Found Deceased TN - Robert Qucsai III, 42, Cummings Falls State Park, 3 Feb 2021

[OldProtozoan]

His account on Flipboard: Robert Qucsai III (@RobertQucsaiIII) on Flipboard

There are lots of articles on marijuana, some on stress/anxiety.

Thanks. I saw that. He does seem to have had quite a digital presence, and so the digital silence speaks loudly.

 

[mpnola]

Wonder where his dog is. That might be telling.

 

[indicolite22]

Wonder where his dog is. That might be telling.

I'm not sure if it's his and not his father's dog. If he left a pet behind unattended, we would have heard about it.

 

[SimplyCass]

His friends in Facebook could probably educate us as to his state of mind. He walked away from his legal career, stopped representing his clients, made the Court find other attorneys for his case load, told a judge he wasn't practicing anymore despite having currently assigned cases, went to Jamaica (why didn't he stay?), then returned to this area and enjoyed hiking the area parks with dogs (whose dogs are these, probably his Dad's) and sometimes with his friends. Surely, he talked about his ambitions, or lack of ambitions, with his friends. He does not appear to be wealthy, and has chosen a course that disbars him. After so many years of schooling, why choose to be disbarred to end your legal career. There are certainly less drastic ways to change careers. Many lawyers don't practice, but they're still lawyers. Bob chose a different path, and I'd like to hear from his friends as to his state of mind. How and where has he been living. My thought is he's been living with his Dad. Credit cards and bank account activity are the key. Alas, I think his body is in the park, or somewhere you could walk to from the park. Bob Qucsai

That summary/analysis seems to fit the Ben McDaniel case to a T. Ben had burnout/major life events and was taking a sabbatical of sorts, deciding to get back into scuba diving (an old hobby of his). When he disappeared and no body was recovered, a lot of people were speculating/wondering if he was trying to shed his old life and was somehow escaped the caves and was living under a new name.

 

[Curious_in_NC]

I'm not sure if it's his and not his father's dog. If he left a pet behind unattended, we would have heard about it.

I think there was a comment on the TBI page by his father that he did not have a dog with him.

 

[indicolite22]

Thanks. I saw that. He does seem to have had quite a digital presence, and so the digital silence speaks loudly.

Yes, though the silence could be deliberate or not. He could be lying low; he could be dead by his own hand or by accident.

 

[OldProtozoan]

I'm not sure if it's his and not his father's dog. If he left a pet behind unattended, we would have heard about it.

From what I came across the smaller dog was a family dog, I think the father's, and the bloodhound looking dog belonged a friend. He used the hashtag solohiker sometimes. He didn't always have a dog with him.

 

[OldProtozoan]

There's a lot of missing details. As I previously mentioned, what's the last ping from his cell phone? The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says he was last seen entering the park? How? Do they have him on camera? What alerted authorities that something was up was the presence of his car in the parking lot. This is a day-only park. They mention on the website not to head towards the falls after 5pm because you will not be out of the park by its 6pm closing time. Unless they actually have him on camera, was he at the park? His car was, but that doesn't necessarily mean he was. There is also a strange posting "glitch" around the time of his disappearance. He is posting photographs he took on the 2nd of February taken from a park in Ohio. His explanation was that he lost his phone in the snow and was relieved to find it again when he was removing snow from around his car. On his Instagram account the last photo I see him posting was a picture of horses at Cedar Grove, Tennessee on February 3rd with the caption That's a small town near the Cummins Falls park. So, no posts from the park itself. How do we know he was there? How do we know what he wearing? Does anyone recall seeing him in the park? Parking next to his vehicle? The TBI asked for information about his whereabouts, but not, seemingly, about his visit to the park that day. The park was reopened after an extensive search concluding with a statement that they believed Bob Qucsai was no longer on park property. Was he ever? Did someone drive his car there? Why is this presented as "disappeared while hiking?". I'd like to see a photo of Bob behind the wheel driving into the park, or Bob in a 'gray hoodie and dark pants' going down the trail. Using his digital "footprint", it ends at Cedar Grove, Tennessee on September 3rd. Someone drove his car to the park and then got into another vehicle and left the park. All my crazy speculations could be shot down with the release of more information. It is so hard to be an armchair detective without good data! LOL

