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

[megs1477]

I’m interested to know if JRF’s family and friends even know he is missing. If he is known for going on long camping trips and they don’t read the Hi Desert Sun, would they know?

 

[tarabull]

FJ's Birthday was 9/21 - NOTE the comment...

 

[ClaireNC]

Without me looking back -- Can someone/anyone say where the photo of the truck on JRF's missing poster came from??

John Root Fitzpatrick - Missing Persons Center

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missingpersonscenter.org

ETA: i don't think we know...

The truck photo was taken by a surveillance camera at a campground either in Thermal, CA or in another campground near ‘thermal’ hot springs. We don‘t have official confirmation of which campground.

 

[Sundog]

FJ's Birthday was 9/21 - NOTE the comment...

A very moving message.

 

[slowpoke]

These YouTube videos on the “Find Fang Jin Yama” channel are insightful for knowing who Fang Jin is as a person. @mark1969 are the videos authorized by the family?

It says she is an “experienced Vipassana meditator”, which I never heard of, but I got the feeling it is very central to her life, encompassing all that she does. I wonder if JRF was also interested in it, and what brought them together. Maybe with his troubled past he was drawn to learning more about this form of meditation.

Something potentially important I found:
There’s a Dhamma Vaddhana Vipassana Meditation Center in Twentynine Palms, and a Dhamma Dena Retreat Center there, as well.

Doesn’t it feel like Fang would have wanted to visit one or both of these Centers while in the area?

@mark1969 Definitely places the PI should check out to see what they know.

 

[Teche]

Looking at that LinkedIn resume, JRF claims to have been in the Navy for 20 years, 1 months from Dec 1990 through Dec 2020. Assuming that's true then he's likely getting at least some pension. And it would be very common for someone in the armed forces to retire immediately after they become eligible to draw their pension.

For a few years in the early 2010s, he earned some certifications and apparently worked steadily. He has several jobs listed on his resume, doing maritime anti-piracy and as an instructor in crisis response, security and anti-terrorism. However the last job listed on his resume is with the State Department in 2015. Then starting in March 2017, the resume says he is on a 'Career Break' which continues to the present day.

So that sort of tracks with someone who may not have been able to find a job or else just voluntarily decide to take a hiatus around the mid-2010s. With low expenses he could live a simple life off his pension with no need to work. And perhaps supplementing his income by taking on the occasional side gig.

As a side note, I found that LinkedIn offers vets 1-year of free access to their premium service. So, it could be that he is taking advantage of that rather than paying $40/month.

How did JRF take a career break in 2010 when he served in the Navy until 2020?

 

[ms_writer]

How did JRF take a career break in 2010 when he served in the Navy until 2020?

Well Dec 1990 to Dec 2020 is 30 years. So maybe he retired in 2010 instead, if he really served 20 years. Could be a typo.

 

[ch_13]

How did JRF take a career break in 2010 when he served in the Navy until 2020?

Well Dec 1990 to Dec 2020 is 30 years. So maybe he retired in 2010 instead, if he really served 20 years. Could be a typo.

Yes it was a typo. It should have read 2010, not 2020. By the time the error was pointed out too much time has elapsed to edit it.

 

[Herat]

These YouTube videos on the “Find Fang Jin Yama” channel are insightful for knowing who Fang Jin is as a person. @mark1969 are the videos authorized by the family?

It says she is an “experienced Vipassana meditator”, which I never heard of, but I got the feeling it is very central to her life, encompassing all that she does. I wonder if JRF was also interested in it, and what brought them together. Maybe with his troubled past he was drawn to learning more about this form of meditation.

Something potentially important I found:
There’s a Dhamma Vaddhana Vipassana Meditation Center in Twentynine Palms, and a Dhamma Dena Retreat Center there, as well.

Doesn’t it feel like Fang would have wanted to visit one or both of these Centers while in the area?

@mark1969 Definitely places the PI should check out to see what they know.

Wow. Interesting find

This might make sense as to an additional motive for the trip, or to stay in the blazing hot Morongo Valley / Joshua Tree / 29 Palms area in July. The center was founded by Ruth Dennison.

I wasn't able to open the Retreat Center in that link but I found it here:

Dhamma Dena Meditation Center

www.dhammadena.org

It appears they have multiple events throughout the year. I wonder if there was a specific retreat program she was planning to attend? The prior organized retreats on their webpage are in February and March.

You can also do Zoom meetings for morning and evening meditation.

I would think this would be an important place for her to visit in this trip.

Is it possible she was staying at the Meditation Center instead of at his trailer in Morongo Valley?

 

[mark1969]

These YouTube videos on the “Find Fang Jin Yama” channel are insightful for knowing who Fang Jin is as a person. @mark1969 are the videos authorized by the family?

It says she is an “experienced Vipassana meditator”, which I never heard of, but I got the feeling it is very central to her life, encompassing all that she does. I wonder if JRF was also interested in it, and what brought them together. Maybe with his troubled past he was drawn to learning more about this form of meditation.

Something potentially important I found:
There’s a Dhamma Vaddhana Vipassana Meditation Center in Twentynine Palms, and a Dhamma Dena Retreat Center there, as well.

