06/03/11: Peter Aguilar, 21, St. Paul, MN

PETER AGUILAR - MISSING
St. Paul, MN
Last seen 6/3/11

Peter Aguilar was last seen around 2 a.m. on June 3, 2011 at a residence on the 600 block of Oakdale Avenue on the West side of St. Paul, Minnesota. Police believe that about an hour later, the 21-year old rode away from the home on his red Schwinn 10-speed bicycle, apparently headed toward the Wabasha Street Bridge. According to information entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), Aguilar “sent a text to ex-girlfriend at 0243 on 6-3-11 saying to meet him at the Wabasha Street bridge at 0300 or else she would see him on the news.” Aguilar has not been seen since. He was reported missing after he failed to show up to work at Mancini's restaurant.

Police do not believe foul play is involved, but they are concerned for Aguilar's well being. According to the Pioneer Press, at 3:19 a.m. on the night he disappeared, "a woman called police to report a person yelling for help in the area of Robert Street and Shepard Road. The woman said she saw someone in the river but lost sight of the person - she couldn't identify whether it was a man or woman - near the Robert Street Bridge. Water patrols, assisted by a helicopter, searched the river but didn't find anyone."

The Ramsey County sheriff's water patrol continued the search later on Friday and again on Monday, this time bringing in sonar equipment.

On June 6, the Pioneer Press reported that firefighters recovered Aguilar's body in the Mississippi River next to a moored barge near St. Paul Downtown Airport. The body was discovered by a barge operator at around 9:30 p.m. and police were notified.

If you have any information about Peter Aguilar or if you saw him on June 3, you are urged to call the St. Paul Police Department Missing Persons Unit at 651-266-5960.



Case Details

Name/age: Peter Aguilar, 21
Last seen: 6/3/11, 600 block of Oakdale Avenue, St. Paul, Minnesota
Physical description: 5'11", 140 pounds, brown hair, brown eyes
Last seen wearing: brown plaid button down shirt and khaki shorts.
Investigating Agency: St. Paul Police Missing Persons Unit, 651-266-5960

03/09/10: Christopher Faulkner, 37, Richmond, BC, Canada

MISSING
Christopher Faulkner
Richmond, BC

Christopher Faulkner is missing.

Christopher Faulkner, 37, was last seen on the evening of March 9th, 2010, at the Shelter Island Marina in Richmond, BC, Canada, where he resides. No further details are known about the case.

Christopher is described as 6'3" tall with a slim/muscular build. He has dark brown hair usually worn in a pony tail and he has green eyes. He was last seen wearing jeans, a dark jacket and black work boots. He is known to use a gray mountain bike, unknown make and model, as his main source of transportation.

Christopher does not have any physical or mental health issues nor does he have a criminal history. He has never gone missing before and his family and police are concerned about his whereabouts.

If you have seen Christopher Faulkner or have any information, contact Constable Ellis of the Richmond RCMP at 604-278-1212.

04/29/07: Jeffrey Surtel, Mission, BC, Canada

On April 29, 2007, 17-year old Jeffrey Surtel disappeared after leaving his family's home in Mission, British Columbia, sometime between midnight and 5 a.m. He was last seen by neighbors who spotted him riding off on his distinctive blue CCM mountain bike with yellow front forks.

Jeffrey's parents, Gary and Dawn, still look into the face of every kid on a bike or wearing a hoodie similar to what Jeff had been wearing, hoping to find their son. They long to find their son--and for some answers.

In a press conference at Matsqui State Park in August 2009, Gary Surtel told the media, "We're asking anyone who saw his bike at the [Mission] bridge to contact us. We just want to know where the bike was found, because that will determine where to start looking for Jeff."

03/02/10: Jonathan Dorey, 22, Richmond, VA

Jonathan Dorey is missing.

Jonathan "Jonny" Dorey, an exchange student attending Virginia Commonwealth University was last seen March 2 leaving his campus dormitory at the Gladding Residence Center with his mountain bike at 11:19 a.m. Since then, neither Dorey or his mountain bike has been seen.

It appears that the last class Dorey attended was Tuesday morning (3/2), and he last used his cell phone that morning. The phone is apparently turned off.

The last purchase he is known to have made also was Tuesday morning at a 7-Eleven.

VCU police Capt. Grant Warren said, "We wish we had more to go on."

Dorey, who is from Guernsey, a small island in the English Channel, attends Great Britain's University of the West of England and was on an exchange to VCU. He was studying geography.

Dorey was reported missing on March 4 by friends. His friends and family say it is out of character fot he young man to leave without telling anyone where he was going.

Police said they do not suspect foul play.


