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

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SeesSeas said:
Can anyone think of a valid reason why LE has not posted Paul's photo on the MONTANA DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE website for Missing Persons?
It's been one month that Paul has been missing.
Missing Person Details - Montana Department of Justice
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I imagine it is something as simple as local law enforcement in Gallatin and/or Stillwater Counties failing to forward the poster with Paul’s picture since local law enforcement is in charge of the searches. Stillwater County
 
AnotherNancyDrew said:
The discouraging comment does not indicate self harm to me. "Scary" and "like a movie" sounds like they have evidence that his car was jacked and driven to Reed Point by someone else and he just vanished or they found trace amounts of blood or some other indicator he was harmed.

That said, something has stalled the search for him and it is very sad.
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I don't think that is the comment that is being referred too. Well, at least it is not the comment I have been referring too.
 
What I have found odd is that LE has never publicly confirmed that he was ever in the state of MT
They have never provided or stated they have surveillance video, eye witness accounts, credit card activity or ping data, finger prints or blood evidence that puts him in MT. I understand his car was found in Reed Point but no evidence that he drove it there. If LE made such statements I must have missed it.
 
siliconrod said:
What I have found odd is that LE has never publicly confirmed that he was ever in the state of MT
They have never provided or stated they have surveillance video, eye witness accounts, credit card activity or ping data, finger prints or blood evidence that puts him in MT. I understand his car was found in Reed Point but no evidence that he drove it there. If LE made such statements I must have missed it.
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Yes, point well made... because he had not been to any interviews prior to his disappearance had he?
 
siliconrod said:
What I have found odd is that LE has never publicly confirmed that he was ever in the state of MT
They have never provided or stated they have surveillance video, eye witness accounts, credit card activity or ping data, finger prints or blood evidence that puts him in MT. I understand his car was found in Reed Point but no evidence that he drove it there. If LE made such statements I must have missed it.
Click to expand...

So you don’t think he ever made it to Montana?
 
Lack of leads stalls missing man search after 1 month
Lack of leads stalls missing man search after 1 month
Thursday, May 31, 2018
[...]
“I have nothing new to report,” said Stillwater County Sheriff’s Sgt. Randy Smith this week.

Financial and cell phone searches also failed to yield any clues as to what may have happened to the 45-year-old postal worker from Batavia, Ill., who was in Bozeman for an interview for a possible transfer.
[...]
 
Tssiemer said:
So you don’t think he ever made it to Montana?
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I think it would be a stretch to think he never made it to the same state in which he had an interview scheduled and the same state that his gf stated she received a call from him and the same state they found his vehicle. He had to have been there IMHO.
 
siliconrod said:
What I have found odd is that LE has never publicly confirmed that he was ever in the state of MT
They have never provided or stated they have surveillance video, eye witness accounts, credit card activity or ping data, finger prints or blood evidence that puts him in MT. I understand his car was found in Reed Point but no evidence that he drove it there. If LE made such statements I must have missed it.
Click to expand...

Search continues for missing Illinois man nearly two weeks after his car was found in Reed Point

This article quotes police and investigators confirming not only that Paul was in the state of Montana, but when and how he entered the state, the direction he traveled, and the stops he made.
 
This article has recent aerial photos of flooding along the Yellowstone River. These pictures are downstream of the Reed Point area.
Photos: Aerial views of flooding on the Yellowstone
Things are very quiet about Paul in Bozeman. There have been no new articles in the local papers other than the one another poster linked above. I don't know if any response or new tips came from the missing person's poster at the library. There do not appear to be any new searches of the river and Reed Point area scheduled. I don't find this suspicious given the current status of the Yellowstone -- very high and very fast, close to flood stage -- the thorough searches that have already been conducted, and the time that has passed.

My prayers are with Paul's family and friends during this time. I feel that is all we can do to help. They have asked for privacy so the kindest and most compassionate response is to honor that.

I dearly hope they receive answers. If Paul's disappearance is deliberate and the result of an impulse to self-harm, they will be replaying every conversation and interaction with him over and over. Like so many members and visitors to this forum, I personally have had loved ones and friends who have died from homicidal violence as well as suicide and random outdoor recreation accidents. Each loss has its own grief but this limbo of a loved one missing, the not-knowing, is a truly terrible time. It is impossible not to hold on to some hope and not to imagine all possible scenarios.

