Found Deceased CA - Blaze Bernstein, 19, Lake Forest, 2 Jan 2018 #2

[JerseyGirl]

Yes, the drone search is/was organized by family and friends. It is not an official search:

An announcement about the volunteer effort, posted Saturday night on a Facebook page titled “Help us find Blaze Bernstein” reads:

“Orange County 107 Drone Pilots: My friend’s son is missing, and I have been given a green light to plan an independent SAR mission for Part 107 FAA Certified Drone Pilots. Blaze Bernstein, 19, was last seen on Tuesday night at 10:30pm at Borrego Park in Foothill Ranch. OCPD has completed a dog search, human search, and a helicopter search.”

The Federal Aviation Administration’s Part 107 regulation was devised to integrate the use of drones into the National Airspace System.

The drone pilot who posted the announcement, Josh Friedman, also stated in the post, “I know that a lot of pilots want to help which is why I am only asking for 107 pilots following all 107 rules! You can fly any time of day. I am not coordinating times, so be aware that other pilots will be around throughout the day. If there is any police activity please cease flight, and you are responsible for you, your drone, and your surroundings. If you find something of extreme interest contact OCPD at 714-647-7000.”

Friedman said that at least 15 certified pilots flew drones around the wilderness park at staggered times on Sunday.

“I am then collecting all the video footage and putting it onto a site where we’re going to organize volunteers to look at the footage and get more eyes on it over the next week,” said Friedman, owner of One Zero Digital Media, a Tustin company specializing in drone photography and video.

https://www.ocregister.com/2018/01/...19-year-old-student-blake-bernstein-vanished/

 

[ButForFortune]

That's what I'm hoping. I hoped earlier that he is somewhere applying to culinary schools and writing a best selling cookbook.

This! I have been wondering all along about the dinner prepared for his family that last evening. Perhaps there was conflict that night about his future if he informed his family that he wanted to pursue a different career and educational trajectory. Perhaps that is why he prepared the full meal for them, in hopes of winning over their support. I found his father's description of the meal odd (not particularly effusive - but I cannot find the quote - it was in one of the first interviews) and his statement along the lines of everyone was normal or fine. Supposedly BB was enthused about being the editor of a foodie magazine.

Not to insinuate in any way that the parents had anything to do with this - just that perhaps BB was upset when he left the home.

I hope he comes home safe.

 

[DakotaMayi]

Lets just alert the mods to anything that shouldn't be posted instead of replying to it and therefore giving it more air time. Blaze deserves more than that.

Thanks Mods. Much appreciated.

 

[freebird2018]

this family has a millionS dollar trust so reward money is not issue, and are very supported by their religious community so this is a political ad....


.

On the Family’s FB page, the county supervisor just offered to donate $1000 towards a reward. “My high school friend Leigh Sklamberg Haikin contacted me about her friendship with the family. I will add $1,000 to a reward that helps our Sheriff's Dept. find Blaze and safely return him to his family and loved ones. As your County Supervisor I will do everything I can to protect our community.”

Others have been offering this and contributing to a Go fund me page for several days. Why would they not be doing this yet? If B.B. is hiding with someone that may help people talk?

 

[freebird2018]

good thought, alot of expectations..they wanted him to be someone he could Not be............come home safe

....

This! I have been wondering all along about the dinner prepared for his family that last evening. Perhaps there was conflict that night about his future if he informed his family that he wanted to pursue a different career and educational trajectory. Perhaps that is why he prepared the full meal for them, in hopes of winning over their support. I found his father's description of the meal odd (not particularly effusive - but I cannot find the quote - it was in one of the first interviews) and his statement along the lines of everyone was normal or fine. Supposedly BB was enthused about being the editor of a foodie magazine.

Not to insinuate in any way that the parents had anything to do with this - just that perhaps BB was upset when he left the home.

I hope he comes home safe.

 

[Winterawalker]

If money is no issue why not offer a reward? How could it hurt their search efforts? Why not take people up on their offers of a physical search? Just wondering what the downside of offering a reward could be?

 

[Catonahottinroof]

This is my first post on Webseluths. I've been following the case closely since it was first reported across all media and social media sources. I've lived near Foothill Ranch for over forty years and owned a home in Foothill Ranch specifically for ten years adjacent to the Whiting Ranch preserve. I mountain bike the Whiting Ranch trails regularly and am extremely familiar with the area.

