CANADA Canada - Stephen Lapowich, 28, Toronto ON, 25 Mar 2011 - during P. Rico trip

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  • #61
Related ?
CANADA Marc Menard 44, missing in Mexico. - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2013/04/01/20700706.html

"Marc Menard, 44, lived just north of Montreal and was in regular contact with family and friends since he left in December for his three-month trip. He hasn't been heard from since March 14"

SNIP>

"Before Menard went missing he wrote on his Facebook page that he was returning to Quebec through customs at Nuevo Laredo, in the State of Tamaulipas, in the north of the country.

He was travelling with his dog in a white van. Menard took a trip to Mexico every year"
 
  • #62
Darkblue said:
It could be that he was using some leftover rewards points from something else other than a credit card.

It seems more and more likely that he engineered his own disappearance for whatever reason.

I wonder how the police found out that he went to the airport at all. I am thinking that he bought the ticket there so that there would be no trace of the purchase on his personal computer. Maybe he was banking on police not checking the airlines, or doing so at a point that would give him a head start.

Was he doing all this of his own volition, or was someone helping/encouraging/forcing him?

I wonder what police did find on his personal computer. Did he do research at all on his destination(s), or did he walk into the airport and just pick a country to go to with just a rough idea of what to expect? What was he thinking he was going to pay with when down there?
Click to expand...



bbm - I'm now wondering if he left his computer at home or if he took it with him on the trip (assuming it was a laptop).
There are so many questions and potential issues and potential clues that could be found on his computer, I would think LE would be able to find something. Or at least the absence of certain things could give some guidance.

It seems there would be some trace of dating sites or correspondence with people on forums or sites, emails and social media, research on travel and flights, general internet browsing history, etc.
I don't think it would be unususal to bring a laptop on a trip- and obviously in that case authorities wouldn't have access to his computer. It's just hard to believe his laptop wouldn't yield anything helpful.
 
  • #63
ttcRider said:
The pre-paid hair treatments and baseball dues are what keeps me from thinking it was a planned disappearance... unless they were paid way in advance and whatever made him decide to leave out weighed the loss?? I'm gonna :fence: for a while. This is very mysterious. Leaving his job without notice is alarming to me though.
Click to expand...

Just jumping off your post ttcRider.

I don’t think he’s missing voluntarily either. Maybe he was planning a career change and had lined up a new job and thought he’d take off for a few weeks and call everyone when he got to his holiday destination? And (after sleeping on it), I don’t believe the trip involved a clandestine love affair or alternative medical treatments, although it’s plausible.

Somewhere via the MSM links up-thread I read that Stephen had previously travelled internationally with his family and also with friends to both Las Vegas and Mexico. I wonder if he enjoyed playing poker or other gambling? — both Costa Rica and Puerto Rico are popular casino destinations.

This young man was obviously his mum’s hearts and flowers, so there’s no way, even if he was in trouble (brother is a lawyer), that he wouldn’t contact her IMO.
 
  • #64
  • #65
Up thread it mentioned he had $200 on him. I wonder if that was the last amount they could find that he withdrew from his account, and when? Its really not much money to go on vacation with even at an all inclusive for 3 weeks. Does he have more than that in his account but just hasnt accessed it or was that all he had? I would really like to know what was going on with him leading up to his disappearance. I think in there lies a whole lot of answers. He must have shared some of his plans with a friend, no?
I hope this latest wave of interest sparks someone's memory and helps piece those few days before his flight together. So many 'odd' occurances; leaving his job without notice, not accounted for days before his flight...
 
  • #66
  • #67
I must watch too much Locked Up Abroad, because this screams drug mule to me. Good job or not. IMO of course... I hope I do not offend anyone by sharing my personal opinion. Does not make this any less tragic at all - very sad when anyone goes missing.
 
  • #68
ttcRider said:
The pre-paid hair treatments and baseball dues are what keeps me from thinking it was a planned disappearance... unless they were paid way in advance and whatever made him decide to leave out weighed the loss?? I'm gonna :fence: for a while. This is very mysterious. Leaving his job without notice is alarming to me though.
Click to expand...


BBM... I agree about the job. And then he seemed to lay low someplace for 3 days in Toronto ??? Before leaving the country ?

Wonder if he became aware of some illegality connected to his job ? Or,and I hate to write it, I wonder if he himself had done something illegal in connection with his job ?

I also wonder if he had any other bank accounts outside of Canada ?

It is possible to hitch a ride on a fishing vessel on the west coast of Puerto Rico. The Dominican Republic is very close. There are many ex pat Canadians living there. If I had to guess, I would say that he might have done that...

