CA CA - Dane Elkins, 21, UC Santa Cruz student, vehicle found Castaic area, 20 Dec 2020

[Kano]

from everything so far this case sounds like it has a good chance for a happy ending

 

[Protectwomenandgirls]

More reports of possible sightings from mom's Facebook group, "Searching for Dane Elkins"
He may be in Bakersfield or Apple Valley.
I wish I was closer, I'd go out looking for him

 

[Protectwomenandgirls]

Alert from Mom today:
Seen in Wofford, CA. Currently searching for Dane in Kernville, CA

 

[Dawookie]

More reports of possible sightings from mom's Facebook group, "Searching for Dane Elkins"
He may be in Bakersfield or Apple Valley.
I wish I was closer, I'd go out looking for him

She had posted in one of the local groups here in Lancaster that he might have been seen here about five minutes from my house a few days before he was supposedly seen up by Lake Isabella. It's about a two hour drive to get up there so its entirely plausible for him to hitchhike up there. The good thing IMO, is that all the supposed sightings for the most part, have been in the same region just spread out between a few cities.

 

[Dawookie]

His mom said he had checked into one of the campgrounds using his own name so it seems like they're getting closer to finding him

 

[annpats]

Six months like this is too long to be a-wandering.....especially as he may need medical/psychiatric help.

Let him be found by his family in the next couple of weeks, this can't go on any longer.

I just hope that as he's using his own name, someone will recognise it and call LE.

But, at least this all means he's still alive. Phew!

 

[annpats]

Ahhh, just been on the Find Dane Elkins Facebook page, and his mother states that as Dane is 22, LE have said there is nothing they can do. That's a shame, as surely he must be considered 'endangered missing' due to his mental breakdown??

His family ask that if anyone sees him to discreetly take a photo and post it to their facebook page. The trouble with that is, by the time they drive out to wherever he has been seen, he may have moved on.....and interestingly, not one of the photos submitted has actually been of him. Just other people that look similar

His mother stated that they have had many photos of young transient men submitted in the past 6 months, but not one of them is actually Dane.
Which is a bit worrying.

The sightings with photos taken are confirmed as not being him.....so maybe these 'sightings' without photos aren't actually him either? It seems a bit of a wild goose chase for the family.

If the sightings aren't actually him, then he may not even be in CA at all, as it was rumoured he wanted to get to Oregon, but he could be anywhere.

And if it goes on like this, it could sadly be another 6 months.....

 

[10ofRods]

More reports of possible sightings from mom's Facebook group, "Searching for Dane Elkins"
He may be in Bakersfield or Apple Valley.
I wish I was closer, I'd go out looking for him

How would you organize that search? There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the various sightings. Bakersfield is a huge, urban sprawl. It is surrounded by numerous small towns and several wilderness areas. Significant homeless population on both sides of the 99 highway.

I was certain I saw another young man who went missing not far from Castaic, and when I called the hotline number from Facebook, they told me to call local police - and that others had also done so. Of course, by the time I learned all this, he was no longer standing on a median strip near the freeway. I asked a couple of local businesses to be on the lookout for him, but what are the chances he'll just wander into a dentist's office or a home mortgage office? The Carl's Fast Food employees didn't recognize him - but, they are pretty busy inside their work and none of their main windows face the intersection, where this young man stood begging for money.

So I've thought about it a lot. I live in a suburb a fraction the size of Bakersfield - I personally find Bakersfield harder to understand and navigate than Los Angeles's various cities. Apple Valley is a different matter altogether - if Dane were there, I'd think posters and regular LE contact would do wonders. Anyway, if you look at a google map of Bakersfield (vs. Castaic or Apple Valley), you'll see how densely packed it is. About 400,000 people in 150 square miles, plus the small farming towns nearby...

Anyway, I will take pix of any transient-looking young men I see (but would feel quite unsafe getting off on a random offramp in Bakersfield - even though I have family there, they say it's best if they come down this way...) This is because I'm older and because Bakersfield has more than twice the violent crime rate of the place where I live.

(There are some nice areas of Bakersfield of course, but I no longer understand its urban dynamics...)

 

[Dawookie]

How would you organize that search? There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the various sightings. Bakersfield is a huge, urban sprawl. It is surrounded by numerous small towns and several wilderness areas. Significant homeless population on both sides of the 99 highway.

I was certain I saw another young man who went missing not far from Castaic, and when I called the hotline number from Facebook, they told me to call local police - and that others had also done so. Of course, by the time I learned all this, he was no longer standing on a median strip near the freeway. I asked a couple of local businesses to be on the lookout for him, but what are the chances he'll just wander into a dentist's office or a home mortgage office? The Carl's Fast Food employees didn't recognize him - but, they are pretty busy inside their work and none of their main windows face the intersection, where this young man stood begging for money.

So I've thought about it a lot. I live in a suburb a fraction the size of Bakersfield - I personally find Bakersfield harder to understand and navigate than Los Angeles's various cities. Apple Valley is a different matter altogether - if Dane were there, I'd think posters and regular LE contact would do wonders. Anyway, if you look at a google map of Bakersfield (vs. Castaic or Apple Valley), you'll see how densely packed it is. About 400,000 people in 150 square miles, plus the small farming towns nearby...

Anyway, I will take pix of any transient-looking young men I see (but would feel quite unsafe getting off on a random offramp in Bakersfield - even though I have family there, they say it's best if they come down this way...) This is because I'm older and because Bakersfield has more than twice the violent crime rate of the place where I live.

