CA CA - John Beck, 73, Alameda, 9 Feb 2016 #1

[Lilibet]

I know this may sound crazy but wasn't it mentioned that JB was/is an attorney? I was just scrolling through other missing persons & there is another California attorney missing in the Santa Rosa area, I looked at the map & to me it looks close but I honestly don't really know much about CA, I know we had some locals on here so just thought I'd mention it. This other man just seemed to vanish also except his car was found at some park near the coast. Idk it could be possibly connected. May not be.

CA - Ken Wayne, 56, Santa Rosa, 13 February 2016
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=300820

ETA: link to other mp attorney

For some reason that thread has the wrong name. It's Steven Mitchell. His car was found at Bodega Bay, not too far up the coast (90 minutes to 2 hours depending on the route). The search has been called off, but the disappearance is still being investigated. Although I doubt there is a connection, it is very strange for two attorneys to disappear just six days apart. But who knows? Thanks for mentioning it.

 

[JoyM]

The photo was posted at 12:08pm, but not necessarily taken at that time. Is there cell service in that spot? The person who took it could have taken it earlier, not had service at that moment to post to Instagram, and then later posted it once they sat down for lunch.

I spoke with the photographer. Apparently the photo was taken at 12:08 PM--he was able to see that in the metadata.

 

[JoyM]

Oh, I saw the glasses case thing, or could be a cell phone case I guess. I thought satchels were larger, beats me, lol. And thanks for clearing that up skibaboo :wave:

He definitely had a glasses case--though I think it was to switch between reading glasses and normal glasses, I can't ever remember him wearing sunglasses!

 

[JoyM]

Here is a list of suggestions I gleaned when I went through the thread. Some of them may have been done, but we haven't been told, so apologies for being redundant.

Check pawnshops, soup kitchens, shelters, hotels in the Presidio/beach area.

Hello! We've thoroughly covered hotels in the area, and we've been progressively working our way through soup kitchens and shelters. We have just started gathering information about pawn shops and expect to hit that next!

Check medical/psych offices on Sacramento and in the neighborhood.

Yes, we're working on this--just started so lots left to cover.

Ask the fire department to be on the lookout (BOLO).

done!

Canvass the Crocker Galleria near the Montgomery BART station.

good thought! Adding this to the list!

Check with the VA hospital near the beach.

done!

Ask a city councilman in the various areas to help with getting video.

The detective working the case now has BART video and is going through it, though he's deprioritzed it because we know that John made it to the park.

Staples, Office Depot, etc will do free flier printing.

I didn't realize that! (apologies if you've said it elsewhere!) I'm passing that along right away!

Send the video about John to the media.

We did do that, and I saw a little moment of it in one of the broadcasts.

Plan a public event to raise awareness about John and get media attention. Possibly in SF near the beach?

this is a good idea! thank you!

Post pleas directly to John on FB.

This is hard, because the family can't believe at this point that John would still be gone if it were within his power to return. That makes sense to me too. I know theoretically that human beings are complicated and that our behavior can be endlessly enigmatic and mysterious. I know it's never a good idea to be too definitive about the statement "he wouldn't do that", but, in this case, it's so hard to imagine that possibility with the person I knew. We wonder if he wasn't taking good care of himself and got dehydrated and disoriented, we wonder if he's on an involuntary hold in a mental institution. I think we're making sure that everything we post on the facebook page comes from the place of deep love for John that everyone in this family has, but I don't know if they'd be up for a post like that...

 

[JoyM]

And thank you, once again, Lilibet, for your tremendous mind, and for contributing your brain power to this case. It has been so useful, and we are deeply grateful. This entire community is a great comfort. I know everyone on the search team has been working so hard and not getting much sleep, and all of that makes critical thinking a little hard. We're grateful for the fresh infusion of mind power we get from the websleuths!!!

 

[JoyM]

Joy, what size is this bag he is wearing across his body? I remember you mentioning you knew it to be a bag he carried often.

