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

[flowershop]

This Chinese-language BCBay.com article 8/13/23 has a couple of images I haven’t seen prior.

One: there’s a screenshot of Fang’s ‘Moments’ (photos with captions. A function of WeChat) that she shared. Dates of July 14, 15 & 16 can be seen.

Second: I believe, is a photo of a shopping plaza in Palm Springs. I see a street sign, “La Plaza”. Could be a stock photo, but then again, maybe it’s one Fang took?

This is insightful as to how JF wasn't completely sure of her safety going into this endeavour:

"Ms. Lin believes that her mother, Jin Fang, did not just trust the American she met on the Internet. Before leaving, her mother also had to pass his ID, which was preserved, and some photos and records were also left, just to have a basic identity. She has done all the preparatory work she can do, but unexpectedly something happened."

 

[charminglane]

This is insightful as to how JF wasn't completely sure of her safety going into this endeavour:

"Ms. Lin believes that her mother, Jin Fang, did not just trust the American she met on the Internet. Before leaving, her mother also had to pass his ID, which was preserved, and some photos and records were also left, just to have a basic identity. She has done all the preparatory work she can do, but unexpectedly something happened."

Wow. Jin Fang was very savvy to do this.

 

[vls12345]

So...going by the small info I learned from the former Seal - John is very capable and he seemed confident he could get out of anything...

Sorry but I can't remember the following info: How old is John? And do we know when he left the Navy?

While JRF may have had those skills, how many years had it been since he had actually used them?

He may have had the knowledge but age and time can take a toll on a person. So maybe he wasn't as honed as he once was.

MOO.

 

[Megnut]

Violence is a real possibility here, but it's also possible that he was being -- shall I say -- entrepreneurial. Tourist with money. Enough to make it lucrative?

So... if I assume they had -- at a minimum -- a working relationship, hired him to be her personal tour guide, with or without benefits/ romance, a simple miscalculation could've resulted in tragic heat-related deaths. We see it all the time. Folks set out for an early morning hike, short and sweet, with minimal provisions. There's an unforeseen delay and now they're out there in the high heat of day without enough water and impairment escalates rapidly.

Also possible, as we've seen in another recent and tragic case, the parties could've separated, resulting in a casualty to one and survival of the other. In such a case, might the survivor decide to disappear himself, minimal ties, just re-invent elsewhere?

We can hope/pretend they're off on adventure, off grid, happy, carefree, maybe in love and deliberately lost in time...

But we have to consider not just an accident but also something more sinister. If she's in distress or harm befell her at the hands of another, I hope the search for her continues, with fervor.

Jmo

 

[crhedBngr]

Sorry but I can't remember the following info: How old is John? And do we know when he left the Navy?

While JRF may have had those skills, how many years had it been since he had actually used them?

He may have had the knowledge but age and time can take a toll on a person. So maybe he wasn't as honed as he once was.

MOO.

I believe JRF is 52 years old.

I've been trying to find an authenticated record of his military service, but I've not been successful.

John Root Fitzpatrick - Missing Persons Center - Live Site

JMVHO.

 

[megs1477]

RBBM

Okay, but apologies, I don't see a campground specifically named, "Thermal Campground".

I could be wrong; if so, please let me know.

ETA: I wonder if they have obtained a search warrant for his trailer in the Morongo Basin.

JMVHO.

They did not provide a specific name. They said a Campground in Thermal

 

[slowpoke]

Translation of Fang’s ‘Moments’ (I did a partial screenshot) from the bcbay link in my prior post.

I don’t know if her captions are typical of how most users write, but hers seem almost poetic or inspirational. From these, she sounds like a positive person, an observer who celebrates the simple, small moments in life. MOO

 

[ClaireNC]

They did not provide a specific name. They said a Campground in Thermal

That’s what was originally reported. A campground in Thermal. However, now I’m questioning if that’s where it was. I searched maps and I don’t see any campgrounds in Thermal. There are some in the area, but not specifically in Thermal. Also why would they camp in Thermal, when there are so many better places around there.

