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

[gitana1]

Wow, I stop to cook dinner, and I miss everything!

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Holy smokes. Glad I missed that though. Wth??

Hi everyone,

As a current Penn undergraduate, I thought that there were some questions that were posed in the old thread that I would be able to answer regarding administrative policies.

First, Penn would not disclose if a student was on a leave of absence to outside parties. As well, to the claim that Blaze had taken a six-month leave of absence, that duration of leave is usually very rare and reserved for professional development or family issues. Penn administration pushes most students seeking leave for medical or psychological reasons to leave for at least two semesters, primarily in response to the recent uptick in student suicides.

Second, one item that I found very interesting about Blaze's student records is that he was initially described as a student in the Vagelos program at Penn, which is a very prestigious program in molecular science/biochemistry, and is now listed as a psychology major on a pre-med track. While these programs do have some attrition, I think that switching majors might be indicative of some stress that could have caused him to take an unannounced leave before the semester restarted.

Thanks so much for the info!!! :welcome:

Also a “patrol check” at Borego Library” which is by the park

Interesting that a public announcement was made that they stopped searching g the area but now they may be still searching the area. Or at least nearby Whiting Ranch.

Are they trying to keep someone off guard or make them able to relax and either reveal something or, if Blaze left on his own, come out of hiding ?

What's really cool...ANYONE can message a celebrity (unless they have their messaging turned off) with a copy of ANY missing persons poster and ask that celeb to share it!
The amount of exposure any case gets is somewhat dependent on friends/loved ones/sleuthers, etc. willingness to really work the case by spreading the message far and wide.
One example is the Michael Chambers case...many of us got very active in contacting news shows, podcasts, missing persons pages, etc. and even nationwide firefighters pages, as well as retired firefighter pages and asked them to share MC's poster.
I've seen 'share campaigns' where someone has messaged a missing person's favorite singer/band and asked for a share to help out the missing fan.
Danielle Stislicki's family and friends have done an incredible job of advocating for the return of their beloved daughter. Created bracelets, started a painted rock campaign, have get togethers where they paint car windows with Dani's hashtag and info. They have what seems a close relationship with a certain reporter who they keep in the loop and who keeps us in the loop. Sadly, there are SO many missing persons that those with 'squeaky wheel' supporters get the most attention.
Be creative and reach out.

There isn't a lot some of us can do from miles and miles away, but some of us can dedicate some time to sit down with ANY missing persons case and spread the word.

You're 100% right. As if these people have money they'd be well served hiring someone to help them make this case stand out.

I think that unless the body is identified as Blaze tomorrow, it is exceedingly unlikely. The turnaround on identifying burned bodies from dental records is only a few days, and given the vast resources of the OCSD and the significant media attention given to this case, I believe they already have internally answered that question by now.



Thanks for the welcome. I can't speculate on Blaze's stress level considering that I didn't intimately know him, but I think in general, Penn students operate with a high degree of stress and that campus culture increases it while providing few outlets for it. I remember an article about a Columbia student who vanished for two weeks only to be found when she reactivated her credit cards, having broken down due to the pressure of final exams. She was described as a model student with a good family just like Blaze.

Thanks for that info.

Here's another one, just such a tragic and compelling story, that I thought of when reading about this case:

http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/st...ty-pennsylvania-runner-showed-only-part-story

Question to anyone: Which is it? Did the parents really state there is no foul play? Their pleas to their son make it seem they think he left on his own.

Oh how I wish the driver friend or the text receiving girl would join us here as a Verified Insider!

If there is an investigation and he or she is cooperating I don't think they'd come here or say a word!

I sure wouldn't if LE told me to keep my mouth shut.

 

[Whiteorchids]

I think the idea that Blaze ran off is much more credible than him jumping off a toll road bridge.

Why give your friend your parents address to drive you to a park only to runaway? That doesn't make sense.

I don't think BB ever went to the park or dogs would have picked up his scent. I think it was a ruse by the friend to throw LE off his trail.

Anyway, I Googled and Googled to find out if Borrego Park has surveillance cams but I came up with nothing. I also googled to find out if restrooms are locked after hours, couldn't find that either even on the official park website. Would a guy use a bush or tree if it's closed? If he went in the stalls wouldn't friends DNA be somewhere in the bathroom? I read on Yelp the bathroom is only one small stall. I wonder if LE dusted stall for fingerprints? I don't think they ever mentioned friends car make and model either.

Only thing I could find was since the mountain lion maulings and other lion sightings in Whiting Ranch they installed surveillance cameras on the trails. I do remember when a mountain biker was mauled, killed by lion while repairing his bike chain on one of the trails. Worse part is the lion ate him. I will never forget it because it took a lot of courage for me to go hiking there again.

