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

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anonypotomous said:
Wow, I missed that. A documentary??
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persimmon said:
Me too. I guess it's time to Google :) Interesting idea and I wonder whose project it is?
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Sealeggs posted about it a few pages back. The guy who took the Instagram photo is planning to make a documentary. He is Hollyweird Films.

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...ameda-9-February-2016&p=12411480#post12411480

The website. http://findingjohnbeck.com

Dark Sleuth found the YouTube Part 1 and posted it.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XpQKb...bniHhWKDJ7zkj7ivpZbRDUjg-j-TGzS5DnLav6ZcTjjTQ
 
For anyone running behind, the body in the Contra Costa Canal was not John. The family of this 41 year old man must be devastated. Link is upthread today.
 
Lilibet said:
Sealeggs posted about it a few pages back. The guy who took the Instagram photo is planning to make a documentary. He is Hollyweird Films.

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...ameda-9-February-2016&p=12411480#post12411480

The website. http://findingjohnbeck.com

Dark Sleuth found the YouTube Part 1 and posted it.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XpQKb...bniHhWKDJ7zkj7ivpZbRDUjg-j-TGzS5DnLav6ZcTjjTQ
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Wow! Interesting idea. It must have been an odd feeling to have captured John in that last photo. It was such a symbolic image with so many layers of meaning.

Thanks Lilibet for that information...I've been overloaded with work the past several weeks and just haven't found time to catch myself up on the cases I follow. At least they shut DKs page down so I don't have to refind myself there.

Really sad there hasn't been any word on John here or elsewhere. I really sway back and forth on this case. I sometimes think that he must be ok out there somewhere because there has been no body discovered, but that is a flawed idea. I just came across a case a few days ago where a known depressed woman was seen jumping from the Bay Bridge. Witnesses and everything but her body was neither recovered nor did it wash ashore. This was many years ago. So, I'm just not able to speculate at this point.

I do wish for his family to find the strength necessary to endure this situation. I also wish the best for JB and hope he is somehow safe and realizes what really matters in life and returns to it. Debt is stressful and I empathize with his legal troubles, but money and possessions are never permanent...we cannot count on them. Family, close friends, and love are worth more than investment portfolios or luxury cars.
 
Wishful thinking I know...but hope Joy comes back at some point to share her thoughts. Hope her job situation is working out.

Still waiting and wondering. Where is JB?
 
I was just looking at John's NamUs profile dated 2/12/2016. It only has two stars for profile strength...no fingerprints, dental or DNA. And no mention of the sighting at Lands End or the Instagram photo. If John's family is reading here, it would be a good idea to update his profile with as much information as possible. I know the main effort is going toward finding him, but if someone unidentified is found deceased (I hate typing that...I'm sorry), it makes identification much easier and faster.

Praying for John and his loved ones that there will be a happy ending...soon...and no need for the NamUs profile.

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/show/32544
 
There's a new video update on Facebook today. Whew, I was losing my mind searching for the video I thought I had seen earlier in the week!

It looks like the family believes Mr. Beck is still out there somewhere and is offering a reward for information to those who have seen him. What do you all think about rewards for voluntary missing persons, especially with under such unusual circumstances like in this case... do they work? I've heard mixed things about offering rewards but am curious to hear everyone's thoughts since y'all have a lot more experience at this sort of thing than me.

Either way, I hope the Becks get some good leads from this and locate John soon. Have a great weekend!
:sleuth:
 
sleeperlabs said:
There's a new video update on Facebook today. Whew, I was losing my mind searching for the video I thought I had seen earlier in the week!

It looks like the family believes Mr. Beck is still out there somewhere and is offering a reward for information to those who have seen him. What do you all think about rewards for voluntary missing persons, especially with under such unusual circumstances like in this case... do they work? I've heard mixed things about offering rewards but am curious to hear everyone's thoughts since y'all have a lot more experience at this sort of thing than me.

Either way, I hope the Becks get some good leads from this and locate John soon. Have a great weekend!
:sleuth:
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BBM

Thanks for posting about this. Here's a link I hope will work. I don't see it posted on the blog for those without FB.
https://www.facebook.com/findjohnbeck/videos/vb.582750541891000/606334656199255/?type=2&theater

To answer your question...I don't recall that I've ever heard of a reward creating a break in a case of any kind, but that could just be my ignorance. I've heard theories that sometimes people wait to give information until the reward gets higher, but I'm not sure that's true. If it makes the family feel like they are doing something and it publicizes the fact that John is still missing, I can understand why they would do it. It doesn't sound as if the reward would be paid unless John returns home, so if they find out where he is but he wants to stay away, at least they'd know he's alive. So far, I can't find any story about this reward in MSM. That needs to happen or no one will know about it.
JMO
 
