Found Deceased CA - Fang Jin, 47, flew to LA from China, train to Palm Springs, Morongo Basin, 21 Jul 2023, w/ John Root Fitzpatrick, 55, (fnd dec.), 30 Jul ‘23 #2

[I'm Nobody]

When LE was there is ambiguous, but so is the reason why/who they were visiting.

The search warrant does not say anything about LE being there for the purpose of talking to JRF, just that they did.

“Jin was last from by friends on July 22 [sic]. Deputies were in the Roadrunner Mobile Home Park and spoke to Fitzpatrick, an unknown Asian female adult was seen with him.”

https://interactive.cbs8.com/pdfs/fitzpatrick_search_warrant.pdf

IF a 911 call was placed to come to the address of the Roadrunner Trailer Park / JRF's address, it would be logged & deputies sent. Deputies may have been at the Roadrunner for a disturbance (involving JRF or someone else) and deputies spoke to JRF about the matter at that time. The sbcounty Dispatch Call Log is public information. Online doesn't go back to JULY (sheriff's website) but if the PI / someone went to the court house, the records most likely are available there. Doubt a disturbance call would be sealed without a name on it nor the name of the "unknown Asian female adult seen with him." So search by address.

MOO

California Public Records Act (CPRA)

Dispatch Call Log - San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department

Dispatch Call Log Calendar 35 events found. [{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Event","name":"P.O.S.T. Supervisory Course","description":"<p>POST standardized curriculum introduces new law enforcement supervisors to the role, responsibilities, and resources available for their new...

wp.sbcounty.gov

 

[Laughing]

Re: photo collage wonderfully provided by @slowpoke

Apparently this gentleman was in recovery from alcohol addiction?

Bodies do process alcohol differently, but most retail forms provide many, many calories. Many people have a habit of eating less nutritious foods while consuming their beverage of choice.

I know several people who state they are in recovery from alcoholism.

Each one looks younger & fitter then during their drinking phase.

I see a man who has successfully replaced some less healthy lifestyle choices with some effective healthy activities.

Formal way to say -- looks like JRF stopped slowing killing himself with booze & that shows in the pictures!

His habits in treating other people, especially women, no idea there.

Anyone found anything from the ex-wife yet?

jmho ymmv lrr

 

[justtrish]

Since he has a Ring Camera installed, he must’ve been concerned about home security, so I would think he would normally make a practice of locking doors and windows when going out.
JMO

This is what makes me pause also.

A servicemember and Navy Seal at that.. retired after 20+ years. Typically they are more security/safety conscious than most. Even if they aren't overly cautious, they are usually not careless or UNDER concerned with these things. I'd think locking the door would be standard any time he would leave.

I'd like to know if anyone else has a key for his house or did he have a spot he left a key that anyone else knew about?

Was the door damaged in any way.

Did he allow anyone else to stay with him? Maybe someone from the program he went though or an old military buddy from time to time. This would also be common for a servicemember. They tend to build bonds with others and don't turn their back on a friend like that. So did someone come around recently that could have been staying there at some point before JF visited him.

I am curious about that man he was seen with on July 3rd at the Marine base. Why was that mentioned in the documents. Is that man a known friend or associate of JRF. They included that for a reason so is it possible this person was up to not good and somehow took advantage of JRF helping him? Since it was over a week before JF arrived in the US it seems out of place, unless he is suspicious for some other reason and they just needed to establish he was known to JRF.

 

[Dhighsmith]

Re: photo collage wonderfully provided by @slowpoke

Apparently this gentleman was in recovery from alcohol addiction?

Bodies do process alcohol differently, but most retail forms provide many, many calories. Many people have a habit of eating less nutritious foods while consuming their beverage of choice.

I know several people who state they are in recovery from alcoholism.

Each one looks younger & fitter then during their drinking phase.

I see a man who has successfully replaced some less healthy lifestyle choices with some effective healthy activities.

