GA GA - Timothy Cunningham, 35, Chamblee, 12 Feb 2018

[formerriverside]

BBM. Does "volunteer position" mean he would have extra responsibility without extra pay? Usually that is what it means, IME. From his parent's description Tim was already a very hard working man who had trouble taking a vacation. I wonder if he took on too much responsibility and then couldn't figure out how to back out of the position gracefully without it hurting his career? Best case scenario at this point would be he had a mental breakdown from stress but is somewhere safely recovering. JMO.

I used to work at Leadership Atlanta. He would have been a key volunteer with the LEAD program. It would have been time consuming and yes, would have been without pay. The people that take on these roles are usually ones that really value the connection of the others in the group, tend to also be type-A. It is also very much seen as a resume builder-- both to go through the program, and to be a volunteer afterward.

 

[formerriverside]

I used to live in the riverside neighborhood, adjacent to Bolton. I know the area well. There are two scenarios I imagine.
One, a wild but conceivable one, is that he hopped a train. This area is one of the highest volume trainyards in the US, with trains coming and going from everywhere. If he wanted a wild escape with no trace, he may have hopped on a train and gone wherever it took him.
The second, more likely case, is that he drowned himself. My guess here is the Bellwood Quarry. In this scenario, he walks down Marietta Road, hops fences, and somehow drowns himself. The quarry is very deep. It's also possible he drowned in the Chattahoochee, but it would have to be a section deep enough. Many sections are not. No one really boats or tube floats that section because it's nasty.

Edit: I have checked and it looks like the quarry has been drained and is undergoing construction now as part of the beltline park project. It's unlikely it's been refilled since the photos were taken in January. So, most likely scratch the quarry. The hooch would be the most likely option for drowning, and is likely deep enough in this section.

 

[marycreekmore]

"SOME of the medical officers at the US Centers for Disease Control are members of the Commissioned Corps of the US Public Health Service, which in turn is part of the US Department of Health & Human Services. The Surgeon General of the United States is the chief operational officer of the US PHS, reporting to the HHS Assistant Secretary of Health (who may be the senior ranking officer of the USPHS Commissioned Corps.)"

https://www.quora.com/Why-do-medica...style-uniform-if-the-CDC-is-not-under-the-DoD

 

[Gussified]

"SOME of the medical officers at the US Centers for Disease Control are members of the Commissioned Corps of the US Public Health Service, which in turn is part of the US Department of Health & Human Services. The Surgeon General of the United States is the chief operational officer of the US PHS, reporting to the HHS Assistant Secretary of Health (who may be the senior ranking officer of the USPHS Commissioned Corps.)"

https://www.quora.com/Why-do-medica...style-uniform-if-the-CDC-is-not-under-the-DoD

Hi marycreekmore, I see you’re new here. Welcome!
Just wanted to suggest that you use ‘Reply with Quote’ when posting. It just adds context to your post.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

"SOME of the medical officers at the US Centers for Disease Control are members of the Commissioned Corps of the US Public Health Service, which in turn is part of the US Department of Health & Human Services. The Surgeon General of the United States is the chief operational officer of the US PHS, reporting to the HHS Assistant Secretary of Health (who may be the senior ranking officer of the USPHS Commissioned Corps.)"

https://www.quora.com/Why-do-medica...style-uniform-if-the-CDC-is-not-under-the-DoD

Not sure of the context of what you are referring to. Are you agreeing that he is in the USPHS, and quoting from link, He is a commander in the US Health Service Corps, his family said https://heavy.com/news/2018/02/timothy-cunningham-cdc-missing-atlanta-flu-photos/


There have been many links above and screen shots of him in his uniform to confirm this within the thread also.

 

[marycreekmore]

Thanks.

 

[snowflizz]

I used to live in the riverside neighborhood, adjacent to Bolton. I know the area well. There are two scenarios I imagine.
One, a wild but conceivable one, is that he hopped a train. This area is one of the highest volume trainyards in the US, with trains coming and going from everywhere. If he wanted a wild escape with no trace, he may have hopped on a train and gone wherever it took him.

I have the same thoughts about him hopping a train, and it's really not that wild of an idea. It's not hard to get on one without the engineer or conductor noticing. It's a long shot, but I wonder if they checked what trains were leaving that afternoon and where they were going. It wouldn't take long for him to be in another state.

 

[Gardener1850]

JMO, they need to search the train tracks near his house.

I don't think he got on a train, but he might be there.

