Lost Man in Boston - Last Seen Chart

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All,

I've been away from doing horary extensively for a few years but this case caught my eye when I was up in Boston a few weeks ago. I saw on TV that a young man vanished after leaving a hockey game. He called his girlfriend to tell her where he needed to be picked up and was never seen again. I've since seen that his body was found dead in the Charles River, with no obvious signs of foul play. I'm basing the chart on the time when he last talked to his girlfriend as reported in the Boston Globe.

The original article is at Missing Man.

The article that describes the discovery of the body is at Body Found.

More details are in TV Coverage.

The chart info for the last seen time would be Thursday, October 8 at 8:45 PM, EDT, in Boston, MA. This gives us an ASC of 06 Gem 35' and Mercury as the missing man. Mercury is strong in its own sign and is in the fifth house, which fits someone who was as a hockey game.

Mercury has just separated from being conjunct with Saturn, the ruler of the eighth house. Mercury has also just met up by sextile with Mars, which can mean a violent person, or death by a knife or other such thing, but as he is the ruler of the twelfth house.

The moon's next aspect is with a trine with the Sun that happens in only 23". I suppose that shows that the body will be discovered soon. Is this idea strengthened by the Sun being the ruler of the fourth house, the house of the grave? Is anyone else not so sure about that? I'm just taking a first guess at this.

This is the relatively obvious stuff but there's a lot that's a mystery to me here. One is that the Moon has not made any aspects prior to the time of this chart. I can't recall a chart where there are no previous contacts that the Moon has made when she's been half way through a sign. What can this mean in a missing person chart? In such a chart I'd look to previous contacts to see what's happened to the person, so in this case we'd have to leave the Moon out I guess and just concentrate on that sextile of Mercury with Mars and Mercury being conjunct with Saturn. But is there anything that can be gleaned from the Moon having no history of contact? Can it mean that the event is a surprise, something that happened with nothing to prompt it?

Maybe this is not so important but since Mercury is close to the point of the equinox, he's also close to being conjunct with his own antiscia. It's sort of wide for an antiscia, about 3 degrees, but is an applying contact. Such a contact suggests suicide to me. Has anyone ever seen suicide shown by contact with one's own antiscia? I associate an antiscia with a hidden, negative contact, something behind the scene.

But Mercury is strong in his own sign. Doesn't that suggest someone who is in sound mind, and not likely to commit suicide?

Mars also rules the twelfth house, which also suggests suicide, and since it's the overall pattern of a chart that gives the answer, do we now have two indicators for suicide here? But could that sextile with Mars also indicate just a dumb accident like falling in the river?

So I'm stuck as to whether this was murder, suicide or an accident. Mars seems to be the main player here. I know that I'm leaving out (more or less) Saturn, and that Saturn is the planet that has had the last contact with Mercury. I take Saturn just to mean death as ruler of the eighth, but I'm fully open to any other ideas about Saturn. So what are we to make of Mars as the ruler of the twelfth? John Frawley once told me that the twelfth house does not represent an attack by something hidden (which I thought it meant) but that it represents something different, and in this case, wouldn't that lead to us to conclude that this was death by either suicide or by an accident?

So my main question is how are we to interpret Mars as ruler of the twelfth here? My knowledge of astrology points to suicide, but the known facts of the case point against that. Something in me tells me that if we are to use astrology at all to solve a mystery, we should concentrate on the chart and ignore that what appears to our senses to be common sense. Yet I still wonder, why would someone call his girlfriend to be picked up one minute and kill himself the next? The man said his phone battery was about dead and the last call to his girlfriend ended suddenly. Did his cell phone quit on him, or did something violent happen? The TV news story says that the phone was found smashed. Did he get mad at the phone because it died on him and smash it? Or was it smashed during some violent act? Or was it smashed later on by something unconnected to all of this?

Other than the role of Mars here, my real question is how much should we rely on our common sense in a missing person chart, and how much are we to go out on a limb and go only on what a chart says?

I'm sorry I'm all over the place with this.
Mark F

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Hi Mark ... an interesting chart although think it is an Event Chart vs a Horary as it's set for the time of last contact rather than an actual question.

Agree with you that the Gemini Asc with Mercury in the 5th is descriptive of the young man. I believe the Moon not making any prior aspects while in Gemini is an indication that what occurred was not connected with what the young man had been doing previously. Also, that Mercury in his own sign indicates the young man, himself, was responsible for what happened.

