MN MN - Bryce Borca, 23, college student, seen at 2AM, search focused near Minnesota River, Eagan, 30 Oct 2022

[Trino]

Got some new thoughts.
The Yankee Tavern is located at Yankee Doodle Rd and Highway 13. Supposedly it closes at 1:00a.m., although the October hours are unknown to me. What if someone was lurking after closing and picked him up there?

At most, it is a 3 minute walk along Highway 13 from Essendant where Sophie the dog picked up his scent to the Yankee Tavern and Yankee Doodle Rd. If he didn't get picked up at the tavern, maybe by that time he sobered up a bit and realized where he was and started walking along Yankee Doodle Rd. toward his apartment. Along Yankee Doodle Rd. came someone who offered him a ride. I think he would have taken it: chilly out, no cell reception.

Searching Ft. Snelling State Park has revealed absolutely nothing. Past time to look elsewhere.

 

[lassy]

I have always thought it’s entirely possible he made it out by Essendant and back to the roads. If he walked as far as he did from the friend’s place, across 13, to where his phone pinged, up the tracks to the ponds without stumbling/falling, getting more lost, or passing out, he could have gotten out there. I was there at night a month after he went missing with the same moon. Very light out and huge bright lights on the Essendant building you can’t miss from the tracks and a path up to the Essendant lot from the ponds. Who knows what happened if he made it out. Maybe picked up. Wouldn’t cameras in the industrial area or on the bar or traffic cameras have picked something up though?
Sure would be nice to have some/any information from LE or the family.

 

[D@NK0NE]

Got some new thoughts.
The Yankee Tavern is located at Yankee Doodle Rd and Highway 13. Supposedly it closes at 1:00a.m., although the October hours are unknown to me. What if someone was lurking after closing and picked him up there?

At most, it is a 3 minute walk along Highway 13 from Essendant where Sophie the dog picked up his scent to the Yankee Tavern and Yankee Doodle Rd. If he didn't get picked up at the tavern, maybe by that time he sobered up a bit and realized where he was and started walking along Yankee Doodle Rd. toward his apartment. Along Yankee Doodle Rd. came someone who offered him a ride. I think he would have taken it: chilly out, no cell reception.

Searching Ft. Snelling State Park has revealed absolutely nothing. Past time to look elsewhere.

I thought LE mentioned him being spotted walking through a business into FS state park area, but nothing of him coming back the same way. That was the only time he was spotted on a camera. He certainly could have made it back to the road. I have thought about this endlessly as well. I live close by and the bar on that corner closes nightly at 1am. Do we know for sure which business saw him on camera? I don't think that was ever disclosed. I just assumed it was Essendant due to where they picked up his scent.

 

[lassy]

We really don’t have many details about anything. His route? What cameras/businesses picked him up? Etc. After the first letter to businesses to check their cameras and properties early on, there was another letter to businesses to check cameras and property again, I think in December, but I would have to check the exact dates. Why the second letter? Does that suggest they think he made it out? Or were they just double-checking anything they found early on? Or because they didn’t find him for weeks, were trying again?

 

[Marzipan]

Got some new thoughts.
The Yankee Tavern is located at Yankee Doodle Rd and Highway 13. Supposedly it closes at 1:00a.m., although the October hours are unknown to me. What if someone was lurking after closing and picked him up there?

At most, it is a 3 minute walk along Highway 13 from Essendant where Sophie the dog picked up his scent to the Yankee Tavern and Yankee Doodle Rd. If he didn't get picked up at the tavern, maybe by that time he sobered up a bit and realized where he was and started walking along Yankee Doodle Rd. toward his apartment. Along Yankee Doodle Rd. came someone who offered him a ride. I think he would have taken it: chilly out, no cell reception.

Searching Ft. Snelling State Park has revealed absolutely nothing. Past time to look elsewhere.

