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

[Tssiemer]

That's a good question! You're probably right that the receptionist or practitioner could say "No, I haven't seen that person." If they said they couldn't answer, that's when you could send LE. Excellent thinking!

Even if the person is not a patient there? Couldn't they honestly answer that with a "no, he's not my patient" or something like that? I fully understand that HIPPA would apply if he is a patient there, they would just say they couldn't answer, or something along those lines. Seems to me, jmo.

They would probably say something along the lines of I cannot confirm or deny if he is here.

I've never had his come up with someone who was not a client lol.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[nannymo]

I work for a physician in another state. If someone came into my office and told me their Father was missing, have you seen him as a patient, I would respond one of 2 ways. If the doctor had never seen him before I would gladly tell the family. That would not be a HIPPA violation because there is no doctor/patient relationship to have a HIPPA violation. YKWIM? On the other hand, if I looked and saw we had seen that patient before, but not recently, I would probably tell the family something like we are familiar with him, but have not seen him.

BUT in our state if you are admitted or treated by a mental health physician/hospital.....they are not allowed to disclose that to anyone calling or coming into the facility. Psychiatric facilities here will never tell anyone the person is not there without a code given to the patient to give to friends/family if they prefer. No ifs ands or buts! Of course that is just where I live but I think would be the same around the country since HIPPA is a federal thing!

 

[JoyM]

Hello Sleuths!

I'm dropping in quickly to give you a quick update of a couple of potential clues--we'd love your thoughts about what they might mean. We are reconstructing John's online activity in the days leading up to his disappearance, largely through a careful analysis of his browser cache data. I don't entirely understand the technology here--I know the file showed up as complete gobbledygook at first--but my boyfriend (with some help and advice) has figured out how to translate it into legible data.

Most of his internet activity is easy to interpret: he followed the Australian open in January, he kept a close eye on global warming news (a particular interest of his), etc. But we would appreciate a little help from the websleuths braintrust in coming up with hypothesis about a few mysterious activities. (Please note that it is also possible that his oldest grandchild--currently in 4th grade--used this computer as well. We doubt it, based upon these searches, but we're not sure.)

*Monday 2/1 9:14 AM searched for battle creek, NV
*Tuesday 2/2 from 10:29-10:55 AM -- he appeared to be searching the distance between his home and Martinez, CA.
*Tuesday 2/2 10:57 AM – looked at two Google Maps zoomed in around parts of Alameda: Tidal canal near South Kennedy Tract / Bridgeside Shopping Center / Home Depot; and Westline Dr. along Robert W. Crown Memorial State Beach
*Tuesday 2/2 around 11 AM (or possibly 1 PM-note is unclear, will clarify): google map of 712 Ripley ave in Point Richmond, CA

I will catch up more fully after work tonight, but I'd appreciate any thoughts you have. Skibaboo, do you think it's worth adding these points to your (invaluable) map?

Thank you, sleuths!

 

[SCHMAE]

That Ripley Avenue address is for sale .........

ETA Sorry the google says that address is in Richmond, not Point Richmond. Is that the same town ? TIA

 

[SCHMAE]

How can the family be sure he only had less than $100 ? Is it possible he's been putting back money in case he needed to get out of dodge quickly ?

 

[katydid23]

He appears to be mapping various large bodies of water. :sigh:

 

[skibaboo]

I sure can Joy, I'll get them added in the morning!

 

[nannymo]

Battle Creek NV is a ghost town.....could he be leaving the family clues?

 

[nannymo]

Could this Ripley Ave. home have anything to do with his infomercial lawsuit? Bought for back taxes and flipped by himself or a "client"??

 

[SCHMAE]

Has John always lived at home with his family ? I ask because sometimes movers and shakers of big money making operations have satellite offices in other states and may live in some of them some months of the year where there is more work. So , might he have worked in some town often enough to have put down temporary ' roots' like made friends, business contacts, drinking buddies , etc ?

 

[caliblondie]

Schmae, Point Richmond is a part of Richmond that juts out into the water. There is housing and some warehouses out there. But it is a big body of water.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[katydid23]

Schmae, Point Richmond is a part of Richmond that juts out into the water. There is housing and some warehouses out there. But it is a big body of water.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Crown memorial state beach:

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=crown+memorial+state+beach&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Crown Memorial State Beach is a state park in the city of Alameda, CA on the shores of San Francisco Bay. It is operated by East Bay Regional Parks District. Wikipedia

Point Richmond:

https://www.google.com/search?q=poi...X&ved=0ahUKEwj7o4WZnoXLAhVCzGMKHfNUCGwQsAQIPA

 

[bellesnwhistles]

Strange. Hope you all are able to search all these places! They must have some significance. Did you ever hear back from Texas equusearch?

 

[JoyM]

Has John always lived at home with his family ? I ask because sometimes movers and shakers of big money making operations have satellite offices in other states and may live in some of them some months of the year where there is more work. So , might he have worked in some town often enough to have put down temporary ' roots' like made friends, business contacts, drinking buddies , etc ?

