TX TX - Caleb Harris, 21, Texas A&M University student, Corpus Christi, 4 Mar 2024 #3

[CrimeDawg123]

There are some things about this case that I find puzzling. Caleb was reported missing the morning of March 4th when a roommate discovered Caleb was not at the apartment and the Uber Eats were still outside the door. In many other cases where a person is reported as missing, LE wants to wait a full 24 hours or more especially if that person is 18 or older. Families are told that a person has a right to disappear if they so desire and to wait it out. Yet with this case, LE was on it that same day well under a 24 hour period and there were multiple state and federal LE officials on this case immediately. What precipitated that?
Also puzzling is that it was reported that the roommates reported him missing to LE before they told his family. Why would they notify the police first over his family? It is reported they looked for him and could not find him. Then they report him missing. Did they have a strong hunch something was wrong? Did Caleb reveal something to them that pushed them in that direction? I know the roommates have been cleared by LE and are not considered to be suspects but I suspect they have a pretty good idea why Caleb is missing or what he was into. Whatever they know they have been tight lipped about it as they haven’t spoke to anyone in the media that I am aware of.

I don't think it's weird that they called LE before the family. They may not even really know his family or have contact. What they saw alarmed them enough, so good on them for going straight to LE.

 

[flowershop]

There are some things about this case that I find puzzling. Caleb was reported missing the morning of March 4th when a roommate discovered Caleb was not at the apartment and the Uber Eats were still outside the door. In many other cases where a person is reported as missing, LE wants to wait a full 24 hours or more especially if that person is 18 or older. Families are told that a person has a right to disappear if they so desire and to wait it out. Yet with this case, LE was on it that same day well under a 24 hour period and there were multiple state and federal LE officials on this case immediately. What precipitated that?
Also puzzling is that it was reported that the roommates reported him missing to LE before they told his family. Why would they notify the police first over his family? It is reported they looked for him and could not find him. Then they report him missing. Did they have a strong hunch something was wrong? Did Caleb reveal something to them that pushed them in that direction? I know the roommates have been cleared by LE and are not considered to be suspects but I suspect they have a pretty good idea why Caleb is missing or what he was into. Whatever they know they have been tight lipped about it as they haven’t spoke to anyone in the media that I am aware of.

I find that a very good point about the police usually waiting 24 hours before taking action. I agree that the roommates may have shared something that the police found very concerning. Maybe CH forgot to log out of a device back at the apartment and they saw some online messages?? JMO

 

[caradana]

this case, LE was on it that same day well under a 24 hour period and there were multiple state and federal LE officials on this case immediately. What precipitated that?

Showered articulate white collegiate broksis, in their under armour, genuinely all concerned at a PD, get attention from showered articulate white blue-collar cops. Questions of relatability.

 

[UncaStoley]

I don't think it's weird that they called LE before the family. They may not even really know his family or have contact. What they saw alarmed them enough, so good on them for going straight to LE.

It had been reported that the roommates were friends of Caleb since childhood. I believe they all went to the same church in New Braunfels (Caleb’s hometown) so it is my understanding that the roommates were well aware of his family. Yes, I am glad they went to LE and that LE jumped right into action. I just have noted that LE quick response seemed different in this missing person case than in most others.

 

[EllaMae]

I don't think it's weird that they themthem very concernedcalled LE before the family. They may not even really know his family or have contact. What they saw alarmed them enough, so good on them for going straight to LE.

The room mates have known Caleb and the Harris family for years. I wonder if they were hoping that they could find Caleb first or LE could help them find him before having to tell his parents anything. They may have been trying to protect Caleb and his family as well.

 

[MassGuy]

There are some things about this case that I find puzzling. Caleb was reported missing the morning of March 4th when a roommate discovered Caleb was not at the apartment and the Uber Eats were still outside the door. In many other cases where a person is reported as missing, LE wants to wait a full 24 hours or more especially if that person is 18 or older. Families are told that a person has a right to disappear if they so desire and to wait it out. Yet with this case, LE was on it that same day well under a 24 hour period and there were multiple state and federal LE officials on this case immediately. What precipitated that?
Also puzzling is that it was reported that the roommates reported him missing to LE before they told his family. Why would they notify the police first over his family? It is reported they looked for him and could not find him. Then they report him missing. Did they have a strong hunch something was wrong? Did Caleb reveal something to them that pushed them in that direction? I know the roommates have been cleared by LE and are not considered to be suspects but I suspect they have a pretty good idea why Caleb is missing or what he was into. Whatever they know they have been tight lipped about it as they haven’t spoke to anyone in the media that I am aware of.