I have a photo! He's wearing it in this photo here:

 

[JoyM]

Here is a photo of John before he disappeared, wearing the hat and two small cases for sunglasses and something else/phone

whoops! thanks Lilibet! I responded before I saw your post.

 

[JoyM]

I've spent quite a good bit of time looking thru photos from the various neighborhoods, beaches, and trails on gramfeed without any luck. I gotta give major credit to the family member who noticed him in the photo from Lands End Trail because they all start to look alike and run together after looking thru them for a while.

1. this is absolutely true.
2. Bless you for taking all this time to help. It's moving to us, and it is appreciated with all of our hearts.

 

[JoyM]

Joy, here are a few questions about things that have been mentioned along the way and I don't think we've heard what has happened in regard to them:

I answered the BART question above--here's the rest of the questions!

Is the PI making any progress?

we actually wound up letting the PI go. No reason to go into detail, but he wasn't working at the level we hoped/needed. We are getting advice from 3 separate PIs about next steps, and considering hiring another investigator if we can find someone we think will be useful.

Did you ever get someone to look at video from the GG Bridge and vicinity?

No, and we're going to ask our APD detective about this tomorrow. A friend with connections to Marin Police has found out from them that there are no unidentified Golden Gate suicides from the past two weeks. I'm not sure, however, if this rules out the possibility of something happening during the night, when it's more difficult to see and a jumper might go unnoticed. I've heard pedestrians are no longer allowed on the bridge at night. Does anyone know whether this is true?

How did the search of Lands End, etc. go? Any word from the Coast Guard and NP police at the Presidio?

Will the SF Sheriff allow dogs to be used? If so, when and whose dogs?

Can you get permission to use drones, and do you have volunteers for that yet?

I have an update about all of this! I will post it momentarily!

Was the man who took the Lands End Instagram photo able to provide more photos when he got back home?

he was, but sadly the others are all landscapes--no other photos of John.

Did you find out anything yet about the reason for Sacramento St street view being in John's computer history?

Not yet, but we did canvass there today.

Has the VA hospital at 42nd and Clement been contacted?

yes! no luck so far, but they have our flyer.

Thanks! :loveyou:
:heart:

Thank YOU!!!

 

[JoyM]

I hate to agree, but I have the same concern, just from following about six threads here on WS that ended that way. ...

I hope John just needed time away...we will keep looking and hoping.

Yes, this is absolutely our concern. We are hoping it's not the case--we hope he needed time away too--but this is our fear.

 

[JoyM]

Wow! I had never heard of Texas Equaasearch, but he sounds amazing. What a great idea! Thanks Nannymo and Lilibet!

 

[mrsobrien]

Pedestrian info for Golden Gate Bridge. It's complicated!

http://goldengatebridge.org/bikesbridge/bikes.php

 

[JoyM]

Okay, websleuths! Sorry to be posting so late--the searchers didn't get back until 7ish and then we had a big information roundup. Here's the major update from today. The detective handling this case put in the request to Marin search and rescue, which is apparently one of the best search and rescue teams in the country. They combed the Land's End/Sutro Bath/ Baker Beach/Coastal trail area with dogs, including one of the best tracking dogs in the state. 60–70 people searching. Jet skis and a drone and people rappelling down to search along the cliffs.

No clues found. They have a very scientific method of searching and the man in charge said he feels safe eliminating the park. If he didn't feel sure they would come back tomorrow.

We are inclined to believe that the 12:30-1 PM sighting of John was accurate, and that he did follow the trail out of the Sutro Baths/Land's End part of the park. We've been talking to the people in the houses facing the 32nd Ave exit to see if anyone has front facing surveillance video that might have captured an image of John exiting the park. We haven't managed to make contact with anyone so far who could help us, but we left information at some homes where the residents were out.

We are doing a lot tomorrow, some of which I detailed in my earlier posts. One main focus is trying to get the APD detective who is handling the case to find video of pedestrians on Golden Gate Bridge--among the information we could glean from such video is whether or not he walked to Marin County. And then we are continuing to contact mental wards, psychologists offices and other businesses around the sacramento st sight, and making more progress on the pawn shop lead.