The $10,000 reward is interesting because as a relatively small amount ($10,000 is not a huge sum in the Bay Area) it would seem to be targeting people who were not conspirators in Mr. Beck's disappearance (imo, someone who was involved would need a bigger reward in order to snitch). But in order for the tip to lead to his return home it would seem the tipster would need to have more precise information than just 'I saw him get off the Bart at SFO' or some such. So what kind of person would have important enough information to both locate him and get him to return, but not be so close to Mr. Beck that they were involved in the departure? At the moment I can only think of travel planners, travel agents, people who might have encountered him on his way somewhere.
 
destlin said:
The $10,000 reward is interesting because as a relatively small amount ($10,000 is not a huge sum in the Bay Area) it would seem to be targeting people who were not conspirators in Mr. Beck's disappearance (imo, someone who was involved would need a bigger reward in order to snitch). But in order for the tip to lead to his return home it would seem the tipster would need to have more precise information than just 'I saw him get off the Bart at SFO' or some such. So what kind of person would have important enough information to both locate him and get him to return, but not be so close to Mr. Beck that they were involved in the departure? At the moment I can only think of travel planners, travel agents, people who might have encountered him on his way somewhere.
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BBM

I agree that a valid tip would have to come from someone who was not a conspirator (if there was one) but would have enough information to locate him. If he is staying with a friend, I doubt a reward will help. It would be up to John's family to persuade him to come home if the tip was accurate, and with all the publicity that could be a tough sell. I hope the reward information will appear in MSM by Monday. They really need to do a big media push. But the FTC story will be part of it, so they may be reluctant to do that. Sigh. Come home John.
 
Hi everyone,

I am catching up on this thread and have come across the discussion from a few pages back regarding the Instagram photo of John. I am the person who found the photo - John's daughter Laura is a friend of mine and on that afternoon, she emailed a few of us asking for help looking through photos of Land's End, Baker Beach, etc that were geotagged on Instagram to see if he was in the background.

Some background: I've worked in social media marketing for the past 5 years and have spent many an hour looking through dozens of Instagram posts while creating reports for brands. So, I am very used to looking at tons of posts for meaningful information and am very familiar with tools that can help. I found a tool that allows you to filter through posts by location and by date, so I limited my search to a few locations and to the previous 3 days. I only looked at photos with people in them and when I found that one, I immediately got chills. I sent this information to Joy and she took it from there.

I can tell you unequivocally that the image and its discovery is not part of some larger conspiracy. I understand how the discovery can look fishy from the outside, but in this case, the simplest answer is the correct one.
 
skyfitsheaven said:
Hi everyone,

I am catching up on this thread and have come across the discussion from a few pages back regarding the Instagram photo of John. I am the person who found the photo - John's daughter Laura is a friend of mine and on that afternoon, she emailed a few of us asking for help looking through photos of Land's End, Baker Beach, etc that were geotagged on Instagram to see if he was in the background.

Some background: I've worked in social media marketing for the past 5 years and have spent many an hour looking through dozens of Instagram posts while creating reports for brands. So, I am very used to looking at tons of posts for meaningful information and am very familiar with tools that can help. I found a tool that allows you to filter through posts by location and by date, so I limited my search to a few locations and to the previous 3 days. I only looked at photos with people in them and when I found that one, I immediately got chills. I sent this information to Joy and she took it from there.

I can tell you unequivocally that the image and its discovery is not part of some larger conspiracy. I understand how the discovery can look fishy from the outside, but in this case, the simplest answer is the correct one.
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Thanks so much for weighing in and telling us about your experience, skyfitsheaven. I see you're not new to WS, but I think you're new to the thread. So welcome!! :seeya:

We see so much bad stuff on WS that conspiracy theories can pop up easily here. :eek: That Instagram find was amazing. Yay you for knowing how to do it! As I recall, some here on the thread who have Instagram were also trying to follow the instructions in hopes of finding more clues. Unfortunately, it seems that Lands End was the last definite sighting of John.

We remain hopeful that John will be reunited with his family. It's a heartbreaking situation.

If you're interested in becoming a verified insider for this case, here's the link with instructions. I'm sure it isn't easy reading here. Although we try to be mindful of family feelings, we do look at all ideas, and have opinions, which often change. We would certainly welcome yours. :)
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...n-Process-for-Professional-or-Insider-Posters
 
So, just reading between the lines. If the family thinks he is still out there, then it would be voluntary on his part. He may be having mental health issues, I suppose. For he just really wanted to get away from all of the legal stress. But I think that if he planned to 'end it all' , he would have done so already.