The circumstances were different from many other cases, as you had a low risk victim who broke all established patterns. Couple that with it being a college town, and that's going to quickly grab attention. I think that food order being left really set off alarms, as he wouldn't have left it there and just gone on his way.

I'm not sure how fast the feds came in, but I imagine it wasn't right away. Local law enforcement would have likely tried to get a handle on the situation themselves, then reached out to other agencies for assistance, especially in regards to search efforts.

I've seen other major missing persons cases where the feds get involved early, where there's clear signs of a crime, and it's still a matter of days, as opposed to hours.

As to your last point, I'm still not sure if they knew what Caleb was into, at least the extent of it; I get the impression he was secretive. It's entirely possible that they did see something concerning on his devices, and that also set off alarm bells and prompted them to contact LE as opposed to the family.

 

[SMK777]

It had been reported that the roommates were friends of Caleb since childhood. I believe they all went to the same church in New Braunfels (Caleb’s hometown) so it is my understanding that the roommates were well aware of his family. Yes, I am glad they went to LE and that LE jumped right into action. I just have noted that LE quick response seemed different in this missing person case than in most others.

I can only imagine that what alarmed both roommates and law enforcement had to be along the lines of someone goes out for a brief meeting with a stranger and doesn’t return.

 

[Diavola]

I mean, they might know his family, but how many of you have your friend's parent's phone numbers?

 

[slowpoke]

I mean, they might know his family, but how many of you have your friend's parent's phone numbers?

That’s true. But, in the reverse, I do recall Caleb’s father saying he had the phone number of the Colorado friend who Caleb had been playing video games with on Sunday night.

from about 30:10 Interview with J Coffindaffer (bolded by me) transcript

“he was he was playing a video game with one of his friends in Colorado and and instead of they they really don't like doing the whole Chat thing on video games so they would normally just use their phones put them on speaker or whatever and play video games so he was uh as I was tracking his phone the next day um you know I noticed the number okay I'm going to call it or I punched it in my phone realized it was his buddy out of out of that he grew up with you know out of Colorado and it was in my phone so I knew exactly who it was and he was playing uh a video game for about 71 minutes and then so if you if you”

 

[SimplyCass]

I mean, they might know his family, but how many of you have your friend's parent's phone numbers?

Depends. If it's like a printed or typed list of 'emergency numbers to contact' - I could see that for anyone when moving into off-campus housing.

(Changing topics) The lack of any sort of publicized digital trail is worrisome, IMO.

Based on the phone being off, I think that says at least that he intended to do something or meet someone. He wasn't waiting for his Uber order, as turning off his phone would mean he couldn't see the real-time where the food was or when it would be or contact the driver.

I also have doubts of a random abduction or by harm done by someone he didn't know at all. This is solely based on 1) the phone being off and 2) the fact that this was his first time ordering from this particular Stripe store, as his usual location was already closed.

Out of all the things discussed, I'd really like to hear from the roommates. I know they may have been told not to make any statements, and obviously DON'T DOX, so we may never learn anything more. but certainly knowing about his normal pattern/habits for late night could let us figure out how normal (or abnormal) this night was.

 

[|lighthouse|]

I mean, they might know his family, but how many of you have your friend's parent's phone numbers?

The going to LE that fast before the parents has always been odd to me. IMO there has got to be something else they haven't shared yet.

In college only, when I had my roommates throughout the years of parents phone numbers. We just always did that, because you generally see the other parents in the college setting, was just a thing. But clearly we are all different, but I feel they would who knows. After college yeah that stopped happening for me at least.

 

[Muddy K]

Based on the phone being off, I think that says at least that he intended to do something or meet someone. He wasn't waiting for his Uber order, as turning off his phone would mean he couldn't see the real-time where the food was or when it would be or contact the driver.

Snipped and bolded by me for focus.

There seems to be a pretty consistent theory through the threads that Caleb turned his phone off himself. We don't actually know that, though, do we? What I recall learning from LE and Caleb's family is that the phone "went dead" at 2:58 a.m. There were theories about the 3:03 a.m. timestamp on the bridge Snapchat being possibly the result of slow server relays in delivering the message. There was also some confusion, including within LE, about whether the phone pinged some tower in the area at 3:12 a.m. In all of that discussion, if I recall correctly, no statement was made about what caused the phone to go dead in the frst place.

I understand why people theorize that Caleb turned off his phone. But what if he didn't? I have no idea if the forensic technology exists to determine that a phone was either switched off via the power button or its power was terminated in some other manner.

