IL IL - Lee Cutler, 18, Buffalo Grove, Oct 2007

[UM&AMWfan]

Has the empty bottle of AdvilPm been tested to see what was actually inside it? If anything other than Advil shows up i would question.
Otherwise, i think that this young man committed suicide. Maybe he set it up the way he did thinking that people wouldn't know as he didn't want to hurt his family by killing himself, yet didn't see his way around problems or hurt at the time? If the river is swift and his pants were baggy, he could have drifted to any random point (i'm not familiar with the river). My guess is he took the bottle of pills, and once they were kicking in, went into the river. We had a case here of someone committing suicide near a rest area before the GW bridge, and months later was found washed up in the East River.
It's just a very sad, scenario, my prayers for the family.

Did he take something like Advil too or just waded into the water and let the current take him away?

 

[EdinburghLass]

There have been no updates that I can find on Lee.

I found his facebook group - Let's find Lee

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5883905417

Some of the comments on there make it seem as if he did leave of his own accord

"lee, i'm sorry i had to go to cali. i miss you so much. go back home, please we all love you."

 

[hoppyfrog]

http://www.wiscnews.com/bnr/news/278034

21 March 08

A non-profit group will continue an underwater search of the Baraboo River for an Illinois teen reported missing five months ago.

Meanwhile, friends and family of Lee Cutler, 18, Buffalo Grove, Ill., have not given up hope that the high school senior is alive.​

About nine of Cutler's closest friends will travel to Baraboo next week to hang fliers and see with their own eyes the area where the teen's car was found.​

more at link​

 

[hoppyfrog]

http://www.wiscnews.com/bnr/news/282382

21 April 08

Friends and family of an Illinois teen who disappeared near Baraboo six months ago will hold a benefit concert next month to raise money for renewed search efforts.

Five bands will play and businesses will offer raffle prizes in a concert to be held sometime in May, said Beth Frazin, mother of 18-year-old Lee Cutler, Buffalo Grove, Ill.​

much more at link​

 

[DeltaDawn]

Just posting this link here for your consideration:

http://kstp.com/article/stories/s421846.shtml?v=1

 

[Bilas]

This is a really bizarre case. They said they found his pants in the river caught on a tree branch. I am no expert but dosen't it sound like he threw his or somebody else threw his pants in the river.

Sounds like maybe someones trying to throw off the search?

 

[UM&AMWfan]

This is a really bizarre case. They said they found his pants in the river caught on a tree branch. I am no expert but dosen't it sound like he threw his or somebody else threw his pants in the river.

Sounds like maybe someones trying to throw off the search?

Yeah, this case is truly strange. He could've faked his disappearance and the "Into the Wild" book could be clue but then again maybe not if it was just a book for his class or an attempt by Lee to throw the police off.

The big question is WHY would Lee put his poor mom through this if he was just running away?? He knows this is killing her.

Please keep us updated.

 

[UM&AMWfan]

Just posting this link here for your consideration:

http://kstp.com/article/stories/s421846.shtml?v=1

That's a very interesting story but they don't mention Lee at all but I see what you mean that he could be a victim of this "riverman" killer.

The AMAZING thing is this story of this OBVIOUS serial killing, with all the smiley faces present where ever the bodies are found, is getting almost NO attention!!

Can you IMAGINE if the victims were women??? It would front page news all over the nation!! Women really do get more attention and the truth is attractive white women get the most. The statistics involving web page hits, media and tv coverage all back that up.

 

[BethInAK]

I don't know what to think about this either. Finding his pants, wallet, belt hooked on a tree branch after the water started to go down sounds odd even. You would think he would have been IN them when they found them. The only thing I can think of is that he wore his jeans bigger and baggy so they slid easily off his body. This does point to him being in the river

i think from watching water rescues that it is not uncommon for clothes to come off of people in swift water.

 

[Bobbisangel]

Had Lee been depressed or talking about suicide? Had he given anything away that was special to him? Would he have had a reason to just disappear and leave his car and everything he owned behind? It is so unusual for someone of his age to just take off without a word to anyone. Usually, when a person commits suicide others can look back and see signs that they didn't even notice before it happened. I wonder why his friends think he just took off. This case is really a puzzle. I hope it is resolved soon for the sake of Lee's family and friends.

