CANADA Canada - Stephen Lapowich, 28, Toronto ON, 25 Mar 2011 - during P. Rico trip

[LotusPawprint]

I am guessing that he flew to Miami for his connecting flight to Costa Rica. Got to Miami,and found that his flight had been cancelled. Met up with a person or persons in the airport,and was persuaded to fly to San Juan,Puerto Rico with that person or persons. Was possibly robbed when he got to PR. How much $$ did he have on him ?...JMO

Per this tweet (from a Canadian MSM outlet):

The 30 y/o man had only his passport, no credit cards and only 200 dollars in cash. No bank activity in 2 years, no call, emails...nothing.

https://twitter.com/lnicolasglobal/status/316938026276233218



Can't find that in an article but hard to believe someone would go on a 3-week vacation with access to only $200.

 

[Hazel]

“The only reason I can see him leaving is that something made him leave,” said Gayle Lapowich. “This was not a kid up for adventure or travel.”

Lapowich didn’t ask for time off work, and before he left, had paid to play in a summer baseball league and paid for hair-growth treatments that he never used.

http://metronews.ca/news/toronto/435449/family-of-missing-toronto-man-offers-reward-for-information/

 

[dotr]

http://metronews.ca/news/toronto/435449/family-of-missing-toronto-man-offers-reward-for-information/

Thanks for that article Hazel, it had some interesting comments ...
Might there be any chance at all that someone posing as SL bought the plane tickets ?

 

[marycarney]

Thanks for that article Hazel, it had some interesting comments ...
Might there be any chance at all that someone posing as SL bought the plane tickets ?

Since September 11 - you must show photo ID at airports in the US and I assume Canada as well. He would not have been able to board in Miami without photo ID.

 

[LotusPawprint]

Live from LE news release today, quality poor.
Missing Person Stephen Jay Lapowich - YouTube

What's interesting in this video (2:05 in), his mom mentions that his whereabouts in the days before he left Toronto for his trip remain unknown.

Friday March 24th 2011 - Monday March 27 2011 are unaccounted for. "He was in Toronto somewhere, whether he stayed with somebody or was in a hotel, we've not been able to track that down. This is something that maybe someone knows locally, it would help us if you could come forward with that."

With the little known about him being a responsible young man, not asking for time off of work, and having plans for himself in Toronto -- added to this trip seemingly being spur of the moment and secretive -- I'm wondering if the problem or issue was originally routed in Toronto, not so much in Miami/PR.

Was he trying to get away from someone or something? Some kind of trouble? He's described as "responsible" and a "homebody" who would never put his family through this and who travelled in the past with friends. Knowing he was unaccounted for in Toronto that last weekend makes me think this might not be a tourist related crime once in Puerto Rico.

 

[dotr]

Sometimes people make a discovery of some kind about themselves and keep it secret until they feel confident to share it with others, including family.
Perhaps someone out there might remember meeting Stephen in Toronto in the days and nights before he went missing?

 

[flipflop]

What's interesting in this video (2:05 in), his mom mentions that his whereabouts in the days before he left Toronto for his trip remain unknown.

Friday March 24th 2011 - Monday March 27 2011 are unaccounted for. "He was in Toronto somewhere, whether he stayed with somebody or was in a hotel, we've not been able to track that down. This is something that maybe someone knows locally, it would help us if you could come forward with that."

With the little known about him being a responsible young man, not asking for time off of work, and having plans for himself in Toronto -- added to this trip seemingly being spur of the moment and secretive -- I'm wondering if the problem or issue was originally routed in Toronto, not so much in Miami/PR.

Was he trying to get away from someone or something? Some kind of trouble? He's described as "responsible" and a "homebody" who would never put his family through this and who travelled in the past with friends. Knowing he was unaccounted for in Toronto that last weekend makes me think this might not be a tourist related crime once in Puerto Rico.

Did he use any dating online sites? With it being the weekend that they are trying to track down his last whereabouts in Toronto, I wonder if he met someone online and they talked him into taking off together.