 

[indicolite22]

Cedar Grove

There's a lot of missing details. As I previously mentioned, what's the last ping from his cell phone? The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says he was last seen entering the park? How? Do they have him on camera? What alerted authorities that something was up was the presence of his car in the parking lot. This is a day-only park. They mention on the website not to head towards the falls after 5pm because you will not be out of the park by its 6pm closing time. Unless they actually have him on camera, was he at the park? His car was, but that doesn't necessarily mean he was. There is also a strange posting "glitch" around the time of his disappearance. He is posting photographs he took on the 2nd of February taken from a park in Ohio. His explanation was that he lost his phone in the snow and was relieved to find it again when he was removing snow from around his car. On his Instagram account the last photo I see him posting was a picture of horses at Cedar Grove, Tennessee on February 3rd with the caption That's a small town near the Cummins Falls park. So, no posts from the park itself. How do we know he was there? How do we know what he wearing? Does anyone recall seeing him in the park? Parking next to his vehicle? The TBI asked for information about his whereabouts, but not, seemingly, about his visit to the park that day. The park was reopened after an extensive search concluding with a statement that they believed Bob Qucsai was no longer on park property. Was he ever? Did someone drive his car there? Why is this presented as "disappeared while hiking?". I'd like to see a photo of Bob behind the wheel driving into the park, or Bob in a 'gray hoodie and dark pants' going down the trail. Using his digital "footprint", it ends at Cedar Grove, Tennessee on September 3rd. Someone drove his car to the park and then got into another vehicle and left the park. All my crazy speculations could be shot down with the release of more information. It is so hard to be an armchair detective without good data! LOL

His last Instagram photo was purportedly taken at Center (not Cedar) Grove, which is about 3 miles away from the Cummins Falls State Park. I think he was there. IMO they got his clothing description because he was caught on camera somewhere outside of his vehicle. A backpack wasn't mentioned. I'd like to know if there's another exit from the park.

 

[OldProtozoan]

Yes, though the silence could be deliberate or not. He could be lying low; he could be dead by his own hand or by accident.

I hope its deliberate and intention and that he's trying to get to Jamaica. (He was there in August.) However, that would be so cruel to his family. This is different than his usual excursions. I'm reminded of the great line some detective once shot back at a reporter. The reporter said "do you suspect foul play?". The detective said, "you can't bury yourself". If Bob fell, they would have found him. I'm trying to figure out if "missing hiker" is misleading everyone. Is this "missing hitchhiker

Cedar Grove

His last Instagram photo was purportedly taken at Center (not Cedar) Grove, which is about 3 miles away from the Cummins Falls State Park. I think he was there. IMO they got his clothing description because he was caught on camera somewhere outside of his vehicle. A backpack wasn't mentioned. I'd like to know if there's another exit from the park.

Thanks, it's Center Grove. I'd like to see the photos. Wouldn't we all like to do the detective's job for them? Especially right now. It is cold outside.

 

[OldProtozoan]

I hope its deliberate and intention and that he's trying to get to Jamaica. (He was there in August.) However, that would be so cruel to his family. This is different than his usual excursions. I'm reminded of the great line some detective once shot back at a reporter. The reporter said "do you suspect foul play?". The detective said, "you can't bury yourself". If Bob fell, they would have found him. I'm trying to figure out if "missing hiker" is misleading everyone. Is this "missing hitchhiker


Thanks, you're right, it's Center Grove. I'd like to see the photos of him in the park. Wouldn't we all like to do the detective's job for them? Especially right now. It is cold outside.

I guess you mean another parking lot? Does not look like it in Google satellite view. On foot, of course, he could go anywhere. If he was wandering, no reason to wander only on the park property. If he was walking along a road, we wouldn't get those reports. Presumably the police have many clues.

 

[indicolite22]

On the other hand, if he walked out of the park through snow, he could have left footprints. In one of the articles it was mentioned that they found footprints in a specific area inside the park, but nothing came out of that. I wonder how many other park visitors were there that day.