I may be wrong, but I think he may have had a small nest egg hidden somewhere and is living on it, on his own. JMO
 
I live in Myrtle Beach, SC and one day last week I saw a man who looked very similar to John. He was an older white man (around 60-75 years old) wearing a blue striped short sleeved shirt and khaki shorts. He had on a hat just like the one seen in the Instagram photo and was walking along with the sidewalk of 62nd Avenue North about half a block from Ocean Blvd, headed west. He was walking with another woman that appeared much younger (40ish) and it looked like they might be walking up to a house that has a "for sale" sign out front... so the lady could have possibly been a real estate agent. I passed by them in my car and it shocked me so much that I looped back around and drove by them a second time. On the loop around, I wasn't as sure about whether he looked like him or not. I haven't mentioned it to anyone yet or on here because it was spring break here with tons of people visiting from out of town so it could have easily just been another man who kinda looks like him. And I figured that was more likely to be the case and I just noticed a similarly because I've been following this case. I don't know if he has any connections to anyone in Myrtle Beach or to anyone in a nearby city, or why or how he'd end up here. But do you think I should mention this? I'd really hate to give the family false hope when it's more than likely it was someone else entirely.
 
cujenn81 said:
I live in Myrtle Beach, SC and one day last week I saw a man who looked very similar to John. He was an older white man (around 60-75 years old) wearing a blue striped short sleeved shirt and khaki shorts. He had on a hat just like the one seen in the Instagram photo and was walking along with the sidewalk of 62nd Avenue North about half a block from Ocean Blvd, headed west. He was walking with another woman that appeared much younger (40ish) and it looked like they might be walking up to a house that has a "for sale" sign out front... so the lady could have possibly been a real estate agent. I passed by them in my car and it shocked me so much that I looped back around and drove by them a second time. On the loop around, I wasn't as sure about whether he looked like him or not. I haven't mentioned it to anyone yet or on here because it was spring break here with tons of people visiting from out of town so it could have easily just been another man who kinda looks like him. And I figured that was more likely to be the case and I just noticed a similarly because I've been following this case. I don't know if he has any connections to anyone in Myrtle Beach or to anyone in a nearby city, or why or how he'd end up here. But do you think I should mention this? I'd really hate to give the family false hope when it's more than likely it was someone else entirely.
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If it was me, I would definitely mention it. You never know. I would probably have taken a photo. But that's just me.
If warranted, they could always find out who looked at the house and work their way back from that.
 
cujenn81 said:
I live in Myrtle Beach, SC and one day last week I saw a man who looked very similar to John. He was an older white man (around 60-75 years old) wearing a blue striped short sleeved shirt and khaki shorts. He had on a hat just like the one seen in the Instagram photo and was walking along with the sidewalk of 62nd Avenue North about half a block from Ocean Blvd, headed west. He was walking with another woman that appeared much younger (40ish) and it looked like they might be walking up to a house that has a "for sale" sign out front... so the lady could have possibly been a real estate agent. I passed by them in my car and it shocked me so much that I looped back around and drove by them a second time. On the loop around, I wasn't as sure about whether he looked like him or not. I haven't mentioned it to anyone yet or on here because it was spring break here with tons of people visiting from out of town so it could have easily just been another man who kinda looks like him. And I figured that was more likely to be the case and I just noticed a similarly because I've been following this case. I don't know if he has any connections to anyone in Myrtle Beach or to anyone in a nearby city, or why or how he'd end up here. But do you think I should mention this? I'd really hate to give the family false hope when it's more than likely it was someone else entirely.
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I would definitely advise the family. If it caused you to do a double take, it may be that needle in the haystack.

The coincidence being he is from California, close to the ocean and of all places they have probably never heard of Myrtle Beach, SC.

Let us know if you hear anything.
 
Ok I sent them a long detailed explanation with the address of the listed property for sale so they could possibly check to see who, if anyone, viewed the property on Thursday. I told them i knew it was probably a long shot but I'd always wonder "what if" if I failed to mention it. I let them know I'd continue to keep an eye out for the man I saw and try to get a picture of him if we happen to cross paths again.
 
cujenn81 said:
Ok I sent them a long detailed explanation with the address of the listed property for sale so they could possibly check to see who, if anyone, viewed the property on Thursday. I told them i knew it was probably a long shot but I'd always wonder "what if" if I failed to mention it. I let them know I'd continue to keep an eye out for the man I saw and try to get a picture of him if we happen to cross paths again.
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Good work! :loveyou: You're right...you would always wonder "what if" if you failed to mention it. Don't ask me how I know! :( That regret taught me that the worst that can happen is a false alarm. The best is that John is found.
 
He may be using an alias. If John planned to "disappear", he probably had everything set to become someone else. His name or social security number would raise alerts IMO.
 
1&2&3 said:
He may be using an alias. If John planned to "disappear", he probably had everything set to become someone else. His name or social security number would raise alerts IMO.
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If the man in SC is him and was house hunting, hopefully the real estate seller has an address of where the man is staying.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
 
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