Found Deceased OR - Matthew Lang, 33, Bend, 27 Oct 2020 *car found badly crashed*

[Backabeyond]

I hate to ask but I have to .. it is possible his body is hung up in a tree?

I actually considered the same thing. Its possible.

 

[Dre]

It sounds like he had some pretty severe injuries from that crash, and he probably wondered away in a state of confusion, collapsed at some point and likely passed after succumbing to his injuries. This isn't unheard of, but I can't think of specific cases/names right now.

I'd love to be wrong and him be alive and okay somewhere, but nothing else really makes sense.

jmo

I think this is exactly what happened
The shoe and sweater full of glass being found away from the car makes me believe he was trying to leave the area and was likely very incoherent.

 

[kelsie]

So it’s quite possible he may have ended up in the water?? Has the lake been searched?

Find page says they used sonar and found nada

 

[Ontario Mom]

'People don't just disappear' family searches for Matthew Lang after crash on Hwy 62


“We don’t have any proof that he was in the car, the police can't run his DNA, they don’t have the resources just to run his DNA, they won’t take the fingerprints off of the steering wheel because they said it is a new car and if they run the fingerprints they might have two missing persons, they won't run the blood found to see if it is Matthew’s,” she said.

This does not at all sound like something LE would say, especially given the condition of his vehicle. It'd be quite odd for LE to not run prints, because that might mean 2 missing people instead of 1. I think there may have been more to LE's position on this, than has been reported.

jmo

 

[AliceInPain]

This does not at all sound like something LE would say, especially given the condition of his vehicle. It'd be quite odd for LE to not run prints, because that might mean 2 missing people instead of 1. I think there may have been more to LE's position on this, than has been reported.

jmo

bbm
I think it'd be equally odd for the family to have made that stuff up, since they want LE on their side and for them to investigate.

From the article...
Police won't have his phone checked because they don't think there was foul play, but they will also not release the phone to family as "it's evidence."

Can someone explain what they mean by that?

 

[Ontario Mom]

bbm
I think it'd be equally odd for the family to have made that stuff up, since they want LE on their side and for them to investigate.

From the article...
Police won't have his phone checked because they don't think there was foul play, but they will also not release the phone to family as "it's evidence."

Can someone explain what they mean by that?

No one said the family made anything up.
I believe there's probably some misunderstanding going on, or possibly a lack of reasonable explanation from LE to the family.

jmo

 

[sunflowerchick]

No one said the family made anything up.
I believe there's probably some misunderstanding going on, or possibly a lack of reasonable explanation from LE to the family.

jmo

I am less willing to give LE the benefit of the doubt here. I don't think there's a misunderstanding. It's possible they are short-sighted, thinking this is nothing other than a car crash with a badly injured person who is out there somewhere and, as a result, don't want to spend resources investigating anything else. It happens and I would bet it happens more than we think.

That said, unfortunately, I think that's also exactly what happened. I don't think there's any need to investigate. To me, it just seems that he likely crawled off, got lost and is sadly, now deceased.

 

[oviedo]

bbm
I think it'd be equally odd for the family to have made that stuff up, since they want LE on their side and for them to investigate.

From the article...
Police won't have his phone checked because they don't think there was foul play, but they will also not release the phone to family as "it's evidence."

Can someone explain what they mean by that?

I guess they keep it until he is found? I wonder if the family has access to his phone's history through his carrier's online account? I would want to know who he was talking to or texting.
JMO

 

[Lilibet]

Find page says they used sonar and found nada

And the Find page also quotes friends who say they thoroughly searched the steep area down to the lake. That doesn’t mean Matt isn’t there, but I think it’s time to bring in dogs, including cadaver dogs, sadly.
JMO

 

[Kakidoll]

i think its quite possible the police think it was staged. And either someone else is involved and the don't want to let that info out, OR he did himself and they have a good idea he just wanted to disappear

 

[swedeheart]

Starts 5:38.

 

[twt11]

Matthew Lang, a 33-year-old Bend man, has been missing since his vehicle was found badly damaged on a southern Oregon highway earlier this week.