I’ve wondered a lot about the Yankee Tavern, especially in the beginning (hardly nowadays). But was his scent picked up that close to it? If so, how close? Crossing 13 he would be right there but did he veer south or widely around or go closer?
I have never been in there but the location has a very long history (I think it once was a small inn where wealthy St. Paul travelers could stay before continuing on to cabins on Prior Lake.) Lots of motorcycle groups over the recent past decades. I wish he had just walked right up to it, that someone would have been in there cleaning up or doing next-day prep, and there would have been a happy ending.

 

[lassy]

I’ve wondered a lot about the Yankee Tavern, especially in the beginning (hardly nowadays). But was his scent picked up that close to it? If so, how close? Crossing 13 he would be right there but did he veer south or widely around or go closer?
I have never been in there but the location has a very long history (I think it once was a small inn where wealthy St. Paul travelers could stay before continuing on to cabins on Prior Lake.) Lots of motorcycle groups over the recent past decades. I wish he had just walked right up to it, that someone would have been in there cleaning up or doing next-day prep, and there would have been a happy ending.

I used to work at the Blue Cross building behind the Tavern years ago when it was the Valley Lounge. It was definitely sketchy back then. I have been in Yankee Tavern the past couple of years for lunch and dinner. Seems much nicer and upscale than when it was the Lounge. Although I have not been there at closing, so not sure how the clientele is at that time. Seems if his scent was picked up near/around the bar, that they might have cameras and have checked them?

 

[GMS]

I used to work at the Blue Cross building behind the Tavern years ago when it was the Valley Lounge. It was definitely sketchy back then. I have been in Yankee Tavern the past couple of years for lunch and dinner. Seems much nicer and upscale than when it was the Lounge. Although I have not been there at closing, so not sure how the clientele is at that time. Seems if his scent was picked up near/around the bar, that they might have cameras and have checked them?

It seems (imo) that Bryce would be familiar and/or aware of the Yankee Tavern (not necessarily as a patron) but it's location with him being local to the area. The tavern was never mentioned or referenced as being part of the facetime call he made to friends that night - did he walk past it not paying attention or maybe he wasn't actually that close to its proximity?

 

[DeDee]

Last I heard months ago, multiple K9s tracked him in the pond and the family was considering draining it this spring. Did they decide not to? Are they just going to leave him in there?

Would you leave your child in a body of water if you had the ways and means in which to remove him for a proper burial?

Did they not find him in there?

It is not the responsibility of the parents to locate their loved one. That burden falls to the responsibility of police and their search and rescue teams. Typically, no, always, when a MP is found, the police, and others in authority, will form a press conference or otherwise will make a public announcement so everyone can rest easier.

Did they find other evidence? Are they still looking in the park or elsewhere?
Did everyone give up on finding him?

If your child were missing, when would you give up on finding them?
The police working this MP case will never give up on finding this young adult. Day after day of no success can become a daunting task. It will haunt them if they allow it. Even K9s get depressed if they are unable to locate the target for their trainer as they feel they failed at their job. Assuredly, Bryce is close in the thoughts of LE as they go about their work days.

No updates for months.
I just don’t get it.
Someone has to know something…anything.

The searches continue. They have utilized, thus far:
"Multiple search efforts have taken place since last fall, using "trained canines, watercraft, ground grid searches, drones and water sonar equipment"

The cost and trouble entailed on whether or not to drain a pond may be determined on whether or not the water sonar equipment detected the presence of Bryce. It may be drained in spite of it. I've been away from the thread for a while.

 

[DeDee]

This was in the news today. I think it answers some questions. They are devastated and since I have never lost a child especially under these circumstances I can't imagine what a "normal" reaction is to what they have been through. I think people who are insinuating that they haven't done enough is completely uncalled for. None of us knows what has or hasn't been done because they haven't been all over MSM. I think it is extremely commendable that they started a foundation to help others with what they have and continue to go through. I think they need a way to direct their pain over their loss and helping others is an amazing tribute. I'm guessing they have made peace with the fact he is gone from this world and though I'm sure recovering his remains would help with closure the fact is there are over 20,000 missing people in the US and they may never find him. Having faith strong enough to accept that he is gone is pretty incredible. They are still looking for him and have expanded the area. We have heard from local people who have said the terrain is rough so perhaps they are only letting professionals do it. As for the pond if I remember correctly at least one cadaver dog hit on the pond or quarry where they had divers when he first went missing. It is my understanding that cadaver dogs can't pick up a certain person only if there is a human body. I also recall reading about how a body will surface once the water warms up due to the gases in the body. I would think if he was in the pond he would have come up by now unless he is caught on something. As for the draining of the water; was there ever a confirmation of any permits actually being issued to allow this to happen? I am assuming they would either need do dig another pond or truck the water out. Does anyone know how it would be done? My heart hurts for the entire family and I certainly hope they are able to recover his remains.