Based on all known facts to-date, here is what I believe happened, the probabilities of each scenario, and the supporting rationale:

90% - Suicide.
8% - Hiding.
<1% - Captive.
<1% - Homicide.

Looking at each potential scenario, the following rationale supports the probabilities for each.

Based on all facts known to-date, the most probable and logical scenario is suicide. The primary rationale supporting this scenario includes the following:

- BB willingly and purposely left his house without anything necessary for sustaining life (food, water, money, medication, identification, glasses, etc.). Why BB may have chosen to do this is pure conjecture. The fact is... he did.

- BB willingly and purposefully walked into a dark, desolate, and remote area at night. One that he was intimately familiar with as lacking food, water, and being unpopulated at such time. This is based on the only known first-hand witness statement available (driver) which has been thoroughly investigated by LE and remains unchallenged as of this time. One week after his disappearance. Best known information. Why BB may have chosen to do this is pure conjecture. The fact is... he did.

- Suicide Motive... stress/breakdown. It is known BB was less than a week away from going back to school. A highly competitive Ivy League university. Far away from home. As a 19 year old, this would generally be considered stressful. BB was studying psychology with a minor in chemistry, with a "pre-med focus", per his father. This is a challenging course of study. Further, his line of study is in stark contrast and polar opposite to BB's own personally stated and well-documented interests and passions. Namely... writing, cooking, and music. This juxtaposition provides additional tension and rationale background for the most probable scenario stated. Suicide. This is my opinion only based on all known facts and available information.

I hate to say it -I get where you are coming from in writing this post. Though I sure hope it's not true!

There are just too many inconsistencies with the parents stories and the way the parents are acting for my liking. I feel we are being manipulated by the parents and I don't understand why. There is much more to this story!!

I don't understand why they would be concerned about tracking their son on a borrowed phone. They were obvi very worried about him for some other reason before that night to want to track a borrowed phone.

Also to add to your school input He was originally in a prestigious program at Penn that he left to be a psych major / pre med. Stress. <modsnip> Stress.

But why haven't they found the body or a note? I don't see a prolific writer not leaving a note...

My own theory is its a grinder hookup gone bad or the HS friend that picked him up that night was the hookup and it went bad.

 

[Voice4theSilent]

I must be loosing it. Thanks for clarifying. Time to take a break. Lol

No, please don't. I might be the one losing it. lol

 

[Whiteorchids]

I understand how suicide is a favorable opinion in this case and I agree, it's certainly a possibility. But why would he be involving other people? Usually we see our mispers, who in the end have committed suicide, go off on their own and seemingly vanish into thin air until their bodies are located. Not call their friends and go to parks where potentially there were other people.

Does anyone know if he was being bullied on social media? Perhaps they are looking into that. Possibly references regarding his sexual preference. Kids take bullying very hard and it's so hurtful.

Or perhaps there were people at Penn that were bullying or causing him problems and he didn't want to go back. Perhaps he was embarrassed or ashamed to tell his parents.

 

[001]

This is my first post on Webseluths. I've been following the case closely since it was first reported across all media and social media sources. I've lived near Foothill Ranch for over forty years and owned a home in Foothill Ranch specifically for ten years adjacent to the Whiting Ranch preserve. I mountain bike the Whiting Ranch trails regularly and am extremely familiar with the area.

Based on all known facts to-date, here is what I believe happened, the probabilities of each scenario, and the supporting rationale:

90% - Suicide.
8% - Hiding.
<1% - Captive.
<1% - Homicide.

Looking at each potential scenario, the following rationale supports the probabilities for each.

Based on all facts known to-date, the most probable and logical scenario is suicide. The primary rationale supporting this scenario includes the following:

- BB willingly and purposely left his house without anything necessary for sustaining life (food, water, money, medication, identification, glasses, etc.). Why BB may have chosen to do this is pure conjecture. The fact is... he did.

- BB willingly and purposefully walked into a dark, desolate, and remote area at night. One that he was intimately familiar with as lacking food, water, and being unpopulated at such time. This is based on the only known first-hand witness statement available (driver) which has been thoroughly investigated by LE and remains unchallenged as of this time. One week after his disappearance. Best known information. Why BB may have chosen to do this is pure conjecture. The fact is... he did.