The Asc itself is exactly conjunct the Lot of Peril and in the same degree as the Lot of Danger & Violence; all ruled by Mercury, significator of the young man, not a good sign.

The IC (15 Leo), Sun (15 Libra), Moon (15 Gemini) and Lot of Death (15 Aries) are all at 15? with the Sun in opposition the Lot of Death, the Moon sextile to it. The Moon is exactly trine the MC (vocation) and is conjunct the Lot of Vocation, her 1st aspect is a trine to the Sun who is connected with the 4th (end of things) and the Lot of Death.

Mercury, Asc ruler, is conjunct Saturn, ruler of the 8th of death. While this is separating, Schmidt's new text, Definitions and Foundations, states that two planets conjunct and within 3? are engaged with each other, the two have not fully separated. Mercury and Saturn are both in Mars (accidents) terms and Mars is sitting in the 3rd in Cancer.

If you take a look at a map of Boston, 22 Nashua St is just outside the Bruins stadium; the street leads to a small park and the river. Believe the young man, given his vocation, decided to take a look at the river while waiting for his girlfriend to arrive and that he accidentally (Mars) fell in.

Mercury and Virgo would both indicate a natural curiosity on his part, the two, being in Mars terms, would indicate an interest in the things represented by Mars, and Mars is conjunct the Lot of Investigation. Sadly, he also ruled the 12th (evil fortune), the Lot of Death, and was conjunct the South Node.

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JaneG, thank you so much for your wonderful post!

How is the Lot of Peril calculated? I have an old copy of Zoller's book but I can't find that one in there.

Also, how do you figure the part of investigation?

However, I am looking at the section in Zoller's book where he talks about 8th house parts. I see that you are using some of those, but just for those who don't have that book, I'll show how they're worked out. Thanks for pointing me to the use of parts.

The part of death is the distance from the Moon (the body) to the cusp of the 8th house, and that distance is projected from the degree where Saturn is. In this chart, the part of death is at 15? Aries 37'. So darn, it's the number 15 again. The part is opposite the Sun and the ruler of the part, Mars is that same ruler of the 12th house that is plaguing the lord of the ASC.

But what does this tell us? Well, if we did not know the outcome, it sure is a sign of death, but does it tell us the manner of death? If so, it's another factor pointing the finger at Mars as the cause of death. And if Mars rules the 12th house this points to either suicide or an accident, as the 12th rules self undoing.

The part of the killing planet is taken by night as the distance from the Moon to the lord of the ASC and then projected from the ASC. That places it at 19? Virgo 35'. The lord of the part as well as the lord of the Moon is Mercury, which is impedited by Saturn. This means the "native...dies with suffering" as compared to living and narrowly escaping.

When you talk about the lot of danger and violence, do you mean what is called the lot of occupation, severity and destruction in the Zoller book? That part is taken by night as the distance from Mercury to Saturn and then projected on the ASC. That puts the part at 05? Gemini 42'. And as you said, this malevolent part is within a degree of the ASC, and the ruler of the part, Mercury is impedited by Saturn and by Mars. How much worse can you get?

I'm not really seeing how you link the young man's job with his death. My copy of SolarFire places the midheaven and IC at 12? 33', not 15?. OK, that's not a huge difference, but you talk about how the Moon is trine the midheaven and is conjunct the part of vocation. How are you figuring the part of vocation? The Zoller book has it as the distance from Saturn to the Moon projected on to the ASC. That would but the part of vocation at around 24? Aquarius, nowhere near the Moon.

Just out of curiosity, why did figure out the part of vocation out of all the possible parts?

Using Zoller's book for the 12th house parts I didn't come up with much. The part of enemies is Saturn to Mars projected on the ASC. That places it at 5? Aries. The part is not aspected but it's ruler Mars gets us into that whole Saturn / Mars thing. The second 12th house part is taken from the ruler of the 12th to the cusp of the 12th. This puts it around 3? Pisces. Zoller's book talks about how these two parts are related to each or how their lords are related to each other, but they really aren't, so aren't of much importance here.

He does give what he calls the part of affliction which he says is the distance from the part of the future to the part of fortune. The part of the future is at 5? Aquarius 42'. So the part of affliction would be around 5? Libra, in other words right by the part of fortune itself. That sounds bad for sure, but again does it point to suicide or to something else?