Like I said before I don't believe he ever was at that park. I think the OCSD should hold a presser to update the public since so many peeps are following the case.

http://ktla.com/2014/02/12/after-mo...ning-issued-at-o-c-site-of-2004-fatal-attack/

 

[ADDMommy]

Many of the new articles specifically say that the GPS tracking was disabled or turned off at 11:30 pm, which means of course, that it was turned on prior to 11:30 pm. Therefore, I do think that Blaze was at Borrego Pk and/or Whiting Ranch. Having access to the GPS tracking on his phone, I think it's very unlikely they would have put so much time and energy into searching those areas if the GPS didn't collaborate the scenario.

 

[MissUnderstood]

Just a couple things I’ve noted.
First, is it usual for parents to track their 19 year old adult son via gps? This seems quite intrusive and shows either a lack of trust or extreme worry from his parents.
Second, if at that age I was tracked by my parents I would probably do what I could to get away from it!
Just MOO.


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['Ailina]

I feel like this is putting everything into a different context.

The initial suspicious from the last thread were that Blaze was murdered, and the appeals for Blaze to come home were to lure Blaze's murderer into a false sense of security until police could find enough evidence to arrest him.

Especially with the earlier comment about the "medication needed to function", I'm actually much more convinced that these aren't a subversive ploy to catch a killer. I think police might have got the sense that Blaze's friend was stonewalling in an attempt to hide Blaze's location, but not because he was murdered.

Honestly, this case is incredibly confusing.

I remember an interview where Gideon Bernstein suggested that Blaze might have run away and could come home, which his mother immediately shuts down as "not something Blaze would do". Does anyone have a link to it?

I don't have the link to it, but I distinctly remember that contradiction (in the interview).

IIRC, another student posted further up on the severity of college stressors. I found that post compelling.

But it was the post further up from the Penn insider -- I can't recall if the person posted original content or perhaps it was an open letter from the college admin? -- that was a persuasive view on how severe the college stressors can be. The anecdotes were jarring.

I'd scratched self-harm off my list, but those posts put it right back on there, albeit lower down.

I agree with you. "Stonewalling: murder? or loyalty?" This case is like looking into two different, distorted reflections of one image. If that makes sense.

----

Oh. (Embarrassed!) The persuasive Penn post was authored by you, 001. I'm mortified I failed to retain that. I'm sorry.

But let me say...your post was powerful.

 

[001]

Just a couple things I’ve noted.
First, is it usual for parents to track their 19 year old adult son via gps? This seems quite intrusive and shows either a lack of trust or extreme worry from his parents.
Second, if at that age I was tracked by my parents I would probably do what I could to get away from it!
Just MOO.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I believe that in that interview where she discusses installing monitoring software, Blaze told her that "she could always use 'Find My iPhone' to find him". I think I told my parents the same thing when they made that request. Funny.

I'm reading this more as a kid running away from the demand to have a "perfect life". Maybe it's because I don't want to see the alternative. I just hope he comes home.

 

[GlowingShadow]

I'm glad the other thread gets cleaned up and I'm truly sorry for what happened there. As a newbie I didn't feel entitled to call the poster out, so I tried to distance the victim from that in a post saying it was not him. Which is still against the rules, since commenting related to sources like that is against the rules too. Again, I'm truly sorry. I didn't want to start an unnecessary fight or argument with the author of the post, so distancing Blaze from that was what seemed to be the best option at that moment.

Now, let's draw a line and collect what's available again:
- family dinner and everyone goes on their way, in their rooms
- Blaze chatting on Snapchat before calling a friend to pick him up
- Friend arrives and picks him up
- They arrive at Borrego Park in the parking lot next to the library
- MSM gives two version of what happens: 1. They arrive and Blaze goes in the park in the direction of the wilderness area 2. They arrive, friend who gave him the ride goes to the restroom and when he gets back to the car, Blaze is not there anymore
- friend says he doesn't know the reason why Blaze went to the park, but based on some MSM articles Blaze was meeting a third person
- Friend waits for Blaze, eventually texting him but no answer
- Friend leaves and returns back 5 hours later to look for Blaze
- In the meantime there is a text from Blaze to a friend at around 11:30, the last known activity on his phone.
- Location on his phone goes off and then his phone goes off either.
- search (drones, dogs, rescue teams, thermal - infrared cameras) in the wilderness area ends with no results
- no known (public) evidence which would support that Blaze was at the park or in the wilderness area
- helicopters searching at the nearby reservoir
- based on this article https://www.ocregister.com/2018/01/...19-year-old-student-blake-bernstein-vanished/ the drone footage will be uploaded to a site where people can help by viewing the footage recorded from above the wilderness area.

 

[Seajay]

I hope tomorrow brings Blaze home. He's been gone a week now. His family and friends are worried about him. He has an amazing life to live. He needs to come back and start living it. Goodnight all.

 

[ADDMommy]

I think if I had to walk to the reservoir from Borrego Park, I would walk the tollroad (241) which there was a "sighting" of him the morning after he went to Borrego Park. He couldn't have gotten into the reservoir from the tollroad though. He would have had to walk up an exit of the tollroad, hop the gate, follow the road to the water. But then what? It isn't a huge drop into the water for suicide and there isn't a way to get in there carrying a body. BUT, if he was upset, he could have jumped off one of the tollroad bridges into an area of steep brush. There are two, I've marked them in yellow.

