Found Deceased Brazil - Rye Hunt, 25, Rio de Janeiro, 21 May 2016

[LexR]

Whoa, that's weird. I haven't seen any news about this at all, though, granted, I live in São Paulo, not Rio... but still.

I'm doing some googling right now and about their weird reaction to the drug: it was supposed to be diluted in water, but they snorted it instead. I cannot say that this information is correct cause I know NOTHING about drugs at all... but that's what I found while reading some recent articles.

His girlfriend has commented that, before Rye disappeared, it's known that he visited some slums. She also said that she doesn't see him as the type of person who does drugs and that, while he would go to the gym a lot, he was never much of a swimmer, so she doesn't believe he would've swum to the island.

Personally, there aren't many reasons for someone to visit slums. Other than some voluntary work or a somewhat morbid curiosity to see poverty real close, I can only think of drugs. And if he really was having a weird *advertiser censored* reaction to whatever he had (more than once, mixed with alcohol, according to the friend), I guess he could've swum all the way there out of desperation. Adrenaline and all.

We'll see what they say about the body that's been found...

I also do not know much about drugs let alone MDMA, so I'm just wondering if it's in the realm of possibility that if it was his first time using the drug - and has been reported that it was snorted and not diluted which you are apparently supposed to do (?) that he could of had a bad reaction to it and would that be likely? His friend also apparently had a bad reaction but clearly not to the extent of Rye since he seemed to be somewhat fine and with it whilst at the airport?

May I ask where you saw his girlfriend had commented on him visiting the slums? I know from traveling South America myself last year (and in fact any country a young traveler would go) that it's unlikely IMHO that you would seek out a slum to buy drugs when they are quite freely offered and sold between other young travelers, locals, clubs, parties, word of mouth etc?

 

[ArianeEmory]

It's hard to explain without pulling the thread off topic, but if you're getting "real" MDMA, it's only affecting chemicals in your brain that make you feel good. (Oversimplification, but a useful one.) They even use it therapy in cases of PTSD, or at least that's what I've read before. That's why you don't see headlines like "man goes on shooting rampage after taking MDMA". At least, not from reputable journalists.

Anyway, it's not like acid where you can have a bad trip. AFAIK.

I'm making some sweeping statements here that could be rebutted with individual exceptions I'm sure (for example, taking MDMA while on certain rx drugs that affect serotonin), but the fact that it affected BOTH of them the exact same way tells me they were given something that wasn't really MDMA. Very very common scenario.

 

[LucasDAP]

May I ask where you saw his girlfriend had commented on him visiting the slums? I know from traveling South America myself last year (and in fact any country a young traveler would go) that it's unlikely IMHO that you would seek out a slum to buy drugs when they are quite freely offered and sold between other young travelers, locals, clubs, parties, word of mouth etc?

I had read that on a Brazilian article, but found one in English that mentions it.

In an interview with The Examiner, Ms Cuthbert said she spoke to him only hours before he disappeared. She said Mr Hunt had told her about spending the day before in the slums of Rio, which had significantly moved him.

x

It's true that you don't need to go to a slum to buy drugs since there are many people in the streets selling it, but I know of people who do it. I don't think they go too far, though, since I'm sure the ones in charge don't want that, so they probably set up a few spots close to where the slum begins. BUT, again, I'm from São Paulo, not Rio, and it could be different there.

Of course, there's also the possibility he just visited the place and was offered drugs there. Maybe he hadn't been looking for it, but just decided to give it a try...

I'm making some sweeping statements here that could be rebutted with individual exceptions I'm sure (for example, taking MDMA while on certain rx drugs that affect serotonin), but the fact that it affected BOTH of them the exact same way tells me they were given something that wasn't really MDMA. Very very common scenario.

It's possible. It's not unheard of, people buy altered drugs all the time, and the odds are that they'd sell something like that to foreigners who most likely would never go back there again. I actually think this did happen, though I obviously can't prove it.

