Found Deceased PA - Dakota James, 23, Pittsburgh, 25 Jan 2017 #1
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Elainera
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Does Dakota have dark rings around his eyes in that photo?
hey-Debbie
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Wow, that app is so dangerous! I'm glad I didn't have the internet when I was growing up. I did enough stupid reckless stuff at that age without it. But I would hope to think people would be smarter about that stuff now.
lmadler
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I'd beat ya to it. Holy cow. This is the future. Need to educate.
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SassySquatch
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Sorry if I'm doing this wrong. First time posting. This is a video of a Pittsburgh Pirates fan jumping from the Roberto Clemente Bridge. You can see that it would be very hard to "fall" from the bridge. https://youtu.be/fgyQRsLFSag
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On the grindr thing -
You have to ignore the distance info in the grindr picture in relation to where he was during the "event". It shows that DJ and the person on grindr were approximately 1800+ feet apart. I am pretty certain that if another person committed a crime they would not send a picture which includes the distance to the victim to the mother of the victim. The picture could have been taken months or years ago.....it's nothing more than a snapshot of the victim at a time when he said he was/is 23 and he was 1800 feet from the person that grabbed the screen shot. For all we know, the picture you see could be a screen capture taken in New York City by someone 1800 feet from him 6 months ago.
It also does not mean that DJ was on Grindr in the cam still shot. It is nothing more than a picture that someone had of him taken at some point in time.
What it does prove is that he used grindr. To me, that is reason enough for LE to want to understand if he was communicating with someone at the time. Is that enough to get grindr to cough up info? I'd think not - but, if LE had more info - like a co-worker who said they saw him on the app or that he said he was meeting someone - that would do it. There are also apps similar to grindr, and it's not unusual for a person to be using more than one of these apps at any given time.
As a gay man, it concerns me that multiple gay people around the same age range have disappeared under similar circumstances. I am very interested in understanding how this plays out. If there is some connection to Grindr, then I hope they can check to see if the other cases had similar activity with these apps.
Grindr and other apps (both gay and straight) have been around for decades. Millions of people have used these apps. I'm not saying they are completely safe, but they are not unsafe assuming you are careful. I've met my husband of 15+ years on an app like this - it's not all about hooking up, but it can be.
Be careful before you judge.
You have to ignore the distance info in the grindr picture in relation to where he was during the "event". It shows that DJ and the person on grindr were approximately 1800+ feet apart. I am pretty certain that if another person committed a crime they would not send a picture which includes the distance to the victim to the mother of the victim. The picture could have been taken months or years ago.....it's nothing more than a snapshot of the victim at a time when he said he was/is 23 and he was 1800 feet from the person that grabbed the screen shot. For all we know, the picture you see could be a screen capture taken in New York City by someone 1800 feet from him 6 months ago.
It also does not mean that DJ was on Grindr in the cam still shot. It is nothing more than a picture that someone had of him taken at some point in time.
What it does prove is that he used grindr. To me, that is reason enough for LE to want to understand if he was communicating with someone at the time. Is that enough to get grindr to cough up info? I'd think not - but, if LE had more info - like a co-worker who said they saw him on the app or that he said he was meeting someone - that would do it. There are also apps similar to grindr, and it's not unusual for a person to be using more than one of these apps at any given time.
As a gay man, it concerns me that multiple gay people around the same age range have disappeared under similar circumstances. I am very interested in understanding how this plays out. If there is some connection to Grindr, then I hope they can check to see if the other cases had similar activity with these apps.
Grindr and other apps (both gay and straight) have been around for decades. Millions of people have used these apps. I'm not saying they are completely safe, but they are not unsafe assuming you are careful. I've met my husband of 15+ years on an app like this - it's not all about hooking up, but it can be.
Be careful before you judge.
New Info*****
"Dakota James was refused service at Images for being too intoxicated, and he was given some water and started eating someone else's pizza, according to a manager who wasn't there that night and cited another employee as the source of the information. The manager also said James was with a woman."
"Dakota James was refused service at Images for being too intoxicated, and he was given some water and started eating someone else's pizza, according to a manager who wasn't there that night and cited another employee as the source of the information. The manager also said James was with a woman."
Not great news.