Interesting! I recall a news article said that someone was spotted walking the southbound lanes on the 241 around 5am. But to my recollection, the report did not say in which direction that person was walking. Very important to this discussion.

 

[PetDetective]

Not to my knowledge. Maybe a local can confirm?

I literally live next to it and I have not noticed any police activity over here until tonight. Their search efforts seemed to be focused entirely on Borrego Park and Whiting Ranch until tonight.

There is a trail that goes around my neighborhood and along the reservoir. It wouldn’t be difficult to access.

Another concern I have had in the back of my mind(along with the reservoir) is there is a massive construction project between Blaze’s home and where I am. Let me see if I can draw up a little map so you can see for yourselves.

 

[001]

I literally live next to it and I have not noticed any police activity over here until tonight. Their search efforts seemed to be focused entirely on Borrego Park and Whiting Ranch until tonight.

There is a trail that goes around my neighborhood and along the reservoir. It wouldn’t be difficult to access.

Another concern I have had in the back of my mind(along with the reservoir) is there is a massive construction project between Blaze’s home and where I am. Let me see if I can draw up a little map so you can see for yourselves.

I saw that construction project on a map. There's literally no better place to bury someone than a piece of land that won't be disturbed for the next few decades. I wonder if the police took dogs out there?

 

[Whiteorchids]

Many of the new articles specifically say that the GPS tracking was disabled or turned off at 11:30 pm, which means of course, that it was turned on prior to 11:30 pm. Therefore, I do think that Blaze was at Borrego Pk and/or Whiting Ranch. Having access to the GPS tracking on his phone, I think it's very unlikely they would have put so much time and energy into searching those areas if the GPS didn't collaborate the scenario.

At this point anything is possible. I hope and pray he is alive and well.

The friend could have taken over his phone and texted that odd message family thought foul play. The friend could have turned the phone off and tossed it in the reservoir or bush. How do they know for sure Blaze composed the text and turned off the phone?

We don't know if phone pinged there or not as nothing has been confirmed by LE. I think for now they are just going by what friend verbally conveyed since he was the last to see him. He has changed the story a couple of times. He could have hurt Blaze grabbed his phone went to park texted like it was Blaze turn off phone then got rid of it to throw LE off.

It's amazing how so many criminals are able to concoct a story so fast after murdering. Casey Anthony, Jodi Arias, Arazmad Andressian and others. Look how many times they searched Arroyo Park for little Aramazd Andressian JR he was never in that park but Dad said he was. It was searched numerous times. His little body was at Lake Cachuma.

LE has not leaked anything to us. We are all in the dark. It's frustrating. We don't know what they have or don't have.

All this is JMO

 

[001]

As far as the helicopters go (even though we're not certain that they went to the reservoir or not), I think it's likely that a body left in the reservoir a few days ago would surface around this time. Redirecting a helicopter might just be an easy way of checking.

 

[PetDetective]

As far as the helicopters go (even though we're not certain that they went to the reservoir or not), I think it's likely that a body left in the reservoir a few days ago would surface around this time. Redirecting a helicopter might just be an easy way of checking.

Yes, you are probably correct.

I’m new here....and just realized I don’t know how to post a photo or if I even have that ability yet 🙃

 

[Whiteorchids]

Holy smokes. Glad I missed that though. Wth??



Thanks so much for the info!!! :welcome:



Interesting that a public announcement was made that they stopped searching g the area but now they may be still searching the area. Or at least nearby Whiting Ranch.

Are they trying to keep someone off guard or make them able to relax and either reveal something or, if Blaze left on his own, come out of hiding ?



You're 100% right. As if these people have money they'd be well served hiring someone to help them make this case stand out.



Thanks for that info.

Here's another one, just such a tragic and compelling story, that I thought of when reading about this case:

http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/st...ty-pennsylvania-runner-showed-only-part-story

Question to anyone: Which is it? Did the parents really state there is no foul play? Their pleas to their son make it seem they think he left on his own.



If there is an investigation and he or she is cooperating I don't think they'd come here or say a word!

I sure wouldn't if LE told me to keep my mouth shut.

Hi Gitana. I hope you had a good dinner, I'm glad your back we need your fine sleuthing skills. [emoji4]

 

[Whiteorchids]

Yes, you are probably correct.

I’m new here....and just realized I don’t know how to post a photo or if I even have that ability yet [emoji854]

Are you using Tapatalk app or web?

 

[PetDetective]

Web on my phone, but I can get on my laptop if need be

 

[freebird2018]

xoxox

 

[Whiteorchids]

I'm using Tapatalk on my iPad you should be able to post a photo as long as it's within Websleuths TOS.

@petdetective

 

[Elainera]

Web on my phone, but I can get on my laptop if need be

You can upload photos/pictures from your harddrive. There's a little icon above the text box that says Insert Image when you hover over it.