https://bringmethenews.com/.amp/minnesota-news/bryce-borca-remains-missing-9-months-later-family-shares-new-statement

Great post! I'm following another case where the lady may have walked into a Conservation Park in NJ. The territory is rugged and has marshy areas; therefore, not suitable for untrained volunteers. The search is taking a long time because she could be anywhere in the park or not in it at all.

As for the body surfacing on water, initially, it would naturally float if his lungs weren't filled with water. If his lungs filled with water displacing the O2, physics tells us the body sinks. Otherwise, resurfacing happens around the 3-7 days time period when gases build and also depending on factors such as fat on the body, the type of clothing and shoes the victim was wearing, etal. After some time, the gases will escape from the body of the deceased as it decomposes and it will sink again. There is another possible stage where the body will rise again as the decomposition proceeds called: refloat.

Laci Peterson's badly decomposed body resurfaced after Scott affixed her to concrete blocks used as anchors. She washed ashore 4 months after she was reported as a MP.

Scott Peterson made five cement anchors but that only one anchor remained – suggesting that he used the missing cement blocks to weigh down wife Laci Peterson’s body in San Francisco Bay.

 

[DeDee]

MOO
I have no doubt the family is devastated and had a difficult 9 months. And no idea what it is like to have a missing child or anyone this way.
I do think not enough has been done though. From day 1 when Eagan LE turned away half the people who showed up to search. Why? There were organized searches for months for Madeline Kingsbury with a much more expansive area. Very few updates about anything. Maybe family and LE wants to keep things quiet, but why if it would help find Bryce?
And not sure that the news from the other day answers much more than we already knew…other than they are still searching for him and expanding the search.
I don’t know details on draining a pond, but I would suspect there is a way. And if they thought he was in there, why would they not drain it? Or did they and not find him, so they are expanding their search?
What if he made it out of that area and was abducted? How do they know he is gone from this world? The missing teenage girl from AZ 4 years ago was just found in MT. Not sure I would ever give up hope, if I didn’t know for sure.

On behalf of the missing, we are glad you are here. The MP community will always appreciate common sense minded individuals looking into their cases.

Sometimes people get themselves into a quandary whereby we cannot help them find their way out in time if at all. His friends tried and could not. They must live with the road not taken. However, there are success stories of finding lost people but with 10,000 nationwide, there's a lot we don't locate. Few days ago, although not missing for an extended amount of time, a man in VA was found cold and dehydrated.
Lost Virginia man found cold and dehydrated in New Sweden woods Thursday

Occam's Razor tells us that Bryce was highly inebriated and as a many successful college student is apt to do, he was likely "feeling his oats". The idiom is used to show Bryce was young and energetic and out partying with friends and didn't realize the limits of his power due to his intoxicated condition.

However, when left alone on the street two miles from home, his intoxicated state led him to believe he could make it without any problem until he realized he was in trouble and had the facetime with his buddies until his phone died.

His body is likely near the location of his last phone ping.

We've been saying that we must instruct our boys and men not walk alone after dark, especially when leaving a bar intoxicated. Men can protect other men by traveling in groups or never allowing a male or female friend to walk alone. There's safety in #s and all that jazz.

JMOO

 

[DeDee]

The Affidavit

About 25 minutes after they were dropped off, the affidavit states that Borca video-called his friends, told them his phone had only 2% battery charge left, and that he didn’t know where he was

Borca’s phone had died. However, before it died, Borca shared his location with his friends, showing he had gone the wrong way and was in a wooded area off of Highway 13.

