AR AR - James Valdez, 47, car found with message asking for help, Booneville, 10 Jun 2021

[mlhenn]

@Sclaiborne100 any new updates?
I pray for answers soon.

 

[Sclaiborne100]

Everything has been really quiet... They're going to try and do another search soon weather permitting.

 

[wdmcmahan]

Everything has been really quiet... They're going to try and do another search soon weather permitting.

Please update us about when the search will be. I’d like to help.

 

[kelsie]

People can act VERY bizarrely when their blood sugar is too high.

I think there was a Night Court episode about high blood sugar. But why was his insurance card outside the car? That seems like a really odd thing to (1) have out and (2) leave behind

@airportwoman - my dad suffered from diabetes and had a few diabetic comas. when his blood sugar was high, he would appear DRUNK as a skunk. it was very bizarre and so painful for our family, and of course for my pops. he was an alcoholic anyway so it really added insult to injury when he would have a sober streak and have a diabetic crisis so we all would think he relapsed when he didn't... and that pain would cause a relapse. it was SO tough. no idea if this applies in this case, but it very well might, and i wanted to give some context to how the behavior can seem.

@bykerladi - Someone could've been rummaging through his glove compartment for an item and didn't care that his insurance card fell out. Or, scarier to think, maybe a "cop" asked for license, registration, and proof of vehicle insurance. terrifying thought but these cases have happened in the past.

 

[Sclaiborne100]

Please update us about when the search will be. I’d like to help.

Yes, I sure will. I'll need to ask the chief to make sure that they'll allow others to participate. There is some planning going on to search the area where the last phone ping was by just a group of people who want to help. I participated in a search in that area with the official search team and law enforcement, but unfortunately we didn't find anything. That area was actually under water at the time of the last phone ping. Law enforcement hasn't actually gotten the phone records yet. The person who was able to get one of Jamie's old phones that was still set up to the icloud and connected to his new phone was able to do a find my iphone and see the last location which is the area we searched. Because of the way it was done, law enforcement isn't sure that's actually the last known location. It made sense to me though. The one I spoke to doesn't have an iphone and didn't know that you could do that through an old phone.
And all of that was way more info than you were wanting probably! I'm sorry I didn't respond sooner. I set websleuth up to notify me when a response is made, but it must have gone to my junk mail!

 

[Sclaiborne100]

People can act VERY bizarrely when their blood sugar is too high.

I sure hope your family gets some answers.

Years ago when Jamie WAS on insulin, the episode that scared him enough to get on it happened while he was driving. He told me that he started sweating and feeling very weak and then his vision went black. He said he had to blindly pull over and call 911. He said it took some time for his vision to come back. They took him to the hospital and his sugar was extremely high (diabetic coma high is what the nurse told him). After that he started watching what he ate and lost weight (all while he was on insulin) and was able to get off the insulin after he lost a good deal of weight. I could tell by some of his latest pictures that he was starting to gain weight again which is likely why he was having the cranky episodes with his wife.

 

[Sclaiborne100]

I think there was a Night Court episode about high blood sugar. But why was his insurance card outside the car? That seems like a really odd thing to (1) have out and (2) leave behind

The seat being pulled forward and the items from the car found about 100 feet or so away from the car plus the last phone ping being in an area 5 miles away and under water are all the things that have led law enforcement to believe foul play could be involved.

 

[wdmcmahan]

Yes, I sure will. I'll need to ask the chief to make sure that they'll allow others to participate. There is some planning going on to search the area where the last phone ping was by just a group of people who want to help. I participated in a search in that area with the official search team and law enforcement, but unfortunately we didn't find anything. That area was actually under water at the time of the last phone ping. Law enforcement hasn't actually gotten the phone records yet. The person who was able to get one of Jamie's old phones that was still set up to the icloud and connected to his new phone was able to do a find my iphone and see the last location which is the area we searched. Because of the way it was done, law enforcement isn't sure that's actually the last known location. It made sense to me though. The one I spoke to doesn't have an iphone and didn't know that you could do that through an old phone.
And all of that was way more info than you were wanting probably! I'm sorry I didn't respond sooner. I set websleuth up to notify me when a response is made, but it must have gone to my junk mail!

I tend to think the Find My iPhone locator is quite accurate. About 9 years ago, my teenage son’s iPhone was stolen at school. Later that day we were able to log onto Find My iPhone through an old iPad and it showed the exact house the phone was at. I took my son, drove to that house (which was in a subdivision with lots of other houses), rang the doorbell. A teen boy answered the door. I told him I knew he had my sons iPhone and told him to give it to me or I would call the police. He handed over my son’s phone with the excuse that he “found it” at school.

