GA GA - Lam Ngoc Dang, 19, Gainesville/ Lake Lanier, 7 Sept 2016

[Ccosta1]

“After I received your email this morning, I contacted our Game Wardens who were involved in the searches for Lam Ngoc Dang back in 2016 to see if there has been any new information. Unfortunately, there has been none.

At the time of his disappearance, we utilized all of our search tools available - side and sector scan sonar, helicopter, patrol boat surface searches, and foot patrol shoreline and area searches. As I remember, we conducted these searches for several weeks until we believed we had exhausted our efforts. Based on where his vehicle was located and the location of his kayak, the search area of the lake was very large , and much of it over 100 feet deep, with the bottom covered in standing timber, all of this making the search more difficult.

I wish I had better news for you, but unless someone comes forward with new information on where he may have gone down, or that he was seen out of the water, we really have no more leads to follow.

I certainly hope he is found alive someday and please let the family know that they remain in our thoughts as they continue to grieve.”

this is an email from the officer who was in charge of the searches. If this help with anything.

 

[Lilibet]

Thanks so much for the timeline and other answers @Ccosta1. It does help. I know I’m pestering you with questions that are hard to answer, but you’ve done great. I’m impressed with the effort his family and friends put into finding him. Often people expect the police to do all the legwork. The email you received describes a very thorough search considering the size of the lake and not knowing for sure how far he had paddled. If they had found anything using sonar they would very likely have sent divers.

It sounds as if the duffel bag may not have been found near the kayak. To me it would be logical for him to have left it in a bush near his car, rather than take it with him, unless it contained things he would need while kayaking. If it was found in the general area he parked his car, it sounds like he planned to return to his car, but didn’t. That tells me he didn’t orchestrate his disappearance. That scenario strains credulity, unless something unknown was going on in his life and he needed to escape. We almost always think about the possibility of a voluntary disappearance in a missing person case because that means the person is alive, but it is extremely rare, unfortunately.

To discuss some of your thoughts....

Not wanting the phone to get wet is quite likely the reason he left it in the car. Makes sense.

It’s possible the people thought at first you were talking about their kayak or they may have found it in the water and brought it ashore, planning to keep it, as you mentioned. If they found it and retrieved it they should have assumed someone needed rescuing and called for help. The kayak would be stored on land upside down to keep rain or other stuff like leaves out of it, so that doesn’t seem odd to me.

If he ran into trouble on the water and overturned because of the wake of a power boat, the kayak would still be in good condition as it drifted to shore. To get a sense of how experienced kayakers view Lake Lanier, google his alternate name Lam Dang Ma that I found in an article. One of the results will be the forum that starts with an “r”. There is a discussion of his disappearance there. We are not allowed link it or to bring specific information from that forum to Websleuths because the members are often giving opinions as facts. Here at WS we have to back up anything we claim is a fact with a link to mainstream media. After reading there about how dangerous the lake is, I went looking for reputable links which I posted above. But I think reading first hand experiences and opinions there would be a good idea.

I hate to be this blunt as we all hope against hope that he is alive, but given the totality of the circumstances I think that’s very unlikely. I’m so sorry.

 

[Ccosta1]

Hello I have just unconvered some crucial information. From a friend of lam. Give me a second let me try and piece this together.

 

[Ccosta1]

If he ran into trouble on the water and overturned because of the wake of a power boat, the kayak would still be in good condition as it drifted to shore. To get a sense of how experienced kayakers view Lake Lanier, google his alternate name Lam Dang Ma that I found in an article. One of the results will be the forum that starts with an “r”. There is a discussion of his disappearance there.

This mention of googling his alternate name what is the name of the article ? I can’t find one with the forum that starts with an “r”. Is this a ******post? If so then I may have been the one to post it.

 

[Lilibet]

This mention of googling his alternate name what is the name of the article ? I can’t find one with the forum that starts with an “r”. Is this a Reddit post? If so then I may have been the one to post it.

Yes, it’s the forum that starts with an “r”, not an article. So if you posted it, you may have read the replies already. They are almost all about three years old.

I don’t mean to be cryptic about the name of the forum, but it’s not allowed on WS and I’ve seen the name ****** out by mods.

 

[Ccosta1]

Well actually I have seen this post on Reddit of his disappearance. I read through all the comments on there. I see how they view kayaking on the lake.

Yes, it’s the forum that starts with an “r”, not an article. So if you posted it, you may have read the replies already. They are almost all about three years old.

