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

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Just catching up...I don't think this has been posted...quite descriptive fwiw

Harper Canyon

www.sandiegoreader.com www.sandiegoreader.com

IF I would have seen the JRF update while at work today...Eye yey yey!

Still shocked!

Sheeshameneesh!

ETA:

roammap_lead_t360.jpg
 
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I can't see it as having been an ordinary misadventure accident, partly because of the sealed status. There has been a 'hush' about the case since day 1 (well, early on) - if it were simply a missper investigation, more will have been revealed imo.

Will be interesting to see what other Media outlets make of it. The one we have seen was kinda poor - on one hand they report "She was last seen being picked up at the train station by a vehicle driven by Fitzpatrick, investigators said." Next paragraph...

"The plan was for Fitzpatrick to show Fang around the Morongo Basin before the two headed into the state park to camp in an unknown location, according to investigators. Hoss says he met her before the two took off." (bbm)

So that's when she was last seen (according to DH and that's what he had told LE when he reported JRF missing) unless DH has been economical with the truth.
 
megs1477 said:
I definitely never saw this one coming….wow.

If LE knew about this for a month, did not even tell the families, then suddenly release it today. I’m going to speculate they completed their initial investigation and know what happened or as much as they can. Hopefully JF will be located soon. So sad.
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10ofRods said:
Because LE wants the Coroner to complete identification and preliminary autopsy, always, IMO.

They don't want to notify a family that someone is dead and be mistaken. If he diedon or around July 24-25, and wasn't found until Mid-September, his body could have been scavenged and immediate identification (although common sense) was not possible. They had to order dental records or other records and complete the investigation.

It's not uncommon for an investigation to take a month - out that way, even longer (few resources). He was technically found in San Diego County, I believe. If not SD, then Imperial County, who then had to transfer the information to SBSCO, who had to read and confirm it.
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From the article:
“According to a spokesperson for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, investigators had not reported finding Fang as of Friday afternoon.”

Spokesperson said investigators had not “reported finding Fang”… but was a second set of remains found? Could LE actually have found Fang as well and are still verifying her identity (I imagine an even longer process for a visiting Chinese citizen) and taking time to get their ducks in a row before sharing further? Hence what the case is sealed?

I know it’s completely unlikely and doesn’t make sense, but I’m hoping Fang is alive and LE or the Chinese Embassy has her, keeping her quietly under their care (political/bureaucratic reasons?) until JRF was found. ☹️
 
Cedars said:
Yes, of course, after the police investigation is over.

Rest in peace, JF.

At this point he is a victim, like any other deceased person, and IMO, police do not want baseless public speculation to overwhelm his family and friends, so that they can mourn their loss in peace.

IMO the police are focussing on what happened to Fang, they are not and never have been ignoring her disappearance, they just needed to find some evidence - namely the truck.

JMO
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Truck was also there.... now still identifying his body.... still no prove Fang was with him ... and still no Fang found
 
hazel324 said:
I can't see it as having been an ordinary misadventure accident, partly because of the sealed status. There has been a 'hush' about the case since day 1 (well, early on) - if it were simply a missper investigation, more will have been revealed imo.

Will be interesting to see what other Media outlets make of it. The one we have seen was kinda poor - on one hand they report "She was last seen being picked up at the train station by a vehicle driven by Fitzpatrick, investigators said." Next paragraph...

"The plan was for Fitzpatrick to show Fang around the Morongo Basin before the two headed into the state park to camp in an unknown location, according to investigators. Hoss says he met her before the two took off." (bbm)

So that's when she was last seen (according to DH and that's what he had told LE when he reported JRF missing) unless DH has been economical with the truth.
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D.H. met Fang and John on 17th ....just a little after she arrived...and yes he reported him misding on 30th ... but we also have prove of strange conversation chats between him and our group ... that are not consistent and make us worry....
 
flowershop said:
I did a Google search to learn more about Harper Canyon, the area where JRF was found deceased. One of the hiking websites mentioned that it is common for vehicles to get stuck in the sand. I also got the impression that this area did not receive a lot of visitors. Can anyone confirm?

Perhaps JRF and JF were stuck in the sand while driving and then walked to find help.

