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

[tarabull]

Can you please send us more info about that storage place you found ?

Facility Amenities​

• Drive-Up Access
• Gate
• Onsite Manager
• Parking
• RV Parking
• Security Camera

 

[Sundog]

I agree the phones could have died for any reason. And pings from towers is a general triangulation. I am also not certain if a overseas phone, perhaps with a SIM, would ping on same towers.

I think an overseas phone might ping on towers if it was a phone by the same carrier? For example, we use AT&T phones when we travel to Beijing as they have better reception there than some of the other carriers. Same carrier, so likely will ping off towers here, too?

 

[ZVT24]

If you believe that this LinkedIn is genuine(?) and truthful(?) you would think he had survival skills

https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnfitzpatrick220?challengeId=AQEDuxQeDDqlGgAAAYrDGtQPnzFdpIicDRMbxLzMiFlg_GvdqH_kABItUsppKsWlTNoXYclGnUfDKxCeMr7nXMtz7qFUPVlKsA&submissionId=8a42fe0a-9097-8717-85f1-0e7fb6cc9d49&challengeSource=AgEi0_mcwMaWSwAAAYrDG7G6mVvGFT0t7Hd2YsNDVpZBuvFJ6tAP7CT2nk4xAjA&challegeType=AgFGXPP-PF4hygAAAYrDG7G8kmgoW58aBn29wEz-NnEHhPuEVRGKpbc&memberId=AgG7JJe8EG5-kQAAAYrDG7G_hb6U67sxdLNm1eAWTqRQf_A&recognizeDevice=AgFU9TW_de9KwAAAAYrDG7HCb6kZLUkDviVH1JeL9F5X5vFBJ81x

(I could swear this used to have his last name not just "F" on it, but since I do not screen shot everything, maybe I am wrong.... odd if it changed recently. Does anyone else remember?)

IMO

This profile has 500+ connections and over 5K followers. I would expect for a person who is that connected and that active on SM, that there would be more people looking for him / posting his missing photo online. I could only find two posts on FB about his disappearance specifically (not including the posts with JF); one from Navy Seal Watch and one from an individual (I couldn’t find any connection between this person and JRF - there may be and I just can’t find it). I believe the Navy Seal Watch post came about after @hazel324 reached out to them to help get the word out? That post has only 2 comments and 5 shares.

Additionally, this profile is a LI Premium account. The least expensive LI Premium plan is $40/mo, so for someone of supposed limited means, that is not a nominal expense.

I am more inclined to believe this is the true LI profile of JRF: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-fitzpatrick-1693ba198/

Maybe he has 2 profiles, but my gut feeling is that JRF is not very active on SM.

IMO

 

[acutename]

IMO

This profile has 500+ connections and over 5K followers. I would expect for a person who is that connected and that active on SM, that there would be more people looking for him / posting his missing photo online. I could only find two posts on FB about his disappearance specifically (not including the posts with JF); one from Navy Seal Watch and one from an individual (I couldn’t find any connection between this person and JRF - there may be and I just can’t find it). I believe the Navy Seal Watch post came about after @hazel324 reached out to them to help get the word out? That post has only 2 comments and 5 shares.

Additionally, this profile is a LI Premium account. The least expensive LI Premium plan is $40/mo, so for someone of supposed limited means, that is not a nominal expense.

I am more inclined to believe this is the true LI profile of JRF: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-fitzpatrick-1693ba198/

Maybe he has 2 profiles, but my gut feeling is that JRF is not very active on SM.

IMO

I found the first profile in mid-July when this thread started. It has a few typos or spelling errors in it which I questioned. I did not see this one you found from Yucca, CA. Once some one becomes a news item, IMO, there are more chances for fakes and copies and who knows what. I do not even log into LinkedIn- just see the public profile, so I defer to anyone with more information.

BTW, I was rereading this thread and the initial post which quotes LE states that FJ was last heard from 7/22 (not 7/21) when "some one contacted her by telephone." I think we lost track of that in this thread- have been focusing on the 7/21 video as a "last contact."

 

[Bogbacal2]

I may be out of the loop, but I thought they both were still listed as voluntarily missing? I see JRFitzpatrick has a case number on NAMUS, can’t find anything on JFang.

Missing Person / NamUs #MP106457

View NamUs missing person case MP106457 for John Root Fitzpatrick missing from Morongo Valley, California. Date of last contact: Jul 22, 2023. NCMEC case number: --.

namus.nij.ojp.gov

 

[tarabull]

Missing Person / NamUs #MP106467

View NamUs missing person case MP106467 for Fang Jin missing from Morongo Valley, California. Date of last contact: Jul 20, 2023. NCMEC case number: --.

namus.nij.ojp.gov

ETA: FJ's has a detective assigned to her case
Agency Case Number
092301014
Date Reported
Jul 22, 2023
Tyler Bengard, Detective

JRF has a blank space in that spot where her's lists TB, D
Agency Case Number
092301031
Date Reported
Jul 30, 2023
--

ETA2: ALSO, DATE OF LAST CONTACT FOR FJ is listed as July 20th.