- Suicide Motive... stress/breakdown. It is known BB was less than a week away from going back to school. A highly competitive Ivy League university. Far away from home. As a 19 year old, this would generally be considered stressful. BB was studying psychology with a minor in chemistry, with a "pre-med focus", per his father. This is a challenging course of study. Further, his line of study is in stark contrast and polar opposite to BB's own personally stated and well-documented interests and passions. Namely... writing, cooking, and music. This juxtaposition provides additional tension and rationale background for the most probable scenario stated. Suicide. This is my opinion only based on all known facts and available information.

I'd like to offer my thoughts in a similar vein to this post.

I think it's honestly quite unlikely that Blaze was murdered.

It's been a week. By this point, investigators have likely looked into every facet of Blaze's life, every friend he might have had a dispute with, and searched for any trace of an intent to meet a hookup through Grindr, Tinder, Craigslist, etc. I think if police would have found a motive involving foul play, they would have mentioned it by now.

Likewise, I think if Blaze's friend was responsible for his disappearance, he would likely already be in custody. There would be more than enough circumstantial evidence to arrest him if there was even the slightest inkling of a possible motive for him to harm Blaze.

As far as a hookup gone wrong, I believe that occurred less and less. Hookups with unknown parties are always risky, but I don't think Blaze was stupid. Using a buddy system for those types of activities is very common, and I think that if Blaze suspected something was off, he probably wouldn't have gone.

As far as trafficking goes, sure, Blaze might be desirable, but trying to hide a kid with this much of a spotlight on him and agencies looking for him is absolutely insane. Traffickers target kids that no one would look for, not kids with their face on TV stories across the country. No trafficker would want to try and keep Blaze.

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The detail about Blaze attending the elementary school across from where he disappeared is really interesting to me. I don't believe I can step into his head, but is it possible that he wanted to be in the park for sentimental reasons before he disappeared?

I'm 60% hiding 30% suicide. While I could understand Blaze being stressed out enough to commit suicide, I don't see the circumstances fitting the narrative. The most common methods of suicide are ones that people can easily commit at home without needing to be driven out to a public park for. I'm sure that Blaze would know that.

 

[LaborDayRN]

Lets just alert the mods to anything that shouldn't be posted instead of replying to it and therefore giving it more air time. Blaze deserves more than that.

Thanks Mods. Much appreciated.

I just thought I would repeat what AnaPicses says here. We all want the best for Blaze. If you find something that is against TOS or that we've been asked not to discuss, please don't quote the post to reply. It just makes more work for the mods (cleaning up original and quoted posts). Simply report the post by clicking on the red triangle in the bottom left corner of the post.

 

[charminglane]

I searched the start date for ICE -The Institute of Culinary Education in Pasadena, CA and NYC. They will start 1/18.
You always hope.

 

[Hapworth]

I’ve followed a few cases here on WS where the missing individual chose to self harm by climbing a tree and commit suicide by hanging. Several initial search groups were only looking ground level and never looked up into the trees. Subsequent searchers did in fact take notice of looking up and the individuals were located. Just mentioning this as an observation not as a fact regarding the searchers in this case.


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[iscaremyself]

If money is no issue why not offer a reward? How could it hurt their search efforts? Why not take people up on their offers of a physical search? Just wondering what the downside of offering a reward could be?

money always beats the bushes.. criminals fall out, heard from a friend who heard from a friend.
Reward couldn't hurt imo

 

[Steelslady]

Being he was charred beyond recognition it's probably going to be a long and tedious process to identify. Ugh.

I wonder if they know who the owner of the car is.

 

[4SAM]

Is the park currently closed to the public while searches are going on?

 

[001]

money always beats the bushes.. criminals fall out, heard from a friend who heard from a friend.
Reward couldn't hurt imo

It also attracts false leads. If the OCSD has actual leads as they're saying, they might not need more potential ones for detectives to follow up on.

 

[DakotaMayi]

Is the park currently closed to the public while searches are going on?

Oh man I hope so.

 

[charminglane]

C'mon guests, sign up in honor of Blaze!
Bring him home.

 

[GlowingShadow]

I searched the start date for ICE -The Institute of Culinary Education in Pasadena, CA and NYC. They will start 1/18.
You always hope.

How would he be able to do that without ID and money?