Ecuador - August Reiger, 18, US student, Banos, 16 June 2013

[PoirotryInMotion]

I'm also thinking that, as the authorities are so certain it was a kidnapping, and because Obama has labeled him a "missing Patriot," there is likely some significant intelligence that we don't know about concerning this case. The kid was a graduating valedictorian, with an interest in the region and fluency in Spanish. It's not too far out of the realm to consider that he may have even been specifically targeted,IMO. I'm wondering now if he applied to any S. American universities last year, with his credentials being sent down there during application processes.

 

[hannah1988]

While I still think it's possible August fell somewhere not yet searched, I don't believe he willingly left his family, for whatever reason. He is characterized by all who know him (family, teachers, friends) as unusually compassionate and close to his family. Such a person would never voluntarily 'go missing' on Father's Day (and during a graduation present family trip, no less).

I respectfully disagree. It is often just these types of people that leave willingly!

I have no doubt that August was a high-achieving, responsible, and compassionate young man, but because of this, he also might have put a lot of pressure on himself to make everyone around him happy. This kind of pressure can make you crack no matter how close you are to your family.

Obviously, I don't know if this is the case with August or not, but I definitely don't think it can be discounted.

 

[wfgodot]

I think I'm still going with "fell off trail" and, while the search probably looked good, it was more likely merely bustling and officious. Lots of territory there. I'd not put kidnapping in second but will as Ecuador itself is pushing that theory, and I can't figure out why they'd do that otherwise - most gov'ts would want to steer clear of potential damage to the tourist trade, I'd think. Left on own is a close third, an unlikely likely that can't be discounted. No one really knows what August had with him when he left (if he left). As the U.S. dollar is the currency in Ecuador, he wouldn't have even had to change his money.

 

[Hatfield]

Alright. I want to be careful here, because I'm not trying to imply anything. I just have a clarifying question.

I inferred from most of the news articles that August walked ahead of his family, and that his parents and younger brother were walking TOGETHER behind him. However, I just noticed a quote in this article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...g-Valedictorian-18-vanishes-hike-Ecuador.html

'We assumed that he'd be sitting there waiting for us,' he [August's father] told News9.
'In fact, the second son had gotten there before us, and he was sitting there waiting … but he hadn't seen his brother.'

This makes it sound that the family was more spread out - August and his brother going out in the front, and then his parents behind both of them. Do we know if August's brother was the last one to have contact with him?

This is important in that it shows to me anyway that both the boys had gone on ahead of their parents further than what it sounded like. They made it sound like they were not far in front, but I have a feeling they were much further out in front. Because the father indicated the other boy was waiting for them when they got there, so it wasnt like they were just a few feet in front of them.

JMO, but I think both boys were quite a ways in front, and I suspect the older boy may have either run ahead of the younger one like in a race or something and maybe that is how the boys got separated too.

It is strange how both boys were separated because you would think they would stay together.

Just some randome thoughts.
Did the boys get along nicely at the time? Sometimes brothers can have really serious arguments and fights while on trips with parents.

Could maybe one of the boys challenged the other to get closest to the edge of a cliff? Brothers usually are very competetive and challenge each other to daring contests and stuff like that.

I just hope the surviving brother is honest with everythign he knows.

This whole case is baffling.

I do agree with others about possible kidnap too. People dont realize how dangerous other countries are. There are a lot of people everywhere that have little money and would kill or kidnap for a few dollars.
They may have thought he had money and found out otherwise too late.

This is a sad case.

 

[Hatfield]

Tourists are often targeted because if you can afford to travel, you have more money that most Ecuadorians. That is true almost any place.

The place they were visiting with the cross on top sounds like a popular Tourist Attraction of sorts, for that particular area. If it was known by locals that tourists always went to this spot, then it is very possible that an abductor(s) would target this area for victims.

Does anybody know if this exact spot had any past cases of people being harrassed for money or abducted ?

 

[Hatfield]

This is just an example of something that happened while on a trip that shows that possible collusion and cooperation amongst thieves with the organizers of the trip sometimes occurs as well.

Before our trip, we had heard rumors about a car theft ring at the place where our airplane was to take off from and where they have us leave the cars in a "locked" gated enclosure. We were going to be gone for a week and all the organizers of the trip knew it, as well as anybody else that knew about these trips that happened on a frequent basis.

Since our people heard the rumors, we pulled the engine fuse from the engine fuse box before we left our vehicle in the gated area. We felt uncomfortable sharing with anybody else because we thought they were just rumors and were not too worried.