I see death all over this chart, not a whole lot of signs of murder but can't tell if it's death by an accident or suicide.
Mark F

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MarkF wrote:JaneG, thank you so much for your wonderful post!

How is the Lot of Peril calculated? I have an old copy of Zoller's book but I can't find that one in there.
The Lot of Peril is Asc + Ruler of the 8th - Saturn, 11 Gemini 17.
Also, how do you figure the part of investigation?
The Lot of Investigation is Mercury + Mars - Saturn; 26 Cancer 56.
When you talk about the lot of danger and violence, do you mean what is called the lot of occupation, severity and destruction in the Zoller book? That part is taken by night as the distance from Mercury to Saturn and then projected on the ASC. That puts the part at 05? Gemini 42'. And as you said, this malevolent part is within a degree of the ASC, and the ruler of the part, Mercury is impedited by Saturn and by Mars. How much worse can you get?
The Lot of Danger, Violence & Debt is Asc + Saturn - Mercury so probably the same Lot with a different name; the Lot is at 10 Gemini 25.
I'm not really seeing how you link the young man's job with his death. My copy of SolarFire places the midheaven and IC at 12? 33', not 15?. OK, that's not a huge difference, but you talk about how the Moon is trine the midheaven and is conjunct the part of vocation. How are you figuring the part of vocation? The Zoller book has it as the distance from Saturn to the Moon projected on to the ASC. That would but the part of vocation at around 24? Aquarius, nowhere near the Moon.
I used Janus 4.3, Placidus houses, it gives the MC as 15 Aq 30.
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The Lot of Vocation & Status (MC + Sun - Moon) is at 15 Gemini 52. In retrospect, it is probably more indicative of him, or his body (Moon), coming to the publics attention but at the time, given he had been in the Navy and worked as a ground keeper, I thought it was pointing to a natural inclination for him to gravitate toward water and parks.
Just out of curiosity, why did figure out the part of vocation out of all the possible parts?
Janus calculates numerous parts, I generally look for those that are in the exact degrees of planets and see how they relate to their rulers and the general indications in the chart. Find they are often quite descriptive.
Using Zoller's book for the 12th house parts I didn't come up with much. The part of enemies is Saturn to Mars projected on the ASC. That places it at 5? Aries. The part is not aspected but it's ruler Mars gets us into that whole Saturn / Mars thing. The second 12th house part is taken from the ruler of the 12th to the cusp of the 12th. This puts it around 3? Pisces. Zoller's book talks about how these two parts are related to each or how their lords are related to each other, but they really aren't, so aren't of much importance here.
Janus has the Lot of Enemies, Asc + 12th - ruler of 12th, at 11 Pisces; unconnected to Jupiter so, as you say, doesn't appear to be playing a part in the scheme.
He does give what he calls the part of affliction which he says is the distance from the part of the future to the part of fortune. The part of the future is at 5? Aquarius 42'. So the part of affliction would be around 5? Libra, in other words right by the part of fortune itself. That sounds bad for sure, but again does it point to suicide or to something else?
That calculation (Asc + Spirit - Fortune) for a night chart, is the same as Paulus' Lot of Necessity; it's at 10 Libra 32, within 1? of the Lot of Fortune. Paulus says the lot has to do with the things befalling men that are violent or compulsory in origin but as both Venus and Saturn are averse don't thing it applies here; unless one considers that the young man's Fortune was being harmed and he was blithely unaware of what was going to happen to him.

Paulus lists another Lot, Nemesis (Saturn + Moon - Sun) which falls at 27 Taurus 13 which he describes as the revealing of everything which is hidden, and of impotence and flight/exile and destruction/loss and grief and quality of death.. It is in the 12th and trine Saturn so it may possibly come into play here. He was tired (Saturn) and perhaps this played into what occurred, it implies he wasn't very alert, and the close sextile with Mars in Cancer (implying emotional upset) would support this; being tired and upset he may not have been paying attention to where he was wandering and, as a result, put himself in a dangerous position.
I see death all over this chart, not a whole lot of signs of murder but can't tell if it's death by an accident or suicide.
It really looks, to me, more like an accidental death. Dreamhouse Attic lists 3 possible Lots of Suicide, I've never used them so not sure how well they work, none of them appear to be active in this chart.