 

[bajatacos]

Still hopeful that the sighting of a body was not legit and he is safe somewhere, perhaps coming down from an epic bender and confused about his whereabouts but safe. I can't imagine what his family is going through. As far as MDMA goes, in my younger days I had a few very positive experiences with MDMA and one very very scary experience which included paranoid hallucinations (shared by my friends) that didn't completely go away for days. Obviously what my friends and I took was adulterated, mixed with something, or not MDMA at all. I know some will think it's foolish to do drugs at all, let alone in a foreign country, but Rye and his friend were on a major adventure and probably just trying to be open to new experiences. I always hate these cases when young adventurous people run into trouble abroad and am grateful I never had that bad luck while traveling and sometimes making unwise, impulsive choices in my youth.

 

[LexR]

Thank you LucasDAP and ArianeEmory for your replies !!!!! Really good and interesting theory you mentioned!

.


On page 3 I did a timeline of Hunt's disappearance with what information was known to the public but I have just read a new interesting fact that I hadn't seen elsewhere before. It stated that the fisherman saw Hunt on 22nd May on Cotunduba island but didn't report it until the 30th. So here is the timeline from the new article:

A timeline of his disappearance:
May 20/21: Rye Hunt and Mitchell Sheppard allegedly take MDMA and go out in Lapa
May 21:
About 3am: The pair went to the Raízes da Lapa bar
6am: They were escorted back to their hostel by bar owner Bruno Mouta and three security guards
Mr Hunt messages Bonnie Cuthbert before going to the airport with Mr Sheppard
About 2pm: The pair have an argument and decide to split up for thirty minutes
2.30pm: Mr Hunt leaves the airport in a taxi
3.30pm: Mr Hunt checks into Copacabana apartment
6.20pm: Mr Hunt leaves the apartment
6.22pm: Mr Hunt makes a purchase on his bank card
May 22: Fisherman sees a man on Ilha Cotunduba that he believes to be Mr Hunt
May 24: Mr Sheppard messages Mr Mouta to ask if he has seen Mr Hunt, who thought Mr Sheppard "was trying to kill him" at the airport
May 28: Mr Hunt's family launch a Facebook page to search for him
May 30: The fisherman contacts police; a first search of Ilha Cotunduba takes place
May 31: A fresh search of Ilha Cotunduba takes place
June 1: A fishing boat spots a body in the harbour in the morning and contacts the navy; a search begins; Ms Cuthbert and Mr Hunt's uncle Michael Wholohan arrive in Rio de Janeiro in the late evening
June 2: The search for the body in the harbour continues
June 3: The search continues as police make the revelation public; Ms Cuthbert and Mr Wholohan speak to media for the first time.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/rye-hun...-turned-into-a-nightmare-20160604-gpbu6p.html

 

[slowpoke]

It seems so odd that the last message his gf received from him seemed normal since he wrote it

apparently between taking the drug and arguing with Mr Sheppard - before he disappeared

. She said

He sent me a message that morning (of May 21), saying he loved me, missed me and would message me when he got to Bolivia

.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/3...acker-rye-hunt-as-body-spotted-off-rio-coast/

Does the drug effects go off and on? How is it he is able to compose a text that morning where he sounded normal and fine, apparently not setting off any alarm bells to his gf. For it wasn't until the travel companion messaged her that he couldn't find Rye in the airport that she began to worry. In an earlier live tv video the gf has said

'I first realised something was wrong when I got a message from Rye's travel companion Mitchell, and he contacted me telling me that he'd lost Rye in the airport and that started to ring alarm bells to me'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...airport-breaks-live-interview-Waleed-Aly.html

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Is the date wrong in the title thread, it says 16th?

 

[LucasDAP]

Is the date wrong in the title thread, it says 16th?

It is, yes... I hadn't noticed it. But he disappeared on the 21st.

 

[LisaWL7TR]

Thank you LucasDAP and ArianeEmory for your replies !!!!! Really good and interesting theory you mentioned!

.


