I just want to comment in regards to the debate on the ethics of this case.

We must consider this from different perspectives in order to determine if it is ethical to attempt to identify a man who apparently wanted to remain anonymous in his death.

First and I believe most important is Lyle Stevik: I have the greatest respect for his desire to remain anonymous. We have no way of knowing what drove him to to the point where he felt ending his life was the best option. He certainly had the ability to write down his personal information and he choose not too. So it's fairly easy to conclude he wanted to remain anonymous.

Second is his family and loved ones: Having someone you share a strong bond with just disappear one day never to be seen again must be a cruel fate. I think anyone who experienced the untimely death of a loved one can relate. It's just shocks you to your core, it's crushing and you think you will never recover. In time most of us do, but we know for a fact what happened and can choose how we want to deal with it. But if you don't know what happened to that person it must be a lifelong emotional roller coaster. If there are people that love him, do his wishes override their suffering?

The thing is the only fact we really know is he had more then one opportunity to provide his identity and choose not to. If we knew his reasons for doing this I think it would make this a simple decision based on ethics. But there could be many reasons both good and bad that he did this. So should we determine what is ethical based on just that?

I'm glad to see the passion (to a certain extent) in the debates on this subject. It is a big deal and needs to be discussed openly and honestly.
Ethics is extremely important to me. I would not be here if I didn't believe that it was the most important consideration in every major decision. Anyone who has any doubt about the ethics of this sub just has to read Grey's comments in this thread. I have been here since day one and her stand on this as well as Pastor's has always been the same. On top of that I see it all the time in peoples comments. There may be some variation in the fine details but the standards are the same. Your all good people and I'm proud to be a part of this.