Found Deceased CA - Blaze Bernstein, 19, Lake Forest, 2 Jan 2018 #4

[stlrfninca]

@Danthrplgst, I'm pretty much with you on most of your points

I think we'll find that this was a crime of passion and that the driver was either the perpetrator or involved with a 3rd person. Motive is still unclear, but I'm leaning towards some conflict surrounding the fact that Blaze was gay and perhaps the perpetrator either was not or was in the closet, which led to some kind of emotion that got carried away.

Of course this is just speculation, but that's what my gut tells me in combination with all the other facts that we know.

 

[prue]

All, the live report will be on Channel 7 KABC in Los Angeles, so load up those ABC apps if there is one.

http://abc7.com/live/

 

[stlrfninca]

All, the live report will be on Channel 7 KABC in Los Angeles, so load up those ABC apps if there is one.

Tuned in and waiting

 

[andalso]

Wanted to add a maybe pertinent perspective from a gay person who went away to colleve. When I first returned home on breaks, after coming out, it was always an experience using grindr, tindr, etc. and discovering which of your former classmates were now open to seeing other men. It was not uncommon to reconnect with an old classmate and talk about this aspect of your identity you hadn’t felt able or comfortable discussing in high school.

:wagon:

Thank you for this perspective and Welcome to WS


To all the new members who have joined recently, Welcome to Websleuths!

 

[stlrfninca]

Can you tell I have contempt for the current state of the media? Oh, yeah!!

Amen to that!! I'm right there with you!

 

[gitana1]

Some thoughts:

1. The black belt found in the friends car...

I don't think this anything to do with erotic asphyxiation, in fact I'm positive the belt has nothing to do with that. Erotic asphyxiation is usually accomplished using hands not objects, esp in a place like a public park or some other public location.

So where did the belt come from?

Perhaps Blaze was wearing it and it was either taken off as part of the sexual act for better "access" or it was removed to make it easier to place a body, perhaps place a body in a plastic tub to move it in the darkness? Fellow gents will be familiar with what I'm talking about, it's damn near impossible to bend over if you're wearing a belt. OR...the driver was wearing the belt and he took it off to make it easier to undue his pants OR he simply had a belt in his car.

2. The camping gear...

We're all freaking out about the camping gear with no point of reference. Perhaps the gear was in the car because the driver was either planning a camping trip or had recently returned from an overnight camping trip. I've learned with my nieces and nephews (who range in age from 18-30) that kids today will take impromptu "camping" trips but it isn't camping in the normal sense, they will go somewhere for two or three nights, usually either a music festival or just hanging out with friends and they're not going into actual wilderness situations, more like organized campgrounds or state forests no further then maybe 30min from a town. These kids aren't outdoorsy types in the least, they are a lot like Blaze, they come from middle class/upper middle class families who live in metropolitan areas. I think the camping gear is nothing but an excuse for LE to use in their getting a warrant. Remember, LE will use the presence of a ham sandwich in the home if it suits their purposes even though they know it has no actual connection to a case.

<modsnip>

4. The motive...

I'm getting an accidental death or murder in the heat of the moment vibe from this case. Some of us are coming from a place of serial killers and other garden variety crazies, this is more than likely a 19yo rich kid who went to some artsy high school in California. This kid is not some gang banger from Compton or a pig farmer that feeds prostitutes to his livestock in the boondocks of Canada. He isn't street smart, he has no clue what he's doing. I would speculate the closest he's been to a previous interaction with the cops is a traffic stop.

5. <modsnip>

6. The "fight club"...

There is no fight club, period. It's an excuse made by the driver to explain the scratches on his hands, end of story.

I agree with a lot of this although it seems odd to worry about the feelings of serial killers. But yeah, it's more likely not a sophisticated killer due to the age range, etc. But it can be premeditated even if it;s not a sociopathic monster who did this.

I think you're right about the belt and the camping gear.

<modsnip>

 

[gitana1]

Wanted to add a maybe pertinent perspective from a gay person who went away to college. When I first returned home on breaks, after coming out, it was always an experience using grindr, tindr, etc. and discovering which of your former classmates were now open to seeing other men. It was not uncommon to reconnect with an old classmate and talk about this aspect of your identity you hadn’t felt able or comfortable discussing in high school.

