Found Deceased UK - Richard Morris, 52, British Diplomat, Farnham, Hampshire, 6 May 2020

[jslk]

So is it possible to create a timeline?

 

[Thelastleg]

Does anyone know if this is part of his usual running route?

 

[dotr]

New photos released of missing diplomat Richard Morris as search continues

Police are continuing to appeal for information (Image: Surrey Police)
Hampshire Constabulary issued a renewed appeal for information on Wednesday (May 27), as well as two new images of Mr Morris.

Have you seen Richard? (Image: Surrey Police)
New photos in search for missing diplomat
May 27 2020
''The search of Alice Holt Forest earlier this month involved a team of about 50 specialists, police dogs and drones.

Ch Insp Alex Reading, district commander for East Hampshire, said: "We are asking the public, particularly those who frequent Alice Holt forest or the areas surrounding Isington Road, to remain vigilant."

The Foreign Office has said: "Richard is a much-valued and well-liked colleague.

"We are extremely worried that he is missing and we all hope he will be found safe and well soon."

 

[GooseyPie]

Wish they would find him, this is so sad!

 

[jamjim]

So terrible. His poor family having to deal with this as well as everything going on. It's awful for someone to go missing at any time, but it just seems even more awful at the minute.

 

[StillDiggin]

I am new here so not familar with all the rules what you cant post and talk about. I do no that you cant post social media links. Not sure wether you can talk about physic reports. I do know these are not everyones cup of tea. The one on you tube about Richard Morris is interesting because she includes a motive. I wont discuss anymore although i can summarise what she said if people are interested. Sometimes you have to think outside the box to get leads on cases. Its very unlikely Richard would be wanting to start a new life, particularly as he was jogging and going to Fiji soon. If there was an accident, he would of been found by now.

 

[Skigh]

I am new here so not familar with all the rules what you cant post and talk about. I do no that you cant post social media links. Not sure wether you can talk about physic reports. I do know these are not everyones cup of tea. The one on you tube about Richard Morris is interesting because she includes a motive. I wont discuss anymore although i can summarise what she said if people are interested. Sometimes you have to think outside the box to get leads on cases. Its very unlikely Richard would be wanting to start a new life, particularly as he was jogging and going to Fiji soon. If there was an accident, he would of been found by now.

You are correct in thinking you cannot link or discuss social media reports.
You can write your own theory of what you think might have happened.

 

[bancam]

Sometimes you have to assess overall tone and read between the lines, and this is one of those times.

This piece written by Lisa Choegyal, New Zealand’s honorary consul to Nepal based in Kathmandu, who knew Richard when he was posted there:

Where is Richard Morris?

[Opening paras]

Who would have thought it, such a nice, modest man. A quiet, measured man who would be astounded at all the fuss — police searches, global press and media swarming around his home in the pretty Hampshire village of Bentley.

A polite, gentle, professional man commuting by train to the Foreign Office, due to start in July as High Commissioner to Fiji, and until last November, British Ambassador to Nepal. On 6 May at 1030am, Richard Morris took one of his regular runs into the Alice Holt Forest, a vast woodland that spreads between Hampshire and Surrey, and never reappeared, vanished.

—-Snip—-​

[Closing para]

...That same evening on the British Embassy veranda, never had any of us seen Richard so animated by achievement, flying high on pure adrenaline and total exhaustion. And that is how I like to remember our missing runner Ambassador, giving a masterly diplomatic performance, just back from Everest, tired and triumphant, and full of the joy of being alive.​

I hope they recover him soon. I would be surprised to find he is still alive. I’m also a little baffled by the way this has been covered in the UK media, not normally known for its restraint - it is simply not commonplace to have a high ranking member of the foreign office just “disappear”.

Nobody seems willing to comment on his mental state or medical status at the time (or the exact situation or circumstances immediately prior to him leaving his house). And without this clarity, it still leaves in circulation the idea that some nefarious type could simply snatch a diplomat from the streets of his home village to later be used as a bargaining chip (although I don’t now believe this is what has happened here).

 

[dotr]

ETA, Reading and posting at the same time as bancam!

To be clear, it is not that i think a game crossed over into real life, but noting it anyway , imo, speculation.
The Missing Diplomat quest chain

Lengthy article reminiscing about RM.
May 31 2020
Where is Richard Morris?
''Who would have thought it, such a nice, modest man. A quiet, measured man who would be astounded at all the fuss — police searches, global press and media swarming around his home in the pretty Hampshire village of Bentley.

A polite, gentle, professional man commuting by train to the Foreign Office, due to start in July as High Commissioner to Fiji, and until last November, British Ambassador to Nepal. On 6 May at 1030am, Richard Morris took one of his regular runs into the Alice Holt Forest, a vast woodland that spreads between Hampshire and Surrey, and never reappeared, vanished.

Richard is unforgettable due to the distinctive port birthmark on his face. You could not ignore it or pretend it was not there, but the strange thing was that after the initial shock, his charm and intelligence trumped the wine stain on his cheek. You never noticed it ever again. We never talked about it, of course, but his sponsored long-distance running proceeds went to the Changing Faces charity of which he was an active trustee.''

Richard Morris, the marathon runner Ambassador.
''The weekend after they arrived in Nepal, we invited Richard Morris and his wife Alison to the Doctor Strange shoot in the heart of the earthquake damaged Patan Durbar Square. It was early November 2015 when we first met, before he had even presented credentials, surrounded by lights, cameras, extras and all the paraphernalia of a movie set.