Doesn’t it feel like Fang would have wanted to visit one or both of these Centers while in the area?

@mark1969 Definitely places the PI should check out to see what they know.

Yes youtube movies are made by friends and family.
Yes Yama (Jin Fang) is a real meditator ... During her stay and life in Belgium she engaged a whole community to be inspired by her way of meditation.
We will pass by the idea to let him visit the meditation locations in Morongo area.

 

[hazel324]

These YouTube videos on the “Find Fang Jin Yama” channel are insightful for knowing who Fang Jin is as a person. @mark1969 are the videos authorized by the family?

It says she is an “experienced Vipassana meditator”, which I never heard of, but I got the feeling it is very central to her life, encompassing all that she does. I wonder if JRF was also interested in it, and what brought them together. Maybe with his troubled past he was drawn to learning more about this form of meditation.

Something potentially important I found:
There’s a Dhamma Vaddhana Vipassana Meditation Center in Twentynine Palms, and a Dhamma Dena Retreat Center there, as well.

Doesn’t it feel like Fang would have wanted to visit one or both of these Centers while in the area?

@mark1969 Definitely places the PI should check out to see what they know.

Great find slow, great sleuthing, am sure she would have been keen to visit

h

 

[buyerninety]

(I'm at work), those pictures of her with the tall palm trees in the background, maybe check on google sreetview if
the building in the background is any of those
meditation addresses slowpoke mentioned.

 

[BlaiseFinlay]

One possible reason for the discrepancy between whether she hired him as a tour guide or there was a potential romantic relationship between them could be because of the visa application. When you’re applying for a tourist visa, they will ask you the purpose of your trip. If you reveal to have a boyfriend in the US, that gives them grounds to deny the visa (because it can be seen as undermining your stated intent to return home at the end of your trip). It’s discretionary. Explaining that you hired a tour guide avoids that risk.

 

[BlaiseFinlay]

Yes youtube movies are made by friends and family.
Yes Yama (Jin Fang) is a real meditator ... During her stay and life in Belgium she engaged a whole community to be inspired by her way of meditation.
We will pass by the idea to let him visit the meditation locations in Morongo area.

The meditation connection helps to make the trip make more sense. As someone who lives in So Cal, the locations that have been mentioned have a very…niche appeal.

 

[tarabull]

The truck photo was taken by a surveillance camera at a campground either in Thermal, CA or in another campground near ‘thermal’ hot springs. We don‘t have official confirmation of which campground.

Thank you for that...

Which leads to the next question...

Do we know if he was alone???

 

[ZVT24]

We are repressenting the 2 daughters of Jin Fang. The PI we hired is contacting and verifying neighbours, family , friends , ex collegues of John to find out more about his back ground or possible whereabouts ...
We already contacted his friend that reported him missing....Hopefully his SEAL buds also are voluntaring to help searching

I found a reference to JRF having 2 grandchildren and then found the name of his daughter (at least, I believe it is his daughter). Her SM is private, and the profile pic on both SM accounts are years old, so I don’t know if those accounts are still active. i am hoping LE has reached out to her or anyone else in his family to at least make them aware of the situation. Would LE do that in a “voluntarily missing person“ case?

ETA clarification on my ask: would LE have reached out to family in a voluntarily missing person case or would JRF’s family be hearing about the situation from the PI for the 1st time?

 

[wary]

Hopefully you still remember we are verifying given facts 1) Her phone last could be traced in 29 Palms on 21st of July around 22pm , 2) Some official camera took picture of car in Thermal at 22nd of July 3) Johns Phone was last traced in Julian on 24th of July ..... Lets hope that they are still together and unfortunately had accident together . In that case it must be in Julian right ?

There are steep drop-offs on the roads leading out of Julian, whether you might be heading back to the desert, or heading toward the coast. That’s been my tentative theory. And as people have pointed out, the underside of a vehicle is a very neutral color, and if the vehicle is almost buried in tall brush, there wouldn’t even be much to see.

 

[sfinkz]

(I'm at work), those pictures of her with the tall palm trees in the background, maybe check on google sreetview if
the building in the background is any of those
meditation addresses slowpoke mentioned.

I believe it was determined that photo, possibly a selfie, was snapped in front of a casino in Palm Springs as she stepped off an Amtrak bus (train temporarily shut down) from Union Station after her arrival at LAX.
Thought it was odd if this were a budding romantic relationship nurtured for a coupla years over the internet why JRF would make JF endure that travel after a trans-pacific flight, rather than meeting her @ LAX.
Also thought it was odd all subsequent photos released by JF every other day to loved ones appear to be ‘on the run’.

 

[ClaireNC]

Thank you for that...

Which leads to the next question...

Do we know if he was alone???

We don’t know who was in the truck.

 

[mark1969]

Does somebody of you have suggestions on what sites we can put our new flyer (almost finished) to bring it to attention for all possible target groups of people who might to have seen Jin Fang and/or John Root Fitzpatrick and/or the blue Toyota Tacoma from 21st of July or later ? We only need to put it digital or we also need printed versions to spread them on certain spots ?