Well, on the return flight, we heard many discussions about the alleged organized car theft ring, as the plane was small and we could overhear others. There were many people concerned about their cars on that flight and all the talk was about whether their cars would be there. Other people must have heard the rumors too and shared it with others by that return flight.

Sure enough, when we landed, at least 4 nice 4-wheel drive vehicles were missing, and people were very upset. Ours was fine of course mainly because it was not the type of car being targeted. When the local police got there, it seemed really strange as they took the "report" and did not seem to care about the people's predicament. More rumors flew about whether the local police themselves may also have been involved in this car theft ring.

Long story short....This proved to me that collusion and cooperation amongst thieves and organizers of trips is a very real threat.

P.S. This car theft ring had been going on for years prior to our trip, so it is not like the police and the organizers did not know about it or take more steps to prevent it.

I am not going to share the place we were out of respect for the honest people living in the area. All the proper authorities were notified abroad as well as here in the US, and a lot was done after that trip to help others in the future be aware of the dangers on that particular trip.

 

[necco]

Hatfield-
Excellent post! I had an experience where the police in a Latin American country tried to take a "payment" from us at a "checkpoint." Our cabbie apparently knew that's what they were up to and blew the checkpoint. (My life didn't flash before my eyes but I do remember thinking "Either this is how I die OR I'm going to have an awesome story to tell when I get home.")

99.9% of people are essentially good, as evidenced by your reluctance to indicate what country you were in and by the shopkeeper that kept me from harm and my maniacal taxi driver. And it is those 99.9% of people that keep me traveling, but the .1% occasionally win and someone pays the ultimate price. I hope that's not what happened here.

This is just an example of something that happened while on a trip that shows that possible collusion and cooperation amongst thieves with the organizers of the trip sometimes occurs as well.

Before our trip, we had heard rumors about a car theft ring at the place where our airplane was to take off from and where they have us leave the cars in a "locked" gated enclosure. We were going to be gone for a week and all the organizers of the trip knew it, as well as anybody else that knew about these trips that happened on a frequent basis.

Since our people heard the rumors, we pulled the engine fuse from the engine fuse box before we left our vehicle in the gated area. We felt uncomfortable sharing with anybody else because we thought they were just rumors and were not too worried.

Well, on the return flight, we heard many discussions about the alleged organized car theft ring, as the plane was small and we could overhear others. There were many people concerned about their cars on that flight and all the talk was about whether their cars would be there. Other people must have heard the rumors too and shared it with others by that return flight.

Sure enough, when we landed, at least 4 nice 4-wheel drive vehicles were missing, and people were very upset. Ours was fine of course mainly because it was not the type of car being targeted. When the local police got there, it seemed really strange as they took the "report" and did not seem to care about the people's predicament. More rumors flew about whether the local police themselves may also have been involved in this car theft ring.

Long story short....This proved to me that collusion and cooperation amongst thieves and organizers of trips is a very real threat.

P.S. This car theft ring had been going on for years prior to our trip, so it is not like the police and the organizers did not know about it or take more steps to prevent it.

I am not going to share the place we were out of respect for the honest people living in the area. All the proper authorities were notified abroad as well as here in the US, and a lot was done after that trip to help others in the future be aware of the dangers on that particular trip.

 

[lillygator]

I too can't take the missing voluntairly off the table, there have been too many cases on here even that no matter what family and friends say, it happened.

I think if he had fallen he would have been found by now.

 

[Hatfield]

Hatfield-
Excellent post! I had an experience where the police in a Latin American country tried to take a "payment" from us at a "checkpoint." Our cabbie apparently knew that's what they were up to and blew the checkpoint. (My life didn't flash before my eyes but I do remember thinking "Either this is how I die OR I'm going to have an awesome story to tell when I get home.")

99.9% of people are essentially good, as evidenced by your reluctance to indicate what country you were in and by the shopkeeper that kept me from harm and my maniacal taxi driver. And it is those 99.9% of people that keep me traveling, but the .1% occasionally win and someone pays the ultimate price. I hope that's not what happened here.

Thanks Necco. I love traveling too and we have just learned to be very aware and try to take as many steps as possible to be safe when traveling.

We go to extreme measures like keeping money in our socks and all kinds of precautions. :floorlaugh:

 

[katydid23]

Well, maybe his parents going along was THEIR idea, and not his. Perhaps he saw it as a great opportunity to break free. Let's face it, he can speak the language fluently. I don't imagine it would be difficult to find someone willing to help him hide. It's not like he's running from the law, all he has to do is say "I'm sick of my parents and I want to be left alone", I'm sure someone would take pity on him and let him hide out for a while.

