Mexico Mexico - Jenny Chen, 26, Oaxaca, 11 April 2016 #3

[Lilibet]

I had to go back and search and I found what I was looking for. They met at a place the Chinese call an "English Corner". It's an interesting cultural phenomena where people gather and, as JR said, they practice speaking English! I could see where an English-speaking foreigner there might go to one of these events to enjoy feeling like a rock star, lol.

Here's the link to the news article where It says they met at an "English Corner" event, and the second link explains what these events are.

Was Jenny one of the women who specifically go to look for a foreign boyfriend? I note that she was the pursuer, asking JR out on a date first, according to the news article.

http://nwasianweekly.com/2016/06/hu...-of-seattle-was-last-seen-in-april-in-oaxaca/

"Reinhard said he and his wife have been together for eight years. They met while he lived in China and he attended an event called “English Corner” by a lake, which was a gathering place for Chinese who want to practice their English."

http://thefaceofchina.com/2014/01/09/english-corner-china’s-free-speech-zone/

"Some female Chinese participants specifically attend English Corner in hopes of finding a foreign boyfriend or, better yet, husband. Long time English Corner participants tell stories of marriages that originated at English Corner, further strengthening the legitimacy of the institution."

Thanks so much for finding this link, slowpoke. It's clear now that JR went to English Corner on his own, not as part of a scam of being approached on the street and taken to have an expensive tea somewhere. The article about English Corner is fascinating. We don't know if the appeal to him was being a "rock star" as the article puts it, or to find a girlfriend...or both. It seems that Jenny was looking for a boyfriend or husband and was the pursuer. He says they've been together eight years, so it sounds like they became exclusive fairly soon after meeting. I have to think that Jenny invested a lot of time in JR if she just viewed him as a ticket to the U.S. They didn't marry for five years.

Unfortunately, we still don't have a clue why Jenny impulsively decided to travel to Mexico or whether her intent was to ditch JR. I waffle on this, but I'm inclined to think that she did plan to meet him in Cancun. Stay tuned for updates though.

 

[Lilibet]

I spent allot of time in Thailand years ago, and belonged to an online expat forum called Thaivisa.com which is still up and running. Over the years there were some amazing and sad reports of middle aged and older men marrying young Thais, only to eventually end up dead with all their assets now belonging to their Thai wife.

'I used to think she only wanted me for my balding head, yellow teeth, and flabby belly...but now I know she really loves me.'

How sad. Not imputing this motive to Jenny, but I wonder when she discovered that JR was deep in debt to the IRS and had a long record of unpaid traffic offenses as well as a recent more serious alleged offense. What was the tipping point for the decision to go to Mexico?

 

[DexterMorgan]

How sad. Not imputing this motive to Jenny, but I wonder when she discovered that JR was deep in debt to the IRS and had a long record of unpaid traffic offenses as well as a recent more serious alleged offense. What was the tipping point for the decision to go to Mexico?

Yep. She may have thought that she will put up with him as long as she could do the American wife thing and spend his money while not really wanting to work.

Because. Why would she want to travel solo to 3 different countries if they were struggling.

So even though Jenny went the cheap route while traveling.

She still showed signs of that's his money problems and not mines. Jmo.

 

[webant]

How sad. Not imputing this motive to Jenny, but I wonder when she discovered that JR was deep in debt to the IRS and had a long record of unpaid traffic offenses as well as a recent more serious alleged offense. What was the tipping point for the decision to go to Mexico?

No, I don't think money or assets would have been a motive in this case, as if you can believe what we've read, JR doesn't have much. I think Jenny would have known this relatively early on. The green card could have been a motive. Weighing everything, I am still at Occam's Razor and believe the case is pretty much as it has been reported by JR. For me, Jenny's family loosing contact for a month a half and then traveling all the way to Mexico to search for her indicates Jenny disappeared as reported. If Jenny had still been happily traveling in Mexico as LE postulated, she would have also remained in touch at least with her Chinese family.