 

[coopzoo]

Bumping Lee's thread. He's going to be featured on Investigation Discovery Monday, February 1 at 10 PM EST.

 

[watcher9]

Bumping Lee's thread. He's going to be featured on Investigation Discovery Monday, February 1 at 10 PM EST.

Bumping again. It's tonight...

 

[EdinburghLass]

If anyone could post the episode if they see it on youtube, it would be appreciated!

 

[redsky]

I just saw the replay of the show.
I don't know the area at all but am curious if anyone in the area believes that if he was in the river that he wouldn't have been found yet?

What a tragic story. My heart goes out to his family and friends.

 

[justbeachy]

Interesting episode. That whole thing about him going to Israel, though....wouldn't they have researched the passport aspect of that? Either he had one and it was missing (I'd assume then they'd check the flight manifestos) or he didn't have one and then we'd have to presume he got one on his own (which there would also be a record of, right?). I guess he could've gotten a fake one, but I think that is a stretch. The Israel aspect is an interesting scenario, but it seems like it would be relatively easy to research and resolve.

And, as for all that Advil PM and cold medicine. How long would that take to kick in? It seems like if he did take a bunch of that, he couldn't have gotten far before he passed out (or whatever might happen in that scenario).

Thoughts?

 

[webrocket]

I don't recall the details of this one. I remember when I read the original missing persons items I got the distinct feeling he left voluntarily. Phony documents are not easy to perfect especially someone of his age.

 

[redsky]

I wondered about him getting a passport as well. Fake documents would take money (and it was stated he had some but enough for fake documents and a plane ticket?).

 

[Gustavthecat]

Interesting episode. That whole thing about him going to Israel, though....wouldn't they have researched the passport aspect of that? . . .Thoughts?

So much about this story doesn't hang together, and the whole Israel/passport thing is one of them. This guy was supposed to be some kind of brainiac, but his notes are full of misspellings. He is quoted as saying he wanted to be a soldier in Israel to bring peace to the region - wasn't that idiocy a red flag to anyone?

I found it intriguing that his stepfather and brother didn't contribute to the show, although it's impossible to draw any specific conclusions from that. The mother seemed to be extremely scattered in her affect, and from her own admission she had never really imposed any boundaries on Lee (he'd been known to leave for the night before, his suicide attempt was tossed off as more of an interesting story than anything else) and she just seemed "off."

I don't buy her motivation for leaving home to live with her dying mother, either. The step father was known to be unloving and demanding with the children, at the very least, and she just left them with him? It sounds more like she was running away than anything.

My point here is that Lee seemed like a very sensitive young man, and he would have been intensely aware of the family dynamics. Anyone who identified with Holden Caulfield at his age needed psychiatric treatment. He seemed to have regarded himself as some kind of misunderstood intellectual, but what I saw was a spoiled rich kid from a dysfunctional home.

I feel sure he ran away of his own free will, and his willingness to convince his family and friends that he was dead is evidence of a very deep anger toward them. I don't doubt that he later got into some massive trouble because he was clearly out of touch with reality on a deep level. (What's with the "he liked to go to the truck stop and talk with truckers" thing?) Maybe he envisioned himself as Grizzly Adams and one day his remains will be found in the woods somewhere.

I do think that, had he survived, he would have gotten in touch with someone he knew by now.

 

[webrocket]

I did not see the TV show but I doubt an 18 y.o. would have the means to get himself to Israel. That is not to say that people can't arrive secretly there but I don't know how he could have departed secretly. It is not like he is Mossad material.

 

[KaylynnCouture]

I did not see the TV show but I doubt an 18 y.o. would have the means to get himself to Israel. That is not to say that people can't arrive secretly there but I don't know how he could have departed secretly. It is not like he is Mossad material.

You're right. I watched the show, and I just don't see how it's possible. Israel is very different than like England, for instance, where it's easy to get in and out of. Israel is not.