CA CA - Matthew Weaver, 21, Santa Monica Mountains, 10 Aug 2018

[Force Ten]

Chastising? @Force Ten and @Alethea - maybe you are unfamiliar with how critical argument is suppose to occur. Chastising? Where.

And if we were to carry-forward your reasoning to every potential clue in the case (and I listed many more than the fingerprints), @Alethea - you said that "asking if it was done correctly does nothing to help" - then we'd pretty much be left with nothing over which to cogitate now would we? If everything was done correctly...

Good luck.

Actually, yes chastising, it was throughout your post. i'm not the only one who noticed. I would like to think we are here for the same common goal and all interest, including yours, might be beneficial, regardless of what people post. For the most part from what I've experienced from many years on this and other sites, none of us here are likely to solve the case or find Matthew Weaver. It would certainly be grand to do that and put a feather in the cap.We are not real detectives, only armchair and observers. We are here to speculate and maybe offer our own perspectives.

I enjoy your perspective and vigilance and will continue to look forward to that.

 

[joeconejo]

@joeconejo Were any other pictures taken that would have been found in his phone gallery? I understand that the phone is missing but is there a possibility that he set up automatic upload for the pictures to the cloud as so many people do? It's possible he took more pictures that weren't uploaded to Snapchat especially if he for example stopped at Stunt Ranch State Park at the overlook?

We have no other pictures and he had no cloud storage that we know of.

 

[Roxxi3535]

I noticed it!!!

 

[Rguycali]

I noticed it!!!

Noticed what exactly?

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

not important to finding Matthew but I think this is in reference to noticing the "chastising" tone in some posts (see post 741).

 

[Roxxi3535]

Noticed what exactly?

Oh wow! I hit reply to Force Tens post but it never quoted it apparently I can only imagine what you think "Ive noticed", nothing significant. My mistake. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

 

[hardeeboy]

are there any Facebook /twitter/ Instagram/etc postings geotagged near the relevant locations from that same date? maybe it would turn up a new witness or help id one of the people who walked past the security cameras.

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

are there any Facebook /twitter/ Instagram/etc postings geotagged near the relevant locations from that same date? maybe it would turn up a new witness or help id one of the people who walked past the security cameras.

Agreed, I hope the PI has already done that.

 

[hardeeboy]

Am I allowed to show a screenshot of the last Snapchat since it was on The news?

His last Snapchat does not indicate trouble or a depressed person to me. To me it seems like yay!!!! It’s Friday.

I think so too. It also seems reasonable to me - as said in another post - that he was perhaps driving around looking for a good views or a spot to take a quick nap. The texts he sent to his female acquaintance imply time was of the essence due to a situation beyond his control (vs. being depressed or contemplative). Whatever his party habits, he held down a job, owned a nice car, and was moving into a new place which indicates he was reasonably responsible and valued his independence. I can see an angry teenager trashing a fancy car, but not someone who is old enough to understand that even if his parents forgave him - his insurance company would not.

Someone out there took part in some way. Hopefully either their greed or guilt will produce a tip that gives his family better answers.

 

[hardeeboy]

Was it ever explained why the gate was unlocked and open at the time? i.e. was routine maintenance scheduled or was it broken by vandals?

 

[Steph9676]

Was it ever explained why the gate was unlocked and open at the time? i.e. was routine maintenance scheduled or was it broken by vandals?

The gate also uses the same road as the tower and the tower was bought by someone recently to turn it into a restaurant or resort and work trucks seem to be in and out of the area.

 

[hardeeboy]

Besides the woman's statement, is there anything on surveillance that confirms it was Matthew who drove the woman back to her house? If, for example, they got separated or he was not in good shape to drive, someone else could have borrowed his car to take her home and then drove it on the footpath as a prank when they returned it (or to cover something up).

 

[ScorpioRising]

Besides the woman's statement, is there anything on surveillance that confirms it was Matthew who drove the woman back to her house? If, for example, they got separated or he was not in good shape to drive, someone else could have borrowed his car to take her home and then drove it on the footpath as a prank when they returned it (or to cover something up).

The text messages during the night indicate that at some point they were not together and were set to meet at a meeting point. I would like to know whether @joeconejo has gotten information about what they were doing and were they were supposed to meet up again. Since nothing can really be excluded yet I think there is a possibility that he wasn't driving up there in the morning himself. When the car was driving around before going up to Rosas outlook...maybe the ping trail locations should be searched for his belongings.....shoes, wallet, his phone. Just in case it wasn't him driving and someone threw his stuff out of the car along the way.
Regarding the damage on the inside of the trunk lock..@joeconejo Was the PI able to confirm that this is indeed damage that can be caused by driving the car up the trail? Or could it possibly be from someone trying to get out of the trunk?

 

[ScorpioRising]

Was it ever explained why the gate was unlocked and open at the time? i.e. was routine maintenance scheduled or was it broken by vandals?

I agree with you..this could be important. I know it was mentioned that people have illegally copied the keys to the lock, however it would be important to know who exactly was up there that morning. Have the maintenance crews been interviewed as to whether one of them was up there that day? Does the tower area still have the security guard and if so has he been interviewed?

