Missing Persons Alert for Matt Labounty, 21 of Troy NY

Missing man Matt Labounty (below) is the nephew of Troy New York's police captain, Joe Centanni.

The 21-year-old disappeared in the vicinity of Adams and Fifth Street during the predawn hours of Christmas day, presumably while walking back to his home.

No one has seen or heard from Matt Labounty since early that Friday morning, and divers are now actively searching the waters beneath the Menands city bridge which spans the nearby Hudson.

However, investigators told reporters for local news station WRGB they “do not have any evidence that he is in the river," calling the search for him there just "one of the avenues that we are taking at this moment."

Matthew A. Labounty is a young Caucasian male about 6-foot-2 and 170 pounds, with short brown hair. He is believed to have been wearing a dark plaid shirt and jeans on the day that he vanished.

Anyone who knows what happened to him, or his current whereabouts, is urged to alert detectives of the Troy Police Department at 518-270-4411.

This missing persons case is developing -- please check the comment section for additional updates, and feel free to post your own there as well.

E.R

Missing College Student Anthony Urena Found Drowned in NYC

Missing college student Anthony Urena disappeared from a NYC bar in mid November ... his body was fished out of the Hudson River on Christmas day.

It took awhile for the coroner's office to confirm that the drowned corpse of a young Hispanic male, found near Hoboken NJ several days ago, was in fact that of the "clean cut" and "straight-laced" 23-year-old Urena.

Urena was reported missing from Lehman College in New York City, after he got separated from his friends at the Cliff Lounge near Tenth Avenue and 202nd Street on the evening of November 14th.

The young man's family has been searching for him nonstop for almost seven weeks in a row, and initially suspected he was the victim of foul play, because he had never before vanished without a trace.

This week, however, the mother of Anthony Urena disclosed that police told her his disappearance and drowning death was "not suspicious" and that he "accidentally" died when he drunkenly slipped "and fell into the water."

It's not clear what her son was doing at the river's edge in the first place, but “I’m glad that at least he’s found," his mom said. "I didn’t want him to be found this way,” though, she sadly added.

Eponymous Rox

The Disappearance and Drowning of Henry McCabe

Long missing Minnesota tax auditor Henry McCabe (below) has been found drowned this week, two months after leaving a desperate voice-mail with relatives containing screams and growls.

 On Monday, a kayaker discovered Mr. McCabe’s body in Rush Lake, some distance from where the 32-year-old had been dropped off -- and promptly vanished -- after a night out with his friends.

Searchers have acknowledged they previously scoured that same area and found nothing. However, a law enforcement official said yesterday that the victim appeared to have been in the water “for quite some time.”

Henry McCabe was a salaried employee of Minnesota’s Department of Revenue and is survived by a wife and two young children.

Despite Mr. McCabe's bizarre missing persons case -- and his frightened two-minute message begging for help -- police are now suggesting there's “nothing suspicious” about his disappearance and non-recreational drowning…

Read my original missing persons report for Crime Magazine below:

The Henry McCabe missing persons case has taken a scary turn in Minnesota this week:

The 31-year-old Department of Revenue auditor mysteriously vanished almost a month ago during a night out with a friend.

He hasn’t been seen or heard from since then, but, this week, a voicemail recording from that evening has surfaced … and it’s a total fright:

The troubling call, which was placed from McCabe’s cell phone at 2:30 in the morning of September 7th, contains about 2-minutes of screams, growls and moans, then is punctuated with a few seconds of silence before someone says “stop it.”

The growls turn into high pitch moans, like he's moaning in pain,” an individual familiar with the Henry McCabe investigation and his last known voicemail message stated yesterday.

A police spokesman also told reporters that the FBI is now analyzing the recording.

Investigators believe this final call originated from the vicinity of Rice Creek Park which borders on the Mounds View and New Brighton communities, although a wide-scale search there produced no evidence.

Because that district isn’t where McCabe’s acquaintance reportedly dropped him off, loved ones of the missing man have expressed some doubts about the accuracy -- or truthfulness -- of this person’s account.

McCabe allegedly left a Spring Lake Park nightclub with his unnamed friend, who subsequently left him at a convenience store in Fridley.