The Search for Jonathan Dorey

During the search for Dorey, University police have worked with Richmond police, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Virginia State Police, the Virginia Department of Emergency Management and the American Red Cross.

Dorey has been described as an experienced mountain biker. Search efforts have focused on bicycle trails near the James River in Richmond.
On March 16, VCU Police released photos captured by a security camera on March 2 outside of Gladding Residence Center. The surveillance cameras show Dorey leaving the lobby of his dorm with his bicycle.

Dorey's bike is a black single-speed bicycle with an Azonic Steelhead frame, an SDG Bel-Air seat, Race Face lock-on grips, DMR V8 pedals and Kenda tires. It has a black seat with a red stripe down the middle.

Dorey is 6 feet tall, weighs 180 pounds, has brown hair and speaks with a British accent. He was last seen wearing a blue and white plaid jacket with a hood and dark blue jeans. Dorey wears glasses. He was carrying a navy blue Eastpak ruckpak.

VCU and the University of the West of England, Dorey's home university, are offering a combined $10,000 reward for any information leading to Dorey's location.


Belongings found

On March 23, Dorey's backback containing some personal belongings was found near his clothes at Rockett's Landing near Dock and Pear Streets. The items were found by a passerby. The following month, Dorey's parents made the announcement that an empty bottle of gin had also been found at the site.

The area is a popular fishing spot, and the items were reportedly in a hollow area under a large concrete pad beside the north bank of the river. After the discovery, Richmond rescue dive teams searched the nearby James River until 5:30 p.m. and again the following day.

Dorey's parents, Alan and Debbie Dorey, and his brother Simon have flown to the US to help in the search. A Facebook group has also been created to appeal for information; at last count it had 24,635 members.

In April 2010, a witness came forward to say he believed he saw a man fitting Jonny's description swimming in the river on the afternoon Jonny went missing. According to the Charley Project, the weather that day was rainy and mixed with snow.

In September 2011, Dorey's parents planted a tree on the VCU campus in their son's memory. They have stated that they believe he was depressed and committed suicide by drinking a bottle of gin and jumping into the James River.

"Combined with information we got from the Internet sites and writings that we found by the FBI on Jonny's computer - leads us to believe that Jonny died of a suicide or a reckless act as the result of a mental breakdown..." said Debbie Dorey during a brief news conference outside of Harris Hall.
On March 3, 2011, after the one-year anniversary of Dorey's disappearance, a spokesman for VCU Police told NBC12.com that the investigation is still open.

Anyone with information about Jonathan Dorey should contact VCU Police Communications at (804) 828-1196.


Facts in this Case:
Name/age: Jonathan "Jonny" Dorey, 22
Hometown: Guernsey, Great Britain
Residence: Richmond, VA
College: Dorey was an exchange student at Virginia Commonwealth University. He had previously been attending the University of the West of England.
Last seen: 3/2/10, 11:19 a.m., Gladding Residence Center dormitory
Physical Description: 6'0", 180 pounds, brown hair, green eyes. Speaks with a British accent. Last seen wearing: blue and white plaid jacket with hood, dark blue skinny jeans, black shoes. Dorey wears glasses.
Notes: Jonathan Dorey's bike is also missing. It is a black single-speed bicycle with an Azonic Steelhead frame, an SDG Bel-Air seat, Race Face lock-on grips, DMR V8 pedals and Kenda tires. It has a black seat with a red stripe down the middle.
Links: Project Jason, Charley Project
Investigating Agency: VCU Police (804) 828-6409


Originally Posted 3/25/10. Revised 3/16/11.

03/11/10: William Sinclair, 19, Ithaca, NY

On March 11, 2010, rescue workers from the Ithaca Fire Department recovered the body of William Sinclair, a sophomore mechnical engineering student in the College of Engineering, from the Fall Creek Gorge near the Thurston Avenue Bridge.

He was 19 years old and a native of Chevy Chase, MD.

02/19/10: Tyler Brady, 22, Portland, OR

Tyler Brady, 22, was last seen Feb. 19 by a roommate at their home on Southeast Division. It was determined that he then went to the Couture Ultra Lounge on NW 4th/Couch, where his image was captured on surveillance footage. Afterwards, he apparently went to a bar called Tube, where he was refused service for being too intoxicated. According to reports, he made it home, dropped off his messenger bag, and took off on his bike. Friends say Tyler owned a car but regularly commuted by bike. His housemate, Kara Stubbs, noted that the bag was there when she got home from her bartending job at 4 a.m.; Brady was not.