On a side note, I am amazed the San Diego Union Tribune article was found. When I do a search on JRF in Google this article does not come up.
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I can confirm that the area around there is much more than a Toyota Tacoma can take and is extremely desolate with few visitors. I own a Tacoma as well and have been out that way near there, and I would not take my own Tacoma out there for fear of getting stuck. The other side of the highway is quite popular for off roaders as we have few places for that in SoCal, except for the Ocotillo Wells area on the other side of the highway, which is always busy with visitors off roading and camping. I was going to head out to Banner Grade soon with my drone as I was thinking they crashed in that area before this new news, but with these latest developments I may head out with the drone to Harper Canyon area and have a look around. I will park my truck where I know it will be safe from getting stuck, because if JRF drove deep into that area in that Tacoma they show him driving, it would be very easy to get stuck out there.
 
First of all, wow! I'm surprised at how hush hush this was kept!

Second, I personally am not actually that surprised that JRF was found dead. Once we heard that her last ping was the 21st, and his was the 24th and nothing after, I felt this was a likely outcome.

I admire all of you who have come up with many benign options, but like a few of you, I suspect this will be murder suicide. Of course, we don't have proof of that yet, but I am less inclined to believe that any outcome here was accidental in nature.

Priority in my mind for LE was always - Find the truck, find JRF, find Fang. I hope LE is interviewing anyone who had communication with JRF in the days after July 21st. Two out of three done, let's get resolution for Fang and her family.
 
CA - CA - Fang Jin, 47, flew to LA from China, train to Palm Springs, Morongo Basin, 22 Jul 2023, w/ John Root Fitzpatrick, 55, missing, 30 Jul ‘23 #2
sfinkz said:
..."Harper Canyon. The turnoff to the canyon, Kane Springs Road
(three miles of sandy, rocky desert washboard) is 25 miles east of
Julian, where JRF’s phone last pinged July 24" (buyerninety note;
that Kane Springs Rd is the one that leads somewhat eastwards
off of Route 78).

We still don't know if it was implicitly in the town of Julian, it's
possible the LE statement refers to a cell tower in the 'Julian
area'. Julian town is about 21 mile (about 35km) as the crow flies
from Harper Canyon, but Tamarisk Grove Campground which
supposedly has a cell antenna is almost 8 mile (13 km) from
Harper Canyon. 16 km is about the theoretical range of a 4G
cell according to google. (Also, the unpaved road leading south
off of Route 78 towards Harper Canyon is 15km decreasing to
about 13km as the crow flies from Tamarisk Grove Campground.
This unpaved road {leading to Harper Canyon} off Route 78 is
seen near Butte Pass Rd {closed} and Borrego Mountain Wash).
The entry to this unpaved road is easy to miss:
33°04'56.0"N 116°38'10.0"W · Spencer Valley Elementary School District, CA
I mention this as a swimming pool is about 850m south of this
unpaved road entry, it seems to have abandoned structures in
close proximity. If planning to travel to fly a drone about Harper
Canyon, a detour to the swimming pool area would probably
take out some 40 minutes of your time to physically check the
structures about the swimming pool, should you judge it
applicable.

In regard to Harper Canyon, it should be noted that the vehicle
parking area which is depicted as being at the mouth of Harper
Canyon (in sfinkz's post cited above) is thereby getting into the
hilly areas where cell reception may be quite reduced/stopped by
those hills. Some checking of your cell reception or lack of it
might also be interesting information.
 
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Ou41aw said:
I can confirm that the area around there is much more than a Toyota Tacoma can take and is extremely desolate with few visitors. I own a Tacoma as well and have been out that way near there, and I would not take my own Tacoma out there for fear of getting stuck. The other side of the highway is quite popular for off roaders as we have few places for that in SoCal, except for the Ocotillo Wells area on the other side of the highway, which is always busy with visitors off roading and camping. I was going to head out to Banner Grade soon with my drone as I was thinking they crashed in that area before this new news, but with these latest developments I may head out with the drone to Harper Canyon area and have a look around. I will park my truck where I know it will be safe from getting stuck, because if JRF drove deep into that area in that Tacoma they show him driving, it would be very easy to get stuck out there.
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Oh, do be careful! (I know you will be). I agree that a regular Tacoma could be dicy out there. And the place where JRF was found is closer to Ocotillo Wells, IMO, than to Julian. I do wonder if they found his truck by analysis of where that last ping was (he could have pinged off the Julian tower without actually driving into Julian).