 

[mark1969]

I found the first profile in mid-July when this thread started. It has a few typos or spelling errors in it which I questioned. I did not see this one you found from Yucca, CA. Once some one becomes a news item, IMO, there are more chances for fakes and copies and who knows what. I do not even log into LinkedIn- just see the public profile, so I defer to anyone with more information.

BTW, I was rereading this thread and the initial post which quotes LE states that FJ was last heard from 7/22 (not 7/21) when "some one contacted her by telephone." I think we lost track of that in this thread- have been focusing on the 7/21 video as a "last contact."

Last videopost and messages to friends by Fang Jin's cellphone where done on California time 21st of July 22pm , (because her Chinese daughter reported this fact with her Chinese timestamp it looks like it was happened 15 hours later)
From 22nd of July until 25th of July family and friends tried to call her phone without answer , after that time the signal was death.... So the battery did hold for another 3 days...
If someone knows how to trace a Chinese Huawei phone with a death battery at least to show its last know location then this could be leading us to the phone and hopefully the missing persons ...

 

[ClaireNC]

IMO

This profile has 500+ connections and over 5K followers. I would expect for a person who is that connected and that active on SM, that there would be more people looking for him / posting his missing photo online. I could only find two posts on FB about his disappearance specifically (not including the posts with JF); one from Navy Seal Watch and one from an individual (I couldn’t find any connection between this person and JRF - there may be and I just can’t find it). I believe the Navy Seal Watch post came about after @hazel324 reached out to them to help get the word out? That post has only 2 comments and 5 shares.

Additionally, this profile is a LI Premium account. The least expensive LI Premium plan is $40/mo, so for someone of supposed limited means, that is not a nominal expense.

I am more inclined to believe this is the true LI profile of JRF: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-fitzpatrick-1693ba198/

Maybe he has 2 profiles, but my gut feeling is that JRF is not very active on SM.

IMO

Both profiles are definitely his. The JohnF one has old information and recommendations on it, from like 10 years ago when people first started using LinkedIn. When it was new, a lot of people jumped on and started writing recommendations as they built their networks. It was easy to get over 500 connections, especially within the military networks. JRF was a Navy Seal and he also did training, so he has tons of acquaintances but it seems like few real friends.

 

[ClaireNC]

Last videopost and messages to friends by Fang Jin's cellphone where done on California time 21st of July 22pm , (because her Chinese daughter reported this fact with her Chinese timestamp it looks like it was happened 15 hours later)
From 22nd of July until 25th of July family and friends tried to call her phone without answer , after that time the signal was death.... So the battery did hold for another 3 days...
If someone knows how to trace a Chinese Huawei phone with a death battery at least to show its last know location then this could be leading us to the phone and hopefully the missing persons ...

This is important information, thanks for letting us know. The phone records are really critical to finding her.
The phone company would need to supply that information. Does she share the phone plan with anyone? If there is another name on the account that person might be able to get a copy of the records from the phone company. If the phone plan is hers alone, it would probably take law enforcement to get the records. In the US, the police need to get a warrant to get the phone company to release any information.

 

[AnyNameIWish]

Would the average citizen in China be able to do a Google search?

No. Not from China. You'd be limited to other search engines so you'd have to pay for a service to do some digging. Which I think did happen.

when we talk about his phone pinging at a tower in Julian... what is the radius of this tower? That part of California is pretty remote /rural and towers are few and far between.

 

[megs1477]

IMO

This profile has 500+ connections and over 5K followers. I would expect for a person who is that connected and that active on SM, that there would be more people looking for him / posting his missing photo online. I could only find two posts on FB about his disappearance specifically (not including the posts with JF); one from Navy Seal Watch and one from an individual (I couldn’t find any connection between this person and JRF - there may be and I just can’t find it). I believe the Navy Seal Watch post came about after @hazel324 reached out to them to help get the word out? That post has only 2 comments and 5 shares.

Additionally, this profile is a LI Premium account. The least expensive LI Premium plan is $40/mo, so for someone of supposed limited means, that is not a nominal expense.

I am more inclined to believe this is the true LI profile of JRF: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-fitzpatrick-1693ba198/

Maybe he has 2 profiles, but my gut feeling is that JRF is not very active on SM.

IMO

He has an active security business. It is possible he does all his marketing, etc through LinkedIn.

Can you elaborate on the “limited means” comment? I don’t recall seeing that anywhere. It also doesn’t make sense to me given military pensions plus active business. Thank you

 

[ch_13]

He has an active security business. It is possible he does all his marketing, etc through LinkedIn.