I have been doing some research on the Timothy Cunningham threads.
Found Deceased - GA - Timothy Cunningham, 35, Chamblee, 12 Feb 2018 #2
Timothy was the CDC investigator who disappeared February 12, 2018. His disappearance made the national news. There were many conspiracy theories circulating on the internet attempting to connect his disappearance to his work with the CDC but his family was concerned because they had received some disturbing phone calls and texts from him. His body was found 50 days later in the Chattahoochee River and his death was recently ruled a suicide by drowning. 50 days feels like much longer when a loved one is missing.
 
loreet said:
This article has recent aerial photos of flooding along the Yellowstone River. These pictures are downstream of the Reed Point area.
Photos: Aerial views of flooding on the Yellowstone
Things are very quiet about Paul in Bozeman. There have been no new articles in the local papers other than the one another poster linked above. I don't know if any response or new tips came from the missing person's poster at the library. There do not appear to be any new searches of the river and Reed Point area scheduled. I don't find this suspicious given the current status of the Yellowstone -- very high and very fast, close to flood stage -- the thorough searches that have already been conducted, and the time that has passed.

My prayers are with Paul's family and friends during this time. I feel that is all we can do to help. They have asked for privacy so the kindest and most compassionate response is to honor that.

I dearly hope they receive answers. If Paul's disappearance is deliberate and the result of an impulse to self-harm, they will be replaying every conversation and interaction with him over and over. Like so many members and visitors to this forum, I personally have had loved ones and friends who have died from homicidal violence as well as suicide and random outdoor recreation accidents. Each loss has its own grief but this limbo of a loved one missing, the not-knowing, is a truly terrible time. It is impossible not to hold on to some hope and not to imagine all possible scenarios.

I have been doing some research on the Timothy Cunningham threads.
Found Deceased - GA - Timothy Cunningham, 35, Chamblee, 12 Feb 2018 #2
Timothy was the CDC investigator who disappeared February 12, 2018. His disappearance made the national news. There were many conspiracy theories circulating on the internet attempting to connect his disappearance to his work with the CDC but his family was concerned because they had received some disturbing phone calls and texts from him. His body was found 50 days later in the Chattahoochee River and his death was recently ruled a suicide by drowning. 50 days feels like much longer when a loved one is missing.
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Thanks, Loreet. I always love to hear details from someone local. It's just so helpful, in getting a better understanding.

Have you heard anything about where the dogs hit/if they definitely did hit in Reed Point? I'm going off another case, but I consider the dogs (picking up/tracking) very key in Paul's case.

TIA!
 
That is a really great question, about the search dogs. I have not heard anything about the search dogs hitting in Reed Point. Which doesn't mean they didn't, just that I don't know anyone affiliated with the searches and nothing has been publicly released.
 
Jazzy5980 said:
I imagine it is something as simple as local law enforcement in Gallatin and/or Stillwater Counties failing to forward the poster with Paul’s picture since local law enforcement is in charge of the searches. Stillwater County has a small force that covers many miles.
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Unless there's some evidence that a crime happened while he was in Bozeman, the Stillwater County authorities would be responsible for the investigation. I don't know whether they have access to backup from state agencies or regional cooperation agreements; if not, they much be stretched pretty thin.

Family members tell me that Bozeman and Gallatin County LE were interviewing people at the place where he had one of his meals. That would have been a couple of weeks ago, I think.
 
carbuff said:
Unless there's some evidence that a crime happened while he was in Bozeman, the Stillwater County authorities would be responsible for the investigation.
Click to expand...
Per the official Montana DOJ Missing Person Details:
Investigating Agency: BOZEMAN POLICE DEPARTMENT,(406) 582-2000

Missing Person Details - Montana Department of Justice
Montana Department of Justice

Missing Person Details

Name: BATSON, PAUL PHILIP
Aliases:
Gender: MALE
Date of Birth: 09/18/1972
Race: WHITE
Hair Color: BROWN
Eye Color: BROWN
Height: 6' 2''
Weight: 175 LBS.

Incident Information
Date of Last Contact: 04/29/2018
Age Now: 45 YEARS
Other Reported Dates of Birth:
Investigating Agency: BOZEMAN POLICE DEPARTMENT,(406) 582-2000
If you have information about this individual, contact your local law enforcement agency or the Montana Missing Persons Clearinghouse, (406) 444-1526.
 
SeesSeas said:
Per the official Montana DOJ Missing Person Details:
Investigating Agency: BOZEMAN POLICE DEPARTMENT,(406) 582-2000

Missing Person Details - Montana Department of Justice
Montana Department of Justice

Missing Person Details

Name: BATSON, PAUL PHILIP
Aliases:
Gender: MALE
Date of Birth: 09/18/1972
Race: WHITE
Hair Color: BROWN
Eye Color: BROWN
Height: 6' 2''
Weight: 175 LBS.

Incident Information
Date of Last Contact: 04/29/2018
Age Now: 45 YEARS
Other Reported Dates of Birth:
Investigating Agency: BOZEMAN POLICE DEPARTMENT,(406) 582-2000
If you have information about this individual, contact your local law enforcement agency or the Montana Missing Persons Clearinghouse, (406) 444-1526.
Click to expand...

Interesting.

I am now strongly of the opinion they know something they aren't releasing.
 
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