Formal way to say -- looks like JRF stopped slowing killing himself with booze & that shows in the pictures!

His habits in treating other people, especially women, no idea there.

Anyone found anything from the ex-wife yet?

jmho ymmv lrr

Family hired a PI so hopefully they spoke with her.

 

[justtrish]

Re: photo collage wonderfully provided by @slowpoke

Apparently this gentleman was in recovery from alcohol addiction?

Bodies do process alcohol differently, but most retail forms provide many, many calories. Many people have a habit of eating less nutritious foods while consuming their beverage of choice.

I know several people who state they are in recovery from alcoholism.

Each one looks younger & fitter then during their drinking phase.

I see a man who has successfully replaced some less healthy lifestyle choices with some effective healthy activities.

Formal way to say -- looks like JRF stopped slowing killing himself with booze & that shows in the pictures!

His habits in treating other people, especially women, no idea there.

Anyone found anything from the ex-wife yet?

jmho ymmv lrr

This is so true!

I know the first thought when a woman is missing is that it was the significant other. It is often true so we have to rule that out at some point because that is most logical first place to start.

If he was abusive in the past, it's very possible it was the alcohol that made him angry, aggressive, mean, etc. This is not to excuse his behavior if he's abused woman in the past, but many alcoholics are mean when drinking and would never harm a fly when sober. Then again some angry mean people are that way sober and even worse when drinking so we just don't know him personally, but it's possible that his past was a result of the alcohol. His physical changes are very noticeable.. maybe his personality changes were also.

He quits drinking, meets a beautiful lady online and she plans to visit, they have many adventures planned out and he's showing her around. It's very possible that something criminal happened to them both or it's possible some tragic accident happened as well.

Another thing I know first hand from being around servicemembers and older war veterans.. they tend to isolate themselves when they are struggling. So if he did struggle with drinking and was estranged from some of his family, it's possible that was because he pulled away and having a close military friend, but not any close family is not something that is unheard of. Sometimes family doesn't "get it" and when someone has only know this military 24/7 thing for so many years, they struggle to fit in when they don't have that rigid structure anymore. The drinking is common and so is isolating from family. Makes me sad for his family if they missed out on those years because of something like this and now he's gone because it sounds like he was making positive changes in the last year (just my speculation and out loud thinking here, not facts, just saying what I've seen as a common way things go)

 

[Laughing]

This is so true!

I know the first thought when a woman is missing is that it was the significant other. It is often true so we have to rule that out at some point because that is most logical first place to start.

If he was abusive in the past, it's very possible it was the alcohol that made him angry, aggressive, mean, etc. This is not to excuse his behavior if he's abused woman in the past, but many alcoholics are mean when drinking and would never harm a fly when sober. Then again some angry mean people are that way sober and even worse when drinking so we just don't know him personally, but it's possible that his past was a result of the alcohol. His physical changes are very noticeable.. maybe his personality changes were also.

He quits drinking, meets a beautiful lady online and she plans to visit, they have many adventures planned out and he's showing her around. It's very possible that something criminal happened to them both or it's possible some tragic accident happened as well.

Another thing I know first hand from being around servicemembers and older war veterans.. they tend to isolate themselves when they are struggling. So if he did struggle with drinking and was estranged from some of his family, it's possible that was because he pulled away and having a close military friend, but not any close family is not something that is unheard of. Sometimes family doesn't "get it" and when someone has only know this military 24/7 thing for so many years, they struggle to fit in when they don't have that rigid structure anymore. The drinking is common and so is isolating from family. Makes me sad for his family if they missed out on those years because of something like this and now he's gone because it sounds like he was making positive changes in the last year (just my speculation and out loud thinking here, not facts, just saying what I've seen as a common way things go)

Folks, @justtrish has described one of my husband's uncles here. Yep. Except that he met a beautiful woman geographically close. She was also a veteran, and eventually drove him to the VA Hospital. The uncle released from that hospital was no longer the 19 year old crack-shot farm boy trained as a sniper & sent to Viet Nam, but he no longer self-medicated with booze, either. (Most of the time.)

