he checked in and “messed up” the pillows – but what else? Theorizing about his plans might seem fruitless, but trying to comprehend Lyle’s thought processes and actions might help us understand who he really was.

Does A Local Newspaper Hold The Key To Lyle’s True Identity?

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When I first discovered Lyle’s story, I wondered if there was any significance to the newspaper that was found in the trash can. It had been thrown in the bin alongside the crumpled up scrap of paper with ‘SUICIDE’ scribbled on. Had Lyle been reading something that had such a profound effect on him that he felt there was no other alternative other than to end his life? An obituary? Something in the personals section? A secret message hidden in a crossword puzzle? Not entirely implausible, I thought. Then, on page 62 of the police file was something I hadn’t read about on WebSleuths… There’s mention of not one, but two copies of The Daily World Sunday. This instantly struck me as odd. Why would Lyle purchase two copies of the same paper? Was he expecting something to appear on its pages?

According to the police file, a second copy of The Daily World Sunday was found on the bed. Interesting. The investigating officer never once mentioned a second newspaper in the room when he was active on WebSleuths, so maybe it didn’t exist. And seeing as he no longer posts over there, there’s no way to clarify this – for now. But let’s take the police file at face value and assume there were two copies…

For those who aren’t familiar with this publication, it’s your standard regional newspaper with the usual mix of news, sport, and features. First published in 1889, The Daily World serves Grays Harbor County, and it was probably delivered to the store adjacent to the motel where Lyle was staying. Unfortunately the publisher only houses back issues from the previous 12 months, so obtaining a copy of the paper is a no-no. According to their website, earlier back issues are kept at the public library, but seeing as I live thousands of miles away, having a look through that particular issue is out of the question. Which is a shame as I’d love to read it cover-to-cover, especially as this was probably the last thing Lyle read before his death. Well, it was either that or the Bible that the motel left in the room.

However, thanks to the Web Archive, we can get a rough idea of what appeared in The Daily World that very Sunday. Back in 2001, the print industry was still booming – this was long before media companies transferred their revenues to the digital sphere. As a result, this cached copy doesn’t have the scope of the print edition – it’s merely a sample of what was published inside, and on first glance, there’s nothing that stands out as being significant to Lyle, or anything that might point to his true identity. As you would expect five days after the biggest news stories of the 21st century, the newspaper is 9/11-heavy. There’s retrospective coverage of the previous week’s events, and some very emotional readers’ letters in the Opinion section. This letter includes the line, “We will find you. You can no longer hide”, in reference to the government’s actions in the days following the terrorist attacks.

It’s probably safe to say that most people who have read up on Lyle’s case have at least considered a connection between the terrorist attacks and Lyle. After all, the dates are too close together not to. I quickly dismissed that theory as there’s nothing else to suggest otherwise. But for argument’s sake, what if Lyle was involved in some way and couldn’t live with his guilt any longer? What if he was of Middle Eastern descent, or considered to be ‘foreign’? A non-American national frightened of a sudden shift in public opinion? Read this letter: it calls for the President to carry out “unrestricted warfare” against all countries involved in terrorism. Dependent on his state of mind, and if he wasn’t from the US, could Lyle have misinterpreted some of these comments? Did he fear the authorities would ask to check legal identification that he didn’t have?

Then there are the obituaries. Nothing of note here, so it’s not like Lyle read about a long-lost family member and couldn’t cope with his grief. Plus, it seems as if he was expecting something, rather than reacting to something. Think of all the reasons why you might buy two copies of the same publication. To see your name in print? To cut out a photo of a loved one? To keep a copy of an advert that you’ve placed inside?

Let’s stop and apply Occam’s razor to this situation, where the simplest explanation is usually the right one. If there were indeed two copies, perhaps Lyle just happened to pick up a second by accident. Maybe he tossed one on the bed and forgot about it – he had bigger issues on his mind, clearly. Or perhaps the motel delivered a paper to guests, and Lyle – unaware of this fact – popped to the store to purchase an edition only to find a duplicate when got back to the room. But Lyle probably would have known that the motel provided complimentary copies of The Daily World as he would have received one on Saturday – his first morning at the establishment.

But if Lyle did purchase two editions, why? What was he hoping to find in there? Did he read something that scared him? Reminded him of a past action? Something that broke his heart? It’s another mystery in this peculiar tale…

Do you live in Grays Harbor? The Daily World for Sunday, September 16 2001 could be sitting in the public library. Pop in, flick through, and tell us what you find! Pay close attention to the obituaries, classifieds, or anything else that might help us to identify Lyle.

Tracing Lyle’s Footsteps: The Motel Complex

In a missing persons case, critical information is often hidden in the person’s words and actions in the days leading up to their disappearance. Although Lyle’s story is different, trying to trace his footsteps the days before he died might help us understand who he was or where he came from. We know that Lyle arrived at the motel on Friday afternoon, but how? And what did he do the following days? Here’s a map of the motel and its surrounding complex. I’ve marked some of the important locations in the area.

