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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He looks dramatically different between the flyer photos and the ‘selfie’ photo.
Q for anyone familiar with the area…are there a lot of places for a vehicle to disappear in that area? My thought was, here in FL when a car is gone, first place to look is in nearby pond. Where would a truck go in the desert?
 
Amtrak also runs busses when the trains can't go. It's still called Amtrak, but it's not a train. There would have been Amtrak-owned transport, I'd think, out toward Palm Springs (sometimes the Amtrak buses stop outside of shopping centers or larger restaurants).

There are some 2133 missing persons cases in California right now. Aside from initial news releases, there's almost no news about any of them.

IMO.
 
Palm Springs has an airport.
Maybe she flew from Ontario to Palm Springs?

Also, Yucca Valley has a very small airport. Someone with a private plane can land there.

Another alternative is Uber. Lots of people use Uber to get to and from airports in the basin.

JMO
 
megs1477 said:
He looks dramatically different between the flyer photos and the ‘selfie’ photo.
Q for anyone familiar with the area…are there a lot of places for a vehicle to disappear in that area? My thought was, here in FL when a car is gone, first place to look is in nearby pond. Where would a truck go in the desert?
Click to expand...

A truck would go missing. It will be rapidly covered with dust (you should see my vehicle right now - it's been dusty here and I"m not even near the desert - but the winds start to cover things up). If the station in Palm Springs was still closed due to sandstorms, that means there are lots of sandstorms.

The sheer amount of land that has to be searched by air is an impediment. Helicopters have been grounded due to high winds (on the desert and elsewhere in California). Fixed wing craft are not the best search tools. There's no indication of where to start the search, as no vehicle has been found.

I can think of cases where one or more years passed before a vehicle was found, and even more cases where, despite having the vehicle, no search turned up the missing person(s) right away. There was a large search for Paul Miller (and more than one search, over many months). Still took two years to find him, even though his route was known and his car was at the trailhead:

people.com

Remains of Man Missing Since 2018 Found in Joshua Tree: 'It Doesn't Make It Any Easier,' Wife Says

Paul Miller went out for a hike in Joshua Tree National Park on July 13, 2018, and never returned
people.com people.com

You can find more stories like that on google.

There are some clues about how such searches go down in the below article. Basically, they found this man (deceased) because it seemed likely he was trying to stay at one of many campgrounds out there. So they started checking campgrounds and nearby places where a vehicle could be:

kesq.com

Missing Washington man found dead near Joshua Tree - KESQ

A missing man from Washington was found dead in his motorhome near Joshua Tree, authorities confirmed. Daniel Lindell, 51, of Chehalis, Washington, was found dead in the Sunfair Dry Lake on April 28, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Dept. Lindell was reported missing by his...
kesq.com kesq.com

Still took them several days, as I understand it. This man was still with his vehicle, basically. 11 days after he was reported missing. They checked the major places he liked to go before finally locating him.

If Fang Jin and companion went out there and got stuck outside of a camping area, it's going to be difficult to find them. San Bernardino County is the largest single county in the world - and is larger than Switzerland and twice the size of Massachusetts. Of course, parts of the Mojave are outside San Bernardino County. The desert itself is twice the size of Switzerland.

The fact that one of the missing people was apparently in Thermal and Fang Jin's family said they were heading to a "small town" is a good clue - but they're clearly not in town right now. The other town, Julian, is also small - they'd be found if they were there. We don't know for sure if they were in either place, but if we speculate about Julian, well, that's not even in San Bernardino County. It's in San Diego County. The Mojave runs north to Utah and south to Mexico. Julian has some very interesting places nearby - that people love to use as a base for desert camping. SO, the various LE agencies have a big task ahead of them - I figure the number of campsites available throughout that region is in the 1000's, many of them dispersed. BLM land allows free-camping and there's virtually no law enforcement or camping enforcement (or facilities) out there. But lots of people think of themselves as "self-contained" if they have a 4WD vehicle and 50 gallons of water.

What should be first on everyone's desert camping list is a satellite phone or beacon, IMO.
 
kesq.com

Authorities confirm link in two missing person cases in Morongo Basin - KESQ

Two missing person cases out of the Morongo Basin area are linked, authorities confirmed to News Channel 3 on Thursday.
kesq.com kesq.com

Two missing person cases out of the Morongo Basin area are linked, authorities confirmed to News Channel 3 on Thursday.

Fitzpatrick was hired to be Jin's tour guide of the Morongo Basin area, SBCSD PIO Mara Rodriguez told News Channel 3.

"They were supposed to go camping, but the amount of time was not disclosed. There are both still listed as voluntary missing. The investigation is ongoing at this time," Rodriguez wrote.
 
ClaireNC said:
I’ve created a map with the locations reported by various media sources. Fang Jin Map
Click to expand...

Thank you. If we add Julian (I thought that was mentioned in one MSM article), it looks as if they're no longer in SBCounty and are now in SDCounty (where no missing persons report was filed). Moving generally south into an area that's pretty hot right now. As in 105F (feels like 107).

Still, if the basic search rules are followed, LE is contacting agencies in each direction and giving the truck description. They need to find that truck before they can even think about planning a ground search.

I bet this is being done as we type and read.

IMO.
 
Ravenmoon said:
Palm Springs has an airport.
Maybe she flew from Ontario to Palm Springs?

Also, Yucca Valley has a very small airport. Someone with a private plane can land there.

Another alternative is Uber. Lots of people use Uber to get to and from airports in the basin.

JMO
Click to expand...
The article I just linked says flew to LA and took a train to Palm Springs “area”
 
megs1477 said:
kesq.com

Authorities confirm link in two missing person cases in Morongo Basin - KESQ

Two missing person cases out of the Morongo Basin area are linked, authorities confirmed to News Channel 3 on Thursday.
kesq.com kesq.com

Two missing person cases out of the Morongo Basin area are linked, authorities confirmed to News Channel 3 on Thursday.