The still-missing man is married with children and lives in Mounds View with his family. The Mounds View Police Department is therefore heading up the investigation into his disappearance and urges anyone with info about it to contact them at 763-717-4070.

The Fridley Police Department has also joined forces with the MVPD in an effort to solve Mr. McCabe’s missing persons case -- FPD detectives can be reached at 763-572-3629.

Eponymous Rox

SMILEY FACE DISCUSSION: Missing Student James Hubert Found Badly Beaten

Missing Georgia tech student James Hubert was miraculously found by classmates today semiconscious and displaying injuries consistent with blunt force trauma.

Is this what a Smiley Face murder victim looks like before he's dumped in the water and his wounds wash away ... ?

DEAD AND DISCARDED: Deer Island's Baby Doe Still Needs ID and Funeral

Dead and discarded, Dear Island's dead Baby Doe girl still needs to be identified, as Massachusetts police continue to investigate what caused her death, and who callously dumped the toddler's body in a garbage bag on the shoreline.

If you recognize this child's face please contact police ASAP

Investigators are totally stumped and at a standstill over the Baby Doe case, however, because there was no sign of trauma or neglect on the deceased child's body, and they still can't figure out where she came from and who her family is.

DNA analysis is pending, but may require additional weeks of waiting to see if those results match up with anyone currently listed in a national database.

Since the computer-generated of Deer Island's dead Baby Doe above was released to the Web this month, it's been viewed by over 50,000,000 people, but ... continue reading here

Eponymous Rox

Jenner and Dolezal: Vanity Fair for the Gander But Not for the Goose

Bruce Jenner and Rachel Dolezal have each made the news this month for their spectacular quick-changes, but each has pending legal matters to attend to as well:

For Mr. Jenner, who was sued in May for vehicular manslaughter by the relatives of his victim, that crime and its resulting litigation has been overlooked by the media, in an effort to laud him now as the world's "most courageous woman."

It seems all he had to do to achieve such a *credible* switchover besides picking a more girlish-sounding name, was slap on 10-pounds of makeup and some skimpy lingerie ... then hide his man-sized mitts behind his back during his photo shoot for the cover of Vanity Fair.

The 65-year-old will also have to take female hormones for the rest of his life, and, somewhere down the yellow-brick road he's traveling, undergo surgical alteration.

For Caucasian-born Dolezal, however, whose choice to convert to being *black* requires merely a tan and a perm, applause from the political-correct press has been noticeably lacking, and accolades nonexistent.

Indeed, although she identifies as strongly with being African American as Jenner supposedly identifies with being female, Dolezal's gotten nothing but ridicule and accusations of "identity fraud," a prejudicial treatment which is, unto itself, a total crime.

But even before that so called "black-face" scandal blew up in her white face this week, the former head of Spokane's NAACP chapter was already embroiled in a criminal matter that would have had her testifying against her accused child-molesting older brother.

Attempting to thwart Rachel Dolezal from making that courtroom appearance is reportedly what lies behind her estranged family's sudden urge to publicly out her as a nonblack citizen, of course.

Now, as a result of their unorthodox strategy, she may face charges herself for failing to properly fill in certain blanks on job applications which compelled her to fully disclose what race she really is.

Hmmm ... is it actually legal for prospective employers to ask questions like that? 

Eponymous Rox

Wanted Dead or Alive: Depp Dogs

Wanted dead or alive: Johnny Depp's dangerous terrier suspects Pistol and Boo sought by Australian authorities for busting out of quarantine, and then fleeing the country:

Eponymous Rox

What really happened to Lauren Spierer?

For Lauren Spierer, June 3rd 2015, will mark four years and thousands of dead-end tips since she disappeared without a trace from Bloomington Indiana, after a calamitous night of booze and drugs and carousing:

Some people theorize that this now-famous missing person was murdered, and her body dumped someplace.

Others believe the petite young blonde was abducted while staggering home to her nearby apartment.

They're the ones holding out hope that she may still be alive today, albeit living a desperate existence as somebody's hostage and sex slave.

After all, things like that have been known to happen from time to time, as Ariel Castro and his Cleveland kidnappings of Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus prove.

But I don't think such a fate befell young Lauren Spierer.  She wasn't as lucky...
 

