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

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No further mentions in the news regarding DJ's cell phone nor of credit / debit card use nor sightings.

Zero activity for one week.
 
Location of Park View Apartments building in reference to the bridges:

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Railing height of 9th Street ("Rachel Carson") bridge:

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The railings don't look very high. 3 ft? He could have easily climbed on/over them.
 
Has LE been unable to determine if DJ descended in to the Wood Street T Station?

For the curious, you may watch a subway trip from the Wood St T Station to the North Side station in this video:

[video=youtube;1qv8A909Zmg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qv8A909Zmg[/video]
 
Did LE determine ping location(s) for DJ's phone, that is, if he was carrying a phone?

If DJ did have a phone, was it manually powered off, battery run low-off, no power-off data or... what?

Last phone call(s)?

Was DJ 'intoxicated' or was he only 'three beers' drunk or none of the above?


Downtown Pittsburgh Cameras info:


http://triblive.com/news/2753247-74...e-downtown-whetsell-camera-charged-detectives
[FONT=open_sansregular]Oct. 11, 2012, 8:20 a.m.[/FONT][h=1]Pittsburgh police laud Downtown surveillance cameras[/h]


http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2016...-pittsburgh-surveillance-cameras-not-working/
October 14, 2016 6:15 PM
[h=1]KDKA Investigates: 28 Percent Of Pittsburgh Surveillance Cameras Not Working
[/h]
45 of the city’s 163 surveillance cameras, or 28 percent of them, were not fully operational. This, despite a $75,000 a year maintenance contract with with Hitachi Data Systems of Santa Clara, California. But Hissrich found that Hitachi was not to blame.

//

...the Public Safety Department has now taken over the maintenance of the cameras and Hissrich and Assistant Director Mike Huss say they’re more concerned with getting the cameras fixed.
“There’s eyes on it every day. We’re holding people accountable and we’re making sure that the cameras are up and working,” Huss said.

“Important thing is once we do get it up operational that we have checks on it weekly and make sure those cameras are operational at the time that we need them,” Hissrich said.

This last article is date-stamped as October 2016. I was unable to locate recent information as to how many of the "45" non-functioning cameras have been restored to working order, although I did find this comment attributed to Mayor Peduto:

Peduto said the maintenance of the cameras has been given to the police bureau and, starting next year [2017], will be part of Public Safety.

Frozen Molasses. Meet Glacier.

If cameras located within range of the Wood St. T station have been repaired I suspect LE might know by now in which direction DJ traveled from his last known location (with female co-worker Uber pick-up near Wood St T station).

That we do not truly know via reporting if surveillance recordings exist that show DJ / travel direction does not mean there aren't any but, given what I've read in the above-linked articles it is possible there aren't any beyond which shows the "co-worker Uber pick-up" event.


Frustrating.
 
That picture of the bridge / railing does not make me optimistic about this case.
 
I think many times the person goes to an area around he water to go to urinate and looses balance and tumbles into the water. At least that is the theory I have read many times.

Last week I had a few drinks before going to a movie theater. I got up to go to the urinal during the movie. It was a big theater and a long walk to the urinal. I felt fine until I got to the urinal. While urinating, I suddenly felt dizzy and lost my balance for a few seconds. Ended up hitting my face on the urinal and giving myself a black eye! I wasn't drunk (just two drinks with dinner). Point being, there seems to be something about walking a long distance and then stopping and trying to relax yourself to urinate that can cause you to lose balance and tip forward.
 
The only thing I've seen re phone pings is that it pinged on Grant Ave around the time he was last seen.. they must know whether it died or kept pinging after that.

I do believe he was intoxicated. If you read the family's statements here http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2017...missing-duquesne-university-graduate-student/ they say he absolutely had a few drinks, but wouldn't leave on his own. LE has to know more than they're saying. His mom's posts make it seem like someone isn't been as helpful as they could be.. I really hope that is not the case. My heart is hurting for her and his family :(
 
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Here is a screenshot of the paths he would likely take heading home on foot from Images bar, near Liberty & Smithfield. It's almost exactly the same amount of time whether you go over the Carson or the Clemente Bridge, so either are equally likely.

I don't think he would have taken the T to the North Shore. At that time of night, the service would be very intermittent and he'd be waiting longer at the stop than he would just walking, let alone the fact that the T may have stopped running by that point.

Is his car at his apartment? I assume so, but if not - have the parking garages around Liberty Avenue been searched? I agree that Uber or Lyft records would be useful.

Agreeing with what others have previously said - unless he fell or jumped over the bridge railing, it is very unlikely that he was anywhere near the river's edge. The setup to get on the bridges as a pedestrian just doesn't take you close to the bank at all.

I am assuming that his family has been able to access his phone records, based on the fact that they say there has been no activity all week. Did he call anyone that night, or receive any calls? Did he text anyone?

Does the bartender remember anything specific about him, other than the fact that he was very drunk?
 

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All great questions! The only one I have an answer to is that they have said his car was at his apt untouched, covered in snow. I also think it's most likely that he walked. Where are you Dakota?
 
For anyone local they are setting up a search 9 AM tomorrow sat feb 4. Meeting at Hyatt Place on North Shore
 
It looks like his route takes him under a bridge or through some tunnels that look like it might be a dangerous place to be drunk at night. Are there are lot of encampents over there?
 
All great questions! The only one I have an answer to is that they have said his car was at his apt untouched, covered in snow. I also think it's most likely that he walked. Where are you Dakota?

bbm - the question is, in which direction? He might not have walked in the direction of his home. Wasn't he last seen on video at Market Square? The Monogahela river is close to that. Or maybe he went to Point State Park, to the fountain. Access to the river seems to be easy from there, from what I can make out from photos. No wall or fence at all.

I think he's in the river.
 
This is the third man in his 20's in 5 years around this same time of year to go missing in Pittsburgh. The other two ended up found within three months in the river. All were intoxicated at the time of disappearance. The lasts one's family doesn't feel everything was answered and are still trying to find answers. I want to know why they aren't releasing the surveillance footage yet? Is it that they hadn't fixed the cameras yet after they said they would in October 2016? Do they have scent dogs tracking him yet? I feel for this family and hope that everyone is cooperating (I mean LE, friends, and co-workers). I'm a stranger and I would like to help. If someone saw something that night...I hope they are coming forward.
 
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