I don’t mean to be cryptic about the name of the forum, but it’s not allowed on WS and I’ve seen the name ****** out by mods.

Ah I see. I just contacted a friend of Lams who said she got a strange text message from him the day of his disappearance.
I will ask her if it’s okay if I upload our massages

 

[Lilibet]

Well actually I have seen this post on Reddit of his disappearance. I read through all the comments on there. I see how they view kayaking on the lake.

Ah I see. I just contacted a friend of Lams who said she got a strange text message from him the day of his disappearance.
I will ask her if it’s okay if I upload our massages

I’m not sure uploading would be approved of by WS Terms of Service (we’re on thin ice as it is). Can you give us the gist of his message?

 

[Lilibet]

Technically, you or family should apply to be a “verified insider.” But I’m not a mod, so I’ll just give you the info if you want to go through that process. Personally, I believe you are who you say you are, but WS is very careful to make sure random people aren’t posting as insiders.

Verification Process for Professional or Insider Posters

 

[Ccosta1]

I’m not sure uploading would be approved of by WS Terms of Service (we’re on thin ice as it is). Can you give us the gist of his message?

Oh yes of course.
he asked if an iPhone could be tracked by an android.
And when she asked why all he said was “I was just asking”
and he also went twice to the lake two days in a row I believe according to his friend. On September 6th they found a receipt in the trash for Chick-fil-A. He also went to a buffet that week.
The buffet couldn’t pull hp footage for some reason.
It was also the very beginning of his junior year of college at UGA and he sent his friend a picture of him there on the first day of school but apparently he hadn’t been to classes a couple days after that.
His parents and family were expecting him to come home the night of September 7th because the next day he was supposed to bring his brother and friends to Savannah ga to view the college that his younger brother was attending.
His friend checks his emails regularly to see what goes on. She saw a couple attempts to change the password but it might also be hackers or scammers.
One stood out to her though and that was an attempt by an iphone5 to log into his iCloud account. But again it could be scammers.
Some time in 2019 his friend checked his credit and saw some recent thing about a car but couldn’t get any more information from that. And there has been nothing since.
The private investigator they hired said since the case is so old his case is in archived files and can’t do much.

that is all I found so far.

 

[Ccosta1]

Technically, you or family should apply to be a “verified insider.” But I’m not a mod, so I’ll just give you the info if you want to go through that process. Personally, I believe you are who you say you are, but WS is very careful to make sure random people aren’t posting as insiders.

Verification Process for Professional or Insider Posters

Okay I will try and verify myself. Again I am fairly new to this website and had no idea this stuff needed to be done.! I am sorry about that.

 

[Lilibet]

Oh yes of course.
he asked if an iPhone could be tracked by an android.
And when she asked why all he said was “I was just asking”
and he also went twice to the lake two days in a row I believe according to his friend. On September 6th they found a receipt in the trash for Chick-fil-A. He also went to a buffet that week.
The buffet couldn’t pull hp footage for some reason.
It was also the very beginning of his junior year of college at UGA and he sent his friend a picture of him there on the first day of school but apparently he hadn’t been to classes a couple days after that.
His parents and family were expecting him to come home the night of September 7th because the next day he was supposed to bring his brother and friends to Savannah ga to view the college that his younger brother was attending.
His friend checks his emails regularly to see what goes on. She saw a couple attempts to change the password but it might also be hackers or scammers.
One stood out to her though and that was an attempt by an iphone5 to log into his iCloud account. But again it could be scammers.
Some time in 2019 his friend checked his credit and saw some recent thing about a car but couldn’t get any more information from that. And there has been nothing since.
The private investigator they hired said since the case is so old his case is in archived files and can’t do much.

that is all I found so far.

That’s a lot! Quite honestly, up through the part about his expected trip to Savannah, my mind went to suicide. It’s unfortunately not unheard of among college students.

However, the attempts to change a password and log into his iCloud account are mysterious. As you say, they could be scammers. The car thing on his credit report in 2019 is very odd. Are you sure there’s no way to go further with that?

I did look for information about sort of random credit checks and found this...

“When a company checks your credit report to make a promotional offer or when your lender conducts periodic reviews of your existing credit accounts, it is called a soft inquiry. Soft inquiries also occur when you check your own credit report or when you use credit monitoring services from companies like Experian.”

Can Businesses Run My Credit Without My Permission?

Also...
“There are some situations, however, in which a business will check your credit through a soft inquiry, also known as a soft pull, to determine whether you're eligible for a preapproved offer. In many cases, businesses with a legitimate reason can initiate a soft pull without your permission. (If you've received a targeted credit card offer in the mail, it was probably a result of a soft pull by a lender.)”

