Found Deceased CA - Fang Jin, 47, flew to LA from China, train to Palm Springs, Morongo Basin, 21 Jul 2023, w/ John Root Fitzpatrick, 55, (fnd dec.), 30 Jul ‘23 #2

[10ofRods]

Yes, that would indicate at least 2 perps (one to drive JRF’s truck, the other to drive them away).

Which, while in the realm of possibility, is overcomplicating what we currently know of the facts. Also, why? We don’t have any reason to believe (at the moment) 2 or more people entered into a conspiracy to kidnap/murder 2 other people, and also not steal some not insignificant amount of cash.

The weird thing about the decomposition smell, assuming it was human, is that it’s hard to imagine someone being killed in a mobile home park, and then later, being carted out of one of the homes, all without anyone hearing or seeing anything. Those homes are pretty close together and and not incredibly soundproof. It’s even harder to imagine that if the body was John’s, and if it was, how one person accomplished it. (So now we’re back to 2 perps…)

Just thinking out loud here.

Scenarios:

- decomp wasn’t human and unrelated to disappearance of JF/death of JRF

- JF killed there by JRF the night of the 21st, who then scouts around for a few days trying to figure out what do. Removal: duffel bag? But why leave her other belongings there? And the police report doesn’t mention any signs of a struggle: fluids from which the smell may have come; it also doesn’t mention a smell of bleach, etc. Of course there is that 2nd report, which we haven’t seen.

- JRF killed there by unknown. This is the big hangup, to me - why? I suppose it says something that I can envision various reasons why he may have killed her, but not why he may have been killed. Of course, we don’t know much/anything about his current life, like how he made money, aside from his military pension, which was likely decent.

- or, JRF kills JF, then kills himself sometime later.

- they were both killed there, which makes the involvement of more than 1 unknown 3rd party more likely.

It’s that smell which makes simple misadventure for them both seem the least likely scenario at this point.

All just pure speculation and an attempt to organize thoughts.

They also invited a forensic team in. That team would have looked for the source of decomp. If in fact it was non-human, I think they would have known that by August 3.

The forensic team likely arrived under the first (homicide appendix) search warrant. So LE knows. And knew for a while. I think the likelihood of a second search warrant on August 3 would be minimal if they found a dead cat or whatever.

So I have eliminated your first scenario. Scenario 2 unfortunately has to be on the table.

I find the idea that someone moved a dead JRF to be only remotely possible. In his (JRF's) own truck? either walked to his house to kill him OR somehow evaded all detection by ring camera - which surely LE has investigated. Takes JRF with truck to Harper Flat (where is Jin Fang during this?)

I just wish we knew whether the Tacoma also tested positive for decomp...

IMO

 

[Cedars]

Just jumping off this post -- the article mentions that on 7/17 FJ reported to a friends that there was an issue with water and power:

"On July 17, Schmidt said, Jin talked to a family friend in the U.S. and complained that the water and electricity were often turned off where she was staying. She also said they were talking about visiting Fitzpatrick’s family on the East Coast."

I wonder what would cause an intermittent loss of utilities? It doesn't sound like there was no water or power consistently. At any rate, a loss of power could certainly be a cause of a decomposition smell if food in the refrigerator/freezer unthawed and spoiled.

MOO.

I'm confused, was she not camping/hiking in Joshua Tree at this time? I didn't get the impression she'd spent much time hanging around the mobile home, but perhaps I'm wrong?

ETA: perhaps this was something JRF told her?

 

[10ofRods]

I'm confused, was she not camping/hiking in Joshua Tree at this time? I didn't get the impression she'd spent much time hanging around the mobile home, but perhaps I'm wrong?

I know of no evidence that one or both of these missing persons ever camped in Joshua Tree. Joshua Tree does not have dispersed (freely available) camping and it's pretty hard to get reservations, even in summer. At any rate, no MSM has ever said they went camping in JT, or anywhere else for that matter. They were takng day trips, as one does when one lives so close to the park - there is no lodging, no food, no gas inside the park.

There are many approaches to how to stay near JT and visit it in July. One is to get up before dawn and go in the cooler hours, returning to Morongo (even if they don't live there) or 29 Palms (that's the main engine of that economy) or the newly burgeoning village of Joshua Tree itself (which barely existed 20 years ago and is still quite low in population and services).