Asc + 8th - Neptune = 20 Aries 34
Asc + Jupiter - Neptune = 4 Gemini 35
Asc + Jupiter - 12th = 2 Aries 24

Which of Zoller's books are you using for the Lots? Bonatus? Janus incorporates a number of things from Zoller's work, including the Lots he uses most, many of them are from the Bonatus text but Janus does not always use the same names for them.

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JaneG,

My SolarFire was acting up and I got the wrong latitude and longitude for Boston so the ASC and MC were a bit off. Now I fixed it and got almost the same ASC you have, 11? Gem 17'.

But that didn't really affect the analysis much, though I did want to correct that.

I'm using Zoller's old book, The Lost Keys to Prediction (Inner Traditions, 1980)

Do you think there is more death written all over this chart than most other such last seen charts?

I'm still stuck as to whether its an accident or suicide. The order of events is a sextile with Mars, who rules the 12th and then being conjunct with Saturn, the ruler of the 8th. Now, that would suggest something self-destructive (12th house) that's related to water (Mars in Cancer), that leads to either a dull blow or to a fall that produces death (Saturn). But is there a way we can differentiate between signs of an accident and suicide?

You said that Mercury being in its own sign indicates that the events were under the young man's control. I'd suggest also that since the ASC ruler is so strong, that would say that he was of sound mind and not likely to commit suicide. Taken together that would indicate an accident that he did to himself, but not suicide.
Mark F

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MarkF wrote: Do you think there is more death written all over this chart than most other such last seen charts?
There are quite a few bad indicators; without going over a number of last seen charts can't really say if there is 'more death' written over it than normal.
I'm still stuck as to whether its an accident or suicide. The order of events is a sextile with Mars, who rules the 12th and then being conjunct with Saturn, the ruler of the 8th. Now, that would suggest something self-destructive (12th house) that's related to water (Mars in Cancer), that leads to either a dull blow or to a fall that produces death (Saturn). But is there a way we can differentiate between signs of an accident and suicide?
Did a search to try and find a 'last seen' chart for someone who committed suicide. The only one I could come up with is that of David Kelly. He was last seen alive, as he left his house for a walk, around 3pm on July 17, 2003 in Oxfordshire, England. His wife reported him missing just after midnight and his body was found the early the next morning. The chart has the Asc at 7 Scorpio with Mars in the 4th at 9 Pisces. In this chart, the Lot of Suicide (Asc + Jupiter - 12th) is at 9 Virgo, in opposition to Mars. It is averse to Mercury, it's ruler, and Mercury is also averse to Mars. However, Mercury is exactly square the Asc degree and also rules the 8th of death.

The official story was that he committed suicide although some believe he was murdered. What's interesting is that Lot of Suicide is connected with the significators and suicide was determined to be the cause of death.

Another last seen chart for a young woman, Asc at 8 Aries with Mars in Capricorn in the 9th and also ruling the 8th. The Lot of suicide at 24 Capricorn, Saturn at 23 Leo in the 5th, averse. The police said the young woman committed suicide (a little weird as her body was found locked in the trunk of her car, odd way to commit suicide). This one's ambiguous, I wouldn't normally consider the part to be active but the fact that the Asc ruler is in the same sign and exalted along with the Moon's first aspect to the opposition of Saturn, the lot ruler, it may be.

Don't have time to search for any more but given than in the Boston chart the Lot is not active believe it makes it less likely that he committed suicide.

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I think foul play may have been involved rather than an accident or suicide. The 1st house rules accidents as well as general well being and vitality, and Mercury in Virgo seems in too good of shape for an accident or suicide.

On the other hand, Mars is coming from the 12th of hidden enemies to sextile Mercury, and it is closely conjunct the Fixed Star Procyon, which is associated with VIOLENCE.

Mars is also in the exact degree and minute of the Nodes, and any planet in the degree of the Nodes (let alone the exact minute!) signifies a fated event such as a catastrophe, fatality or tragedy, especially when that planet is a malefic. Celeste Teal says, "the things in life represented by that planet are unusual, erratic, excitable, and prone to act out."

And as pointed out earlier, after the sextile with Mars, Mercury then conjuncts Saturn, ruler of the 8th, death.

My guess is that this unfortunate young man was abducted, taken to a different location, sexually assaulted, then killed to prevent him from revealing anything about the heinous crime. Then the perpetrator brought his body back and dumped it in the river. And in fact when the body was found, it was thought to have been in the water just 2 days, whereas he had been missing almost a week.