If it's true that Jin Fang was seen at one of the Thermal campgrounds sometime after July 21, then I'm guessing they were at that Thermal area on July 22 and then he's up at Harper Canyon at (maybe) July 24. It would be great to have a drone rule out that she too is not up Harper Canyon, somewhere.

Please stay safe.
 
10ofRods said:
Oh, do be careful! (I know you will be). I agree that a regular Tacoma could be dicy out there. And the place where JRF was found is closer to Ocotillo Wells, IMO, than to Julian. I do wonder if they found his truck by analysis of where that last ping was (he could have pinged off the Julian tower without actually driving into Julian).

If it's true that Jin Fang was seen at one of the Thermal campgrounds sometime after July 21, then I'm guessing they were at that Thermal area on July 22 and then he's up at Harper Canyon at (maybe) July 24. It would be great to have a drone rule out that she too is not up Harper Canyon, somewhere.

Please stay safe.
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I second everything you said. I think the phone ping reported as in the Julian area was from where his truck was found.
Please note, it was never confirmed that Fang was actually seen in Thermal. Just that his truck was captured on a camera at a campground somewhere on the 22.

Please be careful Ou41aw!
 
hazel324 said:
"A spokesperson for the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office said Monday that the case surrounding Fitzpatrick’s death was under seal, and authorities could not comment on the ongoing investigation. Officials from the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department deferred questions to their San Bernardino counterpart."

Okay, so under seal is normal in the US - am not familiar with that term
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I think it was just an odd wording , I feel they mean unable to comment until investigation is concluded. JMO
 
formerlyme said:
I think it was just an odd wording , I feel they mean unable to comment until investigation is concluded. JMO
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Agree with you there.

I suppose if there's any bit of silver lining here, this hopefully eliminates the possibility that Fang and John had travelled out of state together and perhaps it helps focus in a bit on the search area for Fang. Prayers she is located soon.
 
ClaireNC said:
I second everything you said. I think the phone ping reported as in the Julian area was from where his truck was found.
Please note, it was never confirmed that Fang was actually seen in Thermal. Just that his truck was captured on a camera at a campground somewhere on the 22.

Please be careful Ou41aw!
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Thank you. Hopefully I can keep that fact filed in my head.

It is possible, therefore, that Jin Fang's last communication on the 21st (from near 29 Palms) is her last known location. I am doubting she was ever in Thermal, at this point (which may be one reason for keeping the facts of this case on lockdown).

I hope there's now enough evidence to get all JRF's cell phone records, the telemetry from his truck - and a search warrant for his mobile home. If most of Jin Fang's things are still at his place, then they were still in their day trip phase, not actually camping. If he shows up at Thermal on the 22nd or 23rd, without her, it would be interesting to know if he had much or any camping equipment with him.

The finding of his body does help limit the search area, as @sasha17 just said. It's still quite large, but the area between Morongo Valley and Thermal deserves a good look - it may take a while. I am guessing that LE is getting the telemetry from his truck, if there's any suspicion of homicide or suicide.
 
Ou41aw said:
I can confirm that the area around there is much more than a Toyota Tacoma can take and is extremely desolate with few visitors. I own a Tacoma as well and have been out that way near there, and I would not take my own Tacoma out there for fear of getting stuck. The other side of the highway is quite popular for off roaders as we have few places for that in SoCal, except for the Ocotillo Wells area on the other side of the highway, which is always busy with visitors off roading and camping. I was going to head out to Banner Grade soon with my drone as I was thinking they crashed in that area before this new news, but with these latest developments I may head out with the drone to Harper Canyon area and have a look around. I will park my truck where I know it will be safe from getting stuck, because if JRF drove deep into that area in that Tacoma they show him driving, it would be very easy to get stuck out there.
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Nice ... if you could send or share your drone videos of your outing ... maybe helping in searching Fangs body.
 
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mark1969 said:
Nice ... if you could dend or share your drone videos of your outing ... maybe helping in searching Fangs body.
Click to expand...

This reminds me of the search for missing pilot Steve Fossett. Thousands of satellite images of the area where he went missing were uploaded online and volunteers combed through them looking for his evidence of his missing plane. @Ou41aw
 
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