(Did his family understand this? Not really, sadly. )

imho, military experience that trains the person to kill individual people -- sniper, Ranger -- has different long-lasting effects than general service.

Hubby also has an uncle who maintained computer systems on an air craft carrier. Left the service, went straight into a tech industry job, no known issues.

jmho ymmv lrr

 

[10ofRods]

did they (LE) ever say for certain that the decomp smell was from human decomp and not from food/garbage/dead animal? Any of those might still make an investigation seem necessary but....
curious what kind of door locks were on the trailer and if there might have been some other explanation for the door being open- warps/sticks/he doesn't always lock it, etc.

They did not say what kind of decomp. However, if they discovered old meat or a dead rat/other animal after they went in, they very much needed to include that in their report. Food and garbage does not smell like decomp. If the door was standing open, I doubt any wild animal would have died inside. "Wild animal" would be way down on my list of possibilities.

For the smell of a smaller animal to be detected at the door of the home means many days have passed and the source of the odor is still inside. If it's a larger animal, then we don't need as many days to have passed.

Cadaver dogs are trained to make the distinction between human and other decomposition, so hopefully one was brought to the scene.

Most mobile homes have regular door knobs, just like other homes. Out that way, many also have security screen doors.

There could be many other explanations for the door being open (knob broken, door broken, intruder, occupant was forgetful, etc).

 

[slowpoke]

I’m not familiar with reading search warrants’ form details, so I was looking back at it/them. So, just noting/observing:

The first Search Warrant Receipt (08/01/23) has the case number for Fang, #092301014, at the top of the receipt page (where it says “DR no.”).
The page lists items 1 - 12, and at the bottom of the form it says a copy of this receipt was left on the kitchen table, “items 1 through 12”.

The second one (08/03/23) has the case number for JRF, #092301031, at the top of the receipt page (where it says “DR no.”).
The page lists items 100 (living room) and 101 (3 iPhone cell phones), and it says a copy of the receipt was left on the kitchen table, “items 101 through 101”.

I noted: 101 through 101.

So, I’m trying to understand the forms. For the 08/03/23 search warrant receipt, the items for 1 - 100 are not shown here to us, but there must be another receipt page that exists listing the 100 items, is that how one is to make sense of how it is written ?

That seems like a lot of items. I hope LE is able to piece together the mystery of the pair’s disappearances.

Search warrant

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

I’m not familiar with reading search warrants’ form details, so I was looking back at it/them. So, just noting/observing:

The first Search Warrant Receipt (08/01/23) has the case number for Fang, #092301014, at the top of the receipt page (where it says “DR no.”).
The page lists items 1 - 12, and at the bottom of the form it says a copy of this receipt was left on the kitchen table, “items 1 through 12”.

The second one (08/03/23) has the case number for JRF, #092301031, at the top of the receipt page (where it says “DR no.”).
The page lists items 100 (living room) and 101 (3 iPhone cell phones), and it says a copy of the receipt was left on the kitchen table, “items 101 through 101”.

I noted: 101 through 101.

So, I’m trying to understand the forms. For the 08/03/23 search warrant receipt, the items for 1 - 100 are not shown here to us, but there must be another receipt page that exists listing the 100 items, is that how one is to make sense of how it is written ?

That seems like a lot of items. I hope LE is able to piece together the mystery of the pair’s disappearances.

Search warrant

This is only a guess because I, too, don't really know how search warrant forms are written. Leaving a receipt saying they took "living room" seems a little bizarre on its face.

I wonder if it could mean items of forensic evidence taken from the living room. Unless the living room can be detached from the trailer and they actually took the living room... but that's probably unlikely.

