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 #3

[Interested_But_Confused]

It occurs to me that most of the locations JF is known to have visited were quite close to populated areas. She and JRF appear to have mostly gone on day trips. If JF was using wifi (I don't know why it never occured to me before) it's quite likely she only sent or answered messages when she was back at a location with wifi access.

JF took the video in the car as she was travelling to the army base--but was it sent from in the car, or was it sent from the army base? Did JF ever send "live" videos or were they always sent later?

If JF was using wifi and couldn't use the internet whilst travelling, only when stopped at a location with wifi, that might be an explanation for a prolonged lack of contact when she was out camping.

But that wouldn't explain her phone appearing to have had a signal until it died on the 25th. If it had a signal it must have been connected to something.

 

[charminglane]

You can check out portable 5G WiFi hotspots at my library.
Perhaps they had a portable device for camping/safety?

 

[Bogbacal2]

Is there any way the truck could have flipped from a higher location and landed where found? Studied the map where JRF body (possibly) was found and doesnt seem likely unless…could they have made it farther up and had an accident, succumbed to injury or elements and due to the hurricane, the floods washed the truck down to the location it was found causing the severe damage to truck?

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

You can check out portable 5G WiFi hotspots at my library.
Perhaps they had a portable device for camping/safety?

Possible, though LE would probably know if they did.

Portable 4G/5G hotspots connect through a cell tower and require a cell phone plan. So they're just as traceable as a phone if JF or JRF were known to have had one.

 

[megs1477]

Is there any way the truck could have flipped from a higher location and landed where found? Studied the map where JRF body (possibly) was found and doesnt seem likely unless…could they have made it farther up and had an accident, succumbed to injury or elements and due to the hurricane, the floods washed the truck down to the location it was found causing the severe damage to truck?

I was curious about what could have caused an accident also. I found a website that explains the different roads and how difficult they are to drive. It looks like there are numerous roads around where the truck was reportedly found. I would be interested in the opinion of someone who is familiar with the area.

All roads

borregohiking.com

 

[acutename]

Thank you, that's... really confusing.

If a phone is turned on it shs ould be pinging. Our VI said it went dead on the 25th, but I don't think you could know when it went dead unless the phone had been responding (pinging) up to that point.

Three or four days of battery life would be quite normal for a phone that is turned on but not being used.

phones and other batteries do not do so well in high heat

How hot is too hot? Both Apple and Samsung say 95 degrees Fahrenheit is the highest ambient temperature your phone should be in. Extended use at that temperature or higher can permanently damage the battery.Aug 9, 2023

It's Not Just You, Heat Is Making Our Smartphone Batteries ...​

it was 100... 110+ in July...not a lot of towers... car batteries do not do well in intense heat either...

 

[iamshadow21]

phones and other batteries do not do so well in high heat

How hot is too hot? Both Apple and Samsung say 95 degrees Fahrenheit is the highest ambient temperature your phone should be in. Extended use at that temperature or higher can permanently damage the battery.Aug 9, 2023

It's Not Just You, Heat Is Making Our Smartphone Batteries ...​

it was 100... 110+ in July...not a lot of towers... car batteries do not do well in intense heat either...

*laughs in Australian* My phone is above that temp for a solid four or five months of the year. As are people's phones in a great many places in the world. Oh well, if they break, then people replace them, so I guess there's no motivation for the companies to weather proof them for warmer climates.

MOO

 

[acutename]

*laughs in Australian* My phone is above that temp for a solid four or five months of the year. As are people's phones in a great many places in the world. Oh well, if they break, then people replace them, so I guess there's no motivation for the companies to weather proof them for warmer climates.

MOO

they are going to re-engineer those
Thomas Maschmeyer is building batteries fit for the Australian outback

 

[iamshadow21]

they are going to re-engineer those
Thomas Maschmeyer is building batteries fit for the Australian outback

Hah, outback! I am in the greater Sydney area, the most urban place in the country. And yet, several years ago, my town recorded a temperature of 48.9C (over 120F) making it the hottest place in the world that day. It isn't just the desert that burns here. I'm under an hour from the coast. We think of it being so hot where it's all sand, mazed cracked clay and spinifex. I'm in the epitome of suburbia. But better battery life would be nice, I'll take it!