[click to read/share "The Auto-Assassination of Lauren Spierer"]

The parents of missing person Lauren Spierer filed a lawsuit this week against the trio of young men who were last seen with their daughter on the day that she vanished: 

Robert and Charlene Spierer claim that the negligence of Corey Rossman, Mike Beth and Jay Rosenbaum -- who all lawyered up within hours of Spierer being reported as missing -- is what ultimately "resulted in her disappearance, death, or injury."

Attorneys representing the Spierers say a statute of limitations barring such a civil action was bound to kick in soon and, since the young woman still remains unaccounted for, they felt legally compelled to file suit for the wrongful acts of these former students.

All three defendants named in the suit had either admitted to being with a grossly inebriated Spierer the day she vanished without a trace, or were witnessed by others as being in her company in the hours before she went missing.

Many fellow revelers that evening had observed Spierer -- bruised from repeatedly falling down and practically incoherent -- being escorted and even carried at times by her three male comrades. 

However, all the men insist that Spierer somehow made a full recovery later on, then left their apartment for her own, barefoot, at around four in the morning. After which, they say they don't know what may have happened to her.

One of the youths in fact has alleged amnesia: He was punched in the face earlier that fateful night by an interceder who apparently hoped to convince him, through physical force, to take the visibly incapacitated woman safely back to her home so she could sleep it off.

He declined to do so, unfortunately, and Lauren Spierer continued to party with Rossman, Beth, and Rosenbaum for several more hours.

The Spierers insist none of those key players have ever been 100 percent forthright about the predawn events which led up to their daughter's disappearance, and they now firmly believe she never left the youths' apartment at all.

(0riginal story above published on the 2-year anniversary of Spierer's disappearance)
6/28/13 9:17 AM

MISSING PERSON ALERT: Alexander Odell

Missing person Alexander Odell, 23, was last seen near his house in Pekin, Illinois on April 14, 2015. He has not been seen or heard from since.

The young man has a wife and a new baby. His loved ones say it is entirely "unlike Alexander to be away from his family."

 

Odell lives on the 600 block of Market Street in downtown Pekin, and is believed to have left that residence on Tuesday morning at around 9 a.m.

When the 23-year-old didn't return by Thursday a missing person report was filed for him.

Alexander Odell may be in danger, investigators think. They ask that anyone who sees him or knows what could have happened to prevent him from returning home again call the Pekin Illinois police at 346-3132.

@EponymousRox

This case is developing; bookmark for additional updates

 -- your comments and opinions welcome as always --

R.I.P. Ken Gruno (missing found drowned)

Michigan's missing man Ken Gruno, 27, was finally located this week, three months after he vanished without a trace from an Otisville pub where he'd been celebrating Christmas with good friends.

His body was just found partially submerged in a shallow pond, and a medical examiner says the Air Force veteran "accidentally" drowned there somehow.

Young males like Ken Gruno, vanishing in the dead of winter and showing up drowned in an icy body of freshwater weeks or even months later, appears to be a scary modern-day phenomena now ... read more

Eponymous Rox

BREAKING NEWS: Paul Kochu Found Drowned

Paul Kochu has been found drowned, roughly three months after the 22-year-old nurse vanished during a night out with his roommates that left him mysteriously injured. 

Pittsburgh police say they were contacted about a body floating in the Ohio River and that it was positively identified as the missing man through dental records.

An autopsy was performed but the results have not yet been publicly released, and the cause and manner of death are still unknown.

The family of Paul Kochu had conducted numerous searches for him in the Pittsburgh area and even offered a missing person reward for help in solving his case.

They've released the following statement:

"It is with heavy hearts and unspeakable sadness that we learned today of the death of our beloved son and brother, Paul. These are circumstances no family ever dream of coping with. Though we are left with many questions, what we know for sure is Paul was the light of our lives, and we will not be the same without him.

"Paul loved Pittsburgh. Having traveled here repeatedly over the past four months as we held out hope in the search for Paul, it is clear to us why the community was so dear to him, In addition to family and friends, countless strangers embraced us and offered their love and support in helping us during this difficult time. There are no adequate words to express the gratitude we feel towards the Pittsburgh community."

Eponymous Rox

David Bird Has Been Found Drowned - 1 Year Later?