So it might not mean that he was trying to get a loan.

It’s not considered kosher for a private individual to check your credit rating without permission, but I can certainly understand “asking forgiveness instead of permission” in this situation.

Can Someone Run a Credit Check Without My Permission?

 

[Lilibet]

Okay I will try and verify myself. Again I am fairly new to this website and had no idea this stuff needed to be done.! I am sorry about that.

No worries. I could have told you earlier, but we moved along pretty rapidly before it occurred to me that it might be a good idea. I understand the verification process can take awhile if staff is busy so don’t get discouraged. We can continue our conversation while you wait IMO.

 

[Lilibet]

It was also the very beginning of his junior year of college at UGA and he sent his friend a picture of him there on the first day of school but apparently he hadn’t been to classes a couple days after that.
His parents and family were expecting him to come home the night of September 7th because the next day he was supposed to bring his brother and friends to Savannah ga to view the college that his younger brother was attending.

Did anyone check his class schedule to see if he actually had classes on the days he missed? Was his major particularly difficult or one he wasn’t really interested in pursuing? I ask that because my husband’s college roommate was told by his parents he could only go to the university if he majored in chemistry. If he majored in his real interest, history, he would have to live at home and go to the local state college. He went to the university and majored in chemistry. Incidentally, his parents were immigrants who really wanted their two sons to succeed. I assume Lam’s parents are immigrants, perhaps from Vietnam? Don’t feel pressure to discuss it here, but I wonder if a similar dynamic was happening in his case.

Another thing to think about, not necessarily needing discussion here, is Lam’s relationships, with the younger brother he was supposed to visit and with his other brother, other family and friends. Any romantic relationships gone bad?

I think it’s important to think honestly about these issues to determine if he had any extra stress in his life. Again, no need to reveal this here.

 

[Ccosta1]

Did anyone check his class schedule to see if he actually had classes on the days he missed? Was his major particularly difficult or one he wasn’t really interested in pursuing? I ask that because my husband’s college roommate was told by his parents he could only go to the university if he majored in chemistry. If he majored in his real interest, history, he would have to live at home and go to the local state college. He went to the university and majored in chemistry. Incidentally, his parents were immigrants who really wanted their two sons to succeed. I assume Lam’s parents are immigrants, perhaps from Vietnam? Don’t feel pressure to discuss it here, but I wonder if a similar dynamic was happening in his case.

Another thing to think about, not necessarily needing discussion here, is Lam’s relationships, with the younger brother he was supposed to visit and with his other brother, other family and friends. Any romantic relationships gone bad?

I think it’s important to think honestly about these issues to determine if he had any extra stress in his life. Again, no need to reveal this here.

Well actually his parents are immigrants and they want their sons to succeed but they are very understanding parents very nice and accepting of what their sons do. They have three sons Lam is the oldest (the one who went missing) then there is a middle child with the same name and then a younger brother. The brother he was supposed to take to his college went to an art college that his parents fully supported. I don’t think there was any added stress. But the friend I was texting said he was a bit sad due to regular school stress and worried about jobs but I’m not sure if it was enough for him to end his life. But I can’t say for sure that’s what it is... no sour relationships that I know of.

 

[Ccosta1]

Did anyone check his class schedule to see if he actually had classes on the days he missed? Was his major particularly difficult or one he wasn’t really interested in pursuing? I ask that because my husband’s college roommate was told by his parents he could only go to the university if he majored in chemistry. If he majored in his real interest, history, he would have to live at home and go to the local state college. He went to the university and majored in chemistry. Incidentally, his parents were immigrants who really wanted their two sons to succeed. I assume Lam’s parents are immigrants, perhaps from Vietnam? Don’t feel pressure to discuss it here, but I wonder if a similar dynamic was happening in his case.

Another thing to think about, not necessarily needing discussion here, is Lam’s relationships, with the younger brother he was supposed to visit and with his other brother, other family and friends. Any romantic relationships gone bad?

I think it’s important to think honestly about these issues to determine if he had any extra stress in his life. Again, no need to reveal this here.

Also I need to ask whether his schedule or major was particularly hard. We also believe he used the same doctors excuse twice where the second one he edited the date. This is coming from the second eldest brother.