 

[ClaireNC]

Just bringing the map link over to the new thread.
Fang Jin Case Map

 

[mark1969]

Possible, though if JF had been using JRF's phone as a wifi hotspot (or connecting to his wifi at the trailer) I would expect there to be records of an additional device connecting to the network in his internet and/or phone provider logs.

If JF had been doing that I suspect LE would already know, and they'd know when and where it last connected.

Who says they (LE) have phone of JRF ????
DH declares to the friend of Lin (daughter Fang) that he was told EVERYTHING by John ..... and he proved it by sending a screenshot of a conversation between JRF and JF in whatsapp .....
Further did he mix up the app of whatsapp and wechat .....he thought it was the same.....

 

[AnyNameIWish]

To be fair, I confuse wechat and whatsapp ALL the time & my friends roll their eyes since I don't use either one. (But one of them is China owned I think?)

 

[AnyNameIWish]

High in Morongo valley was 120F on 7/21 with a LOW OF 88F. Faint emoji.

I've been outdoors all day when it's not even 90F and my phone has shut down. I cannot imagine, would Fang be the type of person to enjoy being outdoors in such extreme temperatures? I think we've mostly agreed that until the 21st she hadn't been sleeping in tents outdoors and setting up camp. Or would they be mostly finding indoor things to do (but then again I don't see a mall or Target or anywhere in a 30minute radius of the mobile home park.

 

[cenazoic]

DH declares to the friend of Lin (daughter Fang) that he was told EVERYTHING by John ..... and he proved it by sending a screenshot of a conversation between JRF and JF in whatsapp

IMO, this guy almost knows too much, with too much ‘supporting documentation’ from a phone (John’s) which hasn’t been found.

 

[tarabull]

This point on the Search Warrant has to be important...but maybe moreso, the date it occured. IMHO

"Deputies were in the Roadrunner Mobile Home Park and spoke to Fitzpatrick, who had an unknown Asian female with him."

Perplexing!!!!!! They spoke to Fitzpatrick!!!

 

[iamshadow21]

IMO, this guy almost knows too much, with too much ‘supporting documentation’ from a phone (John’s) which hasn’t been found.

Yeah, I'm there with you. Not sleuthing or accusing anyone not named by LE, but my eyebrows are definitely raised.

MOO

 

[10ofRods]

Thx alot for all your support so far
We have proof of a conversation of DH that he claims he did not hear anything from John after 21st of July...But do we need to believe it ?

No, you do not need to believe it. However, it would surely explain why DH calls and reports JRF missing. What I really want to know is if DH spent a lot of time with JRF out in Morongo. Was he in and out of that mobile home in the period July 21-31??)

 

[10ofRods]

It IS certainly uncomfortable to think it.
I’m sorry for brainstorming scenarios that make anyone uneasy.

Let’s go back to offering alternative scenarios, then, taking into account:

[1] Fang sent her last night video at 10:19pm on 7/21.
[2] JRF entered the marine base at 10:19pm on 7/21.
[3] 7/22 truck sighting in Thermal.
[4] 7/24 JRF phone ping in the Julian area.
[5] No phone usage from Fang after 7/21. No ping from her phone, say SBCSO.
[6] Odor of decomposition in JRF’s home (observed 8/1).
[7] Mobile home’s door open (observed 8/1).

—-
This won’t be all known facts, of course, as I’m trying to fill in the blanks for a possible scenario that does not involve JRF harming Fang :

So…
Fang’s last video was just a normal video sent as she sits in the truck as JRF pulls in to the marine base with the intention to gas up his truck. Another busy day is planned for tomorrow that will include lots of driving in the desert, so a full tank is a good idea. Since the pumps are still open, it’s a better time to do it that time of night while it’s cooler, and they’re still out and awake, anyway.

She writes they’ll be going camping, but it is not really true. She knows her parents would be vocal in their disapproval of the reality, and would worry about her too much, so she tells them this instead of letting them know she is spending her nights with her new beau at his mobile home in the desert.

They leave his Morongo Valley home the next day, 7/22. We know the truck was captured on surveillance in the Thermal, CA area, so this is where they went.

This is where I get stumped.

