MT MT - Paul Batson, 45, Stillwater Co, 29 Apr 2018

[ArcadeKris]

I apologize for my delayed response, I am currently traveling but I can answer a lot of these questions this evening as well as add some additional info I learned last night.

 

[ThinkThinkThink]

I apologize for my delayed response, I am currently traveling but I can answer a lot of these questions this evening as well as add some additional info I learned last night.

Oh, thank you -- from all of us, I think I can say! :heartbeat:

P.S. Additional info? Yes, please! Please do tell + do hurry. Uh, I mean, take your time -- no pressure. (I'm a conflicted Websleuther...thoughtfulness/manners important but my sense of urgency conflict sometimes, so sorry, lol):wink:

 

[savagewoman]

Looking at google maps... there is Old West RV park across the street of the Reed Point USPS on E. Central Ave.
Sure Stop gas station is kitty korner from park and across the street from USPS

https://www.oldwestrv.com
http://www.vfarmers.com/reed-point/ , there is a picture of store front. On upper left side, you can see camera.
If you google post office reed point, mt there is a 360 degree picture

Doesn't appear to have rv to rent. So why leave the comforts of Bozeman to come to Reed Point where there is no place to spend the night. Was he sleeping in his car while he traveled?

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[loreet]

Is Paul a Fenn Treasure-Seeker? There have been treasure-seekers getting themselves into trouble all over the Rocky Mountain states for years now and requiring rescue operations. Including areas of Montana, Wyoming, and Yellowstone National Park. He could have slipped on the riverbank looking for that chest of gold? And the treasure-seekers are less likely than other travelers to give details to family or anyone else about exactly where they are going -- they don't want someone to 'scoop' their secret destination. I believe this before the likelihood of his encountering random human evil. Though of course we know on this forum not to underestimate the capacity of human beings for evil.

 

[totesmagoat]

Has it been said whether he’s a city or rural carrier? I’m guessing that he’s a regular carrier only because of the time he’s been with the post office. It’s a lot easier for substitute carriers to transfer because there is a need for them just about everywhere.

Usually when a regular carrier transfers it’s because they’ve done a swap. For instance, I’m in Texas and say I want to go to another location, this includes transferring locally, I would have to find another carrier at my desired location to swap with. There are other ways to transfer but that is the most common way that I have seen for both crafts.

The only thing I could think of, about him being at the Reed Point post office, is to check out other post offices near the area where he was applying. That post office sounds more rural than city though and though I’m not 100% sure I think he’s a city carrier. City and rural are two different crafts. If he is a city carrier he wouldn’t be able to transfer and become a rural carrier. He would have to go through the whole process again. Is there anyone there who could confirm if the Reed Point post office has city and rural carriers?

I’m hoping and praying he is found safe.

MOO


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[always reading]

Something tells me he went there for a different reason.

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[doodles1211]

A cousin of mine was a postmaster. Not carrier. And, she was able to transfer from a city in AZ to a small town in MN. So, it could be possible that he isn't a carrier.

 

[cybervampira]

Searches find nothing regarding Batavia man missing in Montana

The Stillwater County sheriff's department reported Tuesday rescuers searched an additional 200 to 250 acres Monday near Reed Point for Paul Batson and found nothing. Batson's cellphone is missing. Sheriff's officials believe it has either been turned off or run out of power.

There is nothing to indicate this is a criminal matter, Swanson said Wednesday. Police believe Batson drove himself to Reed Point.

Smith said more searches are planned for later in this week. The spot where Batson's car was found is about a half-mile from the Yellowstone River, with mountainous terrain to the north and south of the town. Swanson said the river is running full and fast, due to spring snowmelt.

http://www.dailyherald.com/news/201...hing-regarding-batavia-man-missing-in-montana

 

[ThinkThinkThink]

(Thought to have) drove himself there... cell maybe turned off... water... ugh, not liking these tidbits.

 

[DakotaMayi]

Drove himself there... cell maybe turned off... water... ugh, not liking these tidbits.

Me neither.

What was the reason for him moving to MT again?

 

[ThinkThinkThink]

Me neither.

What was the reason for him moving to MT again?

I think one of the articles implied it was to move closer to his children... who (believe was said) would still be about 8 hours away.

 

[DakotaMayi]

I think one of the articles implied it was to move closer to his children... who (believe was said) would still be about 8 hours away.

Thank you. So still quite a trip :thinking:

 

[always reading]

Something is off about this case.

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[Jazzy5980]

I agree. I was raised in that area and still have family there. Reed Point is on Interstate 90; so he may have been headed east on the Billings, which is the largest town after Bozeman. If Paul interviewed at the Bozeman PO during the week where was he most of the weekend? It’s a mistake to read too much into the fact his car was parked in front of the PO since so few buildings in the town. Something very strange and unsettling about this case. I hope he is okay.

 

[Jazzy5980]

Reed point is 84 miles east of Bozeman and 61 miles west of Billimgs

 

[cybervampira]

The sergeant explained that the search of Reed Point is complete. The search area, though, has expanded to rural areas now. "We are concentrating on an area based off some missing person information from search and rescue, and we're expanding just that area out. We're not moving to a whole different area or anything like that."

