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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megs1477 said:
I haven't seen anything that said he was a survivalist? Can you tell me where you heard that?
Also, if you don't plan on hiking, traveling far from your vehicle, staying at dispersed sites, etc. it is very possible. My ex used to hike. They went on a 7 day hike with a single stop planned at any form of civilization. They did not take any form of solar charger. They took a small charger that fit in the palm of your hand and charged your phone once or twice. There was no service in most of the areas they planned on being in, so they kept their phones off. It is hard to speculate on what JRF/JF may or may not have done without knowing their plans.

Regarding gas...We don't know how much effort is put into a person that is "voluntarily missing". SBSD may not have looked at all. Or they may have the info and did not share it. So much uncertainty in this case.
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If you believe that this LinkedIn is genuine(?) and truthful(?) you would think he had survival skills




(I could swear this used to have his last name not just "F" on it, but since I do not screen shot everything, maybe I am wrong.... odd if it changed recently. Does anyone else remember?)
 
acutename said:
just meant was it defintely his... was Fang's another color or model? Of course we do not know but some one does.
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I'm thinking FJ was taking his photo with her cellphone.

IIRC, this photo was included with her uploaded videos and images.

ETA: I'm not sure if we're allowed to post her photos, unless these photos are part of a Main Stream Media (MSM) link. I'll see what I can find.

Here is the MSM link for the JRF cellphone photo (including said photo again for reference).

jrfPosCellPhoneImageCircled.png

https://redian.news/wxnews/52

JMVHO.
 
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Sundog said:
The only contacts we have heard about so far seem to be his friend who was in contact with Ms. Lin (Fang Jin's daughter in the PRC) and we know of his ex-wife. I think both of them might be able to shed some light on JRF, his habits, etc. if the PI can talk to them. I know there was some concern about the friend who contacted Ms. Lin, but perhaps a PI can find out more, but be safe!

So far we have not been able to find out anything about JRF's family or other contacts, but there have to be people out there who know him. In the past, did he ever travel to Mexico, and where did he stay when there? What towns in Mexico? Does he have any social media accounts that non-LE can find? The ex-wife might know how to find family members of JRF. Or a close friend of his? I think she is an important resource at this stage, since we don't have anything else to go on with regard to family and friends.

Did he stay in touch with anyone at the VA hospital if he used the VA hospital for his medical needs as a veteran? Did the local post office forward his mail to him somewhere, to a friend or other? Is he still getting his vet retirement checks deposited into his bank account and are there withdrawals being made? Some things a PI can work on, others will be hard to get info except from LE source.
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JRF has 3 ex-wives. The divorce isn’t final on third marriage, though they have been legally separated for a few years. His 1st ex-wif and their child, live in California and the second is in Texas. It looks like JRF lived in Texas for a while with the 2nd wife. So he might have contacts in Texas.
 
acutename said:
If you believe that this LinkedIn is genuine(?) and truthful(?) you would think he had survival skills




(I could swear this used to have his last name not just "F" on it, but since I do not screen shot everything, maybe I am wrong.... odd if it changed recently. Does anyone else remember?)
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It’s always been John F as the profile name, but if you look at link above, you see his account was registered with his full last name.If you “follow“ him on LinkedIn you’ll see that he posts political rhetoric including some conspiracy theory type stuff implicating China. I find that concerning.
 
ClaireNC said:
JRF has 3 ex-wives. The divorce isn’t final on third marriage, though they have been legally separated for a few years. His 1st ex-wif and their child, live in California and the second is in Texas. It looks like JRF lived in Texas for a while with the 2nd wife. So he might have contacts in Texas.
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The ex-wives may all be a good source for the PI to ask questions regarding habits, relatives, associates, etc. I hope they are willing to help in any way they can, Fang Jin has been missing for 2 months now.
 
acutename said:
If you believe that this LinkedIn is genuine(?) and truthful(?) you would think he had survival skills




(I could swear this used to have his last name not just "F" on it, but since I do not screen shot everything, maybe I am wrong.... odd if it changed recently. Does anyone else remember?)
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If Yogi Berra were alive today and saw this, he'd say, "There's too much TMI here." For instance, the About section is two paragraphs too many. The last two could simply be lopped off, no one would care. So is "school of hard knocks", globaly (sic) basically since he left the womb. And "hevey quipment college"? (ETA: that phrase also serves as the header for his entire page)
A little unhinged. Perhaps more than a little. MOO
 
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acutename said:
If you believe that this LinkedIn is genuine(?) and truthful(?) you would think he had survival skills




(I could swear this used to have his last name not just "F" on it, but since I do not screen shot everything, maybe I am wrong.... odd if it changed recently. Does anyone else remember?)
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Not sure if his last name was there or not.

However, if you look at this linkedIn page, the URL is "linkedin.com/in/johnfitzpatrick220".

ETA: @ClaireNC beat me posting the above.

JMVHO.
 