"Missing man David Bird has been found drowned today," may be a New Jersey coroner's official finding by the end of the week:

A body just retrieved from a river near where the 55-year-old Wall Street Journal reporter was said to have gone walking when he vanished is now pending formal identification and notification of relatives.

click image for latest coverage of the 'Curious Drowning of David Bird'

Bird was last seen on January 11, 2014. His family had offered a $10,000 reward for any information about what may have happened to him or his whereabouts, but nothing ever came of their search.

"This is the first lead of any kind," a family spokesperson said today.

Many waterways merge in the area that the supposed body of David Bird has been found drowned in. But, still, the odds that, one full year later, his corpse would resurface there -- or be found at all -- is both forensically and statistically improbable.

Which, if it truly is the missing man himself, makes one wonder how long the deceased was actually in the water ... and who put him there?

EPONYMOUS ROX

Sahray Barber Missing Update

Foul play suspected in the Sahray Barber missing person case in southern California:

But investigators aren't sure if the 22-year-old's disappearance is related to a spate of attacks on females at Cal State's San Bernardino campus right across from her home.

Barber has been suspiciously missing since early March 2015, and this week police finally announced they had identified some people "of interest" who, the cops note, are not being as cooperative as they should.

That's led many to speculate the POIs in Barber's case may in fact be her very own roommates, said to have been noticeably absent from recent public vigils held to honor the popular but still-missing art student.

Click image for more Sahray Barber news

Reportedly, Sahray Barber rents a room in the house of a California couple who has a very young child, but detectives working the case refuse to confirm or deny if the two are the persons of interest now.

Barber's vanishing has baffled authorities searching for her, since there was "no sign of struggle" outside her residence and her laptop and cell phone were found carefully placed in nearby bushes.

K-9s traced the young woman's last movements right outside her home near the state university, and say that trail went cold at the edge of the adjoining sidewalk.

They theorize, therefore, that Barber may have gotten into a vehicle the day she went missing, either on her own free will, or involuntarily.

She was expected to be at work, but never showed.

This case is developing - read/share/comment

MAN OVERBOARD: Missing Presumed Drowned

A US student is missing presumed drowned in the Bahamas, says a Carnival Cruise Lines spokesperson.

The thus far unidentified youth is said to attend Virginia Tech University. He had booked his doomed excursion on the good ship Carnival Glory.

Although not yet deemed dead, his next of kin have already been notified of his demise, apparently...

"We extend our heartfelt sympathy and concern for the family and loved ones of our missing guest," was Carnival incorporated's official statement concerning their latest missing passenger incident.

Man Overboard

Ship security footage from Carnival Glory indicates that the hapless young man, now listed as missing presumed drowned, went overboard sometime this past weekend and was finally reported gone early Sunday morning.

Thereafter, a joint search effort with nearby cruiser Carnival Ecstasy was launched to rescue him, although that appears to have been fruitless.

But, even had the victim survived the long fall into the ocean and then managed to stay afloat all this time, trying to find someone bobbing around in such a vast body of water is much akin to looking for that proverbial 'needle in a haystack.'

If not more impossible.

Eponymous Rox

Missing Becky Watts Murdered and Dismembered by Bro

The search for missing Becky Watts ended this week in a double heartbreak for the family as police unearthed her dismembered remains and charged a stepbrother with her killing. 

The shy and pretty British teen mysteriously disappeared from her home on February 19th, and a nationwide hunt for her produced the grisly and shocking revelation yesterday that she'd been kidnapped, murdered and dismembered by her very own relative.

Twenty-six-year-old Nathan Matthews of Bristol UK, the stepbrother of Rebecca Watts, was arrested and appeared in court today for the killing of his stepsister.

Matthews' girlfriend Shauna Hoare, 21, was also arrested in connection with the case, charged for perverting justice and assisting an offender. The pair are said to have an infant daughter.

Apart from "consistently lying" to police, Hoare additionally made a number of deceitful facebook postings pleading for info from the public regarding Becky's whereabouts. As well she directly appealed to members of the community that the missing girl resided in to lend their aid in the desperate quest to find her.

One of Hoare's most galling facebook updates reads: "Police have turned my house upside down trying to find any clues. What fresh new hell will we go through today?"