The case has been labeled as "suspicious." The reason? "A lot of people have asked 'why have you said that this is an odd case and is very suspicious' because we haven't come across anything. We've done the normal things that law enforcement does when there's a missing person. We've looked at financials, the cell phone thing, we've done all of that and it's given us nothing," Sgt. Smith said.

When asked if this investigation could turn from "search and rescue" into "search and recovery," the sergeant explained, "Unless we have a lead that says we found Mr. Batson deceased, then it becomes a recovery."

http://www.kulr8.com/story/38166151/illinois-man-still-missing-last-seen-in-reed-point

 

[SeesSeas]

He never made it to the April 30 meeting at the Bozeman Postal Service:

https://www.stillwatercountynews.com/content/without-trace

TIMELINE
Batson is reportedly a United States Navy veteran and a current U.S. Postal worker from Batavia, Ill., who was in Montana checking out Butte and Bozeman as possible transfer cities, said Stillwater County Sheriff’s Sgt. Randy Smith.
Batson was last heard from at approximately 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 29, when he told his girlfriend he was at the Bozeman Public Library and had a meeting with the Bozeman Postal Service the following morning, April 30, according to police reports.
Batson never showed up at that meeting. After calling hospitals and multiple attempts at making contact with him, the girlfriend reported Batson missing to the Bozeman Police Department.
At approximately 12:23 p.m. the following day, a Still-water County Sheriff’s deputy responded to a call about Batson’s abandoned 2016 Dodge Charger that was parked on the street across from the gas station in Reed Point. Batavia, Ill., police were contacted in an effort to locate a phone number, but a number was not found. The deputy wrote on the car’s window for Batson to call the sheriff’s office.
At 8:35 p.m., dispatch got a “delayed hit” on the car, and learned the owner had been reported as missing by the Bozeman PD the previous day. A deputy returned to the location and noted the vehicle was “extremely clean” and the only items missing appeared to be Batson’s cell phone and his wallet. People in the area were questioned, but none remembered seeing a man that matched Bat-son’s description.
The car was impounded and a search for Batson was launched immediately.

 

[SeesSeas]

http://www.nbcrightnow.com/story/38166151/illinois-man-still-missing-last-seen-in-reed-point
Posted: May 11, 2018 12:34 AM EDT
[...]
Sgt. Randy Smith with the Stillwater County Sheriff's Office told KULR-8 he, along with the search and rescue team, are not giving up on finding the Illinois man, alive.
[...]
"We've conducted four different searches at this point. And we have another search probably for this Saturday."
[...]
Sgt. Smith told KULR-8 that Batson works for the postal service. He said Batson could possibly walk 10 miles a day because of his job. "That's what has driven us to believe he could be quite a ways away."
[...]
Sgt. Smith explained that the people searching for Batson are all volunteers and that they could search up to 500 acres in a day.
[...]

 

[totesmagoat]

He never made it to the April 30 meeting at the Bozeman Postal Service:

https://www.stillwatercountynews.com/content/without-trace

TIMELINE
Batson is reportedly a United States Navy veteran and a current U.S. Postal worker from Batavia, Ill., who was in Montana checking out Butte and Bozeman as possible transfer cities, said Stillwater County Sheriff’s Sgt. Randy Smith.
Batson was last heard from at approximately 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 29, when he told his girlfriend he was at the Bozeman Public Library and had a meeting with the Bozeman Postal Service the following morning, April 30, according to police reports.
Batson never showed up at that meeting. After calling hospitals and multiple attempts at making contact with him, the girlfriend reported Batson missing to the Bozeman Police Department.
At approximately 12:23 p.m. the following day, a Still-water County Sheriff’s deputy responded to a call about Batson’s abandoned 2016 Dodge Charger that was parked on the street across from the gas station in Reed Point. Batavia, Ill., police were contacted in an effort to locate a phone number, but a number was not found. The deputy wrote on the car’s window for Batson to call the sheriff’s office.
At 8:35 p.m., dispatch got a “delayed hit” on the car, and learned the owner had been reported as missing by the Bozeman PD the previous day. A deputy returned to the location and noted the vehicle was “extremely clean” and the only items missing appeared to be Batson’s cell phone and his wallet. People in the area were questioned, but none remembered seeing a man that matched Bat-son’s description.
The car was impounded and a search for Batson was launched immediately.

Oh no! That article makes me think he wasn’t the one driving. I think Bozeman and the 84 miles in between need to be searched. I wish ArcadeKris would come back and tell us more about that area.


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[inmyhumbleopinion]

He never made it to the April 30 meeting at the Bozeman Postal Service:

https://www.stillwatercountynews.com/content/without-trace

TIMELINE

Batson was last heard from at approximately 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 29, when he told his girlfriend he was at the Bozeman Public Library and had a meeting with the Bozeman Postal Service the following morning, April 30, according to police reports.
Batson never showed up at that meeting. After calling hospitals and multiple attempts at making contact with him, the girlfriend reported Batson missing to the Bozeman Police Department.

SABBM for focus

I wonder if LE has verified the interview he told his girlfriend about with the Bozeman Postal Servce.

ETA: Since it says he never showed up, they probably have.