Bulgaria - James Robinson, from UK (Wigan), missing in Vratsa, 11 May 2020

[annpats]

Could he have met the “mystery woman” online before he moved there and gone to Bulgaria to be with her?

Could be. Also, who is to say this was a genuine love interest on her part and not a scam of some sorts, having met him either online or in real person.

Perhaps it wasn't an accident, and her boyfriend or husband found out?

Maybe after he reappeared after his hospital visit, perhaps this time he was 'disappeared'...?

Did James ever communicate the name of the women to anyone...family? Friends?

Also, surely Vlasta Hospital should have his name. He may have been unconscious when he got there, but he obviously regained conscioussness and felt well enough to discharge himself later on.

Also, why did he discharge himself? What was the big rush to leave hospital?

 

[modesty blaise]

Are they sure the injury was caused by a fall?

 

[modesty blaise]

Also is £4000 normal for a house and plot of land in bulgaria?

 

[indicolite22]

Could be. Also, who is to say this was a genuine love interest on her part and not a scam of some sorts, having met him either online or in real person.

Perhaps it wasn't an accident, and her boyfriend or husband found out?

Maybe after he reappeared after his hospital visit, perhaps this time he was 'disappeared'...?

Did James ever communicate the name of the women to anyone...family? Friends?

Also, surely Vlasta Hospital should have his name. He may have been unconscious when he got there, but he obviously regained conscioussness and felt well enough to discharge himself later on.

Also, why did he discharge himself? What was the big rush to leave hospital?

He probably thought he was fine and didn't want to stay in the hospital when he had work to do at home. He was renovating the house he bought four months earlier. It's hard to say where the woman came from. Was she with him in the ambulance or joined him in the hospital?

His disappearance doesn't appear voluntary to me. At first I thought that he left the hospital on foot, got confused and maybe fell into a river, but there isn't one nearby. How did he pay for the taxi ride? Did he have cash on him? IMO one possibility is that he wandered off from the hospital and got confused/lost due to his head injury. Another involves something nefarious on the part of the person (or their associates) who gave him a ride home.

 

[indicolite22]

Also is £4000 normal for a house and plot of land in bulgaria?

Cheap land/properties in rural Eastern Europe attracted a certain number of British expats.

 

[annpats]

Cheap land/properties in rural Eastern Europe attracted a certain number of British expats.

But even £4000 for a house in Bulgaria isn't very much at all. I was having a look a while ago, and there were 3 bedroom derelict rural wooden houses for about £10,000 in places I'd never heard of.

I'm thinking the 'house' he bought for £4000 must've been very dilapidated, practically a shed. Afterall, it had dangerous dodgy wiring and birds nests in....that's what caused the fire!

He would've needed a fair bit of money to do the house up, and that may be a motive. He had ready cash to spend on his house. Arrange an "accident"? Make him "disappear"?

Did this woman/girlfriend have access to his Bulgarian bank account? He must've had one.

As sad as it maybe, European and Asian women do prey on single western men for their money. Some are connected to organised crime, and some are just in it for themselves.

However, the saddest thing is the Bulgarian police just don't seem to care about James one iota.

 

[indicolite22]

But even £4000 for a house in Bulgaria isn't very much at all. I was having a look a while ago, and there were 3 bedroom derelict rural wooden houses for about £10,000 in places I'd never heard of.

I'm thinking the 'house' he bought for £4000 must've been very dilapidated, practically a shed. Afterall, it had dangerous dodgy wiring and birds nests in....that's what caused the fire!

He would've needed a fair bit of money to do the house up, and that may be a motive. He had ready cash to spend on his house. Arrange an "accident"? Make him "disappear"?

Did this woman/girlfriend have access to his Bulgarian bank account? He must've had one.

As sad as it maybe, European and Asian women do prey on single western men for their money. Some are connected to organised crime, and some are just in it for themselves.

However, the saddest thing is the Bulgarian police just don't seem to care about James one iota.

Since his valuables were left on the property (laptop, phone,...), I don't think robbery was the motive. I don't remember anything about missing savings/money being mentioned by his family. If he had significant savings he could have paid workers to renovate the house.

Wouldn't the neighbors be able to confirm if there was a girlfriend in the picture? Did he have a vehicle? How did he get around? Did he socialize with the locals? Other expats?

 

[annpats]

I don't think robbery was the motive. I don't remember anything about missing savings/money being mentioned by his family. If he had significant savings he could have paid workers to renovate the house.

His friends/family might not have know about his Bulgarian bank account. He would have needed one while out there.

He probably had some money, although maybe not wealthy by British/US standards, as he was doing all the renovations himself.

But he could've been wealthy by Bulgarian standards, or they at least thought he was.

It's not worth taking a laptop, passport or phone, they're worth very little compared with any cash or money he had an the caravan or an his Bulgarian account.

A single, foreign man who can't speak or read the language and hadn't long lived there could be seen as easy pickings.

Where did the taxi take him to after hospital?

If it took him back to his house/caravan, then he's probably been abducted too.

No-one has reported a confused foreign man wandering around.

 

[Darling136]

Still missing

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[indicolite22]

Rethinking this a little... If he left the hospital on his own and took a ride with a stranger, what was the motive? He likely didn't have a lot of money on his person. What are the chances that the taxi driver turned violent? Was there a dispute about the fare? It would seem that he randomly ran into bad people. On the other hand, did he even take a ride? Or did he wander off on foot in an unexpected direction and will one day be found?

 

[Bit of hope]

Like me on here people on the FB page are constantly asking what the investigation of the Bulgarian police was about, if any. No answers. The family seems to have "taken" a lawyer...not sure why or what he/she has done. There are also concerned citizens from Bulgaria, even Vratza, reacting, searching, spreading posters, etc. He is still missing, but for people to stay motivated it would be nice if the family was a little bit more forthcoming about what is known.

Main message from the people: he would have been absolutely noticed by others as a non-Bulgarian native. They think something bad happened to him or he is no longer in the area.