 

[ClaireNC]

This is only a guess because I, too, don't really know how search warrant forms are written. Leaving a receipt saying they took "living room" seems a little bizarre on its face.

I wonder if it could mean items of forensic evidence taken from the living room. Unless the living room can be detached from the trailer and they actually took the living room... but that's probably unlikely.

It could be that item 100 was a search of the living room, but they didn’t find anything so there are no items listed.

I’m not familiar with reading search warrants’ form details, so I was looking back at it/them. So, just noting/observing:

The first Search Warrant Receipt (08/01/23) has the case number for Fang, #092301014, at the top of the receipt page (where it says “DR no.”).
The page lists items 1 - 12, and at the bottom of the form it says a copy of this receipt was left on the kitchen table, “items 1 through 12”.

The second one (08/03/23) has the case number for JRF, #092301031, at the top of the receipt page (where it says “DR no.”).
The page lists items 100 (living room) and 101 (3 iPhone cell phones), and it says a copy of the receipt was left on the kitchen table, “items 101 through 101”.

I noted: 101 through 101.

So, I’m trying to understand the forms. For the 08/03/23 search warrant receipt, the items for 1 - 100 are not shown here to us, but there must be another receipt page that exists listing the 100 items, is that how one is to make sense of how it is written ?

That seems like a lot of items. I hope LE is able to piece together the mystery of the pair’s disappearances.

Search warrant

I took it to mean that the only things taken during the 2nd search were the 3 phones. Numbers 1-99 were used in the first search of the property, so, numbers 100-199 refer to the 2nd search. If there was a 3rd searched it would start with 200. It’s a simple inventory numbering system to distinguish which items correlate to each specific search. I could be wrong, but that’s MOO.

It is interesting that they are two different case numbers though.

 

[slowpoke]

You raise a very interesting point. There should be much more Ring footage of JF than just the two images of her cleaning the trailer. Somebody, be it DH or LE, released those specific images for a reason.

I can only think of two obvious reasons: either as you suggest, to push the narrative of JF being subservient; or to push the narrative that there's something suspicious about JF cleaning the trailer.

I'm not suggesting JF is guilty of anything, but it's possible that someone wants to make it look like she is.

It’s been reported (cenilla’s post) in the Chinese media that Fang ran a homestay in Portugal before returning to China as a result of the global pandemic. The video I saw on the Find Fang Jin Yama YouTube channel showed what I presume to be a bit of the place, and it looked like a lovely accommodation, a place that evoked in me a sense of peace and relaxation with its special touches of fresh flowers and colorful murals.

What if Fang got satisfaction for having a talent in creating beauty in the spaces she lived in? If she was accustomed to doing that daily at her homestay, she may have wanted to do her magic at JRF’s place and was taking up the challenge on her own initiative.

(Admittedly, it doesn’t look like she got very far if this is the case, in those ‘cleaning photos’ however! Kinda cluttered-looking. Maybe she was just getting started. Lol.)

 

[ClaireNC]

This is so true!

I know the first thought when a woman is missing is that it was the significant other. It is often true so we have to rule that out at some point because that is most logical first place to start.

If he was abusive in the past, it's very possible it was the alcohol that made him angry, aggressive, mean, etc. This is not to excuse his behavior if he's abused woman in the past, but many alcoholics are mean when drinking and would never harm a fly when sober. Then again some angry mean people are that way sober and even worse when drinking so we just don't know him personally, but it's possible that his past was a result of the alcohol. His physical changes are very noticeable.. maybe his personality changes were also.

He quits drinking, meets a beautiful lady online and she plans to visit, they have many adventures planned out and he's showing her around. It's very possible that something criminal happened to them both or it's possible some tragic accident happened as well.

