Found Deceased PA - Dakota James, 23, Pittsburgh, 25 Jan 2017 #1

[mjp1228]

No you misunderstood me - and I should have elaborated. Sorry! I didn't mean he was suicidal and jumped. I meant he climbed over the railing for fun, and fell. Drunk people might do just that for fun.

Thats when they are showing off for their friends. This just doesn't make any sense.

 

[kel_hin]

I have walked drunk downtown and not once came close to the edge of a bridge / river. Actually, it was that very same bridge. It just doesn't add up that he would climb over the railing for fun. I'm 5'3 and the railings are tall to me. I don't even think he took the stairs down to the water....My guess is he made it safely across and ran into some problems on the other side. Was he robbed? Did he have someone waiting for him, hook-up maybe? Did he fall down and hit his head -someone took him in and got spooked? Did he get hit by a car? Witness a crime and they saw him? SOMEONE knows SOMETHING! Damn it, come forward!!!!

 

[kelsie]

I feel like he was likely mugged once he got to the other side of the bridge

 

[bellesnwhistles]

I feel like he was likely mugged once he got to the other side of the bridge

I've thought that too but if so where is he? A mugger doesn't tend to hide bodies but idk any things possible

 

[jns207]

I don't think he is in the river. It just doesn't add up. I think he crossed the bridge and ran into some trouble on the other side. I wonder if they found any clues in his apt? Dakota, where are you?

I agree, it doesn't add up. Yet sadly, in too many cases bearing a key set of circumstances - a young male is last spotted leaving a bar during the late hours of the night, traveling alone, on foot, and in the proximity of water - a body eventually turns up in the river and nothing adds up. It never adds up, and yet it happens again and again, with each tragic loss as puzzling as the last. I just keep praying that Dakota will not join this group of young men. From his photos, he looks like such a vibrant soul with so much life left to experience.


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[Gardenista]

I agree, it doesn't add up. Yet sadly, in too many cases bearing a key set of circumstances - a young male is last spotted leaving a bar during the late hours of the night, traveling alone, on foot, and in the proximity of water - a body eventually turns up in the river and nothing adds up. It never adds up, and yet it happens again and again, with each tragic loss as puzzling as the last. I just keep praying that Dakota will not join this group of young men. From his photos, he looks like such a vibrant soul with so much life left to experience.


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A few years ago, there was a young man who went out for a run after being in the bars in NY or NJ and ended up in the water. Can't remember his name right now.

 

[Smitty0514]

If we forget about the "hooking up" aspect of Grindr, the app itself also makes it very very very easy for someone trying to deliberately hurt a person b/c of their sexual orientation. It could be the holy grail for some sicko that wants to target gay individuals. I sure as hell hope this isn't the case and it's just my mind running around with horrible scenarios.

 

[kryst4]

If we forget about the "hooking up" aspect of Grindr, the app itself also makes it very very very easy for someone trying to deliberately hurt a person b/c of their sexual orientation. It could be the holy grail for some sicko that wants to target gay individuals. I sure as hell hope this isn't the case and it's just my mind running around with horrible scenarios.

I agree, especially if it includes your specific distance from that person. I'm hoping this is the app they are investigating and it will reveal some additional clues. I just wonder what they saw on the Clemente cameras if they're continuing to search in that location in the river.

 

[cflake]

The timeline appears to be key here. It would be nice to precisely summarize the data points that exist (exiting bar, observed at Wood St. T station, observed by camera at the pass through, observed by building camera while he is on bridge, last phone ping with tower). My guess is that there isn't much time between the bridge shot and the ping - but that amount of time constrains the possible situations that could have happened on the other side, or further along the bridge. Has anyone found concrete information about each of these events, and have they been categorized into latitude/longitude/time data points?

 

[Elainera]

If he's in the river I think it's more likely he did not cross the bridge all the way because the dog hit on the south side.

 

[yankeegirl]

A few years ago, there was a young man who went out for a run after being in the bars in NY or NJ and ended up in the water. Can't remember his name right now.

Andrew Jarzyk, Hoboken NJ 2014 found in Hudson River

 

[yankeegirl]

A few years ago, there was a young man who went out for a run after being in the bars in NY or NJ and ended up in the water. Can't remember his name right now.

I agree, it doesn't add up. Yet sadly, in too many cases bearing a key set of circumstances - a young male is last spotted leaving a bar during the late hours of the night, traveling alone, on foot, and in the proximity of water - a body eventually turns up in the river and nothing adds up. It never adds up, and yet it happens again and again, with each tragic loss as puzzling as the last. I just keep praying that Dakota will not join this group of young men. From his photos, he looks like such a vibrant soul with so much life left to experience.

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I couldn't agree more! My thoughts exactly.

 

[steelman]

He ended up in the water. They always end up in the water seems like.