Does he?

His resume is rather confusing. But I see two entries where he lists himself as a "private contractor". Neither is still active. One has his time of employment from Mar 2012 - Mar 2023, the other says Jan 2011 - Apr 2022. And neither entry lists any actual experiences or clients, which you would expect to see if he was marketing himself online as a security expert.

As for what he's doing currently, he only lists the following:

• Professional development, Career Break / Mar 2017 - Present · 6 yrs 7 mos
• School of hard knocks, Freelance / Feb 1971 - Present · 52 yrs 8 mos

There's also a newspaper report that he was doing food delivery in 2019.

(I'm actually his age and don't have a job myself, so I want to be clear that I'm not trying to denigrate him. I'm just trying to clarify his situation as it relates to this missing person case.)

 

[mark1969]

Thank you @tarabull for posting this. I am also bothered after seeing this photo bc of what I have marked with arrows below. It may be my eyes are seeing things that are not there but I can't unsee them and would like others to tell me if they see them too. TIA. First why are the tops of JRF's boots all sandy? When I looked at them more closely I noticed what appears to be a person a ways back behind JRF in the brush/maybe taking a bathroom break or shaking sand from something. The boots could have gotten sand on the top if JRF had been kneeling on a pad, feet off the pad sinking into the sand, perhaps to fix a tire or help fix a tire. OR the boots are just old and very scuffed on the top for some reason and then it's not sand at all.

Then there's the reflected shape in the back of JRF's passenger side mirror. It looks to me like JRF pulled over behind a white/light colored vehicle, possibly a pickup. That white/light vehicle driver door appears open. The dark shapes in the reflection middle I assumed are people in the back of the truck bed, maybe some workers.

View attachment 448770 Enhanced blowup of back reflection in JRF's passenger side mirror.

This could mean JRF & Fang Jin met up with others on this dirt road who turned out to be bad actors. Not speaking/figuring out Fang Jin's phone / Chinese, perhaps they ditched her phone and only kept JRF's for a couple days while hiding/getting rid of his blue truck.

OR it is totally nothing at all and I am just seeing things that don't exist. But I wanted to point it out bc it has been very difficult to unsee. My speculation, opinion only.
View attachment 448761View attachment 448762

View attachment 448763

Wow nice observations ... we should indeed try to trace exact location of this picture

 

[I'm Nobody]

Wow nice observations ... we should indeed try to trace exact location of this picture

@mark1969 I'm so sorry for what you are going through. The more I look at that picture, the more convinced I am Fang Jin & JRF spoke to other people that day. I grew up on a farm & seasonal workers often travel in the back bed of pickups going from farm to farm during harvest. From what I have read about the area around Julian, CA, there are a lot of orchards there, apples, pumpkins, flowers. The biggest farms where I grew up hired extra help at harvest & before harvest if opening to the public. If your PI could get flyers to the big orchards and their workers, somebody might have seen/spoken to your loved one. Those seasonal workers meet lots of other seasonal workers, usually not going the same farm every day/week, & talk to each other/ spreading the word. Some of the Julian orchards are also starting pick-your-own, opening the orchards to lots of visitors from around the area and tourists. This might be a great place to put flyers with a tip line number on it; if the farm owner would allow a volunteer to hand out flyers that would be even better. If you google orchards around Julian, Julian Apple, Apple Starr, Volcano Valley seem large and would probably be more likely to hire seasonal workers. Just a suggestion. MOO.

Wishing you the best. Blessings.

An interesting article about Julian called "More Pies than People" from sfgate:

https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/california-gold-rush-town-saved-by-apples-18303147.php

 

[ConundrumPonderer]

Sorry if this is already said, my RA has made typing a chore for a while, so I’m reading and rereading, and my have missed this. Oh, @mark1969 welcome, thank you for joining us!
All IMO.
I plotted out a route from Twentynine Palms, via Thermal, to Coronado. Why? The Navy. JRF is rightly proud of his service, and the USMC base at Twentynine Palms is famous, also home to USMC Spec Ops. Coronado is home for (The Navy SEALs) BUD/S. If I was Fang, I’d really want to see these famous bases, and find out more about my online/now IRL friend’s service. I think he was showing her the bases as part of the tour, taking in Thermal too.
https://bit.ly/3ZsCFdK (I hope that worked.)
JMO I think, if there was an accident, something happened to John, because, as I said before, if they got in trouble Fang was with one of the few people in the world who could really handle a scary situation, but if something incapacitated him, she’s going to be in trouble in that environment. I’m also concerned about the possibility they encountered dangerous people in the middle of nowhere. Yes, John could handle a lot, but on his own, he’s not Superman, and was he even armed?

 

[LucyOso]

He has an active security business. It is possible he does all his marketing, etc through LinkedIn.