Over ten days, his housemates grew increasingly concerned. Brady hadn't been home and his cell phone was off. They were scheduled to move out of their home in southeast Portland at the end of the month. Unable to find a phone number for his parents back in Potlatch, Idaho, his housemates mailed them a letter, then reported him missing. His family says the disappearance was completely out of character for Brady.


The Search for Tyler Brady

Brady’s father Dave arrived from Idaho after his disapperance was reported. He says Tyler would typically check in once a week by phone, but he hadn't heard from his son in more than ten days. When Dave Brady arrived in Portland, he found all of Tyler's belongings still in his room at SE 11th and Division Street.

Surveillance camera images showed Brady on his bicycle on Feb. 17th outside Safeway stores at NE Martin Luther King and Ainsworth and near Lloyd Center at approximately 10 a.m. The images show Brady wearing a yellow knit cap, which he is believed to have been wearing when last seen, and the white, bull-horn handlebars of his black, fixed-gear Schwinn road bike. Police believe Brady stopped at the store on his way to work, then worked a full day at his job in the Delta Park area. Brady was seen again on video at approximately 7:30PM., when Brady stopped at the Safeway store again, after leaving work that evening before later returning home.

At approximately 11 PM, Brady enters the Couture Ultra Lounge, located at NW 4th/Couch, where he is again caught on surveillance camera. Detectives have confirmed Brady stopped by the lounge with a friend, an employee of Couture, where they visited briefly with another employee before leaving to socialize at other businesses in the vicinity. From there he reportedly went to Tube.

Brady is described as a white male, 22 years old, 5′10″, weighing 150 pounds. He has brown hair and blue eyes, a scruffy beard and mustache, and has tattoos on the back of his neck and on one of his arms, and a pierced nose. Detectives have determined Brady was last wearing a dark-colored hoodie with a large white design on the back, dark-colored pants and a yellow knit cap.


About Tyler Brady

"Every single person who knows Ty, the first thing that they said was maybe he just hopped a train somewhere," says Brady's housemate Kara Stubbs, who says Brady has hopped trains before. He's an adventurous but reliable kid, according to friends.

In addition to hopping trains, he had ridden his touring bike from Seattle to Portland and spent last summer working on a fishing ship in Alaska. For the past year at least, Brady had been doing maintenance work. He would ride his black Schwinn fixie around Portland to maintenance jobs all day long, his car growing moss in the Dustbin's driveway. "Even if he partied all weekend, he would get up and go to work on Monday. I never knew him to miss a day of work," says housemate Ben Johnson. "He was one of my only roommates who always paid his rent on time."

On 3/17/10, Tyler Brady was found in the Willamette River near OMSI. The Multnomah County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed the cause of death as accidental drowning.

Police said they still have not been able to locate Tyler's bicycle. One commenter on BikePortland.org said he had seen a bike like Brady's locked to an oak tree not far from where Brady's body was found. It took two weeks for bike thieves to begin stealing pieces off the bike; it appears that all that eventually remained was the lock.


Anyone with information that may help in the investigation was urged to contact detective Mike Weinstein (503) 823-0446.

Posted 4/1/10.

08/13/06: Robert Barrington Leigh, 20, Edmonton, AB, Canada

Robert Barrington Leigh, a promising 20-year old math and physics whiz at the University of Toronto, was home for two weeks to visit his parents in Edmonton, Alberta. On Aug. 13, 2006, he waved goodbye to his mother, who was sitting on the couch watching TV, and headed off on his bike to the nearby Edmonton Folk Festival  to meet some friends.

Around 11:30 p.m., he text-messaged his girlfriend, Lucy Zhang, who was studying in Italy, to tell her that he was in Queen Elizabeth Park heading toward the festival in Gallagher Park and would not be able to call her later. According to Lucy, he wished her luck on her mid-term exams and "there was nothing weird about his message."

But he never returned home.

The disappearance led the local newscasts for nine days until his body was found in the North Saskatchewan River across from Gallagher Park, the site of the festival.

11/05/08: Trevor Boehm, 20, Evanston, IL

On November 8, 2008, the parents of college student Trevor Boehm arrived at the Northwestern university campus for Family Weekend. It was supposed to be a fun visit, but they discovered their son was missing.

According to the university, the 20-year-old hadn't been in his residence hall, attended classes or used his student ID in the dining halls since Wednesday, November 5, four days before he was reported missing.

Trevor’s body was found in Lake Michigan on November 16, 2008.

 

05/20/08: Joey Kaiser, 17, St. Paul, MN

On Tuesday, May 20, 2008, 17-year old Joey Kaiser, a junior at Cretin Derham Hall high school "took off from his home" in a manic state. According to his mother, Molly, he had a history of bipolar disorder and had been trying a new medication for roughly two weeks. Everyone hoped Joey would come home on his own.

