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 #3

[Red Clover]

It seems Anza-Borrega is known for its wildflower blooms.

2023 Desert Wildflowers in Anza Borrego Desert State Park - DesertUSA

Current wildflower reports with photos and location maps for Anza Borrego Desert State Park in California- 2023.

www.desertusa.com

There are no park reports for June, July and August 2023.

Sept, 16 2023 The Park reports: After the summer rain , we are seeing lovely chinchweed (Pectus papposa var papposa) in the Visitor Center garden and around the park.

As a reminder, the Park road to access Borrego Palm Canyon Campground and the Borrego Palm Canyon Trail is closed for a road construction project from Sept 15-Sept 22. Visitors may park at the Visitor Center and hike the all-access trail to get to the Borrego Palm Canyon Trail. Please call the Visitor Center at 760-767-4205 with any questions.

Expect sunny and hot weather! The current forecast is a high of 102 Fahrenheit for Saturday and a high of 100 Fahrenheit for Sunday. Please check the forecast and exercise extreme caution when traveling through the desert. The air-conditioned Visitor Center is currently on summer hours and will be open on Saturday and Sunday from 9a-5p.

Sept, 3 2023 DUSA reports: Light rain (Sat 9/2) at the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Visitor Center. Lots of rain around the Salton Sea and the Mecca area. The wildflowers should start early this year.

Park reports on 8/25/2023Hurricane Hillary brought an incredible storm to Southern California last week and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park was not spared in the slightest! Check out this before and after of the Borrego Palm Canyon wash. The hydrological power of the canyon was on full display and the aftermath is awesome to see!

Several pebbles, cobbles, and even small boulders have shifted or even displaced entirely! Literal tons of sand and soil were freshly deposited over the gravelly surface of the wash. Certain sections of the trail have become a bit washed out - something our trails crew will fix in the coming weeks.

This is how washes are usually formed in the desert region - not through the constant trickle of creeks and sediment, but from large storm events that generate huge amounts of power capable of scouring into hillsides and carrying boulders miles away.

8/21/23 Tropical Storm Hilary rain and localized thunderstorms, more than 2 inches.

BBM

 

[Sillybilly]

ADMIN NOTE:

This post lands at random.

WS is a long established forum with 200,000+ members. Can you imagine if only a tiny percentage of that membership, and a tiny percentage from other true crime discussion forums took it upon themselves to contact victim's families at what surely must be the most difficult time in their lives? Not a very pretty thought, right?

From The Rules: Etiquette & Information:

NOTE: Websleuths does not condone members becoming personally involved in cases by initiating contact with family members, friends, case players, law enforcement, or the media. This does not preclude responding to a request for volunteers, or utilizing proper channels to report valid information, i.e., "a tip", to law enforcement.

 

[ch_13]

I found an elevation map here:

https://www.topozone.com/california/san-diego-ca/flat/harper-flat/

I've enhanced the contrast. Harper Flat is at 700-800 ft elevation, the Harper Canyon trail (which I believe is where JRF was found) goes steadily down to about 300-400ft at the top of the map. It's definitely lower than the Flat based on this map.

View attachment 456368

I'm almost positive that this map is in meters. So Harper Flat would be at 700-800m which roughly translates to 2300-2625 feet.

Of course, that doesn't change your point about the Canyon being lower than the Flat.

 

[AnyNameIWish]

Yes. The cactus blooms at Anza-Borrego are beautiful. But people don't go to see them in the beating hot sun of July. Usually they're on view from January to March or so.

 

[Red Clover]

Yes. The cactus blooms at Anza-Borrego are beautiful. But people don't go to see them in the beating hot sun of July. Usually they're on view from January to March or so.

Yes, there were no park entries about wildflowers for June or July and most of August.

2023 Desert Wildflowers in Anza Borrego Desert State Park - DesertUSA

Current wildflower reports with photos and location maps for Anza Borrego Desert State Park in California- 2023.

www.desertusa.com

From Oct 1-May 31 the Visitor Center will be open 7 days a week, including holidays! ​

 

[10ofRods]

I found an elevation map here:

https://www.topozone.com/california/san-diego-ca/flat/harper-flat/

I've enhanced the contrast. Harper Flat is at 700-800 ft elevation, the Harper Canyon trail (which I believe is where JRF was found) goes steadily down to about 300-400ft at the top of the map. It's definitely lower than the Flat based on this map.

View attachment 456368

We need a much bigger slice. According to the linked article body was found "several miles" from the Flat. And the Flat was fenced off (where the road coming from the 78 gets to the Flat - so to the left on your map. How far up/down the Canyon did he go?

