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

[Seajay]

My school had 1 valedictorian. I wasn't it. LOL That was out of 400 students.

Considering the circumstances, I do not think August ran away from his family.

I can't imagine how hard it would be on his family members to have to leave the country, knowing August is left behind, but they also can't stay there indefinitely. They have jobs and responsiblities to go back to.

 

[JeannaT]

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.

The valedictorian is the person who delivers the valedictory speech, which is almost always the person who had the highest grade point average.

27% of the students aren't valedictorians. It's one person, who is the valedictorian.

Definition of valedictorian:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/valedictorian?s=t

 

[JeannaT]

SORRY!! I stand corrected. Apparently this school has decided to declare the top, like 30% graduates as all valedictorians.

Who knows why. But anyway, it's not the top graduate or the person who delivers the speech, it's a huge bunch of kids. Dilutes the title of valedictorian, frankly. Usually that means something to everyone. Valedictorian in this case means nothing.

 

[cluciano63]

OT but there was an article recently about schools having dozens of valedictorians. It is all about being PC and inclusive, kind of takes away from the original point IMO.

But I still think August most likely fell and has not been found yet.

 

[danzn16]

SORRY!! I stand corrected. Apparently this school has decided to declare the top, like 30% graduates as all valedictorians.

Who knows why. But anyway, it's not the top graduate or the person who delivers the speech, it's a huge bunch of kids. Dilutes the title of valedictorian, frankly. Usually that means something to everyone. Valedictorian in this case means nothing.

This is ridiculous. I guess it's almost like giving trophies to every participant in a sport? Ugh

But now where the heck is this boy? I wonder how good they were with the search?


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[cebee]

I wonder if he took off on a whim... planning to come back shortly, maybe had met someone and went off on what he thought would be a short adventure...and something happened elsewhere. I just dont see someone being kidnapped with his brother and family so close behind. I dont know the drug situation in the area, or whether August had any interest in that sort of thing (being smart and ambitious does not mean he would not have any interest...)
Things that scream " bad idea!!" to us as adults do not necessarily have the same effect on 18 year olds.. they are invincible you know...

 

[Elainera]

I wonder if he took off on a whim... planning to come back shortly, maybe had met someone and went off on what he thought would be a short adventure...and something happened elsewhere. I just dont see someone being kidnapped with his brother and family so close behind. I dont know the drug situation in the area, or whether August had any interest in that sort of thing (being smart and ambitious does not mean he would not have any interest...)
Things that scream " bad idea!!" to us as adults do not necessarily have the same effect on 18 year olds.. they are invincible you know...

I agree. It might well be not an either-or thing. Rather, one thing led to another. He might have met someone up there, planned or by chance, and gone with them, intending to be back in no time. And then something went wrong.

I wonder whether the handful of buildings and iirc one hotel at the top of the mountain have been checked out. Wonder if that hotel has security cams?

 

[Elainera]

The trail on the 3-hour hike is visible to the town. But when you get to the top point of the hike, there is a big plateau up there, with small farm fields, a village called Runtun, a restaurant "Cafe del Cielo", a luxury hotel "Luna Runtun", and a road leading down to the next valley. So if you have a car or truck handy, you can just hop in and drive away.

Here's an angled view from Google Earth, I put in the red line to show the *approximate* path of the hike.

Hotel Luna Runtun, includes the Cafe del Cielo: http://www.lunaruntun.com/index.html

Beautiful spot!

 

[SurfieTX]

I'm kind of reminded of that lady who was killed in Turkey by a random stranger (or so they say). She was a married, mother of 2 from New York. Everyone described her as responsible, smart (she too was going to college), and reliable. Now while traveling to Turkey on a brief vacation is not that dangerous, what she did do was meet people from Instagram. She even slept on the sofa of one of the men's homes in Amsterdam. So, I'm kind of on the fence as to whether August met up with someone. It is certainly possible since he had time to meet people on the internet and he speaks the language fairly fluently.

ETA: It would be nice to know if the family made an itinerary of their daily plans while on vacation there.