 

[Lilibet]

Well actually his parents are immigrants and they want their sons to succeed but they are very understanding parents very nice and accepting of what their sons do. They have three sons Lam is the oldest (the one who went missing) then there is a middle child with the same name and then a younger brother. The brother he was supposed to take to his college went to an art college that his parents fully supported. I don’t think there was any added stress. But the friend I was texting said he was a bit sad due to regular school stress and worried about jobs but I’m not sure if it was enough for him to end his life. But I can’t say for sure that’s what it is... no sour relationships that I know of.

That’s neat that his parents were so supportive.

It’s hard to know whether his “sadness” was really undiagnosed clinical depression or just college concerns. But the word jumps out at me. Especially if he was normally pretty upbeat and even-keeled.

Also I need to ask whether his schedule or major was particularly hard. We also believe he used the same doctors excuse twice where the second one he edited the date. This is coming from the second eldest brother.

I don’t suppose there was a way to get any information from the doctor with HIPAA regulations in place. Wondering about the possibility of a prescription for an antidepressant. Some are known for causing “suicide ideation.” It’s concerning that he apparently edited the date to excuse another absence without seeing the doctor again. Was this right before he disappeared?

Please don’t be offended or think I’m pushing a suicide scenario. It’s just that I’ve seen it with male college students in cases here on WS. It can be an offensive or uncomfortable topic for some, especially family and close friends. Many prefer to think of an accident or even an abduction rather than self harm, and that’s completely understandable. As I said earlier, I don’t think it’s likely that Lam is alive unfortunately, so however it happened is kind of moot at this point. I have no desire to cause added pain. But if there is even a remote chance he may have just “needed a break” understanding his state of mind would be helpful. I will follow your lead on this.

 

[Ccosta1]

That’s neat that his parents were so supportive.

It’s hard to know whether his “sadness” was really undiagnosed clinical depression or just college concerns. But the word jumps out at me. Especially if he was normally pretty upbeat and even-keeled.



I don’t suppose there was a way to get any information from the doctor with HIPAA regulations in place. Wondering about the possibility of a prescription for an antidepressant. Some are known for causing “suicide ideation.” It’s concerning that he apparently edited the date to excuse another absence without seeing the doctor again. Was this right before he disappeared?

Please don’t be offended or think I’m pushing a suicide scenario. It’s just that I’ve seen it with male college students in cases here on WS. It can be an offensive or uncomfortable topic for some, especially family and close friends. Many prefer to think of an accident or even an abduction rather than self harm, and that’s completely understandable. As I said earlier, I don’t think it’s likely that Lam is alive unfortunately, so however it happened is kind of moot at this point. I have no desire to cause added pain. But if there is even a remote chance he may have just “needed a break” understanding his state of mind would be helpful. I will follow your lead on this.

I am not quite sure. But his friend is a nurse and she said that in his email it says he went in for a physical so it wasn’t a intense doctors visit about mental health. But it is strange he altered the dates. At the moment me and his brother are trying to find a box that has lams old gps in it that showed where his locations were leading up to the disappearance.

 

[Ccosta1]

I am not quite sure. But his friend is a nurse and she said that in his email it says he went in for a physical so it wasn’t a intense doctors visit about mental health. But it is strange he altered the dates. At the moment me and his brother are trying to find a box that has lams old gps in it that showed where his locations were leading up to the disappearance.

And yes it was leading up to his disappearance when he altered the doctors notes.

 

[Lilibet]

I am not quite sure. But his friend is a nurse and she said that in his email it says he went in for a physical so it wasn’t a intense doctors visit about mental health. But it is strange he altered the dates. At the moment me and his brother are trying to find a box that has lams old gps in it that showed where his locations were leading up to the disappearance.

Maybe he didn’t think the doctor would excuse him two days in a row. I assume this physical was at the university health clinic? I would expect a competent doctor to ask mental health questions as part of a physical, but maybe not.

And yes it was leading up to his disappearance when he altered the doctors notes.

So something was up with Lam.

I was curious and checked out when the academic year began in 2016. It was a very early Thursday August 11.

“When UGA students returned last week, there were six weeks left of summer as Aug. 11 was the earliest start students and faculty began an academic year.”

So he’d been attending classes for almost a month when he altered the dates of the doctor’s excuse note and disappeared.

Earlier UGA semester start leads to record-breaking semester length

 

[Ccosta1]

So something was up with Lam

I would think so ... this is where we kind of got cut off after this tip... now we are trying to find more with the items that his brothers found in his car like his gps and his camera. It is very frustrating it walls could talk.. or lake Lanier ... if Lake Lanier could talk .. oh the stories it would have.