In what can be a cold urban environment, Matt Turner and Jeremiah Weinberger stood out from the crowd with warm smiles and sparkling
personalities that even casual acquaintances remember.
Turner, 20, who worked behind the counter at a downtown Chicago pizzeria, loved to bus tables so that he could have more contact with customers.
”He was noticeable because he was really outgoing,” said Patti Schuldenfrei, owner of Chicago Style Pizza & Eatery, 120 S. Michigan Ave.
”He liked to go around to tables and schmooze. I had customers say to me, `That guy is great. He`s so enthusiastic. He`s so upbeat.` ”
She paused for a moment. ”I guess it`s maybe not such a good thing after all,” she said.
Turner, a South Side resident, and Weinberger, a North Sider, were identified Thursday as being among the victims whose dismembered bodies have been found in the Milwaukee apartment of Jeffrey L. Dahmer.
On Wednesday, a former Oak Park man, Oliver Lacy, 23, was the first to be identified as a victim. Joseph Bradehoft, 25, a former resident of Downstate Greenville who police believe moved to Milwaukee two years ago, is the fourth victim with Illinois connections.
Greenville police said Bradehoft lived in a Greenville trailer park with relatives in 1989.
Friends of Weinberger, 23, the son of a coffeehouse owner, said he was easygoing and likable. ”He never was in a bad mood,” said Tim Gideon, his former roommate. ”I never saw him get mad about anything.”
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Although he considered Weinberger somewhat naive, Gideon said, he was not promiscuous. In the Gold Coast apartment the two shared with others, no one was allowed to bring strangers home, Gideon said.
Gideon, an assistant manager at Carol`s Speakeasy, 1355 N. Wells St., was on duty the night Weinberger left the Old Town bar with Dahmer about two weeks ago. Gideon said he chatted for some time with Dahmer and Weinberger while they were at the bar, but said that neither man mentioned the idea of a trip to Milwaukee.
”He wasn`t the type of person who would just fly off on a whirlwind vacation,” he said. ”We never dreamed we`d find him like this.”
Weinberger worked as a customer service representative at Images of the World, the video sales department of the Bijou, 1349 N. Wells St., an adult theater.
Patrick Hughes, a former co-worker, said that Images of the World call-in customers often asked for Weinberger specifically because they liked his manner.
”He was like a live wire,” Hughes said. ”He is very close to his family, a very honest and sincere person. You got a contact high just being around him.”
Fliers with Weinberger`s picture had been circulated since he disappeared, but no missing person report had been filed for Turner, who had not been to work since June 26 and had not seen relatives in Chicago since late June.
Turner, who would have turned 21 in August, was born in Chicago but grew up in Flint, Mich., with his mother and stepfather, Rosa and Wadell Fletcher, relatives said. Turner later returned to Chicago and lived with several aunts and cousins on South Princeton Avenue.
His father died four years ago. Eight of the father`s children live in Chicago. Turner also had three aunts in Milwaukee, where he visited regularly. For the past three years, relatives said, Turner was in and out of Chicago, switching jobs frequently and traveling to both coasts. He spent some time in a government-run job corps program, often worked as a salesman, and was employed at Chicago Style pizzeria for about a month and a half.
”He was just happy and cheery and singing his song,” said Katherine Raglin, Turner`s aunt, on Thursday. ”Even if he didn`t know all the words, he`d always be singing.” Raglin said Turner hung out at several North Side bars, and used to lip-sync at one.
His stepfather, Wadell Fletcher, of Flint, said Turner once had aspirations to be a model, enjoyed getting dressed up and liked having his photo taken.
”Maybe this is how he got picked up or something,” Fletcher said. Police say Dahmer lured victims by offering to take their photos.
Last year, Turner lived for a time in a North Side residential facility for teens called Project Opportunity, said Deborah R. Hinde, executive director of Teen Living Programs, 3179 N. Broadway. Hinde said that Turner came from a troubled family situation.
”He got a fairly good job and was able to save money, and after Christmas he felt confident that he would be able to go out on his own,”
Hinde said. But he often visited afterward, she said.
Relatives last saw Turner at the end of June, but they said it was not unusual for him to disappear for weeks at a time. He borrowed money from Schuldenfrei on June 26, a day off, and told her he was trying to deal with some personal problems.
He did not show up for work as scheduled the next day.
Inester Johnson, 29, another cousin who lives in the house where Turner stayed while in Chicago, said Turner mentioned a trip to Milwaukee before disappearing.
He also said that, while staying with the family, Turner made numerous calls to Milwaukee.