:fireworks: :welcome: :fireworks:

 

[DAnthrplgst]

Just to toss this out there. I live in the Philly metro area, on our local news they said that Blaze was found in a shallow grave, NOT in the drain pipe. Which seems to make sense based on what has been reported. Remember the drain pipe theory got started by a fellow WS who noted footprints around the drain pipe not be LE or MSM. In fact, I can't say I've one report t suggest Blaze wasn't buried in the ground.

 

[Deleted member 278]

Friend continues to be questioned. No suspect named.

 

[TTF14]

Wanted to add a maybe pertinent perspective from a gay person who went away to college. When I first returned home on breaks, after coming out, it was always an experience using grindr, tindr, etc. and discovering which of your former classmates were now open to seeing other men. It was not uncommon to reconnect with an old classmate and talk about this aspect of your identity you hadn’t felt able or comfortable discussing in high school.

Interesting. Had no clue . Welcome to WS!

 

[Deleted member 278]

Nothing new in live report.

 

[gitana1]

Ok. Nothing new.

 

[missabbie]

Nothing new in news. Just saying the same thing. Starting think all the info was leaked to make him crack. Pressure is mounting.

 

[gitana1]

Nothing new in news. Just saying the same thing. Starting think all the info was leaked to make him crack. Pressure is mounting.

Well nothing was leaked. That's a search warrant and is public record. So all the media had to do was request a copy. Now LE has (belatedly) sealed the search warrant.

 

[Gone Girl]

Friend continues to be questioned. No suspect named.

What?? Is there a suspect in custody and just not named or is there no suspect yet???


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[missabbie]

They’ve been so tight lipped. Why was just part of the affadavit released? Is that typical?

 

[Elainera]

Friend continues to be questioned. No suspect named.

What?? Is there a suspect in custody and just not named or is there no suspect yet???


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

LE has not used the word "suspect" yet. But "persons of interest" (plural) was used yesterday. Nobody in custody.

 

[LAhiker]

@Danthrplgst, I'm pretty much with you on most of your points

I think we'll find that this was a crime of passion and that the driver was either the perpetrator or involved with a 3rd person. Motive is still unclear, but I'm leaning towards some conflict surrounding the fact that Blaze was gay and perhaps the perpetrator either was not or was in the closet, which led to some kind of emotion that got carried away.

Of course this is just speculation, but that's what my gut tells me in combination with all the other facts that we know.

I agree. While many at that high school may have been enlightened about social issues, that doesn't mean that no one there was homophobic, uncomfortable with their own gay urges, etc. Perhaps the driver was someone who didn't fit in, who was attracted to Blaze but felt uncomfortable about that, and/or who resented him in other ways (as another poster suggested earlier -- I can't find the name right now).

While many of us have seen Blaze's depressed Tumblr post during his high school years, by this year Blaze was a premed at a good university with literary success who seemed comfortable being openly gay. Perhaps the friend had not fared so well and resented Blaze's relative success. He even could be anti-Semitic.

 

[Elainera]

:waiting:

 

[Seajay]

eh...as a gay man born and raised in Orange County (I'm also an OCSA alum)...I disagree. Sure, it's not the worst...but OC is still plenty religious and conservative. A hate crime took place in Seal Beach just last month.

OCSA is certainly gay friendly, but it can still be a very confusing/stressful/conflicting process growing up in and coming out as gay in OC. I didn't come out to my parents until I moved away for college.

OCSA feels like a comfortable and safe bubble, but outside of school, it doesn't always feel that way. Even OCSA isn't perfect, and remember, plenty of the parents of kids there may be old-school, vaguely homophobic types (please understand I am NOT referring to Blaze's parents). It's always tough.

I'm really hoping this story doesn't play out the way I think it will, but I do have a feeling homophobia is involved. I think I can really relate with how Blaze must have felt about his life, his family, and his teenage years. Sending all my love to him and his family.

Thank you for your input. I did post about my friends two sons and their experience at OCSA vs public school and you pretty much said what I was trying to say, only better.

Her gay son was bullied in public school so she moved him to OCSA. He had a much better high school experience there. I know it was hard for him in public school. I was close to him and he would share with me the trials he was going through.

With that, I didn't find OC all that tolerant in general. OC is fairly conservative from my experiences out there.