Click on the map to enlarge and refer to the corresponding numbers below…

1: These are the two bus stops that stop outside the motel. The motel manager who checked Lyle in on that Friday believes he arrived at the same time when bus services stop here. Google Maps tells me that the number 60 bus stops outside, with services to Aberdeen Station and Crane Creek in either direction. There are currently three services a day, with buses arriving at 4.05 PM from Aberdeen Station, and 3.50 PM from Crane Creek on weekdays – a similar time to when Lyle checked in. However, whether these buses stopped at these times in 2001 (or if these routes were even in operation at all) is unclear. This also states that the number 40 bus terminates at this stop, with a ticket from Olympia costing around $3. Remember – the investigating officer interviewed bus drivers at the time, but nobody remembered Lyle.

2: The grocery store where Lyle might have purchased The Daily World newspaper. This store is currently owned by someone with the same surname as the motel owner at the time of Lyle’s death, so there seems to be a connection between the two businesses. A soft drink cup was also found in Lyle’s room, suggesting he purchased a drink at some point during the weekend – possibly from here. There are no other businesses in the immediate vicinity where Lyle could have bought these items, but there are restaurants, an internet cafe, and several other stores a short driving distance away.

3: This is the trailer park which prompted Lyle to change rooms.

4: Rooms 7 and 8, which are located in a separate building from the rest of the rooms. The adjacent building with the white roof houses the motel’s front desk.

5: Room 5, where Lyle was found dead on Monday morning. This room is situated further away from the trailer park, and Lyle was seen on the porch on Saturday afternoon. Being such a small complex, you would think Lyle would have been spotted during his three-day stay. However, there might not have been staff manning the front desk throughout the day, especially if the motel wasn’t that busy.

6: Google Maps suggests there’s an ATM located here (well, inside the grocery store would make more sense), but whether that was around in 2001 is unknown. The 20 dollar bills that Lyle left “for the room” were described by the investigating officer as “crisp”, and suggested that they might have recently been withdrawn from an ATM.

7: Highway 101, where Lyle was seen “pacing” on Saturday. The motel manager didn’t know why he was doing this, but believed he might have been exercising. There have been a number of theories about Lyle’s behavior. Was he waiting for someone to arrive? Looking for a missing vehicle? Or wandering around in a confused or delirious state?

3 Theories Behind Lyle’s Weight Loss

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I discovered Lyle’s story relatively late. Some of the super-sleuths over at WS have been following this case since 2006, but up until recently, the only images they could draw from were the original autopsy pictures and various reconstructions. Then, nearly 14 years after Lyle was found dead, a member of the social networking website Reddit posted the original photos that were taken at the ‘scene’. Obtained under a Freedom of Information request, these images showed the unidentified male in a completely different light. Lyle’s weight loss had already been noted by the coroner in 2001 (and 140 lbs is definitely not a healthy weight for a 6’2” adult male), but I’m not sure if anyone realized just how thin he really was until they saw these new batch of photos. I certainly didn’t expect it: Lyle appears emaciated, gaunt, almost skeletal. What could have prompted this weight loss?

1. Lyle had an eating disorder.

Some have suggested that Lyle had an eating disorder. The loose clothing and the lack of food – consumed or otherwise – found in the room definitely support this theory, even if the coroner didn’t find any evidence of such. Whether Lyle consumed any food during that weekend is up for debate. There was a soft drink cup with “Coke” written across. But as for evidence of a proper meal, nothing. No wrappers, no takeout boxes. If Lyle wanted food, he most likely would have had to travel – there were no restaurants in the immediate vicinity. And if he purchased food from the nearby grocery store, where was the empty packaging? Aside from sitting on the street, there would have been nowhere else to consume his food. On the contrary, no signs of any disorder were found on his teeth – which were described as being near-perfect.

2. Lyle had a medical condition associated with extreme weight loss.

One of the oldest theories regarding Lyle was that he had a terminal condition and decided to end his life prematurely. He came to Amanda Park because he feared the future and wanted to take control over this life – before his illness did. There are hundreds of medical conditions that bring on weight loss – far too many to name here. However, the coroner didn’t find any preexisting illness, and looking at his autopsy report, Lyle was in pretty good shape.

3. Lyle had been traveling for a long period of time.

Lyle did take a shower as soon as he got to the motel (in Room 8), which suggests he might have been traveling for a while before he got to Amanda Park. Maybe he was living inside his car or traveling across the country, and lost weight over a period of time – perhaps due to poverty. It’s certainly possible. Each notch on Lyle’s belt buckle had been used, and unless he was wearing second-hand clothing, all the signs point to his weight loss being gradual. He didn’t have any stretch marks or loose skin either. I initially wondered if Lyle had no money to buy food, bringing on a dramatic change in his body composition, but the fact he was found with 8 dollars in his pocket suggests otherwise. If he was able to afford a motel room and a newspaper, he was probably able to support himself somehow, regardless of whether he had been traveling for a long period of time.