The affidavit states Borca’s friends looked for him in that area but couldn’t find him. When they still couldn’t reach him in the morning, they called police.

In the search warrant application, police noted the wooded area off of Highway 13 has several marshes and ponds, and a tie that’s believed to have belonged to Borca was found along his suspected route of travel.

Surveillance video from a business also showed him walking alone in the area. [That is why police stated they do not suspect foul play.]

https://kstp.com/kstp-news/local-news/affidavit-missing-eagan-man-was-dropped-off-2-miles-from-apartment/

 

[lassy]

It seems (imo) that Bryce would be familiar and/or aware of the Yankee Tavern (not necessarily as a patron) but it's location with him being local to the area. The tavern was never mentioned or referenced as being part of the facetime call he made to friends that night - did he walk past it not paying attention or maybe he wasn't actually that close to its proximity?

I would guess he would be familiar with it too. His last known location was north of the bar and behind the industrial area near the woods, tracks and park. Not sure he ever made it far enough south to Yankee or the bar from where the friends lived. Although we don’t know his route. Could he have been that out of it, yet walk as far as he did and through all the roads, cross 13, around businesses and fences in the industrial area, on train tracks way up to the ponds, maybe farther? With only one business (that we have heard) getting him on camera? One might think there had to be more businesses or rings on houses that got him on a camera.

 

[lassy]

Would you leave your child in a body of water if you had the ways and means in which to remove him for a proper burial?

It is not the responsibility of the parents to locate their loved one. That burden falls to the responsibility of police and their search and rescue teams. Typically, no, always, when a MP is found, the police, and others in authority, will form a press conference or otherwise will make a public announcement so everyone can rest easier.

If your child were missing, when would you give up on finding them?
The police working this MP case will never give up on finding this young adult. Day after day of no success can become a daunting task. It will haunt them if they allow it. Even K9s get depressed if they are unable to locate the target for their trainer as they feel they failed at their job. Assuredly, Bryce is close in the thoughts of LE as they go about their work days.

The searches continue. They have utilized, thus far:
"Multiple search efforts have taken place since last fall, using "trained canines, watercraft, ground grid searches, drones and water sonar equipment"

The cost and trouble entailed on whether or not to drain a pond may be determined on whether or not the water sonar equipment detected the presence of Bryce. It may be drained in spite of it. I've been away from the thread for a while.

All that you have posted makes sense to me. I agree.
The same statement from LE every few months says nothing new though. Maybe there is nothing more to report than the searches continue.
To my knowledge the pond has not been drained. It is not very large at all. Seemed that was where he most likely was, based on multiple K9s tracking him there. Summer is almost over and winter will be coming again, so when was the best opportunity to drain it?
IMO, it would be helpful to know some details on what was searched…and found or not found. We have been invested for almost 10 months, some of us out searching, and know little more than we did the first couple of weeks last fall.

 

[Trino]

Bottom line is if Eagan police believe he's in the state park, how can he morally be left there? It's summer. Searches are not daily - have been in the area.

If Eagan police cannot locate him, why have they turned down help - example Rosemount police?

If Eagan police have a responsibility to find him but cannot and the parents have ample finances, why wouldn't the parents hire well-known, perhaps out-of-state, help? (JMO, but a golf tournament isn't going to find him. Isn't finding him the goal?)

Why offer a reward of $30,000 instead of putting the money toward draining a pond where police think he could be located? Who is the publicized reward meant for if he's supposedly in a pond?

 

[Trino]

I have always thought it’s entirely possible he made it out by Essendant and back to the roads. If he walked as far as he did from the friend’s place, across 13, to where his phone pinged, up the tracks to the ponds without stumbling/falling, getting more lost, or passing out, he could have gotten out there. I was there at night a month after he went missing with the same moon. Very light out and huge bright lights on the Essendant building you can’t miss from the tracks and a path up to the Essendant lot from the ponds. Who knows what happened if he made it out. Maybe picked up. Wouldn’t cameras in the industrial area or on the bar or traffic cameras have picked something up though?
Sure would be nice to have some/any information from LE or the family.