Fitzpatrick was hired to be Jin's tour guide of the Morongo Basin area, SBCSD PIO Mara Rodriguez told News Channel 3.

"They were supposed to go camping, but the amount of time was not disclosed. There are both still listed as voluntary missing. The investigation is ongoing at this time," Rodriguez wrote.
Click to expand...
"Fitzpatrick was hired to be Jin's tour guide of the Morongo Basin area, SBCSD PIO Mara Rodriguez told News Channel 3."

Interesting that the article says that he was hired to be her guide. An article further back said the pair had been communicating for 6 months, so I assumed that meant it was a friends/paramours situation. I wonder if he was a paid guide for other people?
 
10ofRods said:
Thank you. If we add Julian (I thought that was mentioned in one MSM article), it looks as if they're no longer in SBCounty and are now in SDCounty (where no missing persons report was filed). Moving generally south into an area that's pretty hot right now. As in 105F (feels like 107).

Still, if the basic search rules are followed, LE is contacting agencies in each direction and giving the truck description. They need to find that truck before they can even think about planning a ground search.

I bet this is being done as we type and read.

IMO.
Click to expand...
Julian is noted on the map. The thing that stood out to me was moving toward Mexico. I wonder if LE have checked border crossings.
 
deadfoot13 said:
"Fitzpatrick was hired to be Jin's tour guide of the Morongo Basin area, SBCSD PIO Mara Rodriguez told News Channel 3."

Interesting that the article says that he was hired to be her guide. An article further back said the pair had been communicating for 6 months, so I assumed that meant it was a friends/paramours situation. I wonder if he was a paid guide for other people?
Click to expand...
I noticed that and my thought was the phraseology was used purposely to sound more 'legit' (maybe for family's benefit) rather than saying she hooked up with some guy she met on t'net...
 
hazel324 said:
grrrrrr megs - off topic, sorry... but I have now dived into who is PRH - I don't have enough hours in the day!!
Click to expand...
That’s one deep rabbit hole…enjoy!!

@deadfoot13 I thought that “hired” was an interesting note. I googled him when his name first came out and found a comment at a local govt meeting where he was complaining about the influx of tourists, which doesn’t jive with someone who worked as a guide.
 
10ofRods said:
A truck would go missing. It will be rapidly covered with dust (you should see my vehicle right now - it's been dusty here and I"m not even near the desert - but the winds start to cover things up). If the station in Palm Springs was still closed due to sandstorms, that means there are lots of sandstorms.

The sheer amount of land that has to be searched by air is an impediment. Helicopters have been grounded due to high winds (on the desert and elsewhere in California). Fixed wing craft are not the best search tools. There's no indication of where to start the search, as no vehicle has been found.

I can think of cases where one or more years passed before a vehicle was found, and even more cases where, despite having the vehicle, no search turned up the missing person(s) right away. There was a large search for Paul Miller (and more than one search, over many months). Still took two years to find him, even though his route was known and his car was at the trailhead:

people.com

Remains of Man Missing Since 2018 Found in Joshua Tree: 'It Doesn't Make It Any Easier,' Wife Says

Paul Miller went out for a hike in Joshua Tree National Park on July 13, 2018, and never returned
people.com people.com

You can find more stories like that on google.

There are some clues about how such searches go down in the below article. Basically, they found this man (deceased) because it seemed likely he was trying to stay at one of many campgrounds out there. So they started checking campgrounds and nearby places where a vehicle could be:

kesq.com

Missing Washington man found dead near Joshua Tree - KESQ

A missing man from Washington was found dead in his motorhome near Joshua Tree, authorities confirmed. Daniel Lindell, 51, of Chehalis, Washington, was found dead in the Sunfair Dry Lake on April 28, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Dept. Lindell was reported missing by his...
kesq.com kesq.com

Still took them several days, as I understand it. This man was still with his vehicle, basically. 11 days after he was reported missing. They checked the major places he liked to go before finally locating him.

If Fang Jin and companion went out there and got stuck outside of a camping area, it's going to be difficult to find them. San Bernardino County is the largest single county in the world - and is larger than Switzerland and twice the size of Massachusetts. Of course, parts of the Mojave are outside San Bernardino County. The desert itself is twice the size of Switzerland.

The fact that one of the missing people was apparently in Thermal and Fang Jin's family said they were heading to a "small town" is a good clue - but they're clearly not in town right now. The other town, Julian, is also small - they'd be found if they were there. We don't know for sure if they were in either place, but if we speculate about Julian, well, that's not even in San Bernardino County. It's in San Diego County. The Mojave runs north to Utah and south to Mexico. Julian has some very interesting places nearby - that people love to use as a base for desert camping. SO, the various LE agencies have a big task ahead of them - I figure the number of campsites available throughout that region is in the 1000's, many of them dispersed. BLM land allows free-camping and there's virtually no law enforcement or camping enforcement (or facilities) out there. But lots of people think of themselves as "self-contained" if they have a 4WD vehicle and 50 gallons of water.

What should be first on everyone's desert camping list is a satellite phone or beacon, IMO.
Click to expand...
Lots of great information. Thanks.
 
10ofRods said:
Thank you. If we add Julian (I thought that was mentioned in one MSM article),
...
Click to expand...
RSBM

No, it hasn't been reported in MSM. It comes from the fundraising site, so to be in TOS, I don't think it should be included.

Another comment, JF is reported as living in the Morongo Basin. Surely he would know all about local dangers, unlike the tourists who get into trouble in the desert.

JMO
 
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