Another thing I know first hand from being around servicemembers and older war veterans.. they tend to isolate themselves when they are struggling. So if he did struggle with drinking and was estranged from some of his family, it's possible that was because he pulled away and having a close military friend, but not any close family is not something that is unheard of. Sometimes family doesn't "get it" and when someone has only know this military 24/7 thing for so many years, they struggle to fit in when they don't have that rigid structure anymore. The drinking is common and so is isolating from family. Makes me sad for his family if they missed out on those years because of something like this and now he's gone because it sounds like he was making positive changes in the last year (just my speculation and out loud thinking here, not facts, just saying what I've seen as a common way things go)

A few things to add to the discussion about addiction recovery. It is very strongly suggested to not start a new romantic relationship during the first year. The chance of a relapse is always really high, but especially in that first year.

<modsnip: sleuthing family>

 

[I'm Nobody]

This is what makes me pause also.

A servicemember and Navy Seal at that.. retired after 20+ years. Typically they are more security/safety conscious than most. Even if they aren't overly cautious, they are usually not careless or UNDER concerned with these things. I'd think locking the door would be standard any time he would leave.

I'd like to know if anyone else has a key for his house or did he have a spot he left a key that anyone else knew about?

Was the door damaged in any way.

Did he allow anyone else to stay with him? Maybe someone from the program he went though or an old military buddy from time to time. This would also be common for a servicemember. They tend to build bonds with others and don't turn their back on a friend like that. So did someone come around recently that could have been staying there at some point before JF visited him.

I am curious about that man he was seen with on July 3rd at the Marine base. Why was that mentioned in the documents. Is that man a known friend or associate of JRF. They included that for a reason so is it possible this person was up to not good and somehow took advantage of JRF helping him? Since it was over a week before JF arrived in the US it seems out of place, unless he is suspicious for some other reason and they just needed to establish he was known to JRF.

Curious also about the Hispanic person, receiving duct-tape, mentioned in the PC, must be important. IMO he's in the PC bc he has information, an informant, not bc he's a suspect. Unless someone is prohibited from buying duct tape why not just buy it yourself? What makes sense to me is the Hispanic male was helping JRF repair something. A week before JF's visit, JRF was prob fixing up the trailer, purchased the duct tape, gave it to "Jack of all" friend to go back to trailer to use while JRF ran other errands. That lead me to question whether helper was a hired repairman or a buddy. My conclusion: prob a good buddy JRF would allow in his home while he ran errands.

JRF's known buddy, Daryl (Daryll) Hoss, went on record in MSM using his name, not anonymous, about his friend JRF. Naturally if someone goes on record in any news media, many of us look them up, to determine credibility. I am hopeful what I found is allowed here bc it is public information, it answers some questions, connects some dots mainly about the Hispanic person mentioned in PC most likely being Hoss and why Hoss might have put some dots together quickly himself RE Hoss was looking at the Ring cam video for clues
& reported JRF as a missing person so fast.
IMO Hoss is a valuable witness for LE.


<modsnip - sleuthing a person not named POI by LE>

JMO looking for answers.

 

[Megnut]

By open, do we think that means unlocked or ajar?

Unlocked: maybe JRF was trusting, never locked it. Or maybe someone else was last to leave and didn't have a key, with which tob lock it.

Ajar, perplexing.

Jmo

 

[Cedars]

You raise a very interesting point. There should be much more Ring footage of JF than just the two images of her cleaning the trailer. Somebody, be it DH or LE, released those specific images for a reason.

I can only think of two obvious reasons: either as you suggest, to push the narrative of JF being subservient; or to push the narrative that there's something suspicious about JF cleaning the trailer.

I'm not suggesting JF is guilty of anything, but it's possible that someone wants to make it look like she is.

Personally, I don't think the fact she is mopping, is why those photos are in the file. I think they are 'evidence' according to the rules of police procedures: so, evidence that Fang was in the home at a particular time.

For example, they may be the last images (at the time when they were gathered), that show that Fang was at the home, and was well and behaving normally.

JMO

 

[charminglane]

Have the photos been verified by family or LE that it is indeed FJ cleaning? Their face is not shown.