That information went through several translations - from English to Chinese and then back to English. Local LE gave that information to Fang‘s daughter, who gave it to Chinese language media, which was then translated back to English. Who knows what all got lost in translation. The communication from LE might have been that they camped in the town of Desert Hot Springs and through the translations it ended up being Thermal.

IMO, it would make more sense for them to camp in Desert Hot Springs rather than Thermal. It’s a nicer location, there are campgrounds and it’s closer to JRF’s home in Morongo Valley.

 

[ClaireNC]

Translation of Fang’s ‘Moments’ (I did a partial screenshot) from the bcbay link in my prior post.

I don’t know if her captions are typical of how most users write, but hers seem almost poetic or inspirational. From these, she sounds like a positive person, an observer who celebrates the simple, small moments in life. MOO

From descriptions of her from friends and family on social media that sounds exactly like her - celebrating small moments. She’s sounds like a very beautiful person, inside and out.

 

[Herat]

I wonder how a Park Ranger would be able to track his phone with a phone ping? Is this something that park rangers can do with everyone. Did her phone ping there too?

I'm just not sure how this phone ping information could be done without LE asking for specific information from the phone service carrier.

 

[ClaireNC]

I wonder how a Park Ranger would be able to track his phone with a phone ping? Is this something that park rangers can do with everyone. Did her phone ping there too?

I'm just not sure how this phone ping information could be done without LE asking for specific information from the phone service carrier.

I‘M guessing that the SBSD investigators told the Park Rangers in the area to keep an eye out for the truck since the phone pinged in the area.

 

[crhedBngr]

I‘M guessing that the SBSD investigators told the Park Rangers in the area to keep an eye out for the truck since the phone pinged in the area.

This makes sense.

JMVHO.

 

[Teche]

As someone who lives not far from this very hot place, I can assure you that it's exceedingly popular, especially with international tourists. Brits, in particular, love the desert and flock into Death Valley during the hot months. Some write glowing trip reports on TripAdvisor (those are the ones who follow the rules, I guess). Many do not write reports, though, and I always wonder about them.

It's on a continuum with people who go in privately built, non-certified submersibles, I think. A kind of wager with oneself regarding adventurousness and courage. China has some really hot places, too (and many are humid - they say that Morongo Valley is "not so bad" when it's 155F - and by "they" I mean "people I know who live out that way.") SO many hot places in inland California. 102F at 10 am in Borrego Springs (not far from Julian). Going up to only 106F though - so a good day to go out! (It's going to be 109-110F at my workplace today, supposedly)

Here's the thing. People stay in their trucks and cars, with A/C. They jump out to take pictures. They go into restaurants and hotels that have A/C. Death Valley is pretty much closed right now (flood damage) but there are signs everywhere in summer saying things like "Do not be out of your car for more than 5 minutes."

Joshua Tree is already 100F this fine morning, already hotter than predicted. Only 95F in Morongo Valley. Anyway, millions of SoCal people will endure temps over 95 today and think it's pretty "cool" until it gets to 112-115F.

Only the coastal zone escapes this in SoCal. And AZ is often even hotter (and people flock there - including to live there). I'm sure JRF must have A/C at his place, I'd bet on it. So a long day popping in and out of the car...and so far, no evidence of actual camping (which would indeed risk heat exhaustion in many places, this time of year - but not so bad if they are up at Big Bear or in the Julian outback).

I just think one of them would have checked in by now. Oh, and this is not "one of the hottest summers" here in SoCal - we could still earn that as it's usually hotter in September than it is in August or July (even inland) and those conditions are predicted for the next 10 days. So far, though, many of us living in less than record heat.

IMO.

I live in South Louisiana and we are acclimated to high temperatures with humidity often 100 percent. We don’t pay much attention to the temperature but watch the humidity. in the south, humidity is a killer. What is the humidity like in your region?

 

[10ofRods]

That’s what was originally reported. A campground in Thermal. However, now I’m questioning if that’s where it was. I searched maps and I don’t see any campgrounds in Thermal. There are some in the area, but not specifically in Thermal. Also why would they camp in Thermal, when there are so many better places around there.