The Harper Canyon loop trail, according to AllTrails has an elevation gain of 1371 during its course. What you're showing is maybe half a mile of the trail?

This article says body was several miles away (article linked below - next link is just the info on the Harper Canyon trail - but I don't know that we know that's the exact place he was found).

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/harper-canyon-loop

Several miles, to me, means at least 3 (I originally thought his body was closer to the truck). At any rate, the trail that goes into Harper Canyon does drop in elevation for maybe the first quarter to half mile. But read the first report on it in the link above (that there's not really a trail, that it is partly a scramble) and then look at Google maps to see where people are going (up onto the ridge where the Canyon starts downward).

The ridge itself is way above Harper Flat.

Since I've also read that the body was in Pinyon Wash, that looks to me (on satellite images to be a bit steeper and certainly has no marked trail).

Body linked to missing persons case: Veteran and visitor may have been on base before disappearance

MORONGO BASIN — A video of Adobe Road at night. A search warrant served at a Morongo Valley mobile home. And then a body in Anza-Borrego. The disappearance of Morongo

www.hidesertstar.com

I'll see if I can find the Pinyon Wash reference. Apparently, since Harper Flat itself is closed, people have to park at the point where Pinyon Wash Road meets the flat (where there is now a fence to keep vehicles off the flat).

So the truck was adjacent to the flat, IMO. and we don't know exactly where he started. Note that the following trip report treats the area where the petroglyphs are (at higher altitude) as part of "Harper Flat."

Harper Flat via SR-78 & Pinyon Wash Road--The Narrows Anza Borrego State Park

Excited to explore Harper Flat, the largest ancient Native American site (petroglyphs, pottery pieces, arrow heads, grinding stones & morteros) in Anza Borrego Desert.

mountain-man-60.blogspot.com

Which does make things confusing. From the newly established parking area, there are several canyons and washes accessible for hiking - and I'm not sure that people have the names memorized or that we really know exactly where truck and body were. But to see the petroglyphs or any of the other places considered "beautiful" in that area, one must go up on that ridge. To stay on the flats, I believe a person must just walk east/west and not head up any washes or canyons. You're not going to be able to convince me that the canyon doesn't cut into a ridge that's at least 1300 feet above the flat. I do believe that's one reason people go there (to get the "gains" that come from up and downhill scrambling and hiking).

At any rate, water doesn't flow uphill. The course of the rains would have been from up top, down to the flats. But his body was found several miles from the Flat - eventually the trail really does get up to the Winter Village Ridge.

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

I'm pretty sure that this map is in meters. So Harper Flat would be at 700-800m which roughly translates to 2300-2625 feet.

Of course, that doesn't change your point about the Canyon being lower than the Flat.

Yep, silly mistake. Meters.

It appears the Flat is far from "flat". At the south-western corner it's at 800m elevation and at the north-eastern corner where it leads into the canyon, it's dropping down to 700m. Anything washing down onto the "flat" would stand a high chance of heading down into the canyon--which is both where JRF's remains were found, and also in the vicinity of where our VI said JF's backpack may have been found closer to the road.

My suspicion is that the flood waters moved everything around.

 

[ClaireNC]

I wish I could find it again, but I'm sure someone previously posted a topographical map of the Harper Flat/Canyon area. I think it showed that the area where JRF's remains were found was a few hundred feet lower than where the truck was found. Given the likely flooding in the area due to Hurricane Hilary, JRF may have been washed down away from the truck. And sadly, other evidence at the location may have been destroyed or buried.

I'm not familiar with Harper Flat/Canyon, but it seems to be simultaneously difficult to access and yet frequently accessed. It's not the kind of place I'd expect people to go without a reason, and it likewise doesn't seem to be a great place to go if you're trying to disappear.

I posted about the elevations of Harper flat vs where JRF was found. In the case map, you can switch the ‘base map’ to show the elevations. It looks like the approximate location of the car was at about 2400 feet and the remains were at about 1400 feet.

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

We need a much bigger slice. According to the linked article body was found "several miles" from the Flat. And the Flat was fenced off (where the road coming from the 78 gets to the Flat - so to the left on your map. How far up/down the Canyon did he go?

The Harper Canyon loop trail, according to AllTrails has an elevation gain of 1371 during its course. What you're showing is maybe half a mile of the trail?

This article says body was several miles away (article linked below - next link is just the info on the Harper Canyon trail - but I don't know that we know that's the exact place he was found).