The photos Jin Fang took look to me to be mostly day tripping photos (and the photo of 29 Palms is at the end of a long and busy day, if they did the mining loop in Joshua Tree that day).

A person would "hang out" in the mobile home while bathing, breakfasting, getting ready for the day and to sleep. Just as one would "hang out" in a hotel room while trying to see as much of the desert as possible.

I do not think she was out in JT 24 hours a day, at all, at least not from the photos I've seen.

IMO.

 

[Cedars]

I know of no evidence that one or both of these missing persons ever camped in Joshua Tree. Joshua Tree does not have dispersed (freely available) camping and it's pretty hard to get reservations, even in summer. At any rate, no MSM has ever said they went camping in JT, or anywhere else for that matter. They were takng day trips, as one does when one lives so close to the park - there is no lodging, no food, no gas inside the park.

There are many approaches to how to stay near JT and visit it in July. One is to get up before dawn and go in the cooler hours, returning to Morongo (even if they don't live there) or 29 Palms (that's the main engine of that economy) or the newly burgeoning village of Joshua Tree itself (which barely existed 20 years ago and is still quite low in population and services).

The photos Jin Fang took look to me to be mostly day tripping photos (and the photo of 29 Palms is at the end of a long and busy day, if they did the mining loop in Joshua Tree that day).

A person would "hang out" in the mobile home while bathing, breakfasting, getting ready for the day and to sleep. Just as one would "hang out" in a hotel room while trying to see as much of the desert as possible.

I do not think she was out in JT 24 hours a day, at all, at least not from the photos I've seen.

IMO.

I was quoting from here:

Disappearance of Fang Jin: Anza Borrego Connection

Find local Borrego Springs businesses, travel tips, community insights, and Anza-Borrego State Park adventures.

gotoborregosprings.com

It explicitly states she stayed her first night at the mobile home, but was then "hiking and camping in JT".

JMO

 

[10ofRods]

I was quoting from here:

Disappearance of Fang Jin: Anza Borrego Connection

Find local Borrego Springs businesses, travel tips, community insights, and Anza-Borrego State Park adventures.

gotoborregosprings.com

It explicitly states she stayed her first night at the mobile home, but was then "hiking and camping in JT".

JMO

I'm not sure that's a news source. It says it's a blog. It cites no sources. There's no byline or reporter. Yes, Jin Fang's last message (on the 21st) mentioned camping. Going to go camping is how my translator puts it (meaning the next day? or sometime in the future?)

Her days from the 15th onward (with maybe one exception) each have some documentation of day trips or being in the trailer. The day trips certainly included Joshua Tree, but also some other desert view points (and then apparently back to Joshua Tree on the 21st - on the mining road). But it's clear they are leaving JT via 29 Palms and heading in the direction of the Morongo Valley trailer (where they were both seen by DH on the 17th, and by LE on, perhaps, the 22nd, although the search warrant is very vague about that). I doubt LE stopped by on the 21st because they drove out to JT that day.

On the first thread, several posts about which pictures and locations go with which day - up until the 21st, when all evidence of Fang's whereabouts disappear (including credit card usage).

The campground sighting in Thermal is the night of the 22nd. Thermal is about 45 minutes from JRF's trailer. His truck was sighted, but nothing about who was in it or whether there was camping equipment sighted. The bed of the truck appears to have nothing in it. LE reports that there were not enough water containers in the truck to support even a short visit into the desert, much less a brief camping trip. Of course, they did not find his backpack - but every sane desert camper has a large container or two (or three) of water in their truck. Ours are 20 gallons each and we have four of them. No where in California is water absolutely assured in a campground, IMO (or in a trailer park, as we're learning). At any rate, his truck did not look desert ready to me (in any of the pictures we've seen of it). It is a very pretty truck though.

Jin Fang is never heard from after that July 21st message. JRF's phone pings off Julian tower on the 24th (tower probably reaches all the way to Harper Flat - I think Ocotillo Wells lacks a cell tower, not sure).

What pictures we see (that she took daily) do not show camping, but some bloggers have decided to use and reuse that "going camping" message to indicate that she actually went camping. I see no evidence of that.

I see evidence she helped clean the mobile home. LE saw her at the mobile home. They clearly took some trips to very close by (one hour less places) but are not showing eating out of doors, setting up a tent, possessing a tent or water containers - none of that.

