Requiem
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Reminds of a somewhat parallel story of the Chicago Walking Man.
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Instead, like so many others, she knew him as a beloved Chicago character, affectionately dubbed “the Walking Man,” who had long stirred people’s curiosity.For decades, Kromelis walked alone along the city’s busy downtown streets, mile after mile, regardless of the season.
Tall and lean, with a bushy mustache and flamboyant hair, the urbane, sharply dressed stranger fascinated his fellow pedestrians and Loop workers. He was rarely seen talking to other people in the crowd, adding to his mystery.
Frequent sightings of the Walking Man sparked urban myths about his true identity. Some even thought he was an eccentric billionaire.
But as the years passed, he began appearing more haggard. His once brisk stride slowed. He wasn’t known to ask for food or money, but many wondered whether he might be experiencing homelessness.
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Another similar story
Riverside Park runs along the Hudson River on New York's Upper West Side. It's a neighborhood gathering place where locals jog or walk their dogs or join in games of pickup basketball. Regulars get to know one another, if only by sight.
In the winter of 2014, park regulars started noticing a man in his early 30s sitting on the same bench every day. He was tall and muscular, with closely cropped hair and a backpack that he always kept by his side. Billy Healey, a local bird watcher, approached him. "It was like pulling teeth to get him to say anything. He was not a talker," Healey said.
Still, the man told Healey that his name was Stephen, and that he was from Long Island.
Two years went by and Stephen sat on that park bench, in all weather and at all times of day. Though he said little and asked for nothing, he became well known in the neighborhood. "It was always kind of reassuring to see him, because he was such a big guy and so gentle in his presence," said Joy Bergmann, who would see Stephen on her daily walks with her dog.
Locals started bringing him small gifts. Bergmann would give him bags of her magazines to look through. Healey prepared plastic containers of pork ribs and potato salad for him — leftovers from family dinners — and he gave him a burgundy hoodie that Stephen wore every day.
He was wearing that hoodie when his body was discovered on the morning of March 9, 2017, .....
Story continues
https://www.npr.org/2023/10/09/1204127804/hart-island-new-york-radio-diaries
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@taiwan_girl said in Requiem:
Reminds of a somewhat parallel story of the Chicago Walking Man
The man accused of setting Chicago’s beloved “Walking Man” on fire as he slept defenseless on a city street will serve nearly 50 years in prison after admitting his guilt in the unprovoked fatal attack, prosecutors confirmed Thursday.
Joseph Guardia had a trial tentatively set to begin this week in the slaying of Joseph Kromelis, but the 30-year-old Melrose Park man instead accepted a plea deal Wednesday on first-degree murder charges.
Guardia must serve 100% of his 47-year prison term and would be in his 70s before he could be freed. He will receive credit, though, for the 881 days he has spent in jail since his arrest.
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