That information went through several translations - from English to Chinese and then back to English. Local LE gave that information to Fang‘s daughter, who gave it to Chinese language media, which was then translated back to English. Who knows what all got lost in translation. The communication from LE might have been that they camped in the town of Desert Hot Springs and through the translations it ended up being Thermal.

IMO, it would make more sense for them to camp in Desert Hot Springs rather than Thermal. It’s a nicer location, there are campgrounds and it’s closer to JRF’s home in Morongo Valley.

Don't most people want to be further away from their own home when camping? The goal is usually go somewhere and see something new.

And didn't they head to Julian afterwards (several campgrounds on the way, more or less). At least, he apparently went to Julian but what was posted here in the past couple of days made me think that the daughters believed their mom was still with him in Julian.

This seems to be confirmation that they were camping - although with what equipment, I don't know (some people just put sleeping bags in the bed of their truck).

It's possible that Desert Hot Springs somehow got transformed into Thermal, although Thermal is definitely a good sized town out that - and that's what was in some of the LE communication, or at least so I thought. Desert Hot Springs is in the opposite direction than Thermal (and DHS is really close to where JRF lived in the first place - and immediately outside of Joshua Tree...hard for me to believe this would be a destination - not a lot there, and it's nicer to camp in Joshua Tree, if one is going to be right there). OTOH, Desert Hot Springs is expensive and more upscale. The nearby NPS campground is usually booked way in advance - I'd think that if they had been there, we'd know about it.

So, if the statements about Thermal are wrong, then we are more steps away from any reliable narrative or places to try and look or alert people to look.

IMO.

 

[10ofRods]

I live in South Louisiana and we are acclimated to high temperatures with humidity often 100 percent. We don’t pay much attention to the temperature but watch the humidity. in the south, humidity is a killer. What is the humidity like in your region?

It's been varying quite a bit recently (tropical storm and all). But out in the Salton Sea area, humidity is 65% today. It gets as low as 10-20%. With 65% humidity, the real temperature (from a health standpoint is 97F out there today - not too bad, although the hottest part of the day is still an hour away, IMO).

Joshua Tree and Palm Springs typically have very low humidity. We pay attention to temperature because dry weather wicks the moisture out of a person and anything above 110F can be deadly if a person isn't well-equipped.

Back in the week of July 21-28th, Palm Springs had humidity of closer to 80% (pretty humid for the area). Joshua Tree is almost 3000' above sea level, which also makes a difference (UV is higher - Julian is at 4235' above sea level). It feels like one is baking in a convection oven when the dry wind blows, the temps are above 100F and the UV radiation is beating down.

But we don't usually see a lot of heat deaths until the temps are above 112F-115F (except for small kids and the elderly). OTOH, that's a fairly hard limit - humans are not designed to withstand 115F at 50% humidity for hours at a time. Each extra degree (or bit of humidity) makes it worse. I found a chart that says 115F at 50% humidity is like 95F at 100% humidity - both are deemed the hard limit for human existence, if the person is outside and unprotected.

 

[megs1477]

There seems to be a lot of, what I can only describe as AirBNB type campsites available in the area. People advertise and allow primitive camping on their land. I think this is more common during festivals, but some seem to do it year round. Example Desert Adventure - Hipcamp in Thermal, California

 

[ClaireNC]

Don't most people want to be further away from their own home when camping? The goal is usually go somewhere and see something new.

And didn't they head to Julian afterwards (several campgrounds on the way, more or less). At least, he apparently went to Julian but what was posted here in the past couple of days made me think that the daughters believed their mom was still with him in Julian.

This seems to be confirmation that they were camping - although with what equipment, I don't know (some people just put sleeping bags in the bed of their truck).

It's possible that Desert Hot Springs somehow got transformed into Thermal, although Thermal is definitely a good sized town out that - and that's what was in some of the LE communication, or at least so I thought. Desert Hot Springs is in the opposite direction than Thermal (and DHS is really close to where JRF lived in the first place - and immediately outside of Joshua Tree...hard for me to believe this would be a destination - not a lot there, and it's nicer to camp in Joshua Tree, if one is going to be right there). OTOH, Desert Hot Springs is expensive and more upscale. The nearby NPS campground is usually booked way in advance - I'd think that if they had been there, we'd know about it.