 

[Curious_in_NC]

Looking at the park's website it looks like there is a $6 fee to hike down to the gorge and you have to make a reservation in advance. Presumably they're trying to limit the crowding. His planned hike there included the gorge:

This appears to have been his planned route on AllTrails. I hope that I'm allowed to post it here.

View attachment 283091

So wouldn't the park staff have a record of him showing up with his gorge pass and they would know if he used it?

Also their web site was linked to Google reviews. Many were raves about how great the place is. Some indicated gorge passes were booked weeks in advance. One comment was a warning not to use the GPS coordinates from the park website as you'll end up in someone's back yard (maybe user error?). It also looks like the gorge hike may involve a shallow water crossing or two.

 

[mpnola]

I guess my thinking about the dog was- I it was left behind (which it was), was it in an apartment where it would have to fend for itself? Left with someone else? Lived with other people? If it was left at home alone, I see no way he did this on purpose. Because he clearly cared about the dog.

 

[OldProtozoan]

That summary/analysis seems to fit the Ben McDaniel case to a T. Ben had burnout/major life events and was taking a sabbatical of sorts, deciding to get back into scuba diving (an old hobby of his). When he disappeared and no body was recovered, a lot of people were speculating/wondering if he was trying to shed his old life and was somehow escaped the caves and was living under a new name.

Do you have a link to the Ben McDaniel case? I'd like to read about it.

 

[OldProtozoan]

That summary/analysis seems to fit the Ben McDaniel case to a T. Ben had burnout/major life events and was taking a sabbatical of sorts, deciding to get back into scuba diving (an old hobby of his). When he disappeared and no body was recovered, a lot of people were speculating/wondering if he was trying to shed his old life and was somehow escaped the caves and was living under a new name.

Nevermind. I found it on wikipedia. I remember that case!

 

[Curious_in_NC]

I think he was at the park. Besides the reviews on Google, many of the reviews at AllTrails rave about seeing the falls. I looked at them to see what they said about the $6 fee for hiking down to the gorge (bottom of the falls). Many reviewers mentioned the fee, so RQ must have known about it. Only the park staff can say if he actually bought a pass and/or used it. It's possible that if he didn't get a pass, he might have tried taking a shortcut to the gorge to avoid the fee. Maybe that's where he got into trouble. Or maybe he tried to follow GPS rather than trail markers, and wandered out of the park.

As for a planned disappearance, it doesn't make sense to me. He had been passionately hiking trails to waterfalls during the preceding two months and this was a major destination for waterfall hike enthusiasts. Why drive five hours to a place he was unfamiliar with to stage his disappearance? Logistics would be much easier to do this closer to home. I think he was there for seeing the falls and really didn't care what was going on back home in the courts.

 

[OldProtozoan]

I never met Bob, but I can relate to him. Bob was smarter than I. Bob graduated in the top of his high school class. I just graduated. Bob was double-major; I was double-major. Bob went to law school. I went to law school. Bob became a lawyer. I made a career in IT. There are always other doors.

I guess I'm a digital "creeper". I've now viewed every Instagram photo and comment he has posted, and every AllTrails entry. I want to believe. I want to believe Bob is more clever than all of us. I want to believe that Bob is now safe and warm and wondering what the hoopla is about. Against all odds, I want Bob to make a digital mistake and post to an old account. Then, like a religious zealot, I'll post, "He lives!"

On Facebook, his brother Carl, and his father Bob, their facebook sites are like tribute pages now. When Bob went to Jamaica but his family knew. They know, SweetBob1978, a moniker he used on one site, could not do this by design.

Over beers, a dissatisfied title attorney once told me he was mad a 17-year-old version of him had chosen his career. Sometimes, people feel trapped in their profession. Crank up "take this job and shove it" for Bob.

I would have liked to have a beer with Bob and to have hiked a trail with him. Now when I visit these places and the lighting is just right, I'll think "Bob Qucsai would have taken a photo" I never met Bob, but I wish I had.

 

[Timekeeper65]

@OldProtozoan amazing post!

 

[Curious_in_NC]

RSBM

I would have liked to have a beer with Bob and to have hiked a trail with him. Now when I visit these places and the lighting is just right, I'll think "Bob Qucsai would have taken a photo" I never met Bob, but I wish I had.

Well said. Thank you.