Found Deceased CA - Christopher Liang, USF student, rented a car to go from San Francisco to Irvine, 28 Feb 2022

[GuyfromCanada]

A San Francisco college student has been reported missing for nearly a week after what his brother described as an “erratic” trip from the Bay Area to Southern California.

Christopher Liang was last heard from Feb. 28, hours after he rented a car and began his trip from San Francisco to Irvine, his brother Jerry wrote in an Instagram post Thursday. At around 5 p.m., Christopher said he was in the central California town of Firebaugh, Jerry said.

But since then, Christopher has not been in contact with anyone — and has missed classes and the return window for his rental car, a white Tesla Model Y with the license plate number 8RNC906. Jerry Liang confirmed in an interview with SFGATE that Christopher is a student at the University of San Francisco; he is a senior majoring in business.

More at SF college student reported missing after 'erratic' trip to SoCal

The distance is about 420 miles.

Google Maps

 

[GuyfromCanada]

Can the rental company track the car, I wonder?

 

[Luckyzmom]

Can family access cell phones info or bank acct info?

 

[LadyL]

Are Teslas targets for car jackers?

 

[Quiet Time]

Lots of farmland in Firebaugh.
Small town.

We would go through Firebaugh as a shortcut coming back from San Francisco to go home.

IIRC it's HWY 33

 

[Cuoco7]

It's likely he had to pull over somewhere to charge.
There's one in Firebaugh and several others on the 5.

Tesla Superchargers in United States | Tesla

 

[GMS]

It's likely he had to pull over somewhere to charge.
There's one in Firebaugh and several others on the 5.

Tesla Superchargers in United States | Tesla

I wondered why he may have exited 5, assuming he was indeed traveling that route south from SF. Firebaugh is about 150 miles into his journey...would a Tesla need a charge that soon? Assuming he left with a full charge.

 

[SimplyCass]

Tesla Model Y Range: Just How Far Can It Really Go On A Single Charge?

Seems it can vary a bit depending on Performance vs. Long Range or the size of the rims, but at most it would be around 300 miles, so yeah, definitely had to stop to recharge somewhere.

 

[katydid23]

Can the rental company track the car, I wonder?

I would think they could---that's an expensive car. I'd think they'd have GPS on it.

 

[Dre]

I don't know much about Teslas but I did find this :
https://screenshot-media.com/technology/ai/tesla-autopilot-unsafe/
I find the idea of a rental agency letting such a feature be utilized would be a huge liability..
but perhaps he got in an accident and has not been found yet?
damage to the car is the only reason I could see how they wouldn't be able to track it.
Hope he's okay

 

[GuyfromCanada]

Also to note: the car was malfunctioning, according to the article above.

 

[cvaldez1975]

Eeek. There is really nothing out there. I think it’s off 145. Where is he? What mental health issues does he have? Please don’t be another Brice.

 

[AnyNameIWish]

The brother calls it an "erratic " trip (?) Planned to Irvine and also mentioned mental health issues but it's very unclear where he could be.

Neither sfpd nor IrvinePD wanted to take this on... since his last known location is halfway in between.

If I were the brother I would print flyers and drive to Firebaugh gas stations and rest stops and talk to everyone there. Time is ticking. He has not been heard from in 6days

 

[annpats]

Irvine. Hmmmm.

What was there that he so urgently needed to see?

 

[Luckyzmom]

I was thinking who was on Irvine he needed to see .Wish we could get more info. Hope LE has it !

 

[annpats]

I doubt he would've been given a Tesla car with a less than full charge from the rental company, so no need to stop where he did....but now there's news the car was malfunctioning. So, I wonder why it didn't just conk out on the highway. He managed to get the car somewhere.....

But going on an erratic trip with a malfunctioning electric car and having to stop in an area you don't know sounds stressful.

It may have added to any potential mental health problems, if any, he may have had.

Would he be able to get help from this area of central California for a Tesla? I can't imagine a workshop or garage that could help with a Tesla would be very close.

I wonder if he left the car somewhere and went on foot to seek help and was given a ride by someone nefarious?

 

[GMS]

Chris' brother, Jerry, has posted a few updates today...see notes below for clarification and further details. He indicates Chris was supposed to return the rental car on Wednesday, March 2nd, so this was a quick, 2-day trip, having just picked the car up on that Monday.

• "We've tried our best with the rental car company and Tesla and discovered that the car has been offline."

• "The last time he was in contact with anyone was 5 PM PST Monday, and he claimed to be in Firebaugh CA (the Tesla Supercharger next to i5 with Firebaugh in address, not the town) at that time."

• "This is his first time driving since he got his license in March and he has never booked a hotel in his life."

 

[annpats]

Chris' brother, Jerry, has posted a few updates today..."We've tried our best with the rental car company and Tesla and discovered that the car has been offline."

Was that something Chris could disable himself?
Or was it like that from the car rental company? Do they usually supply rental cars to customers "offline"??

 

[athenna]

If the car is offline now then there has to be a point when it was online, right? Where was its last known location?

 

[SimplyCass]

If the car is offline now then there has to be a point when it was online, right? Where was its last known location?

Last known location is Firebaugh, in central CA. It's off the 5 freeway and is a known stop for road trips.