Found Deceased CA - Fang Jin, 47, flew to LA from China, train to Palm Springs, Morongo Basin, 21 Jul 2023, w/ JohnRoot Fitzpatrick, 55, missing, 30 Jul ‘23

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We may not have a complete picture of JRF to say he is a loner. He may very well be.

But, I consider myself a loner. Yet I also think I am a person who values kindness to others, and always trying to do the right thing.

A “desert trailer park”. I’ve seen some really nice mobile home parks. I don’t know what JRF’s is like, but I hesitate to judge anyone just because of his living in a “desert trailer park”.
Yes, a "desert trailer park" might actually be optimal housing for the desert (seeing as construction materials are scarce), especially if well-insulated, with solar panels, windmill water supply, etc.. Optimal.
 
Defection isn't really an option. Maybe some high-value politico or scientist who has knowledge of state secrets could defect, but the U.S. is just going to send any normal Chinese citizen right back home.

Now she could try to file for asylum. Although based on what we know about her she doesn't seem to meet the criteria. And in any case to file for asylum you simply fill out a form. There's no need to run off and hide.

If she did disappear voluntarily then she may have just decided that she wanted to stay illegally and live off the grid with JRF. Although it doesn't seem her family thinks that's something she would do.
We don't know if she is a "normal Chinese citizen". We don't know that she is not someone with secrets valuable to another country.
 
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Any mpression of “how vague FJ's communications with family” we might get could also be a skewed conclusion due to several factors. JMO

Like maybe Fang’s family are unwilling to put forth a lot of detail (cultural reason or just the way the family is).

Media getting it wrong or things ’lost in translation’.

Fang also may have told ‘white lies’ to her family to better “sell“ her in-reality-throwing-caution-to-the-wind internet romance, to lessen their worry.

MOO
That all might be true, but if someone you love goes missing, you're more likely to get flexible with the information you're sharing.
 
Fang Jin operated a homestay in Portugal and that leads me to believe she liked to travel and trusted others.

If you aren't familiar, look up what a homestay entails. Travelers share a home with a local. Presumably this is arranged without traveler or host really knowing each other.

Based on this I find it fitting that she would trust an American she had never met to be her tour guide.
MOO
I find this very strange. She "operated" a homestay? What's that? Normally, if you travel and are in a homestay, you stay with a local family in lieu of a hotel. Students on exchanges often do this.

In her case, a homestay would be in China for visitors coming to China. How is she "operating a homestay in Portugal", when her family is Chinese and not Portuguese?

My guess is, there's been a mis-translation in "operating a homestay in Portugal". IMO it's possible she books homestays online as an online business, perhaps for native Chinese to vacation in Portugal in a Chinese-speaking home. Travel like that would be like travel without ever leaving home turf. Weird. Something off with the info provided IMO. And we don't have any info that she ever went to Portugal?
 
Again, I don't understand why she didn't just share her live location with family. Every phone does that now. That's just common sense when going overseas alone.
Yes, there's lots hinky in this case. I don't believe most of it. IMO there was something totally other going on, and we're purposely in the realm of dead ends.
 
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What are the sources Fang Jin may have gone to the US for shady reasons?
Or are we allowed to suspect her of anything and discuss it freely on here because she's from China?
Chinese people go on vacation too - - a lot - - just like tourists from any other country.
imo.
 
What are the sources Fang Jin may have gone to the US for shady reasons?
Or are we allowed to suspect her of anything and discuss it freely on here because she's from China?
Chinese people go on vacation too - - a lot - - just like tourists from any other country.
imo.

I don't believe anyone is speculating FJ is here for nefarious reasons. More just an observation that the U.S. does not have the greatest relationship with China at this time.

JMVHO.
 
What are the sources Fang Jin may have gone to the US for shady reasons?
Or are we allowed to suspect her of anything and discuss it freely on here because she's from China?
Chinese people go on vacation too - - a lot - - just like tourists from any other country.
imo.
IMO we can wedge ourselves into a very narrow niche and not be able to see the forest for the trees. If we consider the idea "this is not a standard missing person case" rather than "let's discuss this standard missing person's case", a lot more possibilities fly out of the universe.

FWIW I don't see anything standard at all in this case. To me, there's no detail at all that I could pigeonhole with "ah, yes, we've seen this happen before in a missing person's case, and here are the questions we might ask". Almost everything sounds fishy. So, IMO another paradigm is needed: what else could be going on that might make sense of the details presented?
 
IMO we can wedge ourselves into a very narrow niche and not be able to see the forest for the trees. If we consider the idea "this is not a standard missing person case" rather than "let's discuss this standard missing person's case", a lot more possibilities fly out of the universe.

FWIW I don't see anything standard at all in this case. To me, there's no detail at all that I could pigeonhole with "ah, yes, we've seen this happen before in a missing person's case, and here are the questions we might ask". Almost everything sounds fishy. So, IMO another paradigm is needed: what else could be going on that might make sense of the details presented?
Especially, as you and I know, when it is a potential wilderness misadventure.

Typically, couple who went missing under the circumstances of which we are aware...might be considered wilderness missing. But with no car found, even with that designation, it's possible no search organized at all - field is too big.

No pin dropped on a map yet, in this one. Just very vague details and this inexplicable (to me) "voluntarily missing" thing. I have theories, but can't find a way to favor one over another.

IMO.
 