 

[mlhenn]

There is some planning going on to search the area where the last phone ping was by just a group of people who want to help. I participated in a search in that area with the official search team and law enforcement, but unfortunately we didn't find anything. That area was actually under water at the time of the last phone ping. Law enforcement hasn't actually gotten the phone records yet.

BBM

But LE is attempting to get the phone records, correct?
Does it normally take this long to obtain them?

 

[bykerladi]

That seat being forward to me is a HUGE red flag. No one normally pulls their seat up after they get out of the car (unless you're short like me and its always in that position). The only time I see that is when the seat has been moved, and someone can't remember where to put it. Like if my husband drives, he moves the seat back to the forward position for me to adjust.

If it pinged under water can LE tell you where it pinged and maybe in the spring divers can look for it?

 

[Sclaiborne100]

BBM

But LE is attempting to get the phone records, correct?
Does it normally take this long to obtain them?

They are attempting to get the records. It was a pay as you go type phone and evidently those are harder to get the records for according to LE. The amount of time it’s taken is frustrating!

 

[Sclaiborne100]

That seat being forward to me is a HUGE red flag. No one normally pulls their seat up after they get out of the car (unless you're short like me and its always in that position). The only time I see that is when the seat has been moved, and someone can't remember where to put it. Like if my husband drives, he moves the seat back to the forward position for me to adjust.

If it pinged under water can LE tell you where it pinged and maybe in the spring divers can look for it?

We searched that area with LE and the county search team after the water receded and unfortunately didn’t find anything. It’s known to flood in the spring and early summer. The search team had metal detectors to try and find the phone.

 

[Sclaiborne100]

I am not sure if has been confirmed. it's considered a rumour right now, I guess.

I can absolutely confirm there was an argument as when his wife first contacted me, that is what she told me and was the reason he left. According to her, the argument was because she got called into work on her day off and they were supposed to spend the day together. I did later find out from the family that he had dinner with that Jamie told them there was more to the argument than that. I can't really say what it was about though. They did have trust issues that we were aware of. Jamie would begin a Facebook profile and have it for a little while and then inform us that he was deleting it to keep his wife happy because she would get jealous.

 

[bykerladi]

So not all was right in the land of oz. Poor James.

 

[Sclaiborne100]

So not all was right in the land of oz. Poor James.

Unfortunately not. The wife's brother lived with their mother as well and has a criminal history of kidnapping. It's a very tangled web.

 

[Lifeonaline]

So when the car was found by the 4 teenagers two days before being discovered by his wife's boss, someone was sitting inside the car with the engine running ?

 

[bykerladi]

So, essentially, her whole family could be involved in James' disappearance....

 

[mlhenn]

I find it interesting that the vehicle was located by his wife's boss. It's probably nothing more than a friend helping search but it does give me pause.

Same here.
It’s one aspect that I keep going back to for whatever reason, always in the back of my mind when reading about his disappearance

 

[LaborDayRN]

Same here.
It’s one aspect that I keep going back to for whatever reason, always in the back of my mind when reading about his disappearance

The combination of the seat being pulled forward and the vehicle being found by the wife's boss are the things that stick in my mind. It's probably completely innocent, but it has stuck with me.

 

[Lifeonaline]

So, James went missing on the 10th, his car was found on the 17th by a group of teenagers and then on the 19th James's wife's boss and her husband came across his car and reported it to LE.

It is interesting that his car was found by someone close to his wife, were they actively searching for James or his car, or did they just happen to come across it ?

Most interesting of all is that the teenagers who found the car 7 days after James went missing reported that the car was running and someone was sitting inside it, but that person had left the vehicle when they returned to it a few hours later.

Who was sitting in the car ? If it was James he had already been missing for 7 days by that point. I haven't seen any mention of food wrappings found in or near the car. If it was James in the car on the 17th surely there would be evidence of him having had food and drink for the past 7 days. He had money with him to buy food, as he apparently took $600 cash with him.

Having diabetes and no medication with him he would be becoming very unwell by that point and probably wouldn't be far from the car if he left it. However, he has not been found nearby, so where is he ?

It seems unlikely that it was James sitting in the car given the length of time since disappearance, so who was that in the car, and why was it running.