 

[LotusPawprint]

Sometimes people make a discovery of some kind about themselves and keep it secret until they feel confident to share it with others, including family.
Perhaps someone out there might remember meeting Stephen in Toronto in the days and nights before he went missing?

I agree-- it seems given all of the circumstances it's possible there may have been something he preferred to keep to himself or there may have been some sort of a threat. At this point I think disclosing as much as the family and investigators have learned is best. With it being two years later, memories fade it's important to give the public as much information as possible so hopefully someone will remember something.

It doesn't seem like this story really made the news in Toronto when he went missing. I hope that changes now. Someone knows something.

Did he use any dating online sites? With it being the weekend that they are trying to track down his last whereabouts in Toronto, I wonder if he met someone online and they talked him into taking off together.

That seems plausible. One of the articles mentioned he had a girlfriend when he went missing. But who knows. The story goes in a completely different direction if he met up with someone before the trip as opposed to randomly meeting someone when he landed in PR. I wonder if authorities have any working theories on these alternatives at all. One would think they could rule options in or out based on his internet and computer.



I did a search for SL in online forums-- found this baseball forum -- his username is "laps", Location "Thornhill". It also shows his email address and I'm now trying to search the internet for other possible username associations (dating sites? gaming sites?)

http://www.ballcharts.com/teams/forum.php?team=birmanandfriends&page=message&thread=10067474

 

[nitsirk]

I did a search for SL in online forums-- found this baseball forum -- his username is "laps", Location "Thornhill". It also shows his email address and I'm now trying to search the internet for other possible username associations (dating sites? gaming sites?)

http://www.ballcharts.com/teams/forum.php?team=birmanandfriends&page=message&thread=10067474

I did a google search using his email. I went to the first link that came up (there were only 2). Who knows if the info is accarate, but his work is very interesting. Has anyone seen any msm that states where he worked? I've only seen that he did book anytime off work.

 

[nitsirk]

And if he is from Thornhill then why is the Toronto Police Service investing? And not York Region?

 

[flipflop]

And if he is from Thornhill then why is the Toronto Police Service investing? And not York Region?

Perhaps he was once living in Thornhill, the forum link from above was from 2006-2008.

 

[dotr]

From March 24 - 27, Stephen's Mother has no idea where he was or what he was doing before arriving at the airport and boarding the plane.
http://eedition.toronto.24hrs.ca/epaper/viewer.aspx

 

[liz b.]

I wonder if this disappearance was related to his work ?

 

[ttcRider]

I don't recall this story at all. I have got to get from under this rock more often.

 

[LotusPawprint]

I did a google search using his email. I went to the first link that came up (there were only 2). Who knows if the info is accarate, but his work is very interesting. Has anyone seen any msm that states where he worked? I've only seen that he did book anytime off work.

In an article from yesterday, it says Stephen is a pension analyst. Consistent with his Linkedin profile which has his past and current employment listed as:

Current Business Analyst at CPAS Systems Inc.
Past Pension Specialist at Fidelity Investments

Here's the website for CPAS Systems, supposedly his current employer at the time of his disappearance.

http://www.cpas.com/

Part of the description of the company includes:

CPAS software is the solution of choice for 150 organizations throughout the USA, Canada,
the Caribbean, Europe, China and Africa.

http://eedition.toronto.24hrs.ca/epaper/viewer.aspx

This article says he didn't book any time off work.

I'd like to know if he was still in fact currently employed.
Were there any problems at work?
Was he given time off work to deal with some issue that perhaps his family was unaware of?

Who did he tell about his vacation? Did he tell them he was going on A vacation or more specifically that he was going to Costa Rica? Or, after 3/24 did anyone know he changed plans and was going to PR?

On Fri March 24 when the CR flight was unavailable, when he purchased the ticket to PR, did he purchase one or two tickets?

Was there any credit card, cell, or internet use at all between Friday and Monday when he took off for Miami?

Who was he living with in Toronto? Alone? Roommates? Family? I've found what I believe is his home address. It's 17-20 minutes away from Pearson Intl Airport. Did he have a car? Where is the car/was it last seen/found or was it ever found?