 

[Cedars]

I wonder if it could mean items of forensic evidence taken from the living room. Unless the living room can be detached from the trailer and they actually took the living room... but that's probably unlikely.

Yes, I think it means they took forensic evidence and photographs of the living room, as specified in the 'Homicide Attachment' to the search warrant. In that attachment, the officer explicity requests permission to bring forensic searchers, take their own photographs, and seize anything that might contain evidence of homicide.

JMO

 

[slowpoke]

No more updates I know of on Fang’s case, but she is on my mind today (every day!), so I was rereading the cbs8 article, and thinking about this statement:

”We did not receive any phone pings from Jin’s phone,” San Bernardino Sheriff spokesperson Mara Rodriguez wrote.”

Does that sentence imply that they were able to try pinging her phone, but it gave no results?

I had been thinking that in order to ping her phone, would they need to get her phone carrier in China to do it? And I wondered if that would be difficult to obtain the permission from them.

Plus, SBCSO initially put out that her status was voluntary missing, so it would seem that would mean there was not an immediate, urgent circumstance to warrant it at first, which usually is what I thought was required in order to order the ping.

If LE later deemed her missing to be more suspicious, would the passage of time have bearing on whether or not a ping can be even possible?

In a case I followed of an American missing in Japan (Pattie Wu Murad), she had an Apple iPhone with an eSIM. In that case, they were unable to get any location data. The family said Apple doesn’t keep last location data after a certain amount of time. They missed that window of opportunity due to being unaware she was missing until four days had passed. In Pattie’s case, I wondered about the family saying info from Apple couldn’t be obtained, since I thought it’s the phone’s carrier that was pertinent.

Just some thoughts running through my head.

Pinging is something I have a limited understanding of how it works, so if others here have knowledge on the subject, I’d be interested in learning.

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

Pinging is something I have a limited understanding of how it works, so if others here have knowledge on the subject, I’d be interested in learning.

It's possible they tried to call or text JF with no response, but generally "ping" is used to describe contact that carries no audio/video/text data. It's just the phone periodically making sure it has service by connecting to the nearest tower.

Even if you're not using the phone, if it's switched on it will periodically connect to the nearest tower and give some idea of your location. The police can get that information from your service provider and I believe some tower companies also store the information.

I'm afraid I have no idea if SBCSO would be able to get that information from a Chinese phone company.

 

[megs1477]

No more updates I know of on Fang’s case, but she is on my mind today (every day!), so I was rereading the cbs8 article, and thinking about this statement:

”We did not receive any phone pings from Jin’s phone,” San Bernardino Sheriff spokesperson Mara Rodriguez wrote.”

Does that sentence imply that they were able to try pinging her phone, but it gave no results?

I had been thinking that in order to ping her phone, would they need to get her phone carrier in China to do it? And I wondered if that would be difficult to obtain the permission from them.

Plus, SBCSO initially put out that her status was voluntary missing, so it would seem that would mean there was not an immediate, urgent circumstance to warrant it at first, which usually is what I thought was required in order to order the ping.

If LE later deemed her missing to be more suspicious, would the passage of time have bearing on whether or not a ping can be even possible?

In a case I followed of an American missing in Japan (Pattie Wu Murad), she had an Apple iPhone with an eSIM. In that case, they were unable to get any location data. The family said Apple doesn’t keep last location data after a certain amount of time. They missed that window of opportunity due to being unaware she was missing until four days had passed. In Pattie’s case, I wondered about the family saying info from Apple couldn’t be obtained, since I thought it’s the phone’s carrier that was pertinent.

Just some thoughts running through my head.

Pinging is something I have a limited understanding of how it works, so if others here have knowledge on the subject, I’d be interested in learning.

Her family has indicated that for a couple days her phone rang unanswered then there was no service (battery dead?). The dates are in mark’s timeline above. The phone died before JF was reported missing, so this would prevent the phone from being pinged even if they had the ability.