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/harper-canyon-loop

Several miles, to me, means at least 3 (I originally thought his body was closer to the truck). At any rate, the trail that goes into Harper Canyon does drop in elevation for maybe the first quarter to half mile. But read the first report on it in the link above (that there's not really a trail, that it is partly a scramble) and then look at Google maps to see where people are going (up onto the ridge where the Canyon starts downward).

The ridge itself is way above Harper Flat.

Since I've also read that the body was in Pinyon Wash, that looks to me (on satellite images to be a bit steeper and certainly has no marked trail).

Body linked to missing persons case: Veteran and visitor may have been on base before disappearance

MORONGO BASIN — A video of Adobe Road at night. A search warrant served at a Morongo Valley mobile home. And then a body in Anza-Borrego. The disappearance of Morongo

www.hidesertstar.com

I'll see if I can find the Pinyon Wash reference. Apparently, since Harper Flat itself is closed, people have to park at the point where Pinyon Wash Road meets the flat (where there is now a fence to keep vehicles off the flat).

So the truck was adjacent to the flat, IMO. and we don't know exactly where he started. Note that the following trip report treats the area where the petroglyphs are (at higher altitude) as part of "Harper Flat."

Harper Flat via SR-78 & Pinyon Wash Road--The Narrows Anza Borrego State Park

Excited to explore Harper Flat, the largest ancient Native American site (petroglyphs, pottery pieces, arrow heads, grinding stones & morteros) in Anza Borrego Desert.

mountain-man-60.blogspot.com

Which does make things confusing. From the newly established parking area, there are several canyons and washes accessible for hiking - and I'm not sure that people have the names memorized or that we really know exactly where truck and body were. But to see the petroglyphs or any of the other places considered "beautiful" in that area, one must go up on that ridge. To stay on the flats, I believe a person must just walk east/west and not head up any washes or canyons. You're not going to be able to convince me that the canyon doesn't cut into a ridge that's at least 1300 feet above the flat. I do believe that's one reason people go there (to get the "gains" that come from up and downhill scrambling and hiking).

At any rate, water doesn't flow uphill. The course of the rains would have been from up top, down to the flats. But his body was found several miles from the Flat - eventually the trail really does get up to the Winter Village Ridge.

The link I provided allows you to move around and find the elevations of the surrounding area.

Sunset Mountain and Whale Peak climb up to about 1300m on either side of the Flat, but the Flat itself is at around 700-800m. Just about everything else, including Harper Canyon and Pinyon Wash, heads DOWN from the Flat towards the road. Harper Canyon starts at about 300m elevation and ends at about 700m--that's a 1300ft elevation gain.

ETA: The Alltrails guide is talking about a steep 1300ft elevation gain from the road up to Harper Flat. When talking about the trip back down they simply say, "enter Harper Canyon and head back to car."

 

[tvscum]

All roads

borregohiking.com

 

[10ofRods]

The link I provided allows you to move around and find the elevations of the surrounding area.

Sunset Mountain and Whale Peak climb up to about 1300m on either side of the Flat, but the Flat itself is at around 700-800m. Just about everything else, including Harper Canyon and Pinyon Wash, heads DOWN from the Flat towards the road. Harper Canyon starts at about 300m elevation and ends at about 700m--that's a 1300ft elevation gain.

ETA: The Alltrails guide is talking about a steep 1300ft elevation gain from the road up to Harper Flat. When talking about the trip back down they simply say, "enter Harper Canyon and head back to car."

I see what you're saying. Given that Harper Flats is closed, then JRF drove up to the foot of the mesa/ridge area, and then headed *down* the wash (back toward the highway, right?)

So, the driver of the truck headed south, toward the ridge where people scramble and some of the petroglyphs are; encountered a fence barring entrance to Harper Flats (at the head of Pinyon Wasn) and then headed back toward the 78 rather than toward the ridge.

Wow. And it has been reported, I believe, that Fang's backpack is found near the 78. I do not think her backpack could have floated all that way (because more flat land near the highway).

Was JRF attempting to go toward the highway, then?

I am mindful that the terms "wash" and "canyon" are not super specific. But if JRF headed down (toward the highway and populated areas) that makes sense. The slope on that side is way less - I can't imagine that water pushed his bones from up above - although that's really a question for a group of geologists and meteorologists.

Where was the truck in relationship to the body and HIghway 78??

 

[10ofRods]

View attachment 456401

All roads

borregohiking.com

Thank you!

For those of you trying to follow along, it's best to full screen this map on a laptop or regular computer. Try to find the 78, the highway that crosscuts the park east/west. It is SOUTH of that area that every report says these events occurred. Fang's backpack is "near the 78." The road to Harper Flats could be Pinyon Wash Road (if coming from the Thermal area - I think there's another road) The highway is hard to see on the map, it's in pale yellow and the background is yellowish.