On page 3 I did a timeline of Hunt's disappearance with what information was known to the public but I have just read a new interesting fact that I hadn't seen elsewhere before. It stated that the fisherman saw Hunt on 22nd May on Cotunduba island but didn't report it until the 30th. So here is the timeline from the new article:

A timeline of his disappearance:
May 20/21: Rye Hunt and Mitchell Sheppard allegedly take MDMA and go out in Lapa
May 21:
About 3am: The pair went to the Raízes da Lapa bar
6am: They were escorted back to their hostel by bar owner Bruno Mouta and three security guards
Mr Hunt messages Bonnie Cuthbert before going to the airport with Mr Sheppard
About 2pm: The pair have an argument and decide to split up for thirty minutes
2.30pm: Mr Hunt leaves the airport in a taxi
3.30pm: Mr Hunt checks into Copacabana apartment
6.20pm: Mr Hunt leaves the apartment
6.22pm: Mr Hunt makes a purchase on his bank card
May 22: Fisherman sees a man on Ilha Cotunduba that he believes to be Mr Hunt
May 24: Mr Sheppard messages Mr Mouta to ask if he has seen Mr Hunt, who thought Mr Sheppard "was trying to kill him" at the airport
May 28: Mr Hunt's family launch a Facebook page to search for him
May 30: The fisherman contacts police; a first search of Ilha Cotunduba takes place
May 31: A fresh search of Ilha Cotunduba takes place
June 1: A fishing boat spots a body in the harbour in the morning and contacts the navy; a search begins; Ms Cuthbert and Mr Hunt's uncle Michael Wholohan arrive in Rio de Janeiro in the late evening
June 2: The search for the body in the harbour continues
June 3: The search continues as police make the revelation public; Ms Cuthbert and Mr Wholohan speak to media for the first time.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/rye-hun...-turned-into-a-nightmare-20160604-gpbu6p.html

Could have been a message that he had prepared ahead via an app to send out on a certain date.

It seems so odd that the last message his gf received from him seemed normal since he wrote it . She said .
https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/3...acker-rye-hunt-as-body-spotted-off-rio-coast/

Does the drug effects go off and on? How is it he is able to compose a text that morning where he sounded normal and fine, apparently not setting off any alarm bells to his gf. For it wasn't until the travel companion messaged her that he couldn't find Rye in the airport that she began to worry. In an earlier live tv video the gf has said
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...airport-breaks-live-interview-Waleed-Aly.html

Lisa,
Old Reader/Newbie Posting

 

[LucasDAP]

How is it he is able to compose a text that morning where he sounded normal and fine, apparently not setting off any alarm bells to his gf.

I've been thinking about this. At first, I suspected that it could've been a simple message ("Hey, can't talk right now, going to the airport, but I'll message you when I get to Bolivia. Love you and miss you"), but when you consider he packed all of his things and went to the airport... that seems pretty functional to me. Especially when you compare that to the place he rented AFTER he left the airport, which had his belongings scattered over the room, including his shoes. Is there a possibility he still had drugs from the night before on him and took them, either on the way to or at the airport?

 

[LexR]

I've been thinking about this. At first, I suspected that it could've been a simple message ("Hey, can't talk right now, going to the airport, but I'll message you when I get to Bolivia. Love you and miss you"), but when you consider he packed all of his things and went to the airport... that seems pretty functional to me. Especially when you compare that to the place he rented AFTER he left the airport, which had his belongings scattered over the room, including his shoes. Is there a possibility he still had drugs from the night before on him and took them, either on the way to or at the airport?

Yes it's all so bizarre. I agree with the possibility he may of had some drugs left over and felt the need to use them before he boarded a flight and went through airport security?

 

[LexR]

Fisherman speaks about talking to Rye Hunt

On May 30, the fisherman contacted police after recognising Mr Hunt's photo in local media, to report seeing him eight days earlier.

The man told Rio's O Globo newspaper that he and his girlfriend were fishing from a boat near Ilha Cotunduba, an uninhabited island about three kilometres from Copacabana Beach, when they spotted the man on the island.

"I have no doubt it was the missing tourist," the fisherman, who wanted to remain anonymous, said.

"The guy was looking fixedly at my boat. He had various cuts to his body.

"Me and my girlfriend were scared, it was a strong man and he didn't stop staring at us. He came down close to the water and did gestures asking for [drinking] water … I took a 1.5 litre bottle of mineral water and threw it. He drank it all in just one go."

The fisherman said he spoke briefly with the man in English, and the man told him he was Australian and had swum to the island.

"I thought it was strange, Cotunduba is difficult to access, the waves come in strongly onto the rocks of the island."

The fisherman said the man didn't ask him for help to leave the island.