It was posted just days before detectives discovered Watts had been slain and her severed body parts buried in an abandoned property close by.

"I just can't believe it," a neighborhood local said, upon learning of these startling developments, "I feel like I'm in an episode of Eastenders."

In all, seven men and women in their 20s, including Nathan Matthews and Shauna Hoare, are now being held and grilled by investigators in an effort to determine the extent of each suspect's involvement and to decipher a motive, if any, for the bizarre and brutal murder of a child.

In the meantime, funeral plans are underway for the late Becky Watts. She was only 16 when she horribly died.

Eponymous Rox

This murder case is still developing -- read more coverage HERE

post your own updates and observations in the comment section/s

Smiley Face Killers update

Read a 2015 Smiley Face Killers update on Crime Magazine containing special mention of still-missing Pennsylvania resident Paul Kochu, as well as the Shane Montgomery disappearance and drowning in that same state and time-frame.

Portrait on the article's accompanying illustration (shown above) is that of Michael Jansson, a youth who similarly vanished without a trace from an Illinois dance club on the evening of March 9, 2001.

In classic Smiley Face Killers tradition, he was never seen or heard from again, until the car he'd hurriedly fled in that night was found twelve years later, upside down at the bottom of the Chicago River. 

A subsequent DNA test on the skeletal remains strewn throughout the vehicle confirmed they were in fact "Mikey" Jansson's bones ... full story @ Crime Magazine.

Blogger Butchered in Bangladesh

The blogger butchered in Bangladesh on Thursday evening for frequently criticizing religious intolerance and Islamic extremism was a naturalized American citizen originally born in the country where he was crucified.

A heretofore unknown terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the brutal assault on Avijit Roy and his wife as the couple were about to sit down for tea at a crowded sidewalk cafe in Dhaka. 

The attackers who call themselves "Ansar Bangla 7" used cleavers and machetes to viciously hack their victims, then left the bloody utensils at the scene.

Roy's spouse, Rafida Ahmed, is also a blogger. She survived her wounds but remains seriously injured.

"This was not just an attack against a person," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki angrily told reporters in Washington, "but a cowardly assault on the universal principles enshrined in Bangladesh's constitution and the country's proud tradition of free intellectual and religious discourse."

In recent years Bangladeshis have seen similar ambushes on secular writers who lived or were visiting their country, giving rise to fears that Islamic militancy may now be spreading into that impoverished nation, too.

Following this latest act of terrorism the group Ansar Bangla 7 announced on Twitter that the blogger butchered in Bangladesh "was the target because of his crime against Islam," leaving little doubt that yet another Muslim extremist group has just been born.

Avijit Roy was 42-years-old when he was assassinated. Like other outspoken bloggers, he had been receiving death threats for years.

Eponymous Rox

Trial for Abigail Hernandez Kidnapping Suspect

The Abigail Hernandez kidnapping trial in New Hampshire is "on track" and scheduled to begin in January 2016:

The accused, "Crazy Nate" Kibby, 34, of Gorham New Hampshire, faces 205 assorted and sordid criminal counts related to his October 2013 abduction of the North Conway teen as she was walking home from school.

Those range from repeated sexual assaults on a minor to unlawful use of electronic restraints, and, once Kibby is convicted next year, he'll likely be imprisoned for life.

Ex con, Nathaniel Kibby, was identified by his victim from a police lineup just one week after she mysteriously returned to her North Conway residence in an underweight and traumatized condition. 

Kibby had brutally confined her for nine months on his rural property located a mere 30 miles from Hernandez's hometown. 

Read latest coverage of the Abigail Hernandez abduction with case updates on Crime Magazine.

Is the Sex Offender Registry a Hit List?

Rights activists claim that America's sex offender registry constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, and, in extreme cases, is even being used to track down convicted pedophiles to maim or murder:

Incidences of violence against registered sex offenders -- particularly child molesters -- are on the rise, experts warn; premeditated attacks on RSOs made easier since the sex offender registry is accessible  to anyone with internet and a grudge.

In fact, in some states registered pedophiles have been serially stalked and killed by vigilantes.