On Friday, police found a ominous sign. Joey's mountain bike-- distinctive because it was missing a pedal--had been abandoned along the banks of the Mississippi near St. Clair Avenue. It was found not far from the Kaiser home.

Joey's family and friends spent Memorial Day weekend looking for him. The search stretched into August before Joey's body was discovered in the Mississippi River near the Lock and Dam. It was spotted around 9 a.m. August 18, 2008 by the Hennepin County Sheriff's water patrol. Firefighters used a walkway extending into the river from the plant to pull it from the water, so badly decomposed that the Ramsey County medical examiner's office had to rely on DNA for identification. Foul play was not suspected.

An odd coincidence
Almost one year later on April 5, 2009, Dan Zamlen disappeared from the same area near St. Clair Avenue. His body was found near the Ford plant.
Facts of Interest
Name/age: Joey Kaiser, 17
Physical description: 6'2", 200#, brown hair, blue eyes
Last seen: 11 a.m., Tuesday, 5/20/08, St. Clair Avenue, St. Paul, MN
Recovered: 9 a.m., Tuesday 8/18/08, Missisippi River near Ford lock and dam, St. Paul, MN
Kaiser was last seen wearing a graffiti print jacket, and had a backpack and possibly a book on atheism. He had no money, no identification, no food or medication.

Sources:
http://wcco.com/local/missing.teenager.joey.2.732903.html
http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/27158059.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aU7EaDiaMDCiUT
http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/19268914.html
http://cdhnews.typepad.com/chaplains_message/2008/09/joey-kaiser.html

Posted 6/24/09.

11/07/01: Chris Nordby, 27, Minneapolis, MN

Christopher Nordby, 27, a bicycle messenger, was last seen at his work in the vicinity of the 100 block of 3rd Street North in the Warehouse District in downtown Minneapolis. When he didn't return home, Nordby's father, Hennepin County District Judge Jack Nordby, reported his son missing.

Christopher's bag turned up near the Missisippi River; his body was recovered from the river three months later.

---------------------
Recovery
On Monday, February 11, 2002, authorities recovered Nordby’s body after a female University student spotted it floating along the west bank of the river near the Washington Avenue Bridge while on her way to class.

From Bike Messenger Memorial, 02/12/02:

"The body of an unidentified man, who appeared to be 18 to 20 years old, was found in the Mississippi River, near the Washington Avenue Bridge on Monday morning, after a student spotted it, Minneapolis police said. The body appeared to have been in the river for some time and is being investigated by the Minneapolis Police Homicide Unit, although the cause of the man's death has not been determined, Lt. L.A. Evenrud of the Minneapolis park police said.

Hennepin County Medical Examiners Office said the autopsy and identification of the body should be completed Tuesday morning. A female student on her way to class spotted the corpse floating along the river on the West Bank, Evenrud said. Police officials from several departments searched for the body Monday morning, and a Minneapolis Fire Department boat recovered the body near the University's Centennial Showboat's dock before noon, Evenrud said.

He said he thinks this is the third body found in the Mississippi this year, which he said is average. In the two previous cases, two women jumped off the Franklin Avenue bridge at different times in January. One woman was found dead, and another was pulled ashore and survived, Evenrud said."

According to the MN Daily, "an evaluation by the Hennepin County medical examiner revealed no signs of evident trauma on the body, but Minneapolis police are still investigating the death pending toxicology reports, said Minneapolis police spokeswoman Cyndi Montgomery. 'It's all based on the medical examiner's findings,' she said." Drowning is the suspected cause of death.

Coincidences
The Warehouse district and the river are only a few blocks from where Chris Jenkins later disappeared in October 2002. Jenkins was a student at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management. Nordby was a former University of Minnesota student last registered in spring 2000.

Facts of Interest
Name/age: Christopher Jack Nordby, 27
DOB: 4/19/73
College: former University of Minnesota student
Physical description: 5'10", 175 pounds, blonde hair, blue-grey eyes, repaired broken front tooth, athletic (bicycle courier), possibly wearing long shorts and a t-shirt
Last seen: 11/07/01, Minneapolis (100 block of 3rd Street North in the Warehouse District)
Recovered: 02/11/02, Mississippi River
Cause of death: suspected drowning
Injuries: no signs of trauma
Blood Alcohol Content: unknown, if any

Sources
Body identified; Drowning Suspected, MN Daily, 02/13/02
Bike Messenger Memorial, 02/12/02

Other Links
Hennepin County Bar Association