Found Deceased JAPAN - Trevor Balint, 34, from Hubbard, Ohio, missing from Yokota Air Base, 1 Feb 2021

[Bogyo13]

Is this looking likely to be suicide rather than murder?

It would be a very bizarre way to commit suicide imo.
Why would he leave his stuff, wipe his phone somewhere else then do it in his apartment block?moo
It could happen I guess if he was having a mental breakdown but for me it doesn't sound like a suicide. My opinion only.

My condolences to his family, I hope they get all the answers in this puzzle.

 

[PommyMommy]

Terrible news. My heartfelt condolences to Trevor's family and loved ones.

Were there storage units in the apartment tower where he could have become trapped? IMO, the word "container" translates to something akin to a storage "tote." Just wondering if there is a translation issue perhaps? MOO

ETA:

Body of missing Hubbard man found on Japan airbase | WYTV
The family is meeting with investigators Wednesday in the hopes of learning more.

 

[houndpounder]

For those of you that can not read the article, it is being investigated. He was found in his OWN Apartment Tower, that was previously checked.

(WKBN) – The body of a missing Hubbard man was found today at an airbase in Japan, the man’s mother-in-law confirms to WKBN.

Family concerned for Northeast Ohio man missing from US military base in Japan
The search for Trevor Balint, 34, began earlier this month after he went missing near the Yokota Air Base. He was last seen February 1 near the base. His cell phone, keys, shoes and sweatshirt were later found on the porch of a garden apartment.

Balint’s mother-in-law, Denise Mott, said investigators found his body in his own apartment tower, even though she said she was told they searched that area twice.

The family is meeting with investigators Wednesday in the hopes of learning more.


The Yokota Air Base posted about the death on its website, though Balint wasn’t identified by name. The post said the cause of death and circumstances surrounding the death are still under investigation.

A Facebook page created by Balint’s family to help with his search has been taken down.

Balint had been teaching high school students at the airbase and his wife, Britni, is a defense department analyst on the base.

 

[Skigh]

For those of you that can not read the article, it is being investigated. He was found in his OWN Apartment Tower, that was previously checked.

(WKBN) – The body of a missing Hubbard man was found today at an airbase in Japan, the man’s mother-in-law confirms to WKBN.

Family concerned for Northeast Ohio man missing from US military base in Japan
The search for Trevor Balint, 34, began earlier this month after he went missing near the Yokota Air Base. He was last seen February 1 near the base. His cell phone, keys, shoes and sweatshirt were later found on the porch of a garden apartment.

Balint’s mother-in-law, Denise Mott, said investigators found his body in his own apartment tower, even though she said she was told they searched that area twice.

The family is meeting with investigators Wednesday in the hopes of learning more.


The Yokota Air Base posted about the death on its website, though Balint wasn’t identified by name. The post said the cause of death and circumstances surrounding the death are still under investigation.

A Facebook page created by Balint’s family to help with his search has been taken down.

Balint had been teaching high school students at the airbase and his wife, Britni, is a defense department analyst on the base.

Thank you so much for posting this .

 

[Lusitana]

Do they mean apartment building by apartment tower? I’m so confused.

 

[whitelilac]

Find Trevor Balint
The post is about how she feels the security at the base is “abysmal”.

Under the above post, Admin of the Find Trevor Balint posted this in the comments:

********
“Author
Find Trevor Balint Oh how I wish I had done so many things differently. I wish I had put my anger aside and tucked him in to bed when he got home. Told him how incredibly worried I was that he had been out so late. How I was upset because he had worried me so freaking much. I wish I had checked on him in the morning, made sure he had some Gatorade, made sure he knew I loved him desperately, even when things seemed difficult.”
********

What Britni expressed here, I am so very sorry. She cannot blame herself, cannot dwell on or be haunted by this. I hope that she has every support possible, including therapeutic support. It's so monumentally sad.

 

[ErinC]

Found in his own apartment tower? Could it have been possible that he really was looking for the cat and somehow became stuck somewhere? It seems absurd, but this whole case has had strange twists and turns.

 

[cindizzle]

Apartment tower? I’m guessing a multi-story apartment building?

That’s exactly what it is.

 

[houndpounder]

Found in his own "apartment tower: means they are referring to his own apartment building. It could have been 10 floors or 50 floors something we don't know. Calling it a tower refers to the fact it was taller then the surrounding structures.

 

[cindizzle]

Do they mean apartment building by apartment tower? I’m so confused.

Yes. The multi-story apartment buildings on base are called towers.

 

[cindizzle]

Yokota AB

Yokota housing website.

https://www.stripes.com/news/pacifi...ost-unaccompanied-personnel-off-base-1.194659

Unrelated article but it has a picture of what a tower apartment building looks like.