The maps are really helping - if we are to keep the search for Fang going forward (planning for the long haul).

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

I didn't have time to make a prettier map, but as I understand it the truck was found somewhere along the edge of Harper Flat marked in blue, and JRF was found somewhere along the Harper Canyon trail marked in green.

My working theory is that the truck, and likely JF and JRF were somewhere up on the ridges circled in orange. The truck had to be somewhere it wasn't noticed; IMO it can't have been down at the Flat or Pinyon Wash the whole time, or you'd expect it to have been seen much earlier.

I believe the flooding during Hurricane Hilary washed everything down from higher up on the ridges. The truck was caught up in the fence around Harper Flat, JRF was washed down to where he was found, and if JF's backpack was indeed found near the road, it could have been carried down so many different paths marked in purple.

If JF is up there somewhere, my best guess is that she's somewhere between Pinyon Wash and Harper Canyon. But that's still a big area to search.

 

[tvscum]

Follow this link and you can download the tracks in a KML file and open them in Google earth, or Google My Maps

http://www.borregohiking.com/hiking/kml/all_roads/borrego_hiking_all_roads.kml

All roads

borregohiking.com

 

[Kittenn11]

Hi all, I'm new here but have been following this very heartbreaking case since the first couple days, mostly as an observer. This one in particular grabbed my attention and my heart as I am also an avid world traveler as well as a person who happens to camp and do a lot of offroading in our Jeep, used to be involved in clubs as well as quads ( 4 wheelers and other stuff like that). There have been many instances where I've wanted to chime in and possibly help but have not had the courage until now.

Seeing the road guide map really grabs my attention with so many thoughts it's actually a bit overwhelming to put my thoughts together and what I'd like to comment about first. So, I guess ill start with the comments on the allroads map. I am not sure how to post what the notes on the map says and don't want to break rules but that interactive type map would be one of the first things that may help understand the area we're all sorta trying to fill in some blanks with. If you select the "all roads" link in the above post by 10ofrods it talks about cell service being non existent at best, that even black rated roads have been driven in a Forrester ect. ( almost never the case in my experience but i suppose this map could have black diamond trails that are not like what im used to seeing) Also says you may not see anyone for days and to bring an extra day worth of water for worse case scenarios.

I have to admit, I've done some pretty crazy things before when offroading, and to me I feel like FJ and JRF were sorta doing both offroading and site seeing/ some hiking. I have ideas on where they may have "camped" as well but for now I think it's important to point out that within this map may be several clues as to what may have happened. My advice would be to zoom in, use the satellite imagery and look a little further on from the area JRF's remains and truck were found. There are even places like resorts in a place I'd least expect to find not one but two or more, campsites in washes, a lot of site seeing opportunities ect. I encourage everyone to look at this map and start exploring and talking about it. If I was closer, I'd be there doing what I could to help find JRFs remains or clues myself.

On a side note. In preparation for a trip, I always take the trash out just before we leave. Last summer we went to India ( boy talk about heat in the summer!) When I know we're going to be on a long trip I will often throw away anything in the refrigerator that will go bad while we're gone. This trip I forgot to take out the trash before we left and that was the worst smell!!! Not only was there rotten cabbage ( which imo is one of the worst) but also flies laid eggs and maggots started having a feast. I about threw up when we returned after 2-3 week trip. If I had not known better I'm telling you someone would have thought it was decomp body smell. So with all that said, there is a possibility, at least in my opinion, that after many days of what was prob not an air-condition or well insulated home ( all MOO) it could very well have smelled something like my own home did when the heat inside was no where near that high ( we live in Oregon on the coast).

On a human side note I also want to share my heart filled thoughts for FJ's family and friends. My hope is that she is found safely somewhere and there's some explanation to this whole thing, but in any case I hope somehow she is found soon and get the answers they so desperately need. I'm so sorry for this to happen. I can only imagine how hard it must be for you all.

 

[ifindedout]

Hi all, I'm new here but have been following this very heartbreaking case since the first couple days, mostly as an observer. This one in particular grabbed my attention and my heart as I am also an avid world traveler as well as a person who happens to camp and do a lot of offroading in our Jeep, used to be involved in clubs as well as quads ( 4 wheelers and other stuff like that). There have been many instances where I've wanted to chime in and possibly help but have not had the courage until now.

