TX TX - Caleb Harris, 21, Texas A&M University student, Corpus Christi, 4 Mar 2024

[mzmarymac]

since he sent a snapchat to his sister not long before the bridge one, is is possible the app was still open in his phone and it was purely accidental? i have tons of pictures of ceilings and ground on my camera roll all by accident.

I think it may be possible, but not likely. This photo is completely straight on. An accidental photo would be likely crooked or upside down, as you say. I think he took the photo on purpose, meant to send it to someone but accidentally sent it to the wrong person. I think he was meeting someone, hopped in the car and then something happened from there. He didn't expect to be gone long since the shoes thing. Does anyone know if Snapchat data is traceable? Can SC tell LE what messages were going back and forth via the app? Or can Apple say what other apps he may have had on his phone?

 

[Janitor101]

The agencies supporting the CCPD, (FBI and the Texas Rangers to name a couple), have issued various search warrants which we all know takes time. At some point, they will have geofencing data and will be able to tell what other phones pinged off that same tower before, during and after the critical 2:45 and 3:20am timeframe.

 

[OldCop]

since he sent a snapchat to his sister not long before the bridge one, is is possible the app was still open in his phone and it was purely accidental? i have tons of pictures of ceilings and ground on my camera roll all by accident.

I think the photo is too “intentional looking” (for lack of a better term), for it to be an accidental pic. In other words, I think it was a more carefully framed photo. However, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t then sent accidentally.
I think it is entirely possible that he went out to hang by the front gate to wait for his UberEat delivery. I think he looked down the road and saw that misty, foggy, eerie, scene with the lights shining thru the mist, like one of those old B & W photos. He walked down on the walkway to get a closer shot and then started walking back. It was just after this that something apparently happened.
If there was some type of prearranged meetup outside the complex, to me the more likely spot would have been the bus stop. It looks to be an A&M shuttle and the last pickup at that location is 10:05pm. It is covered and more or less blocked from the apartments behind it. Plus, drivers passing by mightn’t even have noticed someone standing in there whereas someone standing by the bridge would stand out a lot more.

 

[Teche]

Wow Nancy Grace is quite a character.. that's the first video of hers I've ever watched. Anyway, thanks for mentioning it, it was helpful in understanding the timeline a bit better and the reasons why some things aren't certain

1 a.m. – Caleb is seen on a Ring doorbell camera with his roommate, friend, and puppy
2 a.m. – Roommate goes to sleep. Caleb is preparing his fishing reels for the next day. This is the last time his roommate sees Caleb
2:44 a.m. – Caleb sends a Snapchat to his sister, walking the new dog
2:58 a.m. – Caleb’s phone is turned off, or dies. It pings at his apartment complex
3:03 a.m. – Caleb sends a Snapchat of the bridge to an old high school friend. From the Nancy Grace video around the 30:10 mark, Dad says the dog is back at their apartment at this point - they must know that somehow, and not just because the dog is back at home in the morning when Caleb is discovered missing, as Caleb could have had the dog with him at the time of the snap and then taken him back home after. Doorbell footage maybe?
3:20 a.m. – Uber driver seen on surveillance camera with Caleb’s order

So Caleb walked the dog at 2:44, sending a snap to his sister and took the dog back home. Then he went back out for some reason and sent a snap to his old high school friend. Why? What's the significance of that place? Is it somewhere he'd met that friend before? Does it mean something to them? Was he due to meet that person, or hoping to when they received the snap?

I think the friend lives in Colorado.

 

[carbuff]

The way I look at that photo is this:

Caleb's friend (the receiver of the bridge photo) that received the Snap took a screenshot (that's why we see their battery life) and sent it to whoever requested it (LE, the parents, etc.).

I deleted my Snapchat like 5 years ago, so I could be wrong though.

Do you know if snapchat offers a way to schedule a chat to be sent? I know if I want to tweet something but not right now, I can put it on a list to be sent later.

 

[sunspun]

So there is a Snapchat of a bridge at 3:03, but his phone went out of battery at 2:58. He could have a tablet he had with him where he was still logged into Snapchat.

It would take Caleb around 13 minutes to walk to the bridge.

Then it pinged at 3:12, near the Pain management clinic, it would have been a walk of 36 minutes to even get there. After the bridge that doesn't even check out. Unless he was in a car

I guess my question is, how can it ping when the phone is off

One explanation may be that he WAS in a car, if only for a short time. He could have plugged his phone in to the car charger for just a few minutes, because it had gone dead at 2:58 a.m. He charged it less than 5 minutes just until he was able to turn it back on again, took the pic of the bridge at 3:03 (maybe just testing battery power?) Then still in the vehicle, he drove or was driven to the area of the pain clinic, which is why there was a ping at 3:12 a.m. there.