Was at Images on light-up night with my mother-in-law. She's in her 60's - they wouldn't serve her because she didn't have a photo ID...once again, keep it in perspective. The bar was strictly enforcing this rule because of previous problems.
hey-Debbie
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Thank you for your explanation. I definitely was understanding that the picture could have been taken anytime and not necessarily that night or that he was even on Grindr at the time. I was just trying to understand the app and how it works. I actually met my husband on a dating app and turned out we knew each other from high school. I guess it's just really dangerous when people can actually see where you are at the split second if you wanted them to so it just makes it all that easier for things to go very wrong. Definitely not judging. It just can put a riskier aspect on it by people showing their current location. It would make it very easy for someone to stalk and follow you home.
Thanks, just trying to make sure those that don't understand the app get an idea of how it works. I agree with you 100% it can put people at risk based on location. I do think the risk is less in a bigger City as you'll have several people very close to you. 1800 feet downtown is likely not that big of a deal, especially if it's using cell towers to pin point your location. On the night of could it have shown him as 150 feet from someone, yes. Could someone have said - hey - I'm down here at the river come down the steps and find me - yes. Definitely scary stuff. Those scenarios are all possible, but don't fall under occam's razor - but anything is possible. Didn't mean to discount your thoughts...
Elainera
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But maybe Dakota did just that. Climbed over and then fell. As I said, drunk people do stupid things.
Elainera
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You explained the app very well. Thank you!
But why? I don't think your theory makes much sense. It's possible, but it doesn't make sense. If he was suicidal, wouldn't he have expressed this to his friends/coworkers? Would he be using his phone for something other than posting a "good bye". The reality is - the guy is young, he was out having fun with coworkers, went with people he was comfortable with to a couple gay bars, and had to get home to get up for work tomorrow.
What makes you think he'd want to jump off a bridge. Any why would he? So many other ways to end it. Why jump off the 6th street bridge into icy water, while walking home from the bar? It doesn't make sense.
I'm not saying what happened makes sense, but I suspect the answer makes more sense than this theory.
To put it to rest, you literally cannot "fall off" the bridge. Someone could throw you off the bridge, but you can't just fall off. You'd have to climb up and fall or jump. If you're on your way home after many drinks, and no one is around - you don't decide to climb up the side of a bridge.
You do that for attention with people watching.
Keep looking.... PS - I'm sorry I'm not trying to sound adversarial - just trying to keep it brief, to the point and address multiple ideas based on my interpretations. All ideas/thoughts are welcome - but I reserve the right to agree or refute based on my opinion
jns207
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Re: railing height, Cutieburgh's link above gives a pretty helpful perspective. There are people photographed near the railing and, assuming the individuals are of average height, they serve as a good reference. The railings certainly appear a bit taller to me with this added perspective.
Here's one screen shot from the Andy Warhol bridge:
ETA: Here's two more where the person appears both taller and closer to the railing.
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So now we know he made it to the bridge. Did he meet someone on the bridge? Did he make it across? Or did something happen to DJ for him to end up in the water? Hopefully, more information can be gained from the app/phone records.
Elainera
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But why? I don't think your theory makes much sense. It's possible, but it doesn't make sense. If he was suicidal, wouldn't he have expressed this to his friends/coworkers? Would he be using his phone for something other than posting a "good bye". The reality is - the guy is young, he was out having fun with coworkers, went with people he was comfortable with to a couple gay bars, and had to get home to get up for work tomorrow.
What makes you think he'd want to jump off a bridge. Any why would he? So many other ways to end it. Why jump off the 6th street bridge into icy water, while walking home from the bar? It doesn't make sense.
I'm not saying what happened makes sense, but I suspect the answer makes more sense than this theory.
To put it to rest, you literally cannot "fall off" the bridge. Someone could throw you off the bridge, but you can't just fall off. You'd have to climb up and fall or jump. If you're on your way home after many drinks, and no one is around - you don't decide to climb up the side of a bridge.
You do that for attention with people watching.
Keep looking.... PS - I'm sorry I'm not trying to sound adversarial - just trying to keep it brief, to the point and address multiple ideas based on my interpretations. All ideas/thoughts are welcome - but I reserve the right to agree or refute based on my opinion
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.
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