Found Deceased OR - Owen Klinger, 18, University of Portland, 6 Oct 2019

[claudianunes]

Educated guesses to help with focus regarding the next steps to take are one thing. I get that. There was a post that was very personal gossip-rumor, though. (Not sure if it's still there.)

I saw that one too. I asked the poster to maybe not go there. I think the post was removed.

 

[cody22]

***....moo

 

[GordianKnot]

My main man William of Occam says that the overwhelming likelihood here is that OK went voluntarily missing, at least initially.

He told his roommates he was headed somewhere other than where he was headed.
He went to an ATM and withdrew money.
He had a backpack with him, and his phone, but no charger.

In looking at possible reasons for OK going voluntarily missing, we could be looking at any number of scenarios, including the following:

• Mental health crisis
• Intent to Self-harm
• Meet-up with person(s) unknown off campus for undetermined reason(s)

He does not seem the type of person who would take off without getting in touch with his family at some point just to let them know he was all right.

The fact that he has not contacted them indicates that he is not all right.

He is either in the midst of a significant mental health crisis, or worst case has happened.

His mother used the past tense when speaking about him in the tv interview I watched, which was incredibly sad.

I think moms know things intuitively.

JMO.

 

[PixieStix]

My main man William of Occam says that the overwhelming likelihood here is that OK went voluntarily missing, at least initially.

He told his roommates he was headed somewhere other than where he was headed.
He went to an ATM and withdrew money.
He had a backpack with him, and his phone, but no charger.

In looking at possible reasons for OK going voluntarily missing, there are any number of possibilities, including the following:

• Mental health crisis
• Intent to Self-harm
• Meet-up with person(s) unknown off campus for undetermined reason(s)

He does not seem the type of person who would take off without getting in touch with his family at some point just to let them know he was all right.

This tells me he is not all right.

He is either in the midst of a significant mental health crisis, or worse.

His mother used the past tense when speaking about him in the tv interview I watched, which was incredibly sad.

I think moms know things intuitively.

JMO.

Yes. All of this.

 

[momrids6]

This one, and ones like this, really hit home. This could be any one of my sons....

 

[GordianKnot]

Search parties scour parks for missing UP student Owen Klinger

SABBM:
Roughly 100 people were back out searching for missing University of Portland student Owen Klinger in North Portland Saturday.

The 18-year-old student hasn’t been seen or heard from since Sunday, October 6.

Teams of friends, family, and volunteers canvassed parts of Pier Park, Cathedral Park, Columbia Park and Forest Park.
____________________________

Hate to say this, but searchers need to remember to look up when they're looking in wooded areas.

 

[PdxErn]

My main man William of Occam says that the overwhelming likelihood here is that OK went voluntarily missing, at least initially.

He told his roommates he was headed somewhere other than where he was headed.
He went to an ATM and withdrew money.
He had a backpack with him, and his phone, but no charger.

In looking at possible reasons for OK going voluntarily missing, we could be looking at any number of scenarios, including the following:

• Mental health crisis
• Intent to Self-harm
• Meet-up with person(s) unknown off campus for undetermined reason(s)

He does not seem the type of person who would take off without getting in touch with his family at some point just to let them know he was all right.

The fact that he has not contacted them indicates that he is not all right.

He is either in the midst of a significant mental health crisis, or worst case has happened.

His mother used the past tense when speaking about him in the tv interview I watched, which was incredibly sad.

I think moms know things intuitively.

JMO.

Yes. I think you get a lot right here. Mainly, given Owen’s pattern of activity and Owen’s roommates initial reaction to his leaving, I think it’s pretty safe to say he was hiding something that night. For whatever reason, he did not want his roommates to know his plans, and he was likely headed to do something that involved (or had the possibility of involving) a significant sum of cash. Doesn’t mean it was anything shady or dangerous, but it does give off red flags. It also doesn’t mean that he was intending to stay away for as long as he did, although that remains a possibility. I think it’s far more likely, however, that whatever he set out to do that night either went south or never happened and something went wrong along the way. Like OP said, his complete lack of contact with friends or family is uncharacteristic enough to lead me to believe that, unless he is experiencing a serious mental health crisis, he has been put in danger by an outside force.

As several people have pointed out, the decisions he made around his phone that night don’t point to him running away for a significant amount of time intentionally. If he intentionally shut off his phone that night to avoid contact/being tracked, why would he have brought it at all? And if his phone simply shut off because it ran out of battery there is no reason I can think of that he wouldn’t attempt to charge it.