 

[oakparkmall]

The text messages during the night indicate that at some point they were not together and were set to meet at a meeting point. I would like to know whether @joeconejo has gotten information about what they were doing and were they were supposed to meet up again. Since nothing can really be excluded yet I think there is a possibility that he wasn't driving up there in the morning himself. When the car was driving around before going up to Rosas outlook...maybe the ping trail locations should be searched for his belongings.....shoes, wallet, his phone. Just in case it wasn't him driving and someone threw his stuff out of the car along the way.
Regarding the damage on the inside of the trunk lock..@joeconejo Was the PI able to confirm that this is indeed damage that can be caused by driving the car up the trail? Or could it possibly be from someone trying to get out of the trunk?

The Snapchat (If you assume was sent by Matthew) was after the driving around.

 

[Satchie]

After thinking about this..my opinion on what happened, at least in the morning hours -

Sun is rising. I'm looking for a good view and a spot to get a picture (why I think he was driving around)

I settle on the trailhead lot view - Snapchat (6:24 - 6:57)
Friday! Feels good, just got paid, beautiful day.

Hey, I could get a great view up that road, and oh look, the gates open.
(First Camera 7:15)
From here, it looks paved and drivable, sweet. (and it technically starts out that way).

-Here is where I don't understand the choice made-

Less than halfway up, instead of turning around at the radio relay tower, he goes LEFT at the fork and begins to drive on what is clearly a footpath.

This line on the timeline:
7:28 - Matthew's car reaches end of the trail at the area of Rosas Overlook

Where is this second camera located - at the radio relay tower site?

The Snapchat tells me that morning his mood was good, I can -almost- eliminate a suicide/walk off scenario.

He could have encountered any number of random individuals (including hard drug users) at this place, who may have made an assumption about his BMW.

Id love to see that second camera footage.

Where are u bud..what happened up there?

I think that scenario makes a lot of sense.

In terms of the puzzling choices he made, he wouldn't be the first 21 year old who set out to do something fun or crazy, got into trouble, but instead of saying 'uh oh, better turn around', or 'better back down', kept going. It might be because turning around and backing down isn't fun or cool. That's what your parents would make you do, but now you're 21, you can do what you want. Whatever the reason, this tendency to recklessness is why car insurance costs so much more for young male drivers.

Plus, his state of mind was possibly messed up from lack of sleep and whatever he consumed or was in the process of consuming, plus whatever stress was already going on in his life. Young people can push themselves 'over the edge', so to speak, not recognizing that they need to take care of themselves.

Then, realizing he'd trashed his car was not likely a minor thing for him. It might have felt overwhelmingly tragic. It was likely the worst thing that had ever happened to him. Again, being 21, he didn't necessarily, at that moment, have the experience or perspective to admit he'd really messed up and just needed to eat humble pie and get some help.

Having someone with him to provide perspective and reassurance could have made all the difference. Instead, he may have fallen into despair and self-loathing, and set off intending to never be found. That's what his final text messages say, to me.

 

[hardeeboy]

that is a good suggestion about looking around on that route to see if any of his items were tossed. I know upthread there was some discussion about what value there is in strangers weighing in on a investigation with partial info and not knowing the people involved. I personally think it is valuable to hear perspectives coming from posters of different ages and life experiences. It is hard to remember how one thinks when they are young and how something like wrecking a car might seem like the end of the world. We spend so much time telling our kids not to do this and that or else...but as parents we still really, really want our kids to come to us when they are in a pickle. I need to remember to keep fitting that message in - even though they seem more sophisticated than me sometimes with all their device hacks. If there are people Matthew's age following this thread who think that parents care more about a car or job or temporary drug problem more than your wellbeing and safety, then just look at what his parents are going through and you will know that is never the case. And I do hope the investigators gather some insights here that will keep their eyes fresh and open to approaching it from new angles and that at the very least - the family -feels supported by a larger community, as they should be.

 

[Steph9676]

New timeline posted on the help find Matthew Weaver page.

 

[Tallulah. Lakkey]

I'd be interested in knowing what his girlfriend had to say. If he dropped her at her home at 7:30a.m. where were they before that? Had they partied the entire night? Was any sleep involved?
Did they argue?

It worries me that this young man may have been awake all night. Maybe he was hung over. Did he leave the snap chat pics so people would know where to find him? What was the help he needed? Was it because he'd trashed
the underbelly of his car and the front fender on a route he shouldn't have been on?

The above are all suppositions on my part but I get a bad feeling about his state of mind.

All of these are good points however everybody keeps talking about Snapchat. You know you can take a picture and post it later on on your Snapchat. So maybe somebody else had his phone and posted that picture from his gallery? To really screw things up and throw people off?

 

[Tallulah. Lakkey]

Wow, its starting to really look like someone may have driven his car in there to dump it and then hike out without being noticed. This is such an overwhelming thought.

This was my thought as well. Maybe Matthew went out partying and something happened to him if there were drugs involved (not saying there were I don't know) and the people he was with panicked. Also being as he seems to frequent that area, they would know that the car would have to be driven at a high rate of speed to get it to where they wanted to put it. And maybe they sent a photo from his Snapchat and the strange messages, or made the 911 call kind of as a clue, feeling remorse, not wanting to go to jail, but also not wanting their friend's family to think that he just vanished into thin air.
Being as how the camera could see the car going up but not who's driving it and the fact that the dogs couldn't catch a scent other than in certain areas and it stops by the road, which is where the car would have been parked earlier if that is where they were partying, it's possible.
As for Cece's reporting it may not be the best, but sometimes just to get the word out there you go with local because they'll push it and bring it to light.