Doesn't seem likely any information is going to come from either LE or the family unless/until he's found.

Don't know how long it takes to sober up, but if he was able to make a phone call and understand he was lost, it seems he eventually could have found his way out, especially with moonlight, plus the Essendant lights should have been a draw. Easily picked up if he went along with a ride offer. Once inside a vehicle a gun would have subdued him.

I do believe there should be a search concentration at Gun Club Lake. Essendant pond has been overemphasized with no results so isn't it time to move on? And, will the family please explain the $30,000 reward? Is someone supposed to go swimming in the pond to look for him, or is this a subtle suggestion he could be elsewhere?

 

[I wonder]

Is Bryce still officially missing and if so, what’s the current situation regarding the police? Are they actively searching or have they stopped searching? Is the case closed? What would be the police’s reaction if a new civilian local search was organised? Would they encourage this or not?

I would really like to know the official police line on this, because it’s the strangest response to a missing person I have ever known. If the family are wealthy are they also influential?

 

[lassy]

He seems to still be missing. He was just put in NamUs in May of this year…not last fall when he went missing. Good questions on whether Eagan police are still looking. No one seems to know. No other updates on anything. Other than they have searched acres and the search continues. I haven’t seen anyone the last few times I have walked over by where he went missing, so no idea where they are searching. No idea if they would welcome a public search. They turned half the public away the first day. And not sure where we would search, as I doubt they would give us any direction.
The family is probably wealthy. The dad is a Senior VP at United Health Group/Optum. Does that make him influential? Not sure. They live in WI and not MN. They sure are all over the golf tournament, and having shirts made, golf balls and drink cups, etc with Bryce’s Blessings logos. Seems the Foundation is much more important that organizing search parties to find this poor missing kid.
Makes me think there is more to this story than we know…or will ever know.

 

[Centaurus]

He seems to still be missing. He was just put in NamUs in May of this year…not last fall when he went missing. Good questions on whether Eagan police are still looking. No one seems to know. No other updates on anything. Other than they have searched acres and the search continues. I haven’t seen anyone the last few times I have walked over by where he went missing, so no idea where they are searching. No idea if they would welcome a public search. They turned half the public away the first day. And not sure where we would search, as I doubt they would give us any direction.
The family is probably wealthy. The dad is a Senior VP at United Health Group/Optum. Does that make him influential? Not sure. They live in WI and not MN. They sure are all over the golf tournament, and having shirts made, golf balls and drink cups, etc with Bryce’s Blessings logos. Seems the Foundation is much more important that organizing search parties to find this poor missing kid.
Makes me think there is more to this story than we know…or will ever know.

I wonder if we could get a local journalist to follow-up on one of their stories from last year? Maybe they could poke around a bit more and they might get further with LE than an ordinary citizen.

 

[lassy]

I wonder if we could get a local journalist to follow-up on one of their stories from last year? Maybe they could poke around a bit more and they might get further with LE than an ordinary citizen.

Lou Raguse, a reporter from Kare11, was covering the case early on. Then after Nov 3 pretty much vanished from reporting on Bryce. He has written one update that I have seen since…on April 24, saying high water levels were limiting the search. There have been so few media updates in general since the first week, it’s almost as if the media is not interested in this case, or told not to be…IMO.

 

[cenazoic]

Lou Raguse came out with a book this year called “Vanished in Vermillion”, about two S. Dakota girls who went missing in 1971. Sounds like he’d be the perfect person to dig.

Home - Vanished in Vermillion

Order on Amazon Order Local - Excelsior Bay Books Order Signed Copies from the Author Audiobook now available everywhere you normally purchase them! On May 29, 1971, high school juniors Pam Jackson and Sherri Miller were trying to find a rural keg party. The 17-year-olds from Vermillion, South...

vanishedinvermillion.com