Are the civil liberties of those convicted of sex crimes being violated because the law now exclusively compels these particular ex cons to publish their names and current addresses online? And does it matter that a sex offender registry may be putting their lives in danger?

by Eponymous Rox

Searching the River for John Dwyer

John Dwyer, 23, has been missing from Wisconsin for roughly a week and, as has now become customary for lads like him who vanish in winter without a trace, officials are searching for Dwyer's body in the river.

The La Crosse native disappeared while celebrating a birthday with his buddies in downtown Wisconsin Dells on Saturday evening. According to eye witnesses, he was last seen alive very early Sunday morning standing outside one of the local bars there.

Investigators say Dwyer and a half-dozen friends had earlier reserved two rooms in the nearby Finch Motel, and Wisconsin Dells Police Chief Jody Ward told reporters that, after their festivities came to a close, the youth was observed "walking north on River Road."

If true, this would've had him heading back to those same lodgings, albeit alone.

A cab driver who claims he drove John Dwyer and pals around town for most of the night says nothing unusual happened, and even remembered thinking the redhead was "a happy-go-lucky kid."

The young man was wearing a green flannel shirt, jeans, and an Oregon Ducks cap when he went missing. He's approximately six-feet tall and 175 pounds, and has short, red hair.

Anyone with any information about what may have happened to him or his current whereabouts is asked to call the Wisconsin Dells Police Department at 608-253-1611. 

(This case is developing -- please feel free to discuss it, or to add more info, in the comment section.)

Eponymous Rox

Missing in Michigan - Ken Gruno

Ken Gruno went mysteriously missing in Michigan on the evening of December 27th 2014, after stepping outside a pub for a breath of fresh air. The 27-year-old left behind his coat and credit card, and a group of bewildered mates.

Since Gruno's unexplained disappearance, family, friends and police have conducted numerous searches of the neighborhood and even the nearby riverbanks.

Now, however, bad weather and subzero temperatures are seriously hampering their efforts to find the missing man, and the major search which was to be launched today has had to be postponed for fear that participants may be harmed in the process.

Ken Gruno was celebrating the holidays with friends at the Otisville Hotel bar in the 100 block of West Main Street in northern Genesee County, where he appears to have somehow completely dematerialized -- he has not been seen or heard from since that night.

"It's completely out of his character," say those who know him best. "He's always in contact with someone, or on his computer." 

Gruno is approximately 6-feet tall and 175 pounds. He was wearing blue jeans, a gray flannel shirt with a vest and bowtie, and slip-on work boots. Anyone with information regarding his bizarre disappearance is asked to call the Michigan State Police Flint post at 810-732-1111.

Eponymous Rox

Shane Montgomery Accidentally Drowned - In Winter

Shane Montgomery accidentally drowned in a river, claims the medical examiner who just performed an autopsy on the previously-missing youth's corpse. Now the question that will forever remain unanswered is: Why in the world would he have gone swimming in the middle of winter?

With that weird official finding, however, Montgomery now joins a growing list of similar young men who, since the late 1990s, fatefully and fatally decided to do the same foolish thing.

Some were "intoxicated" or "on drugs" or "troubled" authorities have routinely ruled. But some were not, and yet they too disappeared and drowned anyway, including those who "misdialed" 911 in the minutes before they vanished without a trace.

Like many of the victims before him, Shane Montgomery mysteriously went missing after an altercation in a bar he had attended with friends this holiday season. It was a minor incident, the bar's owner and management now admit, but, whatever, it got him promptly thrown out into the cold that night, and thereafter he was never seen alive again.

More than a week into the community-search for him, police insisted they'd discovered surveillance video of Montgomery subsequently "stumbling" near the towpath of a nearby canal; vital evidence which, for some unknown reason, wasn't released to the public.

But this apparently rare piece of secret film footage helped to *connect all the dots* it seems. And therefore it made perfect sense to them to then assume they'd find Montgomery's corpse in the river or canal. With no signs of foul play on it, naturally.

So, who knows, perhaps young men these days are just more sensitive than they were 20, 50, 100, 200 years ago, and thus now become truly despondent whenever they're forcibly separated from their buddies, and a river, lake, pond or stream is close by... 

Eponymous Rox

Maimed and Missing: Paul Kochu

Paul Kochu went to Smokey Joe's in