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ifindedout said:
If Yogi Berra were alive today and saw this, he'd say, "There's too much TMI here." For instance, the About section is two paragraphs too many. The last two could simply be lopped off, no one would care. So is "school of hard knocks", globaly (sic) basically since he left the womb. And "hevey quipment college"? (ETA: that phrase also serves as the header for his entire page)
A little unhinged. Perhaps more than a little. MOO
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Yep!

JMVHO.
 
I'm Nobody said:
Thank you @tarabull for posting this. I am also bothered after seeing this photo bc of what I have marked with arrows below. It may be my eyes are seeing things that are not there but I can't unsee them and would like others to tell me if they see them too. TIA. First why are the tops of JRF's boots all sandy? When I looked at them more closely I noticed what appears to be a person a ways back behind JRF in the brush/maybe taking a bathroom break or shaking sand from something. The boots could have gotten sand on the top if JRF had been kneeling on a pad, feet off the pad sinking into the sand, perhaps to fix a tire or help fix a tire. OR the boots are just old and very scuffed on the top for some reason and then it's not sand at all.

Then there's the reflected shape in the back of JRF's passenger side mirror. It looks to me like JRF pulled over behind a white/light colored vehicle, possibly a pickup. That white/light vehicle driver door appears open. The dark shapes in the reflection middle I assumed are people in the back of the truck bed, maybe some workers.

View attachment 448770 Enhanced blowup of back reflection in JRF's passenger side mirror.

This could mean JRF & Fang Jin met up with others on this dirt road who turned out to be bad actors. Not speaking/figuring out Fang Jin's phone / Chinese, perhaps they ditched her phone and only kept JRF's for a couple days while hiding/getting rid of his blue truck.

OR it is totally nothing at all and I am just seeing things that don't exist. But I wanted to point it out bc it has been very difficult to unsee. My speculation, opinion only.
View attachment 448761View attachment 448762

View attachment 448763
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His boots will be dirty from the road and hiking around. There is very fine dust in the area, so when you take a step it causes dust to float up. That looks like I would expect.

I see where that might seem like someone in the background, but I think it is weeds/stem of some sort. It looks inline with the other weeds, not in the background. I could be wrong.
 
mark1969 said:
What are the verified facts today for search locations?
1) last video post by Jin on 21th July 22pm CA time in 29 palms nearby Marine base
2) picture Johns car and numberplate by official camera in Thermal on 22nd of July
3) last cellphone track of Johns cellphone on 24th of July in Julian

So my opinion is that if we want to find what happened to Jin .... max 1 hour drive from location 1)
If we want to find car or why car was photographed in Thermal we need focus in area 2)
If we want to find out why Johns cellphone or maybe John went to Julians .... we need area 3)


Are there other facts that can be linked to other search areas after 21nd of july ?

Thx for helping searching these missing people ... and support both daugthers of Jin in Belgium and China
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acutename said:
Julian has some trees but I do not think there is too much "brush" in the desert. Rods may know more about that area...
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There is a ton of brush in the area. Some thick. A rolled car could easily be hidden in the brush.
megs1477 said:
I followed the road leading out on Google maps and there were quite a few sharp curves in the road with a lot of foliage beneath them. If the truck were to have gone off the road at one of these curves, it could have easily been concealed. That is why I suggested it.
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I suggested this very early on as well. I agree. It would be fairly easy to roll off the road, into a ravine with brush and be very hard to see. The bottom side of a vehicle is that brown metal and if dirty could blend in very easily. I have always thought they met with misadventure.

10ofRods said:
There are SO many places where that could happen. It doesn’t explain why her phone apparently stopped working 2-3 days before his, though. There may have only been one charger (I’m known to let my phone run down on battery when we’re traveling, because…we have two phones in the car). But, the fact that FJ wasn’t able to reconnect with the world is very concerning.
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There's two scenarios that come to mind. If they were in an accident, one phone could have been damaged beyond repair. The second phone might ping for a day or two if not damaged. My understanding is cell phone pings are an approximate location. So his could of pinged in an area a few days after a catastrophic wreck.

The other thought is he did harm her. In online dating, sometime people aren't as honest or tend to over-embellish their lives, lifestyles, and means. I have been there, done that with someone. People also "fill in the blanks" with who people are when you don't see them in every day life. It is very easy to romanticize people when online dating, then have that reality come crashing to earth. In my case, it was a total shock, but once there in his country, we did go see the sights etc. It is possible there was a huge contrast to how she envisioned or how he presented himself. At some point she might have become disillusioned. He might have harmed her. Hence her phone was turned off.

I do believe the vehicle was in an accident. Either with just him or both. It is overturned somewhere covered by brush.
 
ClaireNC said:
It’s always been John F as the profile name, but if you look at link above, you see his account was registered with his full last name.If you “follow“ him on LinkedIn you’ll see that he posts political rhetoric including some conspiracy theory type stuff implicating China. I find that concerning.
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Indeed he was not yet convinced to find balance with Chinese culture .... maybe also frustration in his last marriage with another Chinese Woman ?
 