Don't mind me, I'm just thinking out loud.

 

[dotr]

BBM
http://www.english.rfi.fr/americas/...-cash-reward-french-couple-missing-costa-rica


"Claude Dubois, a former florist and her husband, retired maintenance worker Gérard, disappeared on 31 March 2011 while on holiday in the small town of Manuel Antonio, south of San José.

Snip

"Diario Extra, a Costa Rican daily newspaper, reports that the husband and wife had their cases stolen and were then killed and buried by a group of fake tourist guides."

 

[Hazel]

another picture of Stephen

http://www.wayn.com/waynphotos.html?wci=photo&photo_key=1852571#pkey=1852571

 

[Hazel]

I did a google search using his email. I went to the first link that came up (there were only 2). Who knows if the info is accarate, but his work is very interesting. Has anyone seen any msm that states where he worked? I've only seen that he did book anytime off work.

and I googled a phone number that I found, and gave me this search result, but doesn't seem to be connected to him at all :waitasec: (except for the last two initials), and the link to the company doesn't work.
If SL is him, I wonder who KA is.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/KASL-Construction-Inc/107798475919877

this is where I found the phone number: ( link )

ETA: found out who KA is (actually AK), but doesn't seem to be any connection to SL, except for that phone number.

 

[DueSouth]

I wonder if he suffered some sort of head injury.

It is odd, but some people enter what is known as a "dissociative fugue" state where their character changes and they wander off, sometimes a great distance from home, often with amnesiac qualities.

http://neurophilosophy.wordpress.co...ive-fugue-state-forgetting-ones-own-identity/

The wild spontaneity of the trip, and bad planning on his part (going to an unfamilliar, risky part of the world with nothing of value), may suggest something of this nature.

The difficult thing is that (apparently) nothing was noted at customs on the other end (assuming he ever got to Puerto Rico). Security is tight in that part of the world, and I am sure he would have interacted with border police there. They would have wondered why he arrived with few personal effects.

Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, and I think the F.B.I. has jurisdiction there. I wonder if they have made the case public. If so, that may jog the memory of anyone who noticed him on a flight or at any airport.

 

[LotusPawprint]

I wonder if he suffered some sort of head injury.

It is odd, but some people enter what is known as a "dissociative fugue" state where their character changes and they wander off, sometimes a great distance from home, often with amnesiac qualities.

http://neurophilosophy.wordpress.co...ive-fugue-state-forgetting-ones-own-identity/

The wild spontaneity of the trip, and bad planning on his part (going to an unfamilliar, risky part of the world with nothing of value), may suggest something of this nature.

The difficult thing is that (apparently) nothing was noted at customs on the other end (assuming he ever got to Puerto Rico). Security is tight in that part of the world, and I am sure he would have interacted with border police there. They would have wondered why he arrived with few personal effects.

Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, and I think the F.B.I. has jurisdiction there. I wonder if they have made the case public. If so, that may jog the memory of anyone who noticed him on a flight or at any airport.

There are multiple international LE agencies involved:

Det. Const. Clayton White of 33 Division said Toronto Police has received generous co-operation from Puerto Rico law enforcement, Interpol, Homeland Security and Canada’s External Affairs Dept.

At this point it seems publicity and tips will be what help find Stephen.

“In addition, we are working with the family to make use of social media networks and Crime Stoppers to create awareness of the disappearance, not only in Toronto, but throughout the United States,” he said.

“This is being done with the assistance of Crime Stoppers USA and other Crime Stoppers, particularly in the Caribbean.”

White said information will also be disseminated by various missing persons organizations, such as Ontario’s Missing Adults Registry in Ottawa and the America’s Missing Abducted and Lost Persons Network in Texas.

I would be really interested in hearing more from his family and investigators....
do they have any working theories,
do they think the trip was more likely a spontaneous vacation or was he running from something/someone?
was he acting noticably different before the trip?
what kind of activities would he do in CR or PR?
was he trusting, would he stay in any random motel or hostel or was he typically cautious? was he street smart?