I can't explain it, just have seen it over and over and over again.

 

[pittsburgh1]

Okay, so I work in downtown Pittsburgh. Yesterday afternoon I walked the exact route I assume he would have taken (minus the Katz Plaza cut through). I saw the river rescue divers from the Roberto Clemente Bridge (6th Street Bridge). Some observations:
- The railings on the bridge come up to almost my shoulder, and I am 5'9". I do not believe there would be any way to fall off of the bridge unless you had climbed it somehow or someone pushed you over.

- There is a barrier between you and cars on the bridge, so he most likely wasn't hit from behind and thrown over the bridge from the impact.

- Neither the Pittsburgh or the North Side of the bridge are anywhere close to the water. You would need to deliberately go down to the edge.

- There are a ton of cameras after you leave the bridge and walk past PNC Park. Bars would still be open at this time - at least two.

- After you pass the bars, things get a little deserted and scary. You have to pass under an overpass as well as a train trestle.

- After you make it to the post office, there is a raised area about ten feet high on the right. You can climb some scary nailed wooden planks to get up there (I did). It looks like a hobo garden but it didn't look recently inhabited and I didn't see anyone up there. However, I did see a dark coat that looked new-ish. There are a bunch of sheltered areas up there. Very creepy. Has this area been searched?

- Five minutes later, you would be in the Parkview apartment area, where I saw more cameras.

What was the state of his apartment? Had he definitively not made it home that night? Is it possible he got home and went out again?

Do we know for sure his car wasn't in the Katz parking garage?

 

[Elainera]

He ended up in the water. They always end up in the water seems like.

I can't explain it, just have seen it over and over and over again.

Yes that is my feeling too. He's in that river.

 

[shandram19]

Also have Zach Marr in Boston and Shane Montgomery in Pennsylvania.
For some reason this odd phenomenon of drunk college guys and small children heading towards water always fascinates me, I follow all of them that I see until they're finally pulled from the water usually within 2 weeks to 2 months if LE get lucky.
With both children and college men it's generally ruled accidental death- occasionally suicide. But it really makes you wonder... too many similarities for a simple "coincidence."
I'm surprised nobody has brought up the theory yet that everybody always runs to in these types of cases. Out of curiosity does anyone have stats for drunk college GIRLS who end up located in the rivers after wandering away from bars/friends? I can think of maybe one or 2 cases but their names are evading me right now. I believe they were also from the mass, NJ, Penn, areas.

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[alreetlike]

I'm surprised nobody has brought up the theory yet that everybody always runs to in these types of cases. Out of curiosity does anyone have stats for drunk college GIRLS who end up located in the rivers after wandering away from bars/friends? I can think of maybe one or 2 cases but their names are evading me right now. I believe they were also from the mass, NJ, Penn, areas.

I can think of one off the top of my head, though it's British: Megan Roberts

 

[weekleyjl]

Two weeks ago a college student at WVU (Arthur Bagenda) left a downtown bar and was found the next morning dead on the Rail trail along the Monongahela River. Originally, it was reported that no foul play was suspected but I have since heard that homicide detectives are investigating. He was found in an area the opposite direction of his apartment and the downtown area the college kids frequent. He was alone, after being at a bar and was discovered the next morning near a trail by the river. There are way too many strange coincidences with too many young men missing or dead following an evening at a bar.

 

[mbison]

Also have Zach Marr in Boston and Shane Montgomery in Pennsylvania.
For some reason this odd phenomenon of drunk college guys and small children heading towards water always fascinates me, I follow all of them that I see until they're finally pulled from the water usually within 2 weeks to 2 months if LE get lucky.
With both children and college men it's generally ruled accidental death- occasionally suicide. But it really makes you wonder... too many similarities for a simple "coincidence."
I'm surprised nobody has brought up the theory yet that everybody always runs to in these types of cases. Out of curiosity does anyone have stats for drunk college GIRLS who end up located in the rivers after wandering away from bars/friends? I can think of maybe one or 2 cases but their names are evading me right now. I believe they were also from the mass, NJ, Penn, areas.

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Girls don't stop to pee in the water. I can't full explain it, but there is something satisfying about relieving yourself outdoors, especially into a body of water, and especially while drunk. And as we already discussed, there is also a tendency to lose one's balance while standing to urinate while drunk.

 

[kryst4]

Two weeks ago a college student at WVU (Arthur Bagenda) left a downtown bar and was found the next morning dead on the Rail trail along the Monongahela River. Originally, it was reported that no foul play was suspected but I have since heard that homicide detectives are investigating. He was found in an area the opposite direction of his apartment and the downtown area the college kids frequent. He was alone, after being at a bar and was discovered the next morning near a trail by the river. There are way too many strange coincidences with too many young men missing or dead following an evening at a bar.

Especially since DJ went to WVU