I am probably forgetting something! I may post again tomorrow with more. Thank you all for all your help and advice! It has been invaluable to us!

(I'll be at the day job again tomorrow, but I'll try to sneak away and post at some point!)

 

[Plumeria5]

I just started reading on John's thread and skipped to the end. Have tracking dogs been used?

 

[Lilibet]

Thanks for your replies and kind words, Joy. It sounds like you all are doing everything possible under great duress. You must be exhausted!

That's great news that Marin SAR did so much.

More hugs! :grouphug:

 

[cvaldez1975]

Agreed.
A few years ago, a young guy in San Francisco was down on his luck. He sent a friend a selfie of himself on the Golden Gate Bridge with a look that looked like a smile holding back tears, and was never heard from again. That pic haunts me.

The picture of John on the trail just resonates with me for some reason. I tend to believe he was carrying identifying papers and perhaps a journal or note for a purposeful reason. I pray I am wrong and he is found alive, but it seems like he had a plan, and I've dealt with people who chose that route before.
jmo

 

[Plumeria5]

Okay, websleuths! Sorry to be posting so late--the searchers didn't get back until 7ish and then we had a big information roundup. Here's the major update from today. The detective handling this case put in the request to Marin search and rescue, which is apparently one of the best search and rescue teams in the country. They combed the Land's End/Sutro Bath/ Baker Beach/Coastal trail area with dogs, including one of the best tracking dogs in the state. 60–70 people searching. Jet skis and a drone and people rappelling down to search along the cliffs.

No clues found. They have a very scientific method of searching and the man in charge said he feels safe eliminating the park. If he didn't feel sure they would come back tomorrow.

We are inclined to believe that the 12:30-1 PM sighting of John was accurate, and that he did follow the trail out of the Sutro Baths/Land's End part of the park. We've been talking to the people in the houses facing the 32nd Ave exit to see if anyone has front facing surveillance video that might have captured an image of John exiting the park. We haven't managed to make contact with anyone so far who could help us, but we left information at some homes where the residents were out.

We are doing a lot tomorrow, some of which I detailed in my earlier posts. One main focus is trying to get the APD detective who is handling the case to find video of pedestrians on Golden Gate Bridge--among the information we could glean from such video is whether or not he walked to Marin County. And then we are continuing to contact mental wards, psychologists offices and other businesses around the sacramento st sight, and making more progress on the pawn shop lead.

I am probably forgetting something! I may post again tomorrow with more. Thank you all for all your help and advice! It has been invaluable to us!

(I'll be at the day job again tomorrow, but I'll try to sneak away and post at some point!)

You answered my question. We were both writing at the same exact time.

 

[Lilibet]

I just started reading on John's thread and skipped to the end. Have tracking dogs been used?

Yes! Joy posted about it at the same time you posted.

ETA: I think I'm an echo!

 

[Plumeria5]

Here is the Case Map

Let me know if I got anything wrong or if there is something I missed off, or something you think should be on there.

Thanks to Lilibet for the map location links!

What an awesome map! I would love to learn how to do that!!

 

[StarrChance]

We are doing a lot tomorrow, some of which I detailed in my earlier posts. One main focus is trying to get the APD detective who is handling the case to find video of pedestrians on Golden Gate Bridge--among the information we could glean from such video is whether or not he walked to Marin County. And then we are continuing to contact mental wards, psychologists offices and other businesses around the sacramento st sight, and making more progress on the pawn shop lead.

(I'll be at the day job again tomorrow, but I'll try to sneak away and post at some point!)

Respectfully snipped

JoyM , you are amazing and your love and concern for John shines through, please take a little "time out" for yourself when and if needed.

The only other thing I could think to try around Drs / psychologist/ psychiatrist/ in the Sacremento area are chemists/ pharmacy (are they called drug stores in US?) to see if his name is on their database.