That also explains how he could have gotten to the bridge in just a few minutes when it's over a 10 minute walk there (because he was in a car, he got there in just a few minutes.)

So after the 3:12 ping at that clinic area, were there any more pings or signs of the phone being on? If not, that would make sense, since he only charged it enough to get a little bit of charge, so it would have died again around then.

So would that mean he left the car around that time? Because if not, why wouldn't he have plugged it back in to the car charger when it died again? Maybe he was still in the car but just didn't think to plug it back in or wasn't able or allowed to or whatever. Or maybe that's when he left the car.

Sounds like he got in the car of the person who was seen leaving the apartment complex at the time the UberEats driver was arriving. That person happens to live near Caleb's hometown of New Braunfels. That's where that person was heading at that time. Maybe Caleb had a wild hair to go with him for a spontaneous visit home. Did these 2 even know each other, either from his hometown or from the current apartments? That person's current girlfriend lives at Caleb's apartment complex. Wonder if Caleb knows her? Hope that driver didn't suspect Caleb of messing around w/his gf. Would be good to find out how near she lived to Caleb and whether they knew each other. (Or whether her boyfriend even just thought they knew each other.)

All this is speculation of course JMO. But it does leave open the welcome possibility that Caleb still might turn up alive and well, if he really did ride home with that driver. But that driver's been interviewed and said he never saw Caleb, and if Caleb had gone home, he would've contacted his family while there anyway, if he could.

 

[Centaurus]

Do you know if snapchat offers a way to schedule a chat to be sent? I know if I want to tweet something but not right now, I can put it on a list to be sent later.

Apparently, yes, you can schedule a public post:

Loading…

help.snapchat.com

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

yes, I'm exploring he got into a vehicle too - that is what I was getting at about the other car, not that he had been hit by a car, not that he had been abducted. Glad to know I'm not an island.

 

[Dre]

This case is so bothersome! Some of my opinions in no particular order..

Perhaps he heard something bad happening from the other side of the bridge and began to approach while trying to record out of caution? But user error cuz SC was open?

If I wanted to alert someone to a very specific spot I’d send them a pin on a map, either a link or screen shot. A dark pic is a terrible indication of a precise location.

Surely not all fatal car/pedestrian accidents leave evidence not easily cleaned up. Not a lot of people are awake at 3am and watching out their window.

I thought suicide was the least likely until I read the post above. Compelling, honestly.

 

[sunspun]

Even without geofencing to find out who all was in that area at that time, LE has already said that only 2 vehicles were spotted moving in that area (the apt complex) at that time (the time Caleb went missing.) And that was the UberEats driver who was expected to be there at that time, and the vehicle of another person who told police he was there visiting his gf who lives at the complex. He also said he was on his way back home to New Braunfels, which is Caleb's hometown. He told police he never saw Caleb. Wonder if the police believed him or if he is still being investigated or if he should be.

 

[CamilleBSP]

Just because WE don’t have basic facts nailed down doesn’t mean LE doesn’t. The amount of resources brought into this case right away is impressive.
We have to remember that LE has to prepare subpoenas and then they must wait for cellphone companies, app companies, etc to give them the digital information, then that information has to be analyzed, and then tracked down. Unfortunately, that takes time. In the meantime, they conducted searches, interviewed neighbors, collected video/cctv footage from the area, etc. They brought in SAR units, the Texas Rangers, the FBI, and numerous other agencies.
We have a young man who disappeared in an isolated area in the middle of a dark foggy night. Someone didn’t run up to LE the first night and say, “I just saw Caleb get snatched. Here’s the plate number of the car and the description of the perpetrator.”
Everyone wants this young man found ASAP and that includes the LEO’s who are working this case. Sorry you are not impressed.

We need factual information to be able to help the police in this.
Sure it means something that they're receiving the subpoenas and the data quite fast and bringing in lots of agencies so early. This shows that they wanna find this guy ASAP.
But there should be more thought put into divulging a coherent timeline, or at least details about what he was wearing when last seen wearing with some pictures illustrating it to help jog people's memories, if anyone saw anything.

This convoluted mess isn't helping. Make a presser, establish basic details, and go on from there. Maybe it sounds easier than it is.

 

[carbuff]

Apparently, yes, you can schedule a public post:

Loading…

help.snapchat.com

Thank you! Need to read up some more on that...