 

[Inthedetails]

I used to live in the riverside neighborhood, adjacent to Bolton. I know the area well. There are two scenarios I imagine.
One, a wild but conceivable one, is that he hopped a train. This area is one of the highest volume trainyards in the US, with trains coming and going from everywhere. If he wanted a wild escape with no trace, he may have hopped on a train and gone wherever it took him.
The second, more likely case, is that he drowned himself. My guess here is the Bellwood Quarry. In this scenario, he walks down Marietta Road, hops fences, and somehow drowns himself. The quarry is very deep. It's also possible he drowned in the Chattahoochee, but it would have to be a section deep enough. Many sections are not. No one really boats or tube floats that section because it's nasty.

Edit: I have checked and it looks like the quarry has been drained and is undergoing construction now as part of the beltline park project. It's unlikely it's been refilled since the photos were taken in January. So, most likely scratch the quarry. The hooch would be the most likely option for drowning, and is likely deep enough in this section.

How near is the closest bridge over the river? Can pedestrians access it?

 

[snowflizz]

How near is the closest bridge over the river? Can pedestrians access it?

There's a bridge half a mile to the north of his house. It does appear to have a sidewalk on one side and it looks like a dam just to the west of the bridge.

 

[fred&edna]

IIRC the area around/near his home has been search with canines... which I assume is "tracking" dogs... if so, then there just was no "trail" found??

 

[liz b.]

IIRC the area around/near his home has been search with canines... which I assume is "tracking" dogs... if so, then there just was no "trail" found??

It would seem that the dogs did not pick up his scent anywhere where they were taken. Could mean he left in a vehicle. If his neighbor was home that day, I wonder if he noticed any vehicles at Tim's house ?

 

[Gardener1850]

Some pictures of Tim I hadn't seen before:

Also a pretty good summary at link:
http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/re...m/news-story/c186f6323ce1299ed81f7e99e974192c

 

[LAhiker]

It would seem that the dogs did not pick up his scent anywhere where they were taken. Could mean he left in a vehicle. If his neighbor was home that day, I wonder if he noticed any vehicles at Tim's house ?

Good point about a vehicle.

On the other hand, do we know how long the search with dogs was after Tim's disappearance? I think people's scent may dissipate, especially when there's rain. (I don't know what the weather was like that week.)

Even if Tim's scent was still there, if he was in the habit of walking in the neighborhood, it's hard to see how a scent dog would pick out the most recent trail as opposed to earlier ones.

On the other hand, if he is unfortunately deceased in the woods (or elsewhere on land near his house), a cadaver dog might be able to find him...

 

[Cherry]

What about regular cab companies. Canvas all.

 

[formerriverside]

How near is the closest bridge over the river? Can pedestrians access it?

There is also the James Jackson Parkway (280) bridge. Incidentally, this is the same bridge from the Atlanta child murders (Wayne Williams) case. There are "jumper" fences on that bridge though.

 

[formerriverside]

What about regular cab companies. Canvas all.

The problem here is he would have had to call them. Cabs just aren't driving around Atlanta, especially the upper west side. You'd wait quite a while standing on bolton road before you ever saw a proper cab. If you did see one, it would be transporting someone already in the car. Had he called, there would be a phone record and the police would already be on that case. You can't rule it out, but having lived in the neighborhood and intown Atlanta for 10 years, it's very unlikely.

 

[Gardener1850]

The problem here is he would have had to call them. Cabs just aren't driving around Atlanta, especially the upper west side. You'd wait quite a while standing on bolton road before you ever saw a proper cab. If you did see one, it would be transporting someone already in the car. Had he called, there would be a phone record and the police would already be on that case. You can't rule it out, but having lived in the neighborhood and intown Atlanta for 10 years, it's very unlikely.

Good points, but IF he decided to disappear he might have bought a burner phone for that purpose (not saying that's what I believe happened but just putting it out for the sake of discussion). I would be surprised if he left in a cab from his house, however. Neighbors could have seen the cab if he did that. He could have walked a few blocks away and called a cab or other transportation after that. I wonder if any of his neighbors have security cameras?

 

[formerriverside]

I have the same thoughts about him hopping a train, and it's really not that wild of an idea. It's not hard to get on one without the engineer or conductor noticing. It's a long shot, but I wonder if they checked what trains were leaving that afternoon and where they were going. It wouldn't take long for him to be in another state.

There are literally hundreds of trains that come through NS-Inman yard daily, meaning many thousands of train cars.

 

[LAhiker]

There are literally hundreds of trains that come through NS-Inman yard daily, meaning many thousands of train cars.

I wonder whether the train yard has security cameras, and if so how long the footage is saved.