Can you elaborate on the “limited means” comment? I don’t recall seeing that anywhere. It also doesn’t make sense to me given military pensions plus active business. Thank you

BBM. I think the poster was saying $40 a month is a lot for a profile. He most likely didn't have a high income. Self employed, most likely collecting some military benefits. Military pensions and military disability do not pay a ton of money, unless you meet certain criteria. Even then, it's not a lot. I don't want to make assumptions, but sometimes, living in the desert in an RV park, is due to financial reasons and the economy.

The other part of this is we have no way to verify his actual military career. In looking at the LinkedIn, I cant tell if he served a full 20 year period, so he might not have a pension. People don't automatically get money for being in the military unless they meet certain criteria.

Limited means-limited monthly income. However, the other side of that is he can deduct that as "business expenses" or advertising. So might be worth it whether or not it actually generated any business.

 

[sfinkz]

Sorry if this is already said, my RA has made typing a chore for a while, so I’m reading and rereading, and my have missed this. Oh, @mark1969 welcome, thank you for joining us!
All IMO.
I plotted out a route from Twentynine Palms, via Thermal, to Coronado. Why? The Navy. JRF is rightly proud of his service, and the USMC base at Twentynine Palms is famous, also home to USMC Spec Ops. Coronado is home for (The Navy SEALs) BUD/S. If I was Fang, I’d really want to see these famous bases, and find out more about my online/now IRL friend’s service. I think he was showing her the bases as part of the tour, taking in Thermal too.
https://bit.ly/3ZsCFdK (I hope that worked.)
JMO I think, if there was an accident, something happened to John, because, as I said before, if they got in trouble Fang was with one of the few people in the world who could really handle a scary situation, but if something incapacitated him, she’s going to be in trouble in that environment. I’m also concerned about the possibility they encountered dangerous people in the middle of nowhere. Yes, John could handle a lot, but on his own, he’s not Superman, and was he even armed?

Assuming FJ has an affinity for US military bases opens up a whole other can of worms. My assumption is FJ is a curious citizen of the world and her explorations of the desert region would include what’s pictured in the magazines; dramatic landscapes and vistas, dark night skies, civilized desert oases, etc.
Visiting military bases and staying in trailer parks may have resulted in tension over vastly different expectations of “the tour”. Though early images depict contentment in the initial days of the handful we know they were together, we all know how emotions can quickly and irrationally change for someone previously demonstrating anger/assault tendencies.
I always wish to favor misadventure in such cases but lack of vehicle is troubling, as are phone pings (aware of fairly recent incident in same vast area where vehicle stolen from trailhead).
Most troubling, however—as the search for FJ is hampered for ‘privacy concerns’ because of the possibility she is ‘voluntarily missing’, the sad irony of this case as it is the least likely possibility—is the fact that nobody is searching for JRF, apparently with more ex-spouses than people concerned with his well-being.
MOO

 

[buyerninety]

http://www.cellreception.com/towers/towers.php?city=julian&state_abr=ca

 

[mark1969]

Wow nice observations ... we should indeed try to trace exact location of this picture

Unfortuneatly I checked her original picture ... not discovering any persons in the back or reflections in the mirror ... so misleading picture tricks by someone ?

 

[ch_13]

BBM. I think the poster was saying $40 a month is a lot for a profile. He most likely didn't have a high income. Self employed, most likely collecting some military benefits. Military pensions and military disability do not pay a ton of money, unless you meet certain criteria. Even then, it's not a lot. I don't want to make assumptions, but sometimes, living in the desert in an RV park, is due to financial reasons and the economy.

The other part of this is we have no way to verify his actual military career. In looking at the LinkedIn, I cant tell if he served a full 20 year period, so he might not have a pension. People don't automatically get money for being in the military unless they meet certain criteria.

Limited means-limited monthly income. However, the other side of that is he can deduct that as "business expenses" or advertising. So might be worth it whether or not it actually generated any business.

Looking at that LinkedIn resume, JRF claims to have been in the Navy for 20 years, 1 months from Dec 1990 through Dec 2020. Assuming that's true then he's likely getting at least some pension. And it would be very common for someone in the armed forces to retire immediately after they become eligible to draw their pension.

For a few years in the early 2010s, he earned some certifications and apparently worked steadily. He has several jobs listed on his resume, doing maritime anti-piracy and as an instructor in crisis response, security and anti-terrorism. However the last job listed on his resume is with the State Department in 2015. Then starting in March 2017, the resume says he is on a 'Career Break' which continues to the present day.

So that sort of tracks with someone who may not have been able to find a job or else just voluntarily decide to take a hiatus around the mid-2010s. With low expenses he could live a simple life off his pension with no need to work. And perhaps supplementing his income by taking on the occasional side gig.

As a side note, I found that LinkedIn offers vets 1-year of free access to their premium service. So, it could be that he is taking advantage of that rather than paying $40/month.