Bend man missing after crash in southern Oregon, officials say

This reminds me of a similar case where I live a couple of years ago. A woman crashed and they found her car and couldn't find her. It was many months and then they finally found her body at the crash site. I hope his family goes out there every day and continues to search. And brings new sets of eyes in - perhaps they will see something no one else has. Prayers for his family.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

And the Find page also quotes friends who say they thoroughly searched the steep area down to the lake. That doesn’t mean Matt isn’t there, but I think it’s time to bring in dogs, including cadaver dogs, sadly.
JMO

Unfortunately, I agree, only because it's the most likely event.
And I think LE should be investigating it as any missing vulnerable person last seen in a nature area, because that's what everything points to.

 

[Lilibet]

I think it’s important to keep in mind that just about everything we know about how LE is investigating or not investigating Matt’s disappearance has come from his distraught family. I can’t begin to imagine their frustration with how an investigation is handled. I’m not at all informed about how LE investigates a missing person case, but logic and Google tell me that there is an organized process that is laid out like a flow chart as illustrated here:
The Missing Persons Process Chart

Notice that there is a “decision making guide” listed within that chart that likely covers various possibilities in more detail. From an emotional standpoint the family wonders why the DNA isn’t tested and why certain things are and aren’t done. After all, nothing is more important than finding their loved one! But LE has to follow tried and true guidelines as well as budget limitations, not emotion, and is working numerous cases simultaneously. They don’t call off a search or an investigation without meeting certain parameters.

Matt’s family is doing what LE can’t by having the DNA tested, etc. They may need to hire various tracking dogs on their own. That’s just the reality of the situation, unfortunately. Not to say that LE doesn’t make mistakes or take shortcuts on occasion. I live here and have been frustrated myself about how “my” Websleuths cases are handled at times. But overall the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) does what they can in a vast area with fairly limited resources IMO.

Sheriff - Jackson County, Oregon, USA

 

[steff13]

I would be very surprised if the blood in Matthew's car belongs to anyone other than him. I think his family is grasping (understandably) at anything that might mean he wasn't in the accident. IMO, Occam's razor applies here; the most likely scenario is that he had an accident, got out of the car, was injured and disoriented, and wandered away.

 

[Auntie Cipation]

I hate to even think this, sorry for the graphic mental image, but -- has the crashed vehicle been removed? Has anyone searched UNDER it?

 

[truecrimeallthetime]

I feel it is likely that his body was ejected or he wandered off injured and confused. But I just wonder wouldn't there be some signs of decomp? The weather was quite warm around the week of the crash. I would think there would be a smell or animal activity or something? I know the area is quite vast but it seems like at least the canines would be able to track a smell of decomp? It has been colder this week but it is just a thought.

 

[Dre]

I feel it is likely that his body was ejected or he wandered off injured and confused. But I just wonder wouldn't there be some signs of decomp? The weather was quite warm around the week of the crash. I would think there would be a smell or animal activity or something? I know the area is quite vast but it seems like at least the canines would be able to track a smell of decomp? It has been colder this week but it is just a thought.

Has there been a distinction made between cadaver dogs and SAR dogs being used to search?
If they had used both already I would totally agree with your post.

I wonder, with their nose always to the ground/surfaces in decomp searches, how far away they can smell at the same time?
I would not be surprised if he is found in a heavily wooded area near where they’ve already searched

 

[Lilibet]

I hate to even think this, sorry for the graphic mental image, but -- has the crashed vehicle been removed? Has anyone searched UNDER it?

I believe the vehicle has been removed, but I don’t have a link at my fingertips. I’m sure they would assume he was under it...until it was clear he wasn’t.

Has there been a distinction made between cadaver dogs and SAR dogs being used to search?
If they had used both already I would totally agree with your post.

I wonder, with their nose always to the ground/surfaces in decomp searches, how far away they can smell at the same time?
I would not be surprised if he is found in a heavily wooded area near where they’ve already searched

I don’t believe the type of dog has been specified. I think at this point they need a cadaver dog, but I expect they will go with a SAR dog first, hoping for the best. So often missing people are found in an area that has been searched, so I agree that he will be found nearby in the woods. It’s so sad. I love the photo on the Find page of Matt with a cat. He seems like a neat guy.

 

[#JUSTICE4WILDER]

BUMP
Has there been any word on the search for Matthew Lang?