7/22 to 7/24…Did they ‘sleep under the stars’ in the bed of his truck (is that allowed) in the Anza Borrego area the whole time away? VI said there was not much in the way of provisions in the truck, though, when found.

Harper Flat, where the truck is found: is this when they had some accident? We know the truck, when found, was “pretty wrecked“. JRF had attempted a difficult rocky path that he shouldn’t have and disabled his truck, then they start walking to get somewhere safe or get a cell signal, but succumb to the heat?

Still doesn’t answer why she never returned calls or sent any messages on her phone. Nowhere to charge her phone? Lost her phone along the way ? JRF doesn’t have WeChat on his phone (if want to borrow his), and even if he did, would it be hard to access Fang’s account with her circle of friends from his phone?

I also don’t know where the odor of decomposition and open door fit into this, but..

It was suggested maybe spoiled meat and other food in the refrigerator/freezer, if the power was out for days?

As for the door being open, I feel like JRF would lock his door as a habit. So, who left it open? Maybe his place got broken into while they were gone for a few days on their trip, and the thief left it open?

It’s tough filling in the blanks for what we don’t know!

Great post. I agree that the last video was made by a (probably) tired Jin Fang, who had been spending day after day in the desert, probably staying in A/C in the truck as much as possible, but obviously getting out to take pictures. It was probably getting harder and harder to be enthusiastic about sending pictures back home. Someone upthread mentioned that there are no pictures at all of the main sights in Joshua Tree - of which there are many icononic places where visitors usually spend at least 15-20 minutes out of the car, even in heat. It's odd.

We don't know that JF was with JRF on 7/22 - but I believe the time of day where his truck was caught on camera is in MSM and it was around 8 pm. Thermal is 45 minutes away from Morongo.

It is allowed to sleep in the bed of a truck at most campgrounds (private and public) and certainly in Anza-Borrego. The lack of provisions nags at me constantly. It takes a load of stuff to be on the road, camping, in that area in July.

I wish we knew if Fang was interested in archaeological sites - because that would explain the attempt of the truck to go up Pinyon Wash. I wouldn't personally ever try that nor is that site special enough to warrant the extreme hardship of visiting in July, but maybe that's what they did?

I like the power outage theory. Spoiled meat inside a refrigerator isn't usually smell-able until the door is opened, but perhaps it WAS opened by someone - the door to the home was unlocked. If that's true, then the request for the homicide attachment in the search warrant was a bit of over reach (but perhaps LE really did not set foot inside until after the SW - hard to say).

If a thief was there, they were incompetent (as they left Fang's substantial amount of cash in the mobile home).

So much to ponder. If they did go to Thermal on 7/22 - how long did they stay? There seems to be no further reports of sightings of his truck in the campground - just that one night. Then his phone pings off the Julian tower (not too far from where truck/JRF were found) on the 24th. Both fail to have any further communication with anyone after that time. We also have the apparent find of Fang's backpack near Highway 78 (but no word on how near or any word on whether any of her belongings were in the truck (since LE DID mention what was in the truck - I would assume nothing of Fang's was there - but her backpack was not far away). I assume the missing wallet (and maybe the phone?) was in the backpack.

IMO. Good to think of every possible way to explain the facts we have. I am trusting in LE to use the truck's telemetry to find out every place that truck stopped in the relevant time period.

 

[Sundog]

If LE are still doing searches for Fang Jin in Anza Borrego Desert State Park, I wish that some MSM would report on it. There doesn't seem to be enough media interest in this case to keep it alive with the public. No reports on volunteer groups searching on their own, either, even if some activity is taking place. How to get it picked up as a national news story so that it is more likely to get local coverage in response?

 

[justtrish]

This point on the Search Warrant has to be important...but maybe moreso, the date it occured. IMHO

"Deputies were in the Roadrunner Mobile Home Park and spoke to Fitzpatrick, who had an unknown Asian female with him."

Perplexing!!!!!! They spoke to Fitzpatrick!!!

So where they in the trailer park about some unrelated incident that was going on in that trailer park? Where they asking neighbors about something that had went on or was ongoing in that trailer park and did JRF speak to LE and tell them something that might have upset another resident there? Someone maybe LE was investigating for some reason? Did that person then harm JRF and JF because they thought he spoke to LE?