Wonder if LE pinged his cell ?
JMO
 
  • #69
I thought about the drug mule angle as well but unless theres a call in centre you can use if your first destination has been cancelled and need a new location then its a hard sell. ;) His orginal plan was to go to Costa Rica. I watch way too much Locked Up Abroad too. :blushing:
 
  • #70
A popular "concept" in 2011...

http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2011/12/how-to/disappear-competely
"It seems you can't move in today's world without leaving a digital footprint. The good news is that escaping the panopticon doesn't have to mean living in a cave in Tora Bora. Frank Ahearn, a former skip-tracer and the author of How To Disappear, reveals how to pull off the ultimate vanishing act"
 
  • #71
was he married or had he been married prior?
 
  • #72
  • #73
I do take issue with the authorities and the media calling his trip out of the country a "vacation".

Admittedly there are few other descriptions for it, but he left under odd circumstances. The fact that he told nobody and kept the circumstances a secret makes it hard to fathom exactly why he left.

It could have been a holiday, or he could have "fled" the country, or whatever, but it is slightly misleading, and makes it tough for anyone reading about the case to get the full picture.

***

The fact that he left with all his identification still in Canada, save for the bare minimum to enter another country; his passport, is hard to understand any other way than a man who is slipping away and who does not want to maintain his previous identity. JMHO.
 
  • #74
liz b. said:
[/B]

BBM... I agree about the job. And then he seemed to lay low someplace for 3 days in Toronto ??? Before leaving the country ?

Wonder if he became aware of some illegality connected to his job ? Or,and I hate to write it, I wonder if he himself had done something illegal in connection with his job ?

I also wonder if he had any other bank accounts outside of Canada ?

It is possible to hitch a ride on a fishing vessel on the west coast of Puerto Rico. The Dominican Republic is very close. There are many ex pat Canadians living there. If I had to guess, I would say that he might have done that...

Wonder if LE pinged his cell ?
JMO
Click to expand...

That is an interesting point. He worked for a pension fund, I believe, at one time. He was working in the financial services industry.

I would imagine the police would have the accounts and projects he worked on checked to make sure there were was nothing amiss.

The police would have surely checked his apartment or house, too. Was there food still left in the fridge? What clothing/luggage/medications, if any were missing? Treasured items or heirlooms like jewlery, did he leave or take them? Did he empty a safe deposit box lately?
 
  • #75
So sad to see Stephen's thread already dropping back to page 3. I checked around but nothing new, not even on the fb page. It takes a lot of work to keep those who are missing in the fore front, its almost like a full time job. I hope their PI got some leads from the last PC.
 
  • #76
From my end, I ran a quick check on the Puerto Rico listing on the NAMUS site for unidentified remains.

I couldn't find a male body which had his characteristics, and fits the timeline, which is good.

If anyone cares to double check my work, please do, as I may have missed something.

Of course, this material may be disturbing, so please take care.


https://identifyus.org/en/cases/search
 
  • #77
Darkblue said:
From my end, I ran a quick check on the Puerto Rico listing on the NAMUS site for unidentified remains.

I couldn't find a male body which had his characteristics, and fits the timeline, which is good.

If anyone cares to double check my work, please do, as I may have missed something.

Of course, this material may be disturbing, so please take care.


https://identifyus.org/en/cases/search
Click to expand...

Thanks Darkblue. I checked with the info from the police report and didnt come up with anyone either.
 
  • #78
He left behind his driivers license. My thoughts are how was he getting around those few days before he boarded his flight, unless he didnt usually have access to a vehicle so didnt need it... Man this case is bugging me. Do we know if he had a cell phone? I went through the posts but my eyes are heavy and I've been on all day with the JA Trial. Did any of you check out MDJ International? No updates on Help find Stephen fb page either. The 'investigators' said he arrived in PR... investigators from MDJ OR LE?? I dont know why I feel this way but I dont think he left at all. Could he have gone through customs and then changed his mind and went back out??

:offtobed:
 
  • #79
If he backed out, I doubt he would have gotten a flight right away.

He would have been hanging around the terminal for a while. Where would he have gone then? If he flew out of PR, then where to? He would have likely been caught on surveillance tape if he were in an airport lounge. Where is the tape? Do the Puerto Ricans have any record of contact with him?

What would he have paid with? I am thinking he had a wad of cash stuffed in a sock, or something. Not too much, mind you, as there are maximum amounts of cash you can bring in to most countries, then having to declare them. (He would have made the authorities there suspicious).

I am sure his passport details have been sent to INTERPOL, and they would be flagged if he (or someone else) have used them at some other airport or border crossing somewhere.
 
  • #80
ttcRider said:
He left behind his driivers license. My thoughts are how was he getting around those few days before he boarded his flight, unless he didnt usually have access to a vehicle so didnt need it...

:offtobed:
Click to expand...


The thing with driver's licenses is that they are official, well regarded forms of photo identification...here in Canada and abroad.

I never go anywhere without mine, and I am sure many people don't, either.
You would think he would take that bit of I.D.

I don't want to sound alarmist, but I think that the most reasonable explanation is that this man wanted to disappear for whatever reason.

The reason nobody can find him is that he has applied forethought to the steps needed to disappear.

I could be wrong, but lack of any other logical explanation leads me to this conclusion.
 
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