Lyle’s Story: A Timeline

Photo credit: DafneCholet / Foter / CC BY

Involvement in 9/11? Unrequited love? A life on the run? Lyle’s story has generated so many theories, it’s easy to become confused as to what actually happened. Although facts are scarce, this is what we know for sure…

For the purpose of this post, LS is Lyle Stevik; BW is the motel manager who checked Lyle in; GB is the motel owner; MD is the maid who found LS; and LY is the investigating officer. Much of this information has been provided by ColdCaseMan and Eugene from the WebSleuths forum.

Friday, September 14, 2001

• LS arrives at the motel at around 4 PM. Nobody sees LS arrive but BW later tells law enforcement that bus services from Forks and Aberdeen stop outside around this time.

• LS proceeds to the front desk and checks in. BW asks LS for identification, but he doesn’t have any. BW gives him a room anyway because he looks “okay”. BW later states that LS might have had a backpack, but isn’t sure.

• Lyle fills in an envelope that is used for gathering data on check-in. LS states his name is “Lyle Stevik”, and his address is “1019 S. Progress Ave, ID”. BW adds the city name (Meridian – misspelled as “Meridan”), and re-writes the state abbreviation (ID) on the envelope. The name provided by LS is similar to the character Lyle Stevick, who features in the Joyce Carol Oates novel You Must Remember This; the address matches that of a Best Western hotel in Meridian, Idaho. 

• Lyle pays $43.87 in cash for the room.

• LS is given the keys to Room 8. BW later tells law enforcement that LS has a slight accent, which she believes to be Canadian, but isn’t sure. She states that LS was polite, but didn’t want to talk. 

• LS returns to the front desk at around 5 PM. He tells BW that Room 8 is too noisy, and asks how long the noise will continue from an adjacent trailer park. There seems to be a noticeable change in LS’s behavior at this point. BW later describes LS as giving off bad vibes, making her feel nervous, and looking “spaced”. However, the subsequent autopsy reveals that LS had not been using alcohol or drugs.

• BW asks LS if he did anything in Room 8; LS states that he messed up the pillows. BW asks LS if he had taken a shower; LS states that he didn’t. Staff later find out that LS had, in fact, taken a shower in Room 8.

• LS states that he wants to stay at the motel for another day, but doesn’t provide any additional payment at this stage.

• LS is given the keys to Room 5.

Saturday, September 15, 2001

• MD knocks on LS’s door so that she can clean the room. LS does not respond, so MD enters. LS explains that he doesn’t need “room service”, but requests additional towels. As LS had only paid for one night, it is unclear whether whether a conversation took place at this point regarding how long LS was planning to stay. It is also unclear whether the motel had a policy of granting credit to guests who were staying for an unspecified number of nights.

• BW observes LS “pacing up and down” Highway 101, which is adjacent to the motel. 

• LS is seen by “several people” on the porch outside Room 5 on Saturday afternoon. These people are presumably fellow motel guests, although the police file doesn’t make this clear.

• In 2014, MD’s daughter recalled the series of events that preceded LS’s death at the motel on Facebook. She states that her mother spoke to LS on the “evening before his passing”, and described him as being “rude”. It is unclear whether she means Saturday or Sunday evening when describing this encounter. 

Sunday, September 16, 2001

• LS purchases a copy of The Daily World Sunday – a local daily newspaper that serves the Aberdeen, Washington, area. The police file alludes to there being two copies of The Daily World Sunday in the room (one being found in the trash can, and a second copy on the bed). It is unknown if the motel provided a copy of the newspaper to guests, or whether LS had purchased two copies.

Monday, September 17, 2001

• MD enters the room on Monday morning, and finds LS hanging from a coat rack in the far corner of the room. MD initially thinks that LS is praying because of the position he is in.

• At 11.45 AM, GB receives a phone call at home telling him to come to the motel immediately. When he gets there, GB enters Room 5 before calling the police. GB calls BW. She tells him that Lyle checked in on Friday afternoon. It is unclear who is on front desk duty on Monday morning, if anyone.

• At 12.15 PM, LY is informed that a body has been found in a motel room.

• The following items are found in the room: a new toothbrush and tube of toothpaste in the drawer; two copies of The Daily World Sunday; soap wrappers and toilet items provided by the motel; a piece of paper in the trash can with the word ‘SUICIDE’ written on it; $2.40 in loose change; a Coke soft drink cup; and a motel comment card with the words ‘For the room’ printed on it. The comment card is folded around $160 in $20 dollar bills. An additional 8 one dollar bills are found in LS’s pocket.

• At 8.06 PM, LY contacts BW for a statement.

• The details LS provides are entered into a number of databases during Monday evening. No matches are found.

Wednesday, September 19, 2001

• At 12.30 PM, an autopsy is carried out in Montesano, Washington. The coroner estimates that LS is approximately 25 years of age.