 

[PdxErn]

I want to try and nail down some of the timeline for Sunday night (October 6). As is often the case in early reports of missing persons, some of the articles provide incomplete or inaccurate timelines. Here is what seems to be the most accurate, based off articles that quote times straight from the sources and times that are consistent between articles:

7:30 pm Owen leaves Christie Hall, his dorm. This we can be sure of because it was caught on camera as he exited the building.

7:45 pm Owen withdraws a large sum of cash (but not his entire balance) from the ATM on campus. This we can also be fairly sure of because the ATM captured the time. Now what’s interesting is that the only ATM on campus is located right outside of the bookstore. The bookstore is no more than a 5 minute walk from Christie Hall. Why did it take Owen 15 minutes to get there? In my mind there are two likely explanations. Firstly, one of his roommates says that he saw Owen outside of Dundon-Berchtold Hall, which is halfway between Christie Hall and the bookstore/ATM. It’s not clear to me whether this is when he was asked about his lack of lacrosse gear or if that was as he was leaving his dorm room. Either way, the roommate then walked with Owen to the ATM before parting ways to head to another hall. It’s possible they stopped to chat and that’s why it took Owen so long to get from point A to point B. The second possibility is that Owen ate at the Pilot House (a cafe adjacent to the bookstore) before withdrawing the money. His mother has been quoted as saying he ate at the Pilot House that night, although the way she words it makes it sound like it was after the ATM withdrawal. I’m not sure what evidence there is of that, but I’m guessing it has something to do with the ID cards that UP students use to pay for meals on campus. It’s likely that they are able to see where and when students buy food. It’s not a lot of time to sit down and eat a meal, however. He may have grabbed one of the to-go meals offered.

Dozens scour Portland for missing UP student Owen Klinger

7:50 Owen’s phone pings, putting him at the outer edge of campus. This lines up with him walking off campus directly after his ATM withdrawal.

8:30 Owen is captured on video passing a bus stop on the corner of Portsmouth and Lombard. 40 minutes to get from the edge of campus to Portsmouth and Lombard seems like longer than it should have taken (the walk is under a mile), making me wonder if he stopped along the way. However, I have seen a couple reports saying hay this sighting actually occurred at 8, which makes more sense to me. Owen’s phone shuts off soon thereafter.

Do others have a similar sense of the timeline?

 

[PaulR]

That all being said, he has been missing almost a week now. The images of him leaving campus shows he had a very small backpack that didn't look like it held much or that it had much in it. If he was planning to walk away from his life, he didn't take much, so that is concerning. I can't imagine the amount of money he had on him would be enough to survive that long. So, that makes me wonder about other possibilities for him voluntarily leaving. Strangely, his phone went off shortly after he left. I have a teenager, and I know they always make sure their phone is charged when they are going to be going out.

I'm reminded of Chris McCandless though. He didn't leave home with much, having donated most (or all?) of his savings away, and just took his Datsun.

Portland is a unique place and someone could live a vagabond lifestyle there if they wished with little to no questions asked.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Reminds me of the case in Australia (Theo.) College student, went out to either meet up with an unknown person or activity, had a phone but it lost power or was turned off, clues are lacking. Hope there's a break in these cases. Remembering college, it's a rough time. Can be dangerous really, because you're still learning about life.

 

[bcbevan]

Knowing the neighborhood relatively well here's what the surroundings are like. There's apartments about a block up from his last whereabouts. There's several parks in the area. Some gang activity both Crip and Latino. It's not likely crip would kidnap anyone. At that hour of the evening it's not likely kidnapping is on the table here at all. At least not in public. He's 18 and a few of the bars may let him in but Sunday nights aren't too busy and bartenders are more attentative. He doesn't look that aged so it's a slim chance he would get in to a pub. There are lots of dope houses in St.Johns much like SE Portland and transients throughout. St. John's is a Black Lives Matter community and Cops have reservation about calls late at night and show up in numbers if you ever need to call them.
Downtown St.Johns in the morning has the rounds of homeless (many addicted) going through town snatching cigarette butts from coffee cans and they frequent 711, Plaid Pantry and the Safeway.
The McDonald's on lombard and Fred Meyer are also homeless and drug hang outs. There are at least 2 dope houses known to locals in that immediate vicinity. Their easy to find. Just look for the pile up of broken down RVs and cars.
There's a guy who works at Plaid Pantry downtown who knows everyone and everything that happens in that town. He's a good guy. His name is Carl. He looks out for a lot of the less fortunate and has been there forever.
It would be worth asking him if he knows anything or has heard anything on the back page of St. Johns. I don't see this young man fitting into this culture unless he crossed over by means of music or other curiosity. Ectacy is a frequent flyer on campus these days. There's plenty of live music on weekends. Slims has it Thursdays - Sundays but are pretty strict on ID.
This feels like an "escape the pressure" disappearance given the current facts. He's not a "rock the boat" type of personality and would maybe just take off to avoid conflict and or confrontation by parents or his peers.
The only problem with this is, there would surely be evidence on his data via phone, Uber or social media. Couldn't find a FB profile on him but LE should have something by now.