(There are some nice areas of Bakersfield of course, but I no longer understand its urban dynamics...)

They're focusing in on the Lake Isabella area right now. Supposedly several sightings over the last two weeks and someone checked into a campground in the area using his name in the last week. Before this, all of the sightings were spread out so hopefully it is him in the area and they find him soon

 

[Protectwomenandgirls]

They're focusing in on the Lake Isabella area right now. Supposedly several sightings over the last two weeks and someone checked into a campground in the area using his name in the last week. Before this, all of the sightings were spread out so hopefully it is him in the area and they find him soon

Wow, thanks for the update! The campground check-in sounds like a very promising lead

 

[10ofRods]

They're focusing in on the Lake Isabella area right now. Supposedly several sightings over the last two weeks and someone checked into a campground in the area using his name in the last week. Before this, all of the sightings were spread out so hopefully it is him in the area and they find him soon

This is excellent! Now, if that's him - he's definitely developing a strategy for what I'm seeing all over California ("free-living young people"). It's a lot like the late 60's and 70's (there are so many of them) but they are mostly in national parks, state parks, national forests (esp. national forests), and BLM land. There's a whole network of them. We just came back from Yosemite and while there was no camping whatsoever allowed on the days we were there, there were tons and tons of discrete campers on the margins of the park, and the highest number of young people (appearing indigent) that I've seen since the late 70's. On reddit, there's quite a bit of info on how to do this.

All a person needs is a backpack and the ability to scrounge. People give other people food all the time. Of course, there's also the issue of people taking food from bear boxes - but then again, sometimes people just leave canned food there and never collect it.

It's not all super young people of course, but they are definitely helping each other out. There's a bit of begging at gas stations in the region for gas money, but otherwise very little impact on the rest of us.

If Dane checked into the campground, though, he is supposed to pay on leaving - but I've observed many, many people who simply ignore that rule. There's little enforcement right now.

 

[PommyMommy]

MAY 25, 2021
Missing student Dane Elkins possibly seen in Kern River Valley | KGET 17
[...]

Earlier this month, someone reportedly saw Dane at the Tillie Creek Campground in Wofford Heights near the northwest side of Lake Isabella. As of Tuesday, Elkins had not been found there, but many people have since reached out saying they saw Elkins in the greater Lake Isabella area.

[...]

... the 22-year-old was possibly seen in Bakersfield in January and Mojave in February. During the Mojave and Kern River Valley sightings, the person matching a description of Elkins said he was headed to Oregon, according to Elkins’ mother.

“I really strongly believe he’s in the Kern River Valley area,” said DE. “Many different people have had different experiences with him in this area. We’ve had many sightings, but not one picture, and so, I am asking the community and anybody in the area if you see Dane, please take a discrete picture. It’s almost certainly him, but we need a picture, need documentation, we just want to be sure.”

[...]

 

[cvaldez1975]

i am sure its been said but this is also around the age schizophrenia surfaces. where are you Dane?

 

[cvaldez1975]

there is a bit of hope in that there have been possible sightings of jackson miller recently.

 

[PeriwinkleE]

Bump for Dane’s mom

 

[10ofRods]

Yes - he is at the age where schizophrenia (and bipolar) often appear. Family history would be the best indicator of this (if it's available for the past few generation - not everyone who has the genes will get these illnesses, but almost no one gets these illnesses without those genes).

Lake Isabella is really really crowded right now. And it's a good place to get rides to other places in the Sequoia National Forest or other nearby wilderness places in Kern and Inyo Counties. The fact that he checked in there (we hope) is a good sign - he's functioning pretty well.

 

[PeriwinkleE]

Yes - he is at the age where schizophrenia (and bipolar) often appear. Family history would be the best indicator of this (if it's available for the past few generation - not everyone who has the genes will get these illnesses, but almost no one gets these illnesses without those genes).

Lake Isabella is really really crowded right now. And it's a good place to get rides to other places in the Sequoia National Forest or other nearby wilderness places in Kern and Inyo Counties. The fact that he checked in there (we hope) is a good sign - he's functioning pretty well.

Best time of year to be hiking around getting your head right. Kid should call his mom, though.

 

[ElementalLaura]

I had hope when this case began that he would be reunited with his family much sooner due to the multiple sightings. This is such a sad case. JMO.

 

[essjay]

I always question sightings. People see what they want to see, and often don't get a close enough look. It's so hard to accurately say if they were credible sightings due to photos provided not being the most representative. For instance, with the Springfield Three case... I am of the minority believing the van/woman seen driving all panicked is a red herring.

I hope the campground check-in was him and not some kid screwing around.

 

[10ofRods]

I doubt the campground sighting was some kid screwing around (although...I understand why you said that). I say it because so many people around Lake Isabella live there permanently, rotating through campgrounds, without internet.

At any rate, it's the only lead that I find meaningful. At the same time, Lake Isabella is very hot, very rough, and has lots of people who could be described as homeless. There's not a lot of hiking right there, there's a narrow river gorge (low flow right now) and a warm lake with boaters who party. Let's just say that if I wanted to hang out and score certain drugs, that's a place I might consider. OTOH, lots of people just CROWD there when it's hot like it has been recently.

I worry that someone else has his ID, that insufficient numbers of people have gone to Lake Isabella to check this lead out, etc (it truly is a packed area of people who all look a lot the same - hot, in sandals and shorts, approximately Dane's age, etc).

Someone needs to put Missing Signs up there. But it is not in a city, it's a rather remote area...