 

[DexterMorgan]

Btw. When jr did his go fund me advertising. Some of you may not know that he asked for donations on his colleges Facebook page.

Now why do that since you know that you haven't been to that school in decades?

He could have just pm people he knew that followed their College Facebook page. Jmo.

Because thats like me asking members of my Kindergarten Facebook page for donations.

Just saying.

 

[DexterMorgan]

No, I don't think money or assets would have been a motive in this case, as if you can believe what we've read, JR doesn't have much. I think Jenny would have known this relatively early on. The green card could have been a motive. Weighing everything, I am still at Occam's Razor and believe the case is pretty much as it has been reported by JR. For me, Jenny's family loosing contact for a month a half and then traveling all the way to Mexico to search for her indicates Jenny disappeared as reported. If Jenny had still been happily traveling in Mexico as LE postulated, she would have also remained in touch at least with her Chinese family.

Not every person that runs away from spouse lets their immediate family know.

Just saying.

Because some people turn up a decade later while knowing that their spouse was being speculated for murder that entire decade.

So it does happen.

But Web. You are also right. And we summon you to stay on board here. Lol

We like how you bring sides of all perspective view points.

Much appreciated.

 

[Lilibet]

No, I don't think money or assets would have been a motive in this case, as if you can believe what we've read, JR doesn't have much. I think Jenny would have known this relatively early on. The green card could have been a motive. Weighing everything, I am still at Occam's Razor and believe the case is pretty much as it has been reported by JR. For me, Jenny's family loosing contact for a month a half and then traveling all the way to Mexico to search for her indicates Jenny disappeared as reported. If Jenny had still been happily traveling in Mexico as LE postulated, she would have also remained in touch at least with her Chinese family.

I know. Occam's Razor is usually right. Everything we view as strange about this case can pretty much be chalked up to JR's abysmal style of communication and general weirdness. Essentially, it appears that Jenny took one too many risks and lost.
JMO for now

 

[DexterMorgan]

I'm just tired that 80% of the post on the Helpfindjenny page is made in a Spanish or Chinese language. Jmo.


Because why would people post in Spanish if they know that they speak and obviously read and understand English on a English Facebook page?

Jmo.

 

[DexterMorgan]

Also. Jenny spoke Spanish as well as English.

So maybe she met a Spaniard at a Spanish speaking class while out there.

Lol

 

[Lilibet]

I'm just tired that 80% of the post on the Helpfindjenny page is made in a Spanish or Chinese language. Jmo.


Because why would people post in Spanish if they know that they speak and obviously read and understand English on a English Facebook page?

Jmo.

They probably don't speak or read English. Just as I can just hit "translate" under a post and it turns into passable English, they can read English posts by doing the same thing.

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

Also. Jenny spoke Spanish as well as English.

So maybe she met a Spaniard at a Spanish speaking class while out there.

Lol

:silly:

What would I do without you, Dex ...!

 

[Lilibet]

:silly:

What would I do without you, Dex ...!

I know. Life wouldn't be the same!

 

[rosesfromangels]

Webant, your logic is sound, and i generally subscribe to the Occam theory
However, our wild card is her seemingly unstable decisions. So while we would expect her to stay in touch with family, an unstable mind may have prevented her from doing so.

 

[Lilibet]

I found this old article dated 4/30/2016 on the first thread that answers a few questions that have come up and verifies things we remember. Maybe it will trigger some new sleuthing. It's translated, so keep in mind that Jenny is referred to as both female and male gender.

--She was captured on camera at the Peppa Pig Cafe in Oaxaca.

--Taxi drivers from Chiapas saw her...on the border with Oaxaca at Verde Antequera on 4/11.

--She decided on the trip three weeks before she left. (What happened shortly before that? I recall that she wrote about a traffic accident in late January and JR was mad because she didn't wear her seatbelt. She talked about emailing him to explain things).

--She bought a phone in Mexico and did not give JR the number.

--At this point the Chinese community in Oaxaca had donated money to the search, and he was sure the Chinese government would be helpful when they received the news.

--He claimed to have invested $200K in the search. Over $6000 had been raised in six days on .