So, if the statements about Thermal are wrong, then we are more steps away from any reliable narrative or places to try and look or alert people to look.

IMO.

I don’t remember LE ever being quoted in US media regarding the siting in Thermal. From mapping out Fangs photos, it looks like they were sticking pretty close to JRF‘s home. I believe they were staying at his trailer home and doing day excursions. For Fang every place would be a new destination. JRF didn’t need to drive very far to give her a variety of experiences.

From photos I’ve seen, I think Fang would enjoy the expensive and upscale nature of Desert Hot Springs. We don’t know if the truck was actually camping where they camera picked them up. They could have just driven into the campground to check it out. (Noting that there was no camping gear in the photo.)

Since you are fairly local, do you know of any campgrounds in Thermal? I can’t find any on the maps.

Personally, I don‘t think Fang was ever in Julian. By the way…Based on my research, I wonder if JRF even has a valid driver‘s license.

 

[LucyOso]

Violence is a real possibility here, but it's also possible that he was being -- shall I say -- entrepreneurial. Tourist with money. Enough to make it lucrative?

So... if I assume they had -- at a minimum -- a working relationship, hired him to be her personal tour guide, with or without benefits/ romance, a simple miscalculation could've resulted in tragic heat-related deaths. We see it all the time. Folks set out for an early morning hike, short and sweet, with minimal provisions. There's an unforeseen delay and now they're out there in the high heat of day without enough water and impairment escalates rapidly.

Also possible, as we've seen in another recent and tragic case, the parties could've separated, resulting in a casualty to one and survival of the other. In such a case, might the survivor decide to disappear himself, minimal ties, just re-invent elsewhere?

We can hope/pretend they're off on adventure, off grid, happy, carefree, maybe in love and deliberately lost in time...

But we have to consider not just an accident but also something more sinister. If she's in distress or harm befell her at the hands of another, I hope the search for her continues, with fervor.

Jmo

I agree, this could be misadventure. I wonder if there was an car accident? I am looking at topography maps and wonder if they are in a ravine in the car, upside down somewhere? They could have ventured of the main roads at some point. Have there been any searches of areas they traveled?

Also, curious about him being reported missing. Do we suspect he phoned himself in? Has there been any sightings of the vehicle since he was reported missing? Was she reported missing first? I followed a link and his missing flyer and photos with her show he had some serious weight loss. Hopefully, he didn't have a medical condition requiring meds. Doubt it, but could be a cause of an accident.

It sounds like Fang Jin was incredibly smart, did her homework, and took all the steps to verify this person and protect her safety. I am very impressed. Hoping there is a simple reason for "falling off the grid". Doubt they are still camping obviously.

 

[ClaireNC]

There seems to be a lot of, what I can only describe as AirBNB type campsites available in the area. People advertise and allow primitive camping on their land. I think this is more common during festivals, but some seem to do it year round. Example Desert Adventure - Hipcamp in Thermal, California

Thanks! I didn’t even know these type of campsites even existed. Very interesting!

However, the photo of the truck was described as being taken at a campground. The image looks like it was taken from above. Like a camera on a pole as you enter the campground. Would these airbnb type campsites have security cameras? I don’t know.

 

[megs1477]

New article, but no new info:

https://inf.news/en/world/a9f37edd67d417aeef8537573d4e72b0.html

However, on July 22, Jin Fang's contact with her family was suddenly cut off, the phone was not connected, and social media was no longer updated. On July 25, Jin Fang completely lost contact.

I think I might have figured this out... July 22 she stops posting and answering phone calls, July 25th no service. If I understood correctly, it was very unlikely she had gps tracking on her phone.

Police traced the man's mobile phone and found that the man had been in the Julian area of San Diego County on July 24

If his phone lost contact on the 24th and hers on the 25th, that makes me think something happened after the ping in Julian. If they were making the loop around and back up to JRF's home area, that narrows down the search area a lot.