According to public information, the Veterans Processing Court was established in 2008 to deal with the legal issues of American veterans in the criminal justice system. The court is thought to be only for traumatized U.S. veterans returning from the battlefield. Many of these have been shown to numb drugs and alcohol.

Unknown person harassing relatives and friends in search

In the process of searching for Jin Fang's relatives and friends, an incident occurred that made the family even more worried about his safety.

"My mother is a very sharing person. She shares her situation on social media every day." That's why Ms. Lim felt abnormal when her mother stopped updating on social platforms. Ms Lin said not everyone knew about John. After her mother collapsed, relatives and friends could only search for family members and friends who suspected John on the Internet, and sent messages to ask about Jin Fang's whereabouts. "But I didn't get an answer."

During this process, a person who claimed to be John's friend contacted Jin Fang's relatives and friends. "However, during the communication process, we found that this person not only did not disclose useful information to us, but instead used our words to ask about our search progress and disrupt our search." Ms. Lin said that this incident made them feel that John Maybe "this so-called friend is not like John himself, which also makes us doubt whether John has an accomplice, and also makes us more worried about the safety of our mother."

Ms Lin said US police had not released any further information about the search. Because the case is now a missing persons case, Ms. Lim was unable to use an emergency visa to travel to the United States to track down her mother.

RBBM

Woah.

So, we have several possibilities right now:

1. The person contacting FJ's relatives and friends is JRF

2. The person contacting FJ's relatives and friends is an accomplice.

3. Unknown. Not enough information exists to form a third hypothesis.

JMVHO.
 
I find this very strange. She "operated" a homestay? What's that? Normally, if you travel and are in a homestay, you stay with a local family in lieu of a hotel. Students on exchanges often do this.

In her case, a homestay would be in China for visitors coming to China. How is she "operating a homestay in Portugal", when her family is Chinese and not Portuguese?

My guess is, there's been a mis-translation in "operating a homestay in Portugal". IMO it's possible she books homestays online as an online business, perhaps for native Chinese to vacation in Portugal in a Chinese-speaking home. Travel like that would be like travel without ever leaving home turf. Weird. Something off with the info provided IMO. And we don't have any info that she ever went to Portugal?

Agreed.

I think the term "homestay in Portugal" is probably the same thing as "Air BNB". FJ may own part of this property, she may help manage it. She may speak Portuguese, Spanish, maybe both languages. We just don't know.

JMVHO.
 
RBBM

Woah.

So, we have several possibilities right now:

1. The person contacting FJ's relatives and friends is JRF

2. The person contacting FJ's relatives and friends is an accomplice.

3. Unknown. Not enough information exists to form a third hypothesis.

JMVHO.

I believe 70% of the problems in this case are a result of communication/translation issues and cultural differences resulting in misunderstandings.
 
Agreed.

I think the term "homestay in Portugal" is probably the same thing as "Air BNB". FJ may own part of this property, she may help manage it. She may speak Portuguese, Spanish, maybe both languages. We just don't know.

JMVHO.
I‘m under the impression that she lived in Portugal, but returned to China during COVID. Unfortunately, I don’t remember where I read that. We’ll just say this is my opinion only.
 
<modsnip: quoted post was removed> I believe that Fang Jin is exactly what she appears to be: A prosperous, middle-aged tourist who loves off-the-beaten path adventure and who may have unfortunately put her trust in the wrong person.
 
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Adults can disappear themselves but maybe not easily from China. Is it possible she developed a level of trust her and hired him to disappear her? For a price. They disappear together. Emerge somewhere else as a couple, with a fresh life, no one to judge, prohibit, interfere, punish?

Not saying I believe it. She could have paid for an immersion experience and somehow they succumbed to the heat, buried now under sand....

They're missing. She's missing. He's missing. The vehicle is missing. No reason to think she didn't intend to keep in touch with family and return to them at vacation's end....

She didn't appear (to me anyway) to be in distress in the video, unless she was purposefully and clandestinely filming in order to relay her movements....

Perplexing.

JMO
 
RBBM

Woah.

So, we have several possibilities right now:

1. The person contacting FJ's relatives and friends is JRF

2. The person contacting FJ's relatives and friends is an accomplice.

3. Unknown. Not enough information exists to form a third hypothesis.

JMVHO.
3. One of JRF’s friends or family, truly trying to find information about his disappearance, with the translation causing the suspicion.
4. Someone completely unrelated to the case, trying to get a story for a podcast or something.
 
I find this very strange. She "operated" a homestay? What's that? Normally, if you travel and are in a homestay, you stay with a local family in lieu of a hotel. Students on exchanges often do this.

In her case, a homestay would be in China for visitors coming to China. How is she "operating a homestay in Portugal", when her family is Chinese and not Portuguese?

My guess is, there's been a mis-translation in "operating a homestay in Portugal". IMO it's possible she books homestays online as an online business, perhaps for native Chinese to vacation in Portugal in a Chinese-speaking home. Travel like that would be like travel without ever leaving home turf. Weird. Something off with the info provided IMO. And we don't have any info that she ever went to Portugal?

I recall from earlier threads that there is a woman with an English sounding name that was associated with her and the Portugal homestay business. My impression is that she was a business parter. Her first name started with an E.

It would be worthwhile to contact this person and hear more about the business and if E has any idea what she was up to in the US. Her family, of course, should be the ones to contact E.
 
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