FIJI - Canadian tourist Ildar Rakhmatulin, 38, checked out of hotel 9 April 2023

[RickshawFan]

Just want to add a little info ... according to Fiji police, it seems that it was the Russian Embassy in Australia who lodged the missing persons report.

The closest Russian Embassies (2 of them) are in New Zealand. The 3rd closest is in Australia.

Also, NZ is on the same time as Fiji. Australia is 2 hours behind Fiji.

Fiji Police Force
Nearest Russia diplomatic representations to Fiji

Neither here nor there, but just in case it makes any difference to any areas of the sleuthing.

The foreign embassies in NZ are in Wellington. Each country only has one embassy in any given country, usually in the capital city.

In Australia, the foreign embassies are in Canberra. That's way south.

I had always thought the land mass of Australia was closer to Fiji than New Zealand. All I remember is the loads of Aussies in Fiji. I didn't meet a single Kiwi.

 

[tarabull]

Someone mentioned his first name not being Russian...

...fwiw

Ildar - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

ETA:

Rakhmatulin Surname Origin, Meaning & Last Name History

Learn the fascinating origin of the Rakhmatulin surname; its meaning & distribution. Unlock your family history in the largest database of last names.

forebears.io

 

[tarabull]

Can anyone make out the brand name on the keys?

 

[tarabull]

Indeed, why in the world would he need to disappear? He apparently had the money and time to go wherever in the world he wanted, whenever he wanted.

You have me asking myself that very question...

It seems the stars were magically aligned for us to even have to ask the question??? A lot of variables...I understand Occams Razor but with everything so open ended IMHO, it is certainly spy novel-ish...

 

[everybodhi]

Keeping to the KISS method, I think Ildar went for swim after he checked out of the hotel and ran into trouble. It was a long time between his check out and his stuff being found and when there was a dive searching for him. As far as him using another passport, he had dual citizenship, but did he have a passport for Russia? Dual citizenship does not mean the person has two passports. I've seen nothing that indicates he was using anything other than his Canadian passport. While it may be romantic to think he's done some sort of voluntary disappearance, I'm not seeing anything pointing that way.

The keys are interesting, but I wonder if he didn't put some of his traveling stuff in a locker somewhere along his journey, knowing he'd be passing through again? Souvenirs, extra clothes, stuff he'd accumulated?

It may not be relevant to his disappearance but he should have two passports as a dual CA/RU citizen.
He needs the CA passport to re-enter CA and likewise for Russia.
There is no requirement to renounce citizenship and surrender his RU passport to get CA citizenship.

 

[RickshawFan]

It may not be relevant to his disappearance but he should have two passports as a dual CA/RU citizen.
He needs the CA passport to re-enter CA and likewise for Russia.
There is no requirement to renounce citizenship and surrender his RU passport to get CA citizenship.

A person can have citizenship, but no passport. And you wouldn’t have to have a Canadian passport to enter Canada. IMO there’d have to be a statement from key figures like LE or family to determine whether he had 2 passports. Even if he had two, did he have both with him?

 

[RickshawFan]

Someone mentioned his first name not being Russian...

...fwiw

Ildar - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

ETA:

Rakhmatulin Surname Origin, Meaning & Last Name History

Learn the fascinating origin of the Rakhmatulin surname; its meaning & distribution. Unlock your family history in the largest database of last names.

forebears.io

I was thinking Kazakhstan or somewhere, but country boundaries get a little blurry when it comes to Russian names and -stan names. You could maybe compare it to if you named an American girl Morven MacDougall after your Scottish ancestors.

 

[everybodhi]

A person can have citizenship, but no passport. And you wouldn’t have to have a Canadian passport to enter Canada. IMO there’d have to be a statement from key figures like LE or family to determine whether he had 2 passports. Even if he had two, did he have both with him?

It’s been reported by multiple media he was reported missing by the RU embassy in AU.

“Police say an investigation team headed by the Divisional Crime Officer West is looking into the report of missing tourist Ildar Rakhmatulin.
Assistant Commissioner of Police, Sakeo Raikaci says a report was received via the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Australia.”
Russian tourist missing in Fiji

I don’t know what passports he was carrying but..

“Dual Canadian citizens can no longer travel to or transit through Canada by air with a non-Canadian passport. You need a valid Canadian passport to board your flight.
If your country needs you to enter and exit that country using a passport issued by its government, you will still need a valid Canadian passport to board your flight to Canada. Make sure to carry both passports when you travel.”
(Not bolded by me but by the Canadian government)

Dual Canadian citizens need a valid Canadian passport - Canada.ca

 

[RickshawFan]

It’s been reported by multiple media he was reported missing by the RU embassy in AU.

“Police say an investigation team headed by the Divisional Crime Officer West is looking into the report of missing tourist Ildar Rakhmatulin.
Assistant Commissioner of Police, Sakeo Raikaci says a report was received via the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Australia.”
Russian tourist missing in Fiji

I don’t know what passports he was carrying but..

“Dual Canadian citizens can no longer travel to or transit through Canada by air with a non-Canadian passport. You need a valid Canadian passport to board your flight.
If your country needs you to enter and exit that country using a passport issued by its government, you will still need a valid Canadian passport to board your flight to Canada. Make sure to carry both passports when you travel.”
(Not bolded by me but by the Canadian government)

Dual Canadian citizens need a valid Canadian passport - Canada.ca

OK, I see what you're saying. If you're a Canadian citizen, you have to show your Canadian passport at the border.

Back in the day (when I was a kid), we had to do long-distance flights with changes through multiple countries. With no parents. Another boy traveled with his 3 siblings, and they each had 3 passports (English, American, Nicaraguan). This meant he schlepped 12 passports around.

 

[dotr]

Wondering if there were any Ildar R. look- a -likes at the hotel, a Russian/Canadian passport might be appealing for some? speculation, imo.
2023

‘Doppelganger murder’: Woman accused of killing lookalike to fake her own death - National | Globalnews.ca

German police call the alleged murder of a lookalike found on Instagram a 'spectacular twist.'

globalnews.ca

''German police have issued an arrest warrant for a woman who they say trawled Instagram for her doppelganger and then murdered the lookalike in an attempt to fake her own death.''

https://www.npr.org/2023/04/21/1171083112/russian-cheesecake-poisoning-doppelganger-nyc

'A Russian woman living in New York City was sentenced to 21 years in jail for poisoning her similar-looking friend with sedative-laced cheesecake, then stealing her identification and other valuables'.

Three men jailed after investigators smashed 20-year global passport scam for criminals on the run

A court heard the documents were genuine, but fraudulently obtained from lookalike individuals who resembled Most Wanted murderers, gun smugglers and drug traffickers.

news.sky.com