bighairdontcare
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What app was it? Grinder? Someone had mentioned it earlier, but it was the first time I have heard of that app.... guessing that it is fairly new?
Found Deceased OH - Joey LaBute, 26, Columbus, 4 March 2016 #1
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What app was it? Grinder? Someone had mentioned it earlier, but it was the first time I have heard of that app.... guessing that it is fairly new?
I wonder if the CPD will give you information on any communication that they have had with the app developer. That really needs to be looked into. That could a break in the case. Nowadays it is really difficult not to leave a electronic trail behind you.
osu
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There are many recent articles about there being a glitch in the Grindr app in which users can manipulate their own locations to obtain the exact location of other users.
BBM
"Grindr is a geosocial networking application geared towards gay, bisexual, and bi-curious men. The app makes use of the device's geolocation, which allows users to locate other men within close proximity. This is accomplished through a user interface that displays a grid of representative pictures of men, arranged from nearest to farthest away. (...) The largest and most popular gay mobile app community in the world currently available in 192 countries."
(en.wikipedia.org)
2-14-16
Grindr has been informed independently by different people about issues in their system, allowing anyone find out the exact position of their users.
Grindr has been informed several times again, sometimes they responded, most of they time they did not.
They have been aware of this issues since minimum March and took no action.
https://grindrmap.neocities.org
I wouldn't necessarily expect CPD to let me in on any information they find should they choose to pursue this route, but they could. I left my name and number when I gave them the tip. At this point, they haven't followed up with me for any additional information.
ZhaZhaHa
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Yea I wondered about Grinder. I imagine a lot of people had the app and had it open in that area on that night. Late night, bars are about to close and you haven't found anybody yet (or in Joey's case you said "byeee" to a date who was a dud), so you look to see who is around, send out a few messages to the ones who look OK, and go from there. I feel like this is something police know about though and would have checked by now? It has been a few weeks. Grinder would cooperate with police in this situation. They should have had a lead by now.
Of course if somebody CAN see his location and was there nearby, they easily just could have scanned the bar and found him without messaging him. It is highly possible he was slipped something and he went willingly with that person. It would also explain why he didn't go back to his table and let them know where he was going. Geez it is scary. Whatever happend, if there is a person out there responsible, that person is just sitting there waiting for dust to settle and it could happen again.
And if I haven't said it before, I am so freaked out by the dating apps and social media. I have young kids. Is it OK for me to hope that this stuff just falls off of the face of the planet in the next 10 years?!
Of course if somebody CAN see his location and was there nearby, they easily just could have scanned the bar and found him without messaging him. It is highly possible he was slipped something and he went willingly with that person. It would also explain why he didn't go back to his table and let them know where he was going. Geez it is scary. Whatever happend, if there is a person out there responsible, that person is just sitting there waiting for dust to settle and it could happen again.
And if I haven't said it before, I am so freaked out by the dating apps and social media. I have young kids. Is it OK for me to hope that this stuff just falls off of the face of the planet in the next 10 years?!
bighairdontcare
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What is even more chilling... what if this person was from out of the country or out of state and in town for the Arnold......I mean, that could make it VERY tough to find the possible suspect (hypothetically, if that was the case). That person would have been on a flight or out of state immediately! And if this WAS the case, Joey could be ANYWHERE.
Wondering how he met the guy he texted and went out on a date with earlier that evening. Did they meet through social media or dating app?
The other day, I was talking with someone who also is a graduate of OSU (but older than me). She told me that she was in a sorority with a girl that went missing on 3/21/1998. The girl lived in an apartment complex about 10 minutes from campus. She disappeared from her apartment one night, without a trace. Her remains were found in 2004, in Delaware, OH, which is about an hour north of Cbus- it remains a cold case
I find it haunting that there have been several people over the years that have went missing from the same area in the same month.
Here is a link to OSU's paper- article about missing persons on campus- interesting
http://thelantern.com/2003/01/string-of-murders-remains-unsolved/
inmyhumbleopinion
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Also,
"In August 2014, it was revealed that nearly every user of Grindr could be accurately located by third parties without authentication within a few meters." (BBM)
"As of May 10, 2015, distance display has been re-enabled and location pinpointing is still possible." (BBM)
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grindr
The article does not cite sources for the above (the first line, they do, but the link is no good), so I take it with a grain of salt, but I believe that this is something that LE definitely needs to look into (if they haven't already).
On the one hand, this is downright terrifying and frankly infuriating, on the other, it sounds like to me that the "glitch" could help LE locate or at least trace Joe's whereabouts from when he went missing.
jonnybgoode
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yes!!!
jonnybgoode
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So was he using Tinder or Grindr?
inmyhumbleopinion
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Thanks. That's a good point. "cwosigns" only said, "The particular app I saw his profile on (not Tinder)." (BBM)
Mayor Perk
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I live in the next suburb over from him and he was on Grindr regularly. We chatted a few times on there a few months back. Thank you for contacting CPD. I debated if I should share the Grindr angle with them as well. There's a good chance he was on Grindr that night chatting with people at or near Union.
perfectingpink
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:welcome:
Welcome. It's unfortunate when our missing folks lose privacy, I realize... It's kind of a matter of his wellbeing coming before modesty.
I sincerely hope Joey is found safe and soon. He has a familiarity to me, although I'm sure we've not met. It's hard to explain...
There is no inherent shame in using location-based dating apps. Like everything, it's about exercising judgment and moderation.
taradiane
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I feel like in the case of a missing person, literally everything should be shared with the investigators because you never know what leads to a discovery/recovery. If I were missing, I'm not sure I'd care what was being rifled through to find me. So thank you for sharing that. Sometimes it's the one thing that someone thought was inconsequential that leads to the answer.
Mayor Perk
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Agreed on the no shame here. FWIW, I never had the impression Joey used Grindr for much other than chatting. He came across as pretty wholesome. Nerdy even.
I sorta doubt it's directly related to his disappearance but could help in piecing together a timeline and his state of mind that night.
On the garbled text, it seems like he was trying to say something. Butt dials/texts are rarer in an era of locked iPhones.
I sorta doubt it's directly related to his disappearance but could help in piecing together a timeline and his state of mind that night.
On the garbled text, it seems like he was trying to say something. Butt dials/texts are rarer in an era of locked iPhones.
I live just a few blocks from Union and 100% remember seeing Joey logged in on Scruff around midnight - 1ish. Also, I can't remember if Joey has an iPhone or not, but has anyone from his family simply tried the "find my iPhone" feature? You can log in on any apple device provided they know his Apple i.d and password
I don't care what he was doing on Grindr or any other app, what's relevant is the possibility of GPS tracking his movements directly before he disappeared. Jmo
Um that's absolutely how they list the guys, based on location from you.. The closer the guys the closer to the top of the page they are... I am absolutely positive I remember seeing Joey logged in on Scruff that night... And based on how far he was away from me, Union would fit he distance at the time I saw him.
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