Of course I could be completely wrong. It will be interesting to see what the autopsy shows.

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Carol,

I've had trouble with this one too, but am increasingly of the idea that it was an accident.

A few years back I did a chart on here when a Marine friend was being deployed to Iraq. In that chart, which was basically OK, there was a hint of a threat from the ruler of the 12th house. I wondered if this meant an attack from an IED, which I thought met the description of a hidden enemy. John Frawley told me that an IED is an open attack, but witchcraft was a hidden attack. He was of the opinion that any attack, even a sneaky attack is a 7th house matter. I don't want to use his comment to silence debate but I recognize that I'm an amateur and he's a professional.

I'd also use that absence of the part of suicide being afflicted as a sign that this was not suicide.

Is there a part of accidents?

I had totally missed that item in the news that the body had only been in the water for two day. Wow! That would change things. But...aren't we supposed just to read the chart and ignore these things? Maybe...it's just an erroneous news account.

Mark
Mark F

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Hi Carol
Carol wrote: And as pointed out earlier, after the sextile with Mars, Mercury then conjuncts Saturn, ruler of the 8th, death.
The problem I see with this is that Mercury is separating from Saturn and Mars and not applying to any other planet while still in Virgo. The aspects are all within 3 degrees so maybe they are still active.
My guess is that this unfortunate young man was abducted, taken to a different location, sexually assaulted, then killed to prevent him from revealing anything about the heinous crime. Then the perpetrator brought his body back and dumped it in the river.
I'd thought something similar originally as Mercury will square Pluto (kidnapping) when it moves into Libra but discarded it as the reports says there were no signs of physical violence; which you'd expect if he was sexually assaulted.
And in fact when the body was found, it was thought to have been in the water just 2 days, whereas he had been missing almost a week.

Of course I could be completely wrong. It will be interesting to see what the autopsy shows.
Reports say the autopsy will take a few weeks; for the family's sake, I hope it was just an accident.

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Reports say the autopsy will take a few weeks; for the family's sake, I hope it was just an accident.
Janeg, here's what Faye, a great aunt of the victim, said on another site:
Will Hurley is my great-nephew and we are pleading for any information we can get regarding his disappearance and death. We do not believe it was accidental and KNOW it was not suicide. Will's family will not rest until we know what happened and justice is done. ...We are urging the people of Boston to keep this case from becoming old news as they are not safe until it is solved.
Mark, in a way I can see how someone hiding nearby in something like the bushes may not really be the kind of hidden enemy the 12th refers to, but if that person INITIALLY presented himself as benign, he could put the other person in a vulnerable position and then overpower him ((like nice-looking serial killer Ted Bundy used to do, wearing a cast on his arm and asking a would-be victim to help him put something in his trunk in a public parking lot).

And it's interesting that Mars in Cancer is received by Moon (the victim) in its domicile. ...although that might be reaching...

But another thing that makes me think it was foul play is his cell phone was "smashed" on the ground. I know some have tried to explain that away, i.e., he just happened to drop it, and a car ran over it as he wandered away toward the river, which just happened to be in the opposite direction of where his girlfriend was supposed to pick him up in a couple of minutes. It just doesn't wash or make any sense as far as I can see.

Rather, I think the perpetrator might have thrown it hard on the ground, trying to break it, after he had control of the victim, for fear of the victim maybe reaching someone at some point, such as 911.

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Carol,

I too wondered about the cell phone, but decided to set them all that aside as not being part of the chart. Partly I did this so I could focus on the astrology of it and partly I did this because of the unreliability of hastily written newspaper accounts.

I'd still see the 12th house as more likely suicide or an accident. I'm obviously foundering here but I trust John Frawley's counsel on matters.

I had hoped that Deb would post something on this chart.

Mark
Mark F

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JaneG,

Can you confirm where the part of suicide is in this chart? I place it around 01? Aries using Placidus, or 29? Pisces using Regionmontanus. Can you confirm those numbers?

Hmmm... if these numbers are right, and using Regionmontanus as I normally do, then the part of suicide would be active as it's opposed by Mercury, the ASC ruler and also by Saturn. It's also roughly trine Mars, but not sure how bad a trine with Mars is. What do you think?
Mark F