"When we stopped speaking, he returned to sitting, looking lost."

http://www.smh.com.au/world/fisherman-speaks-about-talking-to-rye-hunt-20160605-gpc6px.html

 

[Meraxes]

I concur with the other posters - the drug they ingested was not MDMA. They were probably TOLD it was, but were given something very different instead (bath salts / flakka, perhaps?). The effects of MDMA wear off in a few hours and apparently he was feeling this drug the next day. If Rye thought his friend was trying to kill him, that explains why he took off and didn't communicate with him again.

My worry is that the drug triggered a psychotic break for Rye and he is lost, confused and doesn't really know what is going on. 25 is the right age for schizophrenia to rear its ugly head, and between the drug and the stress of traveling and being in a foreign country might have flipped a switch on or off.

 

[PrimeSuspect]

I concur with the other posters - the drug they ingested was not MDMA. They were probably TOLD it was, but were given something very different instead (bath salts / flakka, perhaps?). The effects of MDMA wear off in a few hours and apparently he was feeling this drug the next day. If Rye thought his friend was trying to kill him, that explains why he took off and didn't communicate with him again.

My worry is that the drug triggered a psychotic break for Rye and he is lost, confused and doesn't really know what is going on. 25 is the right age for schizophrenia to rear its ugly head, and between the drug and the stress of traveling and being in a foreign country might have flipped a switch on or off.

I was just saying the same thing to my daughter, it is a possibility.

 

[LucasDAP]

A new article was posted three hours ago. Summary:

- Police believe he tried to leave the island (Cotunduba), but was unsuccessful;

- Protocol says to stop looking for a body after 72 hours (because by then, it's unlikely they'll find anything, since the body will probably be eaten by animals), so they have officially stopped checking the sea;

- Rye's uncle will get his DNA collected so that they can use it if they ever find anything. They'll also collect DNA from Rye's toothbrush;

That's kinda it. Then they repeat what the fisherman told them...

Article in Portuguese

 

[CoverMeCagney]

A new article was posted three hours ago. Summary:

- Police believe he tried to leave the island (Cotunduba), but was unsuccessful;

- Protocol says to stop looking for a body after 72 hours (because by then, it's unlikely they'll find anything, since the body will probably be eaten by animals), so they have officially stopped checking the sea;

- Rye's uncle will get his DNA collected so that they can use it if they ever find anything. They'll also collect DNA from Rye's toothbrush;

That's kinda it. Then they repeat what the fisherman told them...

Article in Portuguese

Wow. That's pretty sobering. I mean, if the fisherman is right, and he DID see Rye, and Rye DID swim to the island, then there's every chance he tried to swim back and got into difficulty and drowned. Tough one for his family to deal with though, no evidence, no nothing. How horrible and just tragic

 

[LexR]

The sister of Australian man Rye Hunt who has been missing in Brazil since May 21, Romany Brodribb, says she now believes her brother took the powerful psychoactive drug NBOMe the night before he disappeared.

Romany told Hack that Rye took the drug believing it was MDMA.

"It's my understanding that the illicit substance marketed to them was MDMA or some form of ecstasy," she said.
"We now have a sufficient amount of evidence and are quite convinced that actually the drug they were ingesting was not the drug they were told it was.
"We now believe they were potentially using a much more hardcore hallucinogen and form of psychedelic…. called NBOMe."

http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/progr...taken-powerful-psychedelic-drug-nbome/7485462

 

[LucasDAP]

I'm sorry for going slightly off-topic, but this only makes me even more pessimistic than I already was about the Olympics.

Back on topic, reading Romany's statement is truly heartbreaking. This poor family (and the girlfriend too, of course). I'm glad that there are Aussies there helping them out with the language and I hope they find something. This is very sad.

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

I've been thinking about this. At first, I suspected that it could've been a simple message ("Hey, can't talk right now, going to the airport, but I'll message you when I get to Bolivia. Love you and miss you"), but when you consider he packed all of his things and went to the airport... that seems pretty functional to me. Especially when you compare that to the place he rented AFTER he left the airport, which had his belongings scattered over the room, including his shoes. Is there a possibility he still had drugs from the night before on him and took them, either on the way to or at the airport?

He sure looks like he's under the influence of something in the video at the airport.

 

[bajatacos]

I'm so sad the fisherman didn't offer to bring him back in his boat.