So I am quite skeptical!

IMO.

 

[deadfoot13]

I'm confused, was she not camping/hiking in Joshua Tree at this time? I didn't get the impression she'd spent much time hanging around the mobile home, but perhaps I'm wrong?

ETA: perhaps this was something JRF told her?

I believe it was the intention to go camping, but they had been staying at JRF's home for the few days she was there. I'm sorry to be that person who says they read it and can't show where, but I'm going to have to go back and look it up later because my notes are at work

 

[10ofRods]

I believe it was the intention to go camping, but they had been staying at JRF's home for the few days she was there. I'm sorry to be that person who says they read it and can't show where, but I'm going to have to go back and look it up later because my notes are at work

That's what I believe, too. There was definitely an intention to go camping expressed in Fang's last message.

 

[tarabull]

IMHO it's questionable if it was Fang Jin sending the messages on the 21st no one actually spoke to her IIRC and @mark1969 hasn't actually answered if there are even photos of her or him from the 21st it's all landscapes accept i see a silhouette in one pic that i feel is def NOT JF and of course the dreadful video.

 

[Cedars]

The missing persons report is probably the origin of the idea she was camping:
"The man picked Jin up in Palms Springs and they went camping together in the Joshua Tree National Park."

Fang Jin - Missing Persons Center

Share this

missingpersonscenter.org

I am now vaguely recalling a comment that family didn't want to admit she was in a romantic relationship, so didn't publicize the info that she'd been living in his home.

JMO

 

[L'Eau_d'Hiver]

If the San Diego County Sheriff's Department say they have not confirmed the identity of the remains found in the desert state park...
then the previously released piece of info. that investigators notified family members in early October that the remains were those of JRF and that an identification card was located on the body was false ?

 

[10ofRods]

IMHO it's questionable if it was Fang Jin sending the messages on the 21st no one actually spoke to her IIRC and @mark1969 hasn't actually answered if there are even photos of her or him from the 22nd it's all landscapes accept i see a silhouette in one pic that i feel is def NOT JF and of course the dreadful video.

I don't think anyone has seen or claimed to have seen photos from the 22nd (except the surveillance video of JRF's truck in Thermal).

Mark has said that the tone of that last message was somehow different, but it was written in Chinese. No one has been able to show that JRF can type in Chinese. It was sent through an app to which Fang had an account, to a group of people who were her family and friends (and not necessarily everyone she knew in that app - it was a message, not a public posting, IOW). It was sent from her phone.

Someone would have had to impersonate Jin Fang if she didn't write that message herself. If someone was impersonating her in Chinese, are we to look critically at all pictures she sent to her family, where she doesn't actually appear? DH says he saw her on the 17th.

LE is vague about when they saw her. I wish we knew.

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

They also invited a forensic team in. That team would have looked for the source of decomp. If in fact it was non-human, I think they would have known that by August 3.

The forensic team likely arrived under the first (homicide appendix) search warrant. So LE knows. And knew for a while. I think the likelihood of a second search warrant on August 3 would be minimal if they found a dead cat or whatever.

So I have eliminated your first scenario. Scenario 2 unfortunately has to be on the table.

I find the idea that someone moved a dead JRF to be only remotely possible. In his (JRF's) own truck? either walked to his house to kill him OR somehow evaded all detection by ring camera - which surely LE has investigated. Takes JRF with truck to Harper Flat (where is Jin Fang during this?)

I just wish we knew whether the Tacoma also tested positive for decomp...

IMO

I can't access the CBS8 website so I'm taking this information from the copies of the search warrants kindly uploaded by @ch_13:

Try this:

fitzpatrick_search_warrant.pdf

View and download fitzpatrick_search_warrant.pdf on DocDroid

www.docdroid.net

The first search warrant has JF's case number, DR# 092301014, and is for:

• Items belonging to Fang Jin verified through photographs provided to Deputies
• Items with the name Fang Jin on them
• Train ticket from Amtrak issued to Fang Jin
• Passport belonging to Fang Jin
• Missing person's John Fitzpatrick and Fang Jin
• Articles of personal property tending to show the identity of persons in control of the premises, such as bank records, utility and rent receipts

So under that first warrant, LE couldn't take anything of JRF's other than documents showing his identity.

