Found Deceased CA - Fang Jin, 47, flew to LA from China, train to Palm Springs, Morongo Basin, 21 Jul 2023, w/ JohnRoot Fitzpatrick, 55, missing, 30 Jul ‘23

[Midge Montana]

Where is Jin Fang?

 

[AnyNameIWish]

Sounds like the desert towns got a TON of rain in these past few hours... hoping that this might uncover some actual clues (like the Location of the Tacoma?).. fingers crossed.

 

[AliceInPain]

Sounds like the desert towns got a TON of rain in these past few hours... hoping that this might uncover some actual clues (like the Location of the Tacoma?).. fingers crossed.

Yes, I'm not there, but have been following a local group on FB, and I'm hoping this will lead to something too.
If they were stuck somewhere (which I believe at this point) will the truck get dislodged and end up on a road or similar.

 

[slowpoke]

“As Tropical Storm Hilary barreled through Southern California, the High Desert's Morongo Basin was pummeled with rain and flooding Sunday into Monday morning, leading to road closures and power outages.”
Morongo Valley shut off as Highway 62 remains closed in wake of Tropical Storm Hilary

The authorities and community there in the high desert region now have a lot of clean-up and restoration work to do after this tropical storm, with the area being very hard hit. Which sadly means more stretched resources to deal with anything else.

All the usual things a family of a missing person does to keep the public aware of their loved one is made that much more difficult: Tack up flyers? Do a physical search themselves? Hold a vigil? It’s a dangerous, muddy mess there and I’m sure LE won’t let people in if they don’t live there and absolutely need to be there. Plus, there is no other family here in the US, apparently.

I hate to speak so negatively, but what can the family do at this point?

 

[AnxiousandAgitated]

Where is John Root? Where is Jin ? Too much time
has passed. Has their vehicle been located? Maybe they drove into a body of water? The Salton Sea is very close to their travels

 

[AnxiousandAgitated]

ummm why was my post censored

 

[Laughing]

ummm why was my post censored

Well posters cannot use a common shortened version of 'assistant.' At least I can't.

We know what you meant!

 

[mst]

I think we need to remember that any information coming out of China is coming from a communist country. I don't think the family is able to post whatever they want but I could be wrong

 

[10ofRods]

China has made no statements about this case.

The information is coming from two young Chinese women who are daughters of the victim. They certainly did post (in Chinese/Szechuan) quite a bit on that newspaper forum. They appeared to be posting whatever they want (and people were expressing very strong opinions to them).

I feel so badly that the two daughters know so little about exactly what happened. Daughters appear to have said that FJ was going to be camping in Morongo Valley (staying in a tent in or near the town where JRF resided). If, however, she was actually staying at his place, it's possible that with the help of a lawyer, they might get access to his mobile home. The problem is that neither daughter has said that FJ was staying at his house.

The thought that there might be clues inside his mobile home is so troubling, without access to them. At some point, I'd think even if he had his monthly lease to the mobile home park on autopay, his account would be depleted (maybe not - maybe his military retirement keeps coming in, indefinitely, mobile home lease paid each month). It's such a bizarre situation.

IMO.

 

[Lusitana]

I think we need to remember that any information coming out of China is coming from a communist country. I don't think the family is able to post whatever they want but I could be wrong

It's less about being communist and more about being a dictatorship, all information that comes in and goes out is heavily manipulated in order to adhere to a certain agenda. Her poor family can't do much more than they're already doing.

 

[nao]

Moo...my brother worked in China his friends still live there. There was no problem with communication, it was not filtered. ...moo

 

[thefragile7393]

Moo...my brother worked in China his friends still live there. There was no problem with communication, it was not filtered. ...moo

That depends on what the conversations were about. Benign topics aren’t usually subject to censoring.

 

[thefragile7393]

It's less about being communist and more about being a dictatorship, all information that comes in and goes out is heavily manipulated in order to adhere to a certain agenda. Her poor family can't do much more than they're already doing.

Honestly in this case…I don’t think the govt is involved here. This isn’t a person that is part of the Chinese government, nor is she a dissident. I don’t think they are going to censor people for being family to citizens missing abroad as a tourist

 

[Lusitana]

Honestly in this case…I don’t think the govt is involved here. This isn’t a person that is part of the Chinese government, nor is she a dissident. I don’t think they are going to censor people for being family to citizens missing abroad as a tourist

I agree. That's exactly why China doesn't seem to be doing anything to help the family locate her. The US-China relationship is tricky too. Anyways, this is really not political, just trying to explain that I believe the family can't do much more than what they already did.