Seeing the road guide map really grabs my attention with so many thoughts it's actually a bit overwhelming to put my thoughts together and what I'd like to comment about first. So, I guess ill start with the comments on the allroads map. I am not sure how to post what the notes on the map says and don't want to break rules but that interactive type map would be one of the first things that may help understand the area we're all sorta trying to fill in some blanks with. If you select the "all roads" link in the above post by 10ofrods it talks about cell service being non existent at best, that even black rated roads have been driven in a Forrester ect. ( almost never the case in my experience but i suppose this map could have black diamond trails that are not like what im used to seeing) Also says you may not see anyone for days and to bring an extra day worth of water for worse case scenarios.

I have to admit, I've done some pretty crazy things before when offroading, and to me I feel like FJ and JRF were sorta doing both offroading and site seeing/ some hiking. I have ideas on where they may have "camped" as well but for now I think it's important to point out that within this map may be several clues as to what may have happened. My advice would be to zoom in, use the satellite imagery and look a little further on from the area JRF's remains and truck were found. There are even places like resorts in a place I'd least expect to find not one but two or more, campsites in washes, a lot of site seeing opportunities ect. I encourage everyone to look at this map and start exploring and talking about it. If I was closer, I'd be there doing what I could to help find JRFs remains or clues myself.

On a side note. In preparation for a trip, I always take the trash out just before we leave. Last summer we went to India ( boy talk about heat in the summer!) When I know we're going to be on a long trip I will often throw away anything in the refrigerator that will go bad while we're gone. This trip I forgot to take out the trash before we left and that was the worst smell!!! Not only was there rotten cabbage ( which imo is one of the worst) but also flies laid eggs and maggots started having a feast. I about threw up when we returned after 2-3 week trip. If I had not known better I'm telling you someone would have thought it was decomp body smell. So with all that said, there is a possibility, at least in my opinion, that after many days of what was prob not an air-condition or well insulated home ( all MOO) it could very well have smelled something like my own home did when the heat inside was no where near that high ( we live in Oregon on the coast).

On a human side note I also want to share my heart filled thoughts for FJ's family and friends. My hope is that she is found safely somewhere and there's some explanation to this whole thing, but in any case I hope somehow she is found soon and get the answers they so desperately need. I'm so sorry for this to happen. I can only imagine how hard it must be for you all.

Welcome to WS, @Kittenn11! We're Websleuths because we care. Thanks for posting your experience and observations!

 

[tvscum]

@mark1969 Based on what has been posted here, IMO the truck was disabled somewhere in the purple area because there is a fence that blocks vehicle access to Harper Flat. The fence can be seen here on Google Maps. The foot route of escape is the yellow line toward Harper Canyon. Remains location is marked per reports (5 miles from the truck as the crow flies). The wash area away from Harper Canyon Trailhead and toward Hwy 78 (as described here where the backpack was found) would be that large yellow wash area flowing away from Harper Canyon and the remains.

Below is the same map turned around showing the location of Hwy 78 better. The search area should be the yellow wash area IMO unless FJ stayed with the truck. But the discovery of her backpack (seemingly in the yellow wash area) would make that area a priority IMO.

All roads

borregohiking.com

 

[CavKinsk]

If he did something which led to her demise, I don't understand why he would hide/bury her body if he was going to commit suicide. If this is a case of very unfortunate misadventure which led to the death of both of them, I dont understand why she hasn't been found somewhat nearby. I don't know the area though, maybe it's trickier than I'm imagining.

 

[AnyNameIWish]

https://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/638/files/abdsp_Park_Map201704.pdf

This is the official map from the parks service. Hwy 78 is well marked. The roads in brown are "primitive roads " so I guess you CAN drive on them but beware(?)
I can't seem to wrap my head around how his truck could end up that far from the main road.. and his body 2+ miles away!? I understand there was a storm and flooding...

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

https://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/638/files/abdsp_Park_Map201704.pdf

This is the official map from the parks service. Hwy 78 is well marked. The roads in brown are "primitive roads " so I guess you CAN drive on them but beware(?)
I can't seem to wrap my head around how his truck could end up that far from the main road.. and his body 2+ miles away!? I understand there was a storm and flooding...

For the truck to be found at Harper Flat it must have been driven up one of the mountain tracks. But I feel it must have been more hidden for at least part of the time, and that suggests it was somewhere off the track.

The body and belongings could have been swept quite a long way depending on the amount of flooding. This is an ABC10 video of Death Valley during Storm Hilary:

I'm not sure which is more or less likely: that the remains would be completely unmoved by the storm flooding, or that they would have travelled so far. I feel the location where JRF's remains were found has to be at least some distance from where he actually died.