IMO, the person who killed Caleb also destroyed his phone, but I'm guessing there's no way for forensic analysis to determine that, either.

 

[SMK777]

In all of that discussion, if I recall correctly, no statement was made about what caused the phone to go dead in the frst place. I understand why people theorize that Caleb turned off his phone. But what if he didn't? I have no idea if the forensic technology exists to determine that a phone was either switched off via the power button or its power was terminated in some other manner.
IMO, the person who killed Caleb also destroyed his phone, but I'm guessing there's no way for forensic analysis to determine that, either.

SBM
I’m assuming the possibilities are that:
1. Caleb turned the phone off deliberately so he couldn’t be tracked.
OR
2. The battery wore down and powered off.
OR
3. The person he was with turned it off, or destroyed it, or threw it in the water causing it to go off.
OR
4. [least likely] Caleb accidentally fell into the water and the phone went dead.
I’ve always assumed that there is no way for law enforcement to differentiate between those causes, yet they assume that he met with foul play so maybe that indicates that they can?

 

[JSolt1210]

SBM
I’m assuming the possibilities are that:
1. Caleb turned the phone off deliberately so he couldn’t be tracked.
OR
2. The battery wore down and powered off.
OR
3. The person he was with turned it off, or destroyed it, or threw it in the water causing it to go off.
OR
4. [least likely] Caleb accidentally fell into the water and the phone went dead.
I’ve always assumed that there is no way for law enforcement to differentiate between those causes, yet they assume that he met with foul play so maybe that indicates that they can?

BBM.

If we could know whether or not his parents had the ability to track his phone, then I feel like we'd have our answer.

I realize Caleb was a 21-year-old adult. But if he were on his parents' phone plan, then maybe part of that plan was retaining the ability to track him for whatever reason (making sure he was safe, didn't get into trouble, maybe the family is strict, etc.).

If Caleb was about to get into something he didn't want his parents to know about, then it makes sense for him to have turned off his own phone.

 

[SMK777]

BBM.

If we could know whether or not his parents had the ability to track his phone, then I feel like we'd have our answer.

I realize Caleb was a 21-year-old adult. But if he were on his parents' phone plan, then maybe part of that plan was retaining the ability to track him for whatever reason (making sure he was safe, didn't get into trouble, maybe the family is strict, etc.).

If Caleb was about to get into something he didn't want his parents to know about, then it makes sense for him to have turned off his own phone.

I agree. And it’s also very likely that Caleb knew his parents could see certain activity and didn’t want to be questioned about it. I had times as an adult where my mother helped me out, but the downside was that she could see what I was purchasing and who I was donating to on PayPal. It can get very uncomfortable.

 

[UncaStoley]

That picture of the bridge is almost haunting. It was taken at 3:03AM or very close to the time when Caleb disappeared. Was that picture a clue or taken to confirm his whereabouts? Was the picture part of his nervous energy while anxiously waiting for his meet-up? Or did Caleb see a foggy bridge and streetlight and think it interesting enough to photograph? Whatever the reason one thing is certain; it is likely the last thing he saw and was able to share with his family, his friends, and even with us who have taken an interest in this case.

 

[SimplyCass]

I’ve always assumed that there is no way for law enforcement to differentiate between those causes, yet they assume that he met with foul play so maybe that indicates that they can?

(SBM) I do believe LE can tell when a phone is powered down or destroyed by water. It has to do with the way it disconnects from the network.

For instance In the Saniyya Dennis case they explicitly said that the phone disconnected the network when it was destroyed by water and that her last location was at Niagara Falls.

 

[SMK777]

(SBM) I do believe LE can tell when a phone is powered down or destroyed by water. It has to do with the way it disconnects from the network.

For instance In the Saniyya Dennis case they explicitly said that the phone disconnected the network when it was destroyed by water and that her last location was at Niagara Falls.

Interesting. And very important to know.

So that may be a factor in their statement that they believe he met with foul play.

 

[SimplyCass]

Gah I'm sorry I went to look for a link for what I said and the timeline for Saniyya says it was "powered down or destroyed" it does not explicitly say it was destroyed.

I'm trying to look up for other case info if LE has made a distinction between powered down or destroyed.

 

[SMK777]

Gah I'm sorry I went to look for a link for what I said and the timeline for Saniyya says it was "powered down or destroyed" it does not explicitly say it was destroyed.

I'm trying to look up for other case info if LE has made a distinction between powered down or destroyed.

Right, I have been searching, but can’t find anything anywhere that says police can tell the difference between a turned off phone or a destroyed phone. So back to the assumption that they probably can’t, I guess…