 

[JennieM]

If feasible, the daughter should try to fly to Morongo Basin and hold a press conference there.

If she can’t fly to MB, could she hold a press conference in China? I don’t think it will have the same impact though. She needs US and international channels covering this.

 

[JennieM]

I was watching the Netflix documentary about Lucie Blackman the other night, another foreign woman missing abroad, this time an English woman in Japan.

Again, there wasn’t much interest.

It wasn’t until her father and sister flew to Japan, spoke to the police chief directly and held a press conference there, that the wheels started turning.

FJ’s family need a presence there.

And they need to get their story straight. If their version of events does not match the MB police statement, they MUST ask the police to corroborate all the factual evidence they themselves hold.

The contrasting stories and information are confusing and deter public support. IMO.

 

[flowershop]

I was watching the Netflix documentary about Lucie Blackman the other night, another foreign woman missing abroad, this time an English woman in Japan.

Again, there wasn’t much interest.

It wasn’t until her father and sister flew to Japan, spoke to the police chief directly and held a press conference there, that the wheels started turning.

FJ’s family need a presence there.

And they need to get their story straight. If their version of events does not match the MB police statement, they MUST ask the police to corroborate all the factual evidence they themselves hold.

The contrasting stories and information are confusing and deter public support. IMO.

I agree that the family flying out to the US are their best chances of this case getting the attention it needs.

Your post has got me wondering about the inconsistencies. I can only recall one at the moment; the uncertainty around whether JF hired JRF. This is what LE asserts.

What other inconsistencies do we have?

 

[10ofRods]

I was watching the Netflix documentary about Lucie Blackman the other night, another foreign woman missing abroad, this time an English woman in Japan.

Again, there wasn’t much interest.

It wasn’t until her father and sister flew to Japan, spoke to the police chief directly and held a press conference there, that the wheels started turning.

FJ’s family need a presence there.

And they need to get their story straight. If their version of events does not match the MB police statement, they MUST ask the police to corroborate all the factual evidence they themselves hold.

The contrasting stories and information are confusing and deter public support. IMO.

You're helping to explain why international relationships can be tricky, too. I doubt that use of SM is quite the same in China as here - but of course, if the two daughters made an Instagram, and put up videos (that were like vigils or press conferences), they would get traction (they'd have to post on Reddit, here on WS in some fashion, etc). But they probably don't know to do that. The one friend of JRF who tried to reach out to the two daughters was rebuffed for "ruining their investigation" (? what investigation? There's a formal investigation - such as it is - here in the US). I suspect the cultural differences are really hindering the finding of Fang Jin (or the truck).

With so many cars abandoned in the desert in the last few days (and in various towns), I don't think one more is going to get that much attention right now (I saw only one truck today that was roughly the color of the blue truck - but, it was not the right model). We don't even send out APB's on most missing people (there are alerts for kids, and sometimes for the fragile or elderly, everyone else is hit and miss). I'm talking California but also every other state I've lived or worked in. US has a lot of missing people, in other words.

But a woman traveling alone internationally, from a non-English speaking nation with antipathy toward the US on the part of some citizens (and the government), who is traveling in parts with very low population density, with a stranger (who has a criminal record) is in a very serious situation. I wish we had a way of denoting that, in terms of trying to get a bulletin out. if the daughters were here and contacted a few TV journalists, I do think they could get something going (but they say the US won't give them a visa - and I don't know what to make of that).

(That was in the Chinese language MSM posted on this thread).

IMO.

 

[Dhighsmith]

I will gladly make one. Let me know what you want it to say.

I got a couple people to pick it up on Twitter and a PI to take a look.

If I can find LE or former LE that knows about MP cases to join me, I might be able to pull together a YT stream about them. My channel isn’t TrueCrime primarily, so it won’t get a ton of exposure, but anything is better than nothing.

I somehow missed your post, this is wonderful, thank you. I’ll reach out to you tomorrow.

 

[Dhighsmith]

That is so generous of you.
Still, I’d be cautious. That person helping Fang’s family at Reddit seems to want to control what gets put out on YouTube and other media. Not sure why they think it may be detrimental for her family. JMO

I’m trying to be understanding and supportive but admit it’s a little frustrating. Maybe someone with knowledge can comment but I’m thinking the behavior that appears odd to us- not actively distributing flyers and failure to support sharing of information- is possibly related to their culture of being private. Especially the negative criticism of the family is likely creating cautious approach. I’m 100% speculating. I’ve not yet given up, hoping to be finished with medical tests soon to again closely follow.