 

[Bree1950]

It’s been a week today, Sunday. I’m surprised we haven’t heard anything about the following:

• My edition of the Oregonian in the Southern part of the State has no mention of this in today’s Sunday paper
• I haven’t read anything about sniffer dog usage in the area he was last seen
• I haven’t heard anything about the FBI, Polly Klaus Foundation, Equisearch being asked to become involved in the searching
• I haven’t heard anything about a private investigator being hired.
• The Go Fund Me page is for money to copy fliers, a new printer and new laptop for a family who owns two homes? It would seem more credible if funds were asked for search dogs or hiring an investigator.
• 
  I realize that searching is good and I have admiration and respect for all of the volunteers, but I feel a lot more is needed to find out what happened and locate their son. This just seems somewhat bizarre to me. No offense intended, I’m very concerned for the boy and sympathetic to the family but for a parent who practices law at a major Portland law firm to not be utilizing more avenues for assistance seems odd?

 

[bcbevan]

Was Owen Pledging a Fraternity?

 

[Bree1950]

This is from the foundation website: The Polly Klaas Foundation will provide case management for critically missing persons ages 18, 19 and 20 at the request of law enforcement. If you are a family member of a missing person age 18, 19 or 20, please ask your law enforcement contact to request assistance from the Polly Klaas Foundation.

 

[Angelwatch]

Something I found odd was the request on the Find Owen FB page to not share the specific search areas since it’s a public page. I guess I’m wondering why that would jeopardize finding Owen.

 

[PajamaSleuth]

I hope Owen just needed a break and he returns safely soon. My heart goes out to his loved ones.

 

[GordianKnot]

Something I found odd was the request on the Find Owen FB page to not share the specific search areas since it’s a public page. I guess I’m wondering why that would jeopardize finding Owen.

If OK went missing due to some type of foul play, LE doesn't want to alert perpetrators to any of the areas that are being searched.

If OK went missing voluntarily but is in the throes of some type of mental health crisis, they don't want to risk pushing him even further away and/or over the edge.

JMO.

 

[10ofRods]

Knowing the neighborhood relatively well here's what the surroundings are like. There's apartments about a block up from his last whereabouts. There's several parks in the area. Some gang activity both Crip and Latino. It's not likely crip would kidnap anyone. At that hour of the evening it's not likely kidnapping is on the table here at all. At least not in public. He's 18 and a few of the bars may let him in but Sunday nights aren't too busy and bartenders are more attentative. He doesn't look that aged so it's a slim chance he would get in to a pub. There are lots of dope houses in St.Johns much like SE Portland and transients throughout. St. John's is a Black Lives Matter community and Cops have reservation about calls late at night and show up in numbers if you ever need to call them.
Downtown St.Johns in the morning has the rounds of homeless (many addicted) going through town snatching cigarette butts from coffee cans and they frequent 711, Plaid Pantry and the Safeway.
The McDonald's on lombard and Fred Meyer are also homeless and drug hang outs. There are at least 2 dope houses known to locals in that immediate vicinity. Their easy to find. Just look for the pile up of broken down RVs and cars.
There's a guy who works at Plaid Pantry downtown who knows everyone and everything that happens in that town. He's a good guy. His name is Carl. He looks out for a lot of the less fortunate and has been there forever.
It would be worth asking him if he knows anything or has heard anything on the back page of St. Johns. I don't see this young man fitting into this culture unless he crossed over by means of music or other curiosity. Ectacy is a frequent flyer on campus these days. There's plenty of live music on weekends. Slims has it Thursdays - Sundays but are pretty strict on ID.
This feels like an "escape the pressure" disappearance given the current facts. He's not a "rock the boat" type of personality and would maybe just take off to avoid conflict and or confrontation by parents or his peers.
The only problem with this is, there would surely be evidence on his data via phone, Uber or social media. Couldn't find a FB profile on him but LE should have something by now.

Welcome! This is such a great post. "Escape the pressure" disappearance is an excellent category.

 

[cody22]

***....moo

 

[daydreamingbraindoc]

For those mentioning the Polly Klaas Foundation;
Someone had mentioned the foundation to the @findowenk Instagram page yesterday, which was responded to with a “thank you!”. So I believe someone on the team is now aware of that potential avenue.