 

[cindizzle]

Found in his own "apartment tower: means they are referring to his own apartment building. It could have been 10 floors or 50 floors something we don't know. Calling it a tower refers to the fact it was taller then the surrounding structures.

Having lived in Japan as a military family, I can confidently say the base apartments are referred to as the towers. In this case, “tower” is synonymous with “apartment building.”

 

[evilwise]

I wish I had put my anger aside and tucked him in to bed when he got home. Told him how incredibly worried I wish I had checked on him in the morning, made sure he had some Gatorade

This seems to me like a tacit indication that he was very intoxicated when he came home and further that it may not have been unusual.

I also think it's telling that so many posters here are questioning why despite having a masters degree or whatever that he was "only" working as a substitute teacher. It seems to me that his wife got an excellent job with the military that required them to relocate to Japan where he couldn't find work in his field and furthermore that he was probably very homesick of he was playing card games with friends from home over video chat and had further plans with them.

Just speculation but I can see how this may have unfolded from the subtext.

 

[PommyMommy]

Yokota AB

Yokota housing website.

Yokota to start housing most unaccompanied personnel off base

Unrelated article but it has a picture of what a tower apartment building looks like.

I was just poking around on the Yokota AB site myself. I was hoping to come across the name or number of their building as I seem to remember it being mentioned somewhere. No luck so far but I did find that storage is available for all tower apartments.

Information specific to tower apartments begins on page 35 of this document.
AFD-111123-027.pdf

The excerpt below is found on page 36.

10.11. Storage Rooms: Shared storage rooms will be used for items stored for semiannual or annual use. Individual storage areas for each apartment are available in all towers. Government furnished items (i.e., doors, carpets, appliances or hazardous materials), bikes, personal appliances and/or furniture and flammables will not be stored in tower storage rooms. All personal items put in the storage room will be marked with the resident’s name and apartment number. Items that are not identified will be removed and disposed of by housing inspectors.

Floor plans:

Yokota Housing Floor Plans.pdf (af.mil)

 

[bancam]

I was just poking around on the Yokota AB site myself. I was hoping to come across the name or number of their building as I seem to remember it being mentioned somewhere. No luck so far but I did find that storage is available for all tower apartments.

Information specific to tower apartments begins on page 35 of this document.
AFD-111123-027.pdf

The excerpt below is found on page 36.

10.11. Storage Rooms: Shared storage rooms will be used for items stored for semiannual or annual use. Individual storage areas for each apartment are available in all towers. Government furnished items (i.e., doors, carpets, appliances or hazardous materials), bikes, personal appliances and/or furniture and flammables will not be stored in tower storage rooms. All personal items put in the storage room will be marked with the resident’s name and apartment number. Items that are not identified will be removed and disposed of by housing inspectors.

Floor plans:

Yokota Housing Floor Plans.pdf (af.mil)

Tower 4305, I believe. One of the ones in the blue-circled clump.

 

[PommyMommy]

Tower 4305, I believe. One of the ones in the blue-circled clump.

Thank you! And, thanks for those maps. I knew that was here somewhere. Do you remember how you determined it was 4305? Because the only floor plans I am seeing for 4305 are three-bedrooms. MOO

 

[bancam]

Thank you! And, thanks for those maps. I knew that was here somewhere. Do you remember how you determined it was 4305? Because the only floor plans I am seeing for 4305 are three-bedrooms. MOO

Social media People were asking where to collect posters to distribute. BB had a box full at her door.

 

[Tiger Stripes]

Why did he and his wife sleep separately?

FWIW: During the 5 years that I lived and worked in Japan, I was surprised (as a Westerner) to learn that the majority of Japanese couples *do* sleep in separate bedrooms. While I know nothing about TB & BB (or the state of their relationship), is it possible that they mutually decided to "live as the nationals"? Just throwing that out there.

 

[PommyMommy]

Social media People were asking where to collect posters to distribute. BB had a box full at her door.

Oh, yeah. I seem to remember that now that you mention it. No wonder I couldn't find it, lol. MOO

 

[slowpoke]

FWIW: During the 5 years that I lived and worked in Japan, I was surprised (as a Westerner) to learn that the majority of Japanese couples *do* sleep in separate bedrooms. While I know nothing about TB & BB (or the state of their relationship), is it possible that they mutually decided to "live as the nationals"? Just throwing that out there.

First: RIP, Trevor. This is such a sad outcome. How did this happen?? So strange.

Second: That’s a question I’ve been curious about. On US military bases in foreign countries, do the people on base live more in line, culturally-speaking, as if they were in the US? Or, on this Yokota base, for instance, are they encouraged to adopt the traditional customs of Japan by removing your shoes or sleeping separate in their home, even though they reside on a US base?