See, this is the weird thing about the way that story was reported. I assume that the amount cited is correct for how much the infomercials made, but if so a very small percentage of that money went to John Beck. Both John and his wife drove 10 year old cars. They lived in a regular family home. I know the article made it sound like the money John owed was what he earned from the business, but it's just not the case.

So, I would absolutely imagine that the people who ran the infomerical company and produced the ads and ran the business might have satellite offices etc., but I'm as certain as I can be about anything that John did not.

This is just my take, based on being a close family friend since 1992. And this is the last thing I should say about the FTC case--know that I'm not speaking on behalf of the family right now, just sharing my impressions from spending a ton of time with the Beck family over the last quarter century.

 

[JoyM]

Strange. Hope you all are able to search all these places! They must have some significance. Did you ever hear back from Texas equusearch?

Yes! He said he needs to be asked by law enforcement (as we knew). We've asked the detective to do so, but we don't believe that he has yet. We asked again today.

 

[bellesnwhistles]

Yes! He said he needs to be asked by law enforcement (as we knew). We've asked the detective to do so, but we don't believe that he has yet. We asked again today.

Oh man. Hopefully he does soon, that would be a great resource.

 

[Lilibet]

Hello Sleuths!

I'm dropping in quickly to give you a quick update of a couple of potential clues--we'd love your thoughts about what they might mean. We are reconstructing John's online activity in the days leading up to his disappearance, largely through a careful analysis of his browser cache data. I don't entirely understand the technology here--I know the file showed up as complete gobbledygook at first--but my boyfriend (with some help and advice) has figured out how to translate it into legible data.

Most of his internet activity is easy to interpret: he followed the Australian open in January, he kept a close eye on global warming news (a particular interest of his), etc. But we would appreciate a little help from the websleuths braintrust in coming up with hypothesis about a few mysterious activities. (Please note that it is also possible that his oldest grandchild--currently in 4th grade--used this computer as well. We doubt it, based upon these searches, but we're not sure.)

*Monday 2/1 9:14 AM searched for battle creek, NV
*Tuesday 2/2 from 10:29-10:55 AM -- he appeared to be searching the distance between his home and Martinez, CA.
*Tuesday 2/2 10:57 AM – looked at two Google Maps zoomed in around parts of Alameda: Tidal canal near South Kennedy Tract / Bridgeside Shopping Center / Home Depot; and Westline Dr. along Robert W. Crown Memorial State Beach
*Tuesday 2/2 around 11 AM (or possibly 1 PM-note is unclear, will clarify): google map of 712 Ripley ave in Point Richmond, CA

I will catch up more fully after work tonight, but I'd appreciate any thoughts you have. Skibaboo, do you think it's worth adding these points to your (invaluable) map?

Thank you, sleuths!

For our sleuths and esteemed mapmaker:

Battle Creek NV is a ghost town, as was mentioned. It's north of I-80.
http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/nv/battlecreek.htm
Battle Creek Mines are south of I-80. Does John have an interest in mines or ghost towns? This seems out of sync with the water searches.
http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/nv/battlecreek.htm

Martinez is along the Suisun Bay which connects to the SF Bay. Does John have any history or real estate holdings there (past or present)?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martinez,_California

The Tidal Canal area (we used to call it the Estuary) he searched is near the Fruitvale Bridge. It is between the High Street and Park Street bridges. Either the Fruitvale or the Park Street bridges could be the most direct route from his house to Oakland (but not downtown Oakland). I would expect that John could walk there from his house.
https://www.acgov.org/pwa/about/maintenance/bridges/bridge_high.htm

Westline Dr. along Robert Crown Memorial State Beach would connect him with Shoreline Dr. along the SF Bay in Alameda.
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=526

I would suggest privately finding out who the resident of the Ripley Ave house is and seeing if anyone in the family knows who it is. Consider contacting them. Could this be real estate he has owned? Could he have determined it was vacant and thought of going there for some purpose?

So he searched areas near three different bodies of water, but we know he actually went out to the Pacific Ocean, after searching those locations on the morning he disappeared. Were there any tide searches?

Did he visit any of the locations in the Bay Area between 2/2 and 2/8 and decide they weren't suitable for whatever he had in mind?

I don't think he was leaving clues, as they weren't easily visible searches. The SF searches were found quickly and he actually went there.

 

[bellesnwhistles]

I just realized when you guys said ghost towns you meant ACTUAL ghost towns. Makes it even stranger!

 

[JoyM]

That Ripley Avenue address is for sale .........

ETA Sorry the google says that address is in Richmond, not Point Richmond. Is that the same town ? TIA

I'm almost certain they're different towns. 95%, but not 100% sure

 

[JoyM]

How can the family be sure he only had less than $100 ? Is it possible he's been putting back money in case he needed to get out of dodge quickly ?

We can't be sure. We can't see any unusual withdrawals recently, and he wouldn't have been able to start a secret account...all of his financial activity was closely monitored due to the financial proceedings. If he did have a large amount of cash, it would mean either that he sold something that has not yet been missed (we are still on pawn shop patrol!), or he has been planning this for quite some time.