 

[OldSteve]

Thanks so much Elainera for the map view of area above!
I check to see if anything new happens here each day - so sad.

 

[wfgodot]

So if he was kidnapped....how long before the kidnappers get around to asking for ransom or releasing a list of demands? It's been almost two weeks now.

 

[Elainera]

Thanks so much Elainera for the map view of area above!
I check to see if anything new happens here each day - so sad.

That helpful map was provided by Paul! I just quoted his post.

 

[necco]

So if he was kidnapped....how long before the kidnappers get around to asking for ransom or releasing a list of demands? It's been almost two weeks now.

It could be months.

 

[wfgodot]

It could be months.

Could be. But why would it take months? Kidnappers for profit generally communicate the ransom demand soon after, as the cost and risk of keeping the victim alive are prohibitive; same with those who would kidnap for cause. Of course, it could be that the victim died soon after the kidnapping, which has happened.

 

[danzn16]

Relationship between Ecuador and the US is strained now become of the Snowden drauma. I hope that this does not involve the search for August.

The leftist government of Ecuador, under pressure from the Obama administration for considering a request for sanctuary from the American intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, announced Thursday that it will back out of a preferential trade pact with the United States that top Ecuadoran officials say is being used to blackmail their country.

Also this article states the US had the trade pact in order to generate jobs in countries involved with the drug trade, in which Ecuador is included. Many drug cartels use Ecuador to trade cocaine and exchange money.

The pact was designed to help generate jobs in countries involved in the drug trade; although Ecuador does not produce cocaine, it is an important drug conduit and is vulnerable to organized crime groups because of its weak institutions, according to State Department counternarcotics officials.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...40a06a-df61-11e2-8cf3-35c1113cfcc5_story.html

Anywhere there are multiple drug cartels means it's a dangerous place IMO. Could it be possible that August accidentally stumbled across a drug exchange or drug payment exchange?


Here is also another article about Ecuador and drug trafficking. Although 2 years old it seems the situation has not changed much for the better:

Violence in Ecuador is rising across the country, with crimes of all kinds up 15% to 50% last year compared with 2009 depending on the province, according to government figures. Although murders have declined in neighboring Colombia, they are on the rise here, doubling over the past 20 years to nearly 19 per 100,000 residents in 2009, the last year for which figures are available.

Fueling much of the violence is drug trafficking, which a decade ago was a relatively small law enforcement problem. Now, an estimated 200 tons of cocaine, or one-quarter of all that's manufactured yearly in Colombia and Peru, transits through Ecuador.
...Mexican, Russian, Chinese and Korean drug mafia members regularly visit to arrange deals, he said.

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/26/world/la-fg-ecuador-drugs-20110626

 

[danzn16]

Also I am not sure if the area August was in was less dangerous than other places in Ecuador. That article only spoke of Ecuador in general. I read that kidnappings are more common along the north of the country, close to the border of Columbia. Banos seems to be more in the middle of the country. I read that 11 US citizens have been kidnapped "in this region" in the last 11 years. It did not specify if they were talking about Banos or the northern region since it was speaking of both regions, lol

 

[JeannaT]

He's unusual and memorable looking. I'm inclined to believe the girl who thinks she saw him riding in a pick up truck toward the jungle.

 

[danzn16]

He's unusual and memorable looking. I'm inclined to believe the girl who thinks she saw him riding in a pick up truck toward the jungle.

I agree, I just saw the first picture of him and I think he would be easily spotted with that long hair. Unless that is common in Ecuador which I don't think it is.

 

[missgulfsouth]

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 know a very dear family who was close to their son, yet he committed suicide on Fathers Day. We never know what in someone's heart.

 

[missgulfsouth]

The valedictorian is the person who delivers the valedictory speech, which is almost always the person who had the highest grade point average.

27% of the students aren't valedictorians. It's one person, who is the valedictorian.

Definition of valedictorian:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/valedictorian?s=t

How absurd! My graduating class in 1993 had almost 200 people. We had ONE Valedictorian and ONE Salutatorian. The rest of us didn't feel entitled! This PC stuff is out of control.