 

[CamilleBSP]

I'm just trying to find the simplest explanation for what happened in this particular case - not all missing person cases, just this one.

The bridge picture he took looks like it was from the sidewalk and not the road. His apartment complex off Ennis Jones Rd and those fields seems like there probably isn't much traffic on that road at that time of night.

I just can't at all buy it that he was hit by a car or got abducted. If you remove those two possibilities, what else does that leave? I'm genuinely curious.

And I don't think anything we know thus far points to a car accident or abduction.

BBM

The person who hurt him could also live in the apartment complex and he never left. He went to their apartment, got inside/was lured for any reason and died there.

 

[CamilleBSP]

I see your point and it may very well be that he was abducted, but I can't seem to find a convincing reason that fits for Caleb to have been snatched off the street. He had no valuables on him except for his phone, but an abduction/possible homicide over a phone is just too farfetched for me right now. The phone would have pinged at some point even if the abductor/s sold the phone.
I'm still holding out hope he had preplanned leaving town with a friend, but how would he have any way of supporting himself financially or even apply for a job with no driver's license or bank information!

Drug deal gone wrong sounds plausible enough.

 

[CamilleBSP]

since he sent a snapchat to his sister not long before the bridge one, is is possible the app was still open in his phone and it was purely accidental? i have tons of pictures of ceilings and ground on my camera roll all by accident.

There doesn't seem to be any blur to the picture that would usually be present in an accidental picture, IMHO.

 

[OrangeCash]

This is throwing me off... So Caleb sent a screenshot at 3:03am, not a live photo. Hmm. Can anyone make out the avatar or screen name in the top left corner of the photo?
Maybe Caleb was showing his friend what someone else had sent to him. Why?

No, the person he sent the Snap to took the screenshot. It's kind of confusing!

I asked my 16 year old nephew, who spends about 16 hours a day on snapchat... he agrees with you, he says it looks like Caleb sent a snapchat to his friend, who screenshotted it when he saw it, and what we're seeing is likely a whatsapp screenshot (presumably from when the friend has sent it to LE, parents, etc)



MOO

 

[CamilleBSP]

I think it may be possible, but not likely. This photo is completely straight on. An accidental photo would be likely crooked or upside down, as you say. I think he took the photo on purpose, meant to send it to someone but accidentally sent it to the wrong person. I think he was meeting someone, hopped in the car and then something happened from there. He didn't expect to be gone long since the shoes thing. Does anyone know if Snapchat data is traceable? Can SC tell LE what messages were going back and forth via the app? Or can Apple say what other apps he may have had on his phone?

That's a good point. Snapchat has been used by dealers for ages at this point.
Yes, it's totally traceable like anything these days is. Think about it like this: every information they solicit your permission to use it's probably being stored somewhere.

They probably already have more data about it than we know. One day I swear I'll explain to y'all how all the companies have LE platforms to make getting data easier when necessary. You just sign up, fill some forms, attach the subpoena and send it.

 

[Janitor101]

Even without geofencing to find out who all was in that area at that time, LE has already said that only 2 vehicles were spotted moving in that area (the apt complex) at that time (the time Caleb went missing.) And that was the UberEats driver who was expected to be there at that time, and the vehicle of another person who told police he was there visiting his gf who lives at the complex. He also said he was on his way back home to New Braunfels, which is Caleb's hometown. He told police he never saw Caleb. Wonder if the police believed him or if he is still being investigated or if he should be.

The only other vehicle reportedly on scene is the gentleman you referred to in your post. He is from the San Antonio area and LE revealed on the Nancy G. show, that he was investigated and cleared (at least for the time being, I guess).

The detectives moved their investigation to the SA and New Braunfels areas so maybe they have developed further leads there.

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

Help me techies and SM mavens, any chance the photo has been cropped before being distributed?

 

[Janitor101]

That's a good point. Snapchat has been used by dealers for ages at this point.
Yes, it's totally traceable like anything these days is. Think about it like this: every information they solicit your permission to use it's probably being stored somewhere.

They probably already have more data about it than we know. One day I swear I'll explain to y'all how all the companies have LE platforms to make getting data easier when necessary. You just sign up, fill some forms, attach the subpoena and send it.

Drug deal gone wrong sounds plausible enough.

Yes, I can believe he may have gotten into a vehicle and a drug deal went sour from that point onwards, but unless Caleb was carrying a burner phone, wouldn't a phone call to the dealer on his IPhone be recorded on his phone records? I don't know how else he could have arranged a date and time without making a phone call.