--He says he doesn't know how she got from Tijuana to Mexico City and then to Oaxaca (It was on her FB page! She took a bus to Mexico City and rode on a farmer worker's bus to Oaxaca).

--It gives the route she planned to travel from Oaxaca to Cancun.

--On April 19 JR reported her disappearance to the Attorney General's Office of the State of Quintana Roo (where Cancun is located), file number 120/4/2016.

https://translate.google.com/transl...xaca-ofrecen-recompensa-de-50-mil&prev=search

 

[rosesfromangels]

The point that she didn't give him her phone number, in addition to be galavanting without him, pretty much sums this up.

 

[Lilibet]

I'd really like to go back and look at some of Jenny's writing. I can't get her weibo, etc to open anymore. There are some tidbits in this post from last June. Can anyone find a way to get there?

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...axaca-11-April-2016-1&p=12616406#post12616406

 

[webant]

--He claimed to have invested $200K in the search. Over $6000 had been raised in six days on .

I hadn't known JR invested that much money into the search. It seems I was incorrect in thinking he didn't have much in the way of assets (that could be a motive in Jenny wanting to marry him). I remembered (apparently incorrectly) JR as being in a tight financial situation, owing the IRS money he couldn't pay and needing to raise $15,000 for the search for Jenny (and an expected ransom at that time?).

 

[Lilibet]

I hadn't known JR invested that much money into the search. It seems I was incorrect in thinking he didn't have much in the way of assets (that could be a motive in Jenny wanting to marry him). I remembered (apparently incorrectly) JR as being in a tight financial situation, owing the IRS money he couldn't pay and needing to raise $15,000 for the search for Jenny (and an expected ransom at that time?).

This article is the only place I've seen mention that he spent $200K. I was shocked. I don't know if it was a translation error, a slip of the tongue or an outright lie by JR. The article was posted on 4/30/2016, so that seems like a lot to have spent in about two weeks! Later on he said he was spending his own money and asked for contributions, but he didn't mention spending his own money that early AFAIK, except in this article.

You are correct that he was on the hook for back taxes, the latest IRS filing being about 4/7/2016, which raised eyebrows among those who thought Jenny's disappearance was a scam.

 

[DexterMorgan]

I'd really like to go back and look at some of Jenny's writing. I can't get her weibo, etc to open anymore. There are some tidbits in this post from last June. Can anyone find a way to get there?

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...axaca-11-April-2016-1&p=12616406#post12616406

This is her Weibo page. Btw. Once you go to her page. You have to click on the link thats right below her profile heading pic for it to open up her full comments page for you.

Which is weird. Because before it used to go straight there.

I wonder if someone is messing with the settings and tried to privatize the page at first. Idk.

http://m.weibo.cn/u/1723208662?uid=1723208662&featurecode=20000180


But I missed where she mentioned a car accident and JR telling her about wearing a seat belt.

 

[webant]

This article is the only place I've seen mention that he spent $200K. I was shocked. I don't know if it was a translation error, a slip of the tongue or an outright lie by JR. The article was posted on 4/30/2016, so that seems like a lot to have spent in about two weeks! Later on he said he was spending his own money and asked for contributions, but he didn't mention spending his own money that early AFAIK, except in this article.

You are correct that he was on the hook for back taxes, the latest IRS filing being about 4/7/2016, which raised eyebrows among those who thought Jenny's disappearance was a scam.

I also remember (correctly?) JR stating that he was spending all the extra money he had from each pay check towards his search for Jenny.

If JR did in fact spend $200,000 in his search for Jenny by the end of April (in the first two weeks of her disappearance), then I would suspect he had been scammed by someone or someones. As it is, I will figure it is some kind of an error in the report.

As an aside, I remember at least a couple of cases from my time in Thailand, where a kidnapping had taken place and a ransom paid by the foreign spouse of a Thai, for either a wife or a child, only to subsequently find out that the wife and her family (brother, etc.) had scammed the foreign husband (they had done the 'kidnapping').