Or, since we’re just speculating, he might have convinced FJ that she should defect from China, go underground in the US, and then join in some kind of lucrative paramilitary thing (that was mostly a figment of his own mind). Perhaps she felt she would endanger her daughters or alienate them with this new lifestyle, so he convinces her to toss her phone so that “China can’t track you” and to break contact with family (cult-style) until she’s settled into her new role (he may have told her he’d marry her and they’d be international warriors against whatever it is that he thinks is the enemy - perhaps China).

I just heard some person give the most bizarre impromptu rant against China yesterday, on the campus at UCLA (a former UCLA student, now an older woman who truly believes that the Chinese are the Real Enemy and responsible for COVID, Global Warming, world energy crisis, the war between Russia and Ukraine and even American students getting shut out of major universities). I’ve heard bits and pieces of this kind of thing online, this was the first time I heard it in person. She also believes many other people think the same way.

I’m just trying to think of scenarios in which they are both still alive and not yet afoul of any laws or in any kind of wilderness misadventure.

I realize it’s a bizarre theory.

JMO for sure.
 
I would just also note that the cactus photo shows his license plate number very clearly.

Intentional? Just part of the shot?

I favor the latter. However, sometimes when in a place where something seemed sketchy - like in a nearly-empty campground or parking lot, or at a hiking trailhead. I have taken photos of cars licenses just in case I needed to have some way to trace someone who made me feel uncomfortable or when I felt wary for some reason.

I also have photographs of my own car from various angles and it's license plate in a documents folder on my phone.
 
10ofRods said:
Or, since we’re just speculating, he might have convinced FJ that she should defect from China, go underground in the US, and then join in some kind of lucrative paramilitary thing (that was mostly a figment of his own mind). Perhaps she felt she would endanger her daughters or alienate them with this new lifestyle, so he convinces her to toss her phone so that “China can’t track you” and to break contact with family (cult-style) until she’s settled into her new role (he may have told her he’d marry her and they’d be international warriors against whatever it is that he thinks is the enemy - perhaps China).

I just heard some person give the most bizarre impromptu rant against China yesterday, on the campus at UCLA (a former UCLA student, now an older woman who truly believes that the Chinese are the Real Enemy and responsible for COVID, Global Warming, world energy crisis, the war between Russia and Ukraine and even American students getting shut out of major universities). I’ve heard bits and pieces of this kind of thing online, this was the first time I heard it in person. She also believes many other people think the same way.

I’m just trying to think of scenarios in which they are both still alive and not yet afoul of any laws or in any kind of wilderness misadventure.

I realize it’s a bizarre theory.

JMO for sure.
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Nice theory .... hope it is one to consider
 
@mark1969

Just one suggestion—

The Hi-Desert Star News did three articles on Fang Jin, and their reporter Jené Estrada seemed to be instrumental to the Sheriff’s office making further declarations about Fang’s case they otherwise might not have—at least, it seemed that way, in my opinion.

It might be worth reaching out to the reporter to speak on the family’s behalf to give an update to Fang’s case—now 2 months later, and offer their opinion that her disappearance is NOT “voluntary” (as the Sheriff’s office is saying), and also how the daughter is unable to come to the US due this “voluntary missing” status, if I’m correctly understanding the dilemma.

I think most of us feel a status of voluntary missing means less will be done by law enforcement to the search.

If nothing else, another article is good to keep Fang’s name and face in the news, which just may reach that one person or persons who had or has seen her, or JRF, or the pickup truck, and has information that could help find her or narrow down search locations.

Hi-Desert Star articles about Fang Jin

Jené Estrada - Reporter - Jestrada @ hidesertstar.com
 
10ofRods said:
Or, since we’re just speculating, he might have convinced FJ that she should defect from China, go underground in the US, and then join in some kind of lucrative paramilitary thing (that was mostly a figment of his own mind). Perhaps she felt she would endanger her daughters or alienate them with this new lifestyle, so he convinces her to toss her phone so that “China can’t track you” and to break contact with family (cult-style) until she’s settled into her new role (he may have told her he’d marry her and they’d be international warriors against whatever it is that he thinks is the enemy - perhaps China).

I just heard some person give the most bizarre impromptu rant against China yesterday, on the campus at UCLA (a former UCLA student, now an older woman who truly believes that the Chinese are the Real Enemy and responsible for COVID, Global Warming, world energy crisis, the war between Russia and Ukraine and even American students getting shut out of major universities). I’ve heard bits and pieces of this kind of thing online, this was the first time I heard it in person. She also believes many other people think the same way.

I’m just trying to think of scenarios in which they are both still alive and not yet afoul of any laws or in any kind of wilderness misadventure.

I realize it’s a bizarre theory.

JMO for sure.
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I’ve had thoughts along this line after viewing his postings on LinkedIn. Among his posts, a disproportionately high number are about China. Kind of fits with this theory. Far-fetched, but worth considering.
 
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