I had arrived early and been startled to find myself standing next to the unpronounceable star of Kinky Boots, Chiwetel Ejifor at the crew’s Himalayan Java coffee stand. He smiled shyly dressed in some outlandish medieval costume, swallowed his expresso, and stooped through the durbar’s low lintel onto the set.''

 

[Kasmeer]

To be clear, it is not that i think a game crossed over into real life, but noting it anyway , imo, speculation.
The Missing Diplomat quest chain

That was the first thing I thought of when I saw the reports on this case! Although I hope it doesn't take 5 years to resolve this one (the quest chain was never fully completed, so players never got to find the the kidnapped "diplomat", who eventually escaped and returned to the action offscreen, a long time later). I'm not sure it's that likely that he could've been kidnapped from such an innocuous location (and certainly not on the orders of a dragon ) but that said, it seems like anything could have happened really. I'm surprised there's been so little media coverage as it seems the kind of case that should be good for headlines, odd one.

 

[dotr]

(Apologies for unintended bolding.)
June 3 2020
https://www.eagleradio.co.uk/news/l...h-operations-in-hunt-for-missing-bentley-man/
''Officers looking for missing Bentley man Richard Morris are scaling back their search operations.
Four weeks have now passed since the 52-year-old British diplomat went missing''.

Chief Inspector Alex Reading added:

“It has now been 28 days since Richard went missing, and we continue to be very concerned for his welfare.

"I would however like to reassure the community that there is no evidence of foul play.

“We have conducted an extensive search of local woodland, as well as 2km of the River Wey and a large section of railway.

“I want to reassure you that although the search phase is being scaled back, our investigation into Richard’s disappearance is ongoing and any new lines of enquiry will be thoroughly investigated."

Chief Inspector Reading thanked members of the public who have come forward with information and urged people to "remain vigilant and report anything untoward".
“We are continuing to keep Richard’s family informed and they are being supported by specially trained officers.”

Anyone with information is asked to call 101, quoting 44200160398.

 

[RobinCAL]

I hope he's found safe soon. My thoughts are with his family

 

[Truecrimemytime]

It sounds, very sadly, like a suicide case to me as he was ‘high risk’ and the family aren’t in news/social media campaigning and raising awareness which suggests to me they might know/have strong suspicion it is suicide. Especially with police saying no third party involvement .

 

[TheRovingAmbassador]

It sounds, very sadly, like a suicide case to me as he was ‘high risk’ and the family aren’t in news/social media campaigning and raising awareness which suggests to me they might know/have strong suspicion it is suicide. Especially with police saying no third party involvement .

If it was a suicide how come they didn’t find the body? Or at least a note? The ‘high risk’ category is because he is a diplomat, and therefore job-related; not because of some personal issue.

 

[dotr]

If it was a suicide how come they didn’t find the body? Or at least a note? The ‘high risk’ category is because he is a diplomat, and therefore job-related; not because of some personal issue.

Welcome to Ws TheRovingAmbassador, cool moniker, especially appropriate for this thread!

 

[Happygirl]

Hi, I'm a newbie and just wanted to add that IMO it's unfortunately looking like suicide. We had a case in Northern Ireland a few years back where someone never wanted to be found so he dug himself into the side of a river bank then took his own life.

 

[TheRovingAmbassador]

Haven’t heard about the case in Northern Ireland but the fact that the body was found eventually seems to confirm that it is very difficult to hide one’s own suicide. And in the Bentley case they combed through the forest with dogs, drones, horses and searched a stretch of the river.
Moreover, this was somebody with a brilliant career set to embark on a new exciting posting in Fiji. As the article in the Nepali Times states, it was somebody full of enthusiasm and life. Not the typical suicidal profile, although one can of course never know what a person may actually be going through...

 

[Truecrimemytime]

I grew up and live in the area- there is lots of surrounding countryside and it is very wooded, so I think no body could simply be that it hasn’t been found yet (if he took himself off to a quiet spot to commit suicide ). Very, very sad. Honestly, that seems to be the predominant local theory when I ask fellow residents.

 

[Truecrimemytime]

Sorry teolie

Haven’t heard about the case in Northern Ireland but the fact that the body was found eventually seems to confirm that it is very difficult to hide one’s own suicide. And in the Bentley case they combed through the forest with dogs, drones, horses and searched a stretch of the river.
Moreover, this was somebody with a brilliant career set to embark on a new exciting posting in Fiji. As the article in the Nepali Times states, it was somebody full of enthusiasm and life. Not the typical suicidal profile, although one can of course never know what a person may actually be going through...

Haven’t heard about the case in Northern Ireland but the fact that the body was found eventually seems to confirm that it is very difficult to hide one’s own suicide. And in the Bentley case they combed through the forest with dogs, drones, horses and searched a stretch of the river.
Moreover, this was somebody with a brilliant career set to embark on a new exciting posting in Fiji. As the article in the Nepali Times states, it was somebody full of enthusiasm and life. Not the typical suicidal profile, although one can of course never know what a person may actually be going through...

sorry replied below by accident- see my reply (as a local).

 

[Truecrimemytime]

If it was a suicide how come they didn’t find the body? Or at least a note? The ‘high risk’ category is because he is a diplomat, and therefore job-related; not because of some personal issue.

Also, I don’t know if you have read all the news articles (I have a case local to me)- police have stated they don’t think there was third party involvement.