Obviously, this is best case scenario. No one wants this to be a kidnapping. I personally don't believe he was. MOO

But the thing is, he was the valedictorian, and had an exciting college scholarship awaiting him, IIRC. It would seem weird that he would drop all of that to run away in So. America. What for? He was about to go away for school. No need to run away NOW to be free from his folks. Freedom from them was just a couple of months away.

 

[wfgodot]

He was one of 30-40 valedictorians at Classen.

Per scholarships, I've read he had a full scholarship offer at the University of Oklahoma, in his home state.

 

[Elainera]

But the thing is, he was the valedictorian, and had an exciting college scholarship awaiting him, IIRC. It would seem weird that he would drop all of that to run away in So. America. What for? He was about to go away for school. No need to run away NOW to be free from his folks. Freedom from them was just a couple of months away.

Respectfully, I think you are assuming too much here. Maybe he didn't want to continue school, at least not immediately. Maybe there was pressure on him that he perform well academically. Wouldn't be a first. Maybe he wanted some time off, more than 2 weeks with the parents could give him.

Just moo.

EtA: wfgodot had similar thoughts I see.

 

[PoirotryInMotion]

Respectfully, I think you are assuming too much here. Maybe he didn't want to continue school, at least not immediately. Maybe there was pressure on him that he perform well academically. Wouldn't be a first. Maybe he wanted some time off, more than 2 weeks with the parents could give him.

Just moo.

EtA: wfgodot had similar thoughts I see.

He could have had that sort of break without upsetting his family. He's 18, an adult legally.

No, I don't see a "great kid" who was cared about by so many, close with his family, and had just bought jewelry for his girlfriend as suddenly taking off on Father's Day in the middle of a hike with no water and no money on him, and breaking his parents' (and close friends') hearts when he could have had the freedom to explore on his own WITH their blessing (stated in MSM article upthread that they'd have had no problem with it). Just don't see that at all. :cow:

 

[PoirotryInMotion]

Jeff Dunsavage ‏@MissingAmerican 3h

Nightline tonight: case of August Reiger, Oklahoma valedictorian missing in Ecuador. Tune in at 12:30 on your local ABC, after J. Kimmel.

 

[hannah1988]

He was one of 30-40 valedictorians at Classen.

Per scholarships, I've read he had a full scholarship offer at the University of Oklahoma, in his home state.

30 to 40 Valedictorians! That's crazy. I was tied for valedictorian and the tie breaker was AP credits...I lost. I've never heard of that many valedictorians! Still a great accomplishment though.

 

[PoirotryInMotion]

I've traveled more than a couple times to S. America, and have to agree with what necco and Hatfield have been posting about the unique risks that foreign travel can bring in these countries. It's hard to imagine, I think, unless you've experienced it for yourself. The risks are real even when the government and LE are sympathetic, and aggressively pursuing resolution to your problem, as in this case. (Often they are not, which compounds the risks.)

 

[PoirotryInMotion]

30 to 40 Valedictorians! That's crazy. I was tied for valedictorian and the tie breaker was AP credits...I lost. I've never heard of that many valedictorians! Still a great accomplishment though.

It was b/c Classen is a school for advanced students to begin with. So a disproportionate number had 4.0 or greater GPAs.

 

[danzn16]

I just can't see this boy walking away in a different country with his parents there, on the same dang hike as he was on. What a cruel, cruel thing to do. I can't imagine what it would feel like to have to search for your son in a different country. The panic of not being able to find him in the wooded area and not having help immediately because you'e in a different country and probably had no workable cell phones, not being sure who is best to contact, etc, etc.

 

[necco]

I've traveled more than a couple times to S. America, and have to agree with what necco and Hatfield have been posting about the unique risks that foreign travel can bring in these countries. It's hard to imagine, I think, unless you've experienced it for yourself. The risks are real even when the government and LE are sympathetic, and aggressively pursuing resolution to your problem, as in this case. (Often they are not, which compounds the risks.)

Bolded by me.

Yes, I honestly think if I heard someone talking about the things I've experienced traveling and had never left the US or only been to Western Europe, I would think the person was embellishing to make the story seem better.

 

[hannah1988]

It was b/c Classen is a school for advanced students to begin with. So a disproportionate number had 4.0 or greater GPAs.

The graduating class is about 128 students. That means that about 27% of students are called the "valedictorian"...

Sorry. I hesitate to even post this because its OT and I don't want to try to take anything away from August's accomplishments. I'm just a little shocked that a school would do this.