Good Morning WSers! :seeya: I've consolidated Joy's replies to questions and suggestions from last night so that we have an easy reference to things already asked and answered. Her answers and comments are in bold. This post also includes her account of the Marin county SAR search of Lands End.
Check pawnshops, soup kitchens, shelters, hotels in the Presidio/beach area.
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...
Has the Alameda PD detective been able to help getting surveillance footage from BART SF? Is he taking an active interest in John's case?
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.
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?
* WSers' RESEARCH SHOWS THAT PEDESTRIANS HAVE TO BE OFF THE BRIDGE BETWEEN 6:30 pm and 5:00 am.
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! (See info about Marin SAR search)
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.
INFO ABOUT MARIN COUNTY SAR SEARCH OF LANDS END:
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.
THANK YOU JOY!! You and John's team are doing great!
:yourock:
