Found Deceased CA - Rachel Nguyen, 20, & Joseph Orbeso, 21, Joshua Tree Nat'l Park, 27 July 2017 #1

[cool12]

Plz let this be something other than murder/suicide.


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[iliketotalk15]

no one wants to embrace in 120 degrees..

Well, if he just killed RN and then was about to kill himself, I doubt that would factor much into it...Sorry to be graphic.

 

[Force Ten]

I can only imagine their bodies and any blood/splatter were quite decomposed by the time they were found. I'm assuming that it was not immediately recognizable. Or it's also possible it was noticed at the scene but LE asked them not to disclose it.

If they found the gun, I think they were lost and miserable and choose to die some other way than dehydration/heat exhaustion. If the gun wasn't found.. *shrug*

Yes I was thinking the same, that it was done a mercy/suicide instead of murder/suicide. They could have been seriously delirious due to their circumstances. Throw a possible hallucinogen usage in there, well......

 

[bradfordsleuth]

This report from the Sheriff's Department indicates there were gunshot wounds.



https://local.nixle.com/alert/6217635/

In shock.
Tears.
How awful for their families!
Bad enough to first think that they got lost and succumbed to the elements...devastating to learn that the situation was so, so, so much worse than imagined.
So sad.

 

[2bees]

Then I hope orbeso’s father can confirm if that is indeed his son’s gun. Doesn’t make sense for his father to say all good things about his son if he saw that gun in his own son’s hands.

It makes sense that while he was part of the rescue and may have seen them, he probably wasn’t allowed to get up close.

 

[Elainera]

Plz let this be something other than murder/suicide.


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But how could that possibly be proven now after so much time has passed? Unless they left a note, which has not been mentioned so far, I don't see a way how it can be distinguished whether this was murder/suicide, accidental killing, or an agreed assisted suicide/suicide. I hope they are checking their phones, maybe they were still able to leave a message in there. Anybody have any ideas?

 

[Seajay]

OMG, I just read about the gunshots found. That is disturbing to say the least. Someone early on in this case mentioned murder-suicide here. They were right on target. Wow. Now I know why Rachel’s family wasn’t warm and fuzzy about Joseph. I wonder if they had an idea he was capable of doing this? So sad.

 

[Roadette]

I live not too far from there and would absolutely carry a gun if hiking in Joshua Tree. As someone else stated, it's the sort of place where you stay in your car as you're driving around and we've stashed one under my passenger seat in a locked car out in the desert. Highly illegal but you do what makes you feel better sometimes. Also carried one around out there/in 29 palms/etc.

If I was in their position of being lost with a horrible death ahead of me, I also would be tempted to shorten things myself. My first thought was that those poor people were trying to do themselves a favor. Maybe I'm just biased though because I can easily see how I would act in the circumstances.

 

[2bees]

OMG, I just read about the gunshots found. That is disturbing to say the least. Someone early on in this case mentioned murder-suicide here. They were right on target. Wow. Now I know why Rachel’s family wasn’t warm and fuzzy about Joseph. I wonder if they had an idea he was capable of doing this? So sad.

Her family are definitely victims so I’m not bad mouthing them but if you ask me, if I knew my daughter was with a sketchy dude it would have pushed me to scream louder and find her.

 

[Force Ten]

Now that I think about it, mercy/suicide seems unlikely. They had provisions nearby (some water and jerky) so they couldn't have been that desperate yet?

 

[Roadette]

I just joined this thread but do we know how much water and jerky?

 

[Elainera]

I thought I read there was no water left?

 

[2bees]

I thought I read there was no water left?

Yeah the post from dad said he at least had jerky and bananas but not enough water.

 

[whitelilac]

I thought I read there was no water left?

I thought so too....trail of empty bottles and food wrappers.

I'm leaning to mercy/ suicide....they were suffering and knew they would die imo.
If Joseph was planning to kill her, he could have done so and hid her, then claim they became separated and disoriented.
All depends of course of whether his gun was found and where his own gunshot wound was located.

This is so very tragic...they were so young.

 

[Roadette]

Gotcha, someone here said they had water. Given that they had none I'm back to leaning toward mercy/suicide as well.

 

[LisaWL7TR]

...and another report...

Hikers found in Joshua Tree: Man shot woman before killing himself, sheriff says
BBM

Officials now believe that one of the missing hikers found dead in Joshua Tree National Park may have shot and killed the other before turning the gun on himself, according to a San Bernardino County sheriff’s news release.

Authorities on Tuesday identified the two hikers whose bodies were found Sunday afternoon in a remote part of the park as Joseph Orbeso and Rachel Nguyen who went missing in late July. Also recovered was a handgun, officials confirmed Friday.

“Based on evidence located at the scene, detectives believe Orbeso shot Nguyen, then shot himself,” the sheriff’s release states. “The investigation into Orbeso’s actions remain under investigation.” However his ultimate motive may never be known.

More at link-
http://www.sbsun.com/2017/10/20/hik...oman-before-killing-himself-sheriff-says/amp/

 

[Spellbound]

I feel devastated. This is so sorrowful. :tears:

 

[2bees]

...and another report...

Hikers found in Joshua Tree: Man shot woman before killing himself, sheriff says
BBM



More at link-
http://www.sbsun.com/2017/10/20/hik...oman-before-killing-himself-sheriff-says/amp/

Ugh reading the dads quote again wasn’t fun. This is so sad because as noted in the article, they may never find answers as to what exactly happened. So sad.

 

[2bees]

You know, if dad is right about his son... then perhaps she was dying and he did shoot her to spare her the agony and then shot himself not wanting to live knowing he played part in her death. Just an assumption but my guess is it was his idea to go hiking to begin with.

 

[KaaBoom]

The autopsy/news reports gunshot wounds but doesn’t mention anything about the gun; whether it was recovered or not.. hm.

Now I’m thinking.. what if someone was specifically targeting and stalking them while they were on their hike? Could it be one of Rachel’s ex boyfriends or a maybe a love triangle that lured them into the shaded brush and ended both of their lives? Perhaps, Joseph and Rachel were begging for their lives and both murdered while locked in an embrace..

I think it is safe to say that the gun was recovered. I think they would have mentioned if, it was missing.