The second search warrant is under JRF's case number, DR# 092301031, and that's when they took 3 of his phones.

I don't think the second warrant is necessarily indicative that LE found something in the first search, although of course it could be. Presumably, with JF and JRF still missing at the time, they would have wanted to obtain items such as JRF's phones and would have needed the second search warrant to do so.

 

[tarabull]

I don't think anyone has seen or claimed to have seen photos from the 22nd (except the surveillance video of JRF's truck in Thermal).

Mark has said that the tone of that last message was somehow different, but it was written in Chinese. No one has been able to show that JRF can type in Chinese. It was sent through an app to which Fang had an account, to a group of people who were her family and friends (and not necessarily everyone she knew in that app - it was a message, not a public posting, IOW). It was sent from her phone.

Someone would have had to impersonate Jin Fang if she didn't write that message herself. If someone was impersonating her in Chinese, are we to look critically at all pictures she sent to her family, where she doesn't actually appear? DH says he saw her on the 17th.

LE is vague about when they saw her. I wish we knew.

Sorry i wrote the 22nd but i meant the 21st....correct there are no pics from the 22nd.

I'm speaking of the photos she shared on the 21st.

Surely everyone has seen them.

 

[10ofRods]

Sorry i wrote the 22nd but i meant the 21st....correct there are no pics from the 22nd.

I'm speaking of the photos she shared on the 21st.

Surely everyone has seen them.

My memory has it stored that the only thing she shared on the 21st was that video of them approach 29 Palms, with music or a movie playing.

Were there also some stills from that day? It would be really helpful to once again try and compile what the pictures show. I've yet to see pictures that indicate hiking gear for real desert hiking (except for JRF's hiking boots), no camelbacks, very city-oriented clothing worn by JF, no sunburns (maybe chapped lips though).

It's the video on the 21st that some (including perhaps our VI) think might not have been made by JF (yet the caption is definitely in literate Chinese).

 

[hazel324]

snipped...

...The person is still identified as “John Doe.” San Bernardino County sheriff’s spokesperson Mara Rodriguez said Monday that both Jin and Fitzpatrick are still considered missing persons.


Whiskey Tango...

Foxtrot!

I had a crazy crazy thought, what if...

"Somehow" and I did say it was crazy... JRF (& friend?) got hold of an actual cadaver, removed all the teeth, put his ID card in pants pocket, took it to A-B Park in truck, staged an accident.

It would account for decomp smell, of course they'd have to hope it wasn't found before it became just bones. Thinking truck + ID card would be enough for it to be determined JRF...

So obviously I'm NOT saying this is something I believe has happened....it just isn't beyond the realm of possibility

 

[tarabull]

My memory has it stored that the only thing she shared on the 21st was that video of them approach 29 Palms, with music or a movie playing.

Were there also some stills from that day? It would be really helpful to once again try and compile what the pictures show. I've yet to see pictures that indicate hiking gear for real desert hiking (except for JRF's hiking boots), no camelbacks, very city-oriented clothing worn by JF, no sunburns (maybe chapped lips though).

It's the video on the 21st that some (including perhaps our VI) think might not have been made by JF (yet the caption is definitely in literate Chinese).

Hiking or camping gear would be a good sign.

 

[Sarah McGregor]

Were there also some stills from that day? It would be really helpful to once again try and compile what the pictures show.

RSBM

Yes, many stills were shared on the 21st. Beautiful landscape photos. Professional looking IMO. Different from her other landscape pics.

 

[10ofRods]

Here's an article about trailer parks and water. In California.

Sometimes gets shut off due to too much arsenic or other toxin. Sometimes there just isn't any water or there's a failure at the pumping station. Many parks use wells.

There's one community out that way that is now abandoned (not trailers, new houses - people bought the houses and then never got hooked up to water). Morongo Basin has a very limited supply. I have no idea what the situation is at the Roadrunner MHP, but many other MHP's report issues with delivering water regularly to all residents.

I think people worry a lot about the new tiered electrical system (it gets expensive past any basic use - I can't imagine what it's like to have to afford/run A/C).

Sometimes driving around in an air-conditioned vehicle makes more sense than trying to cool the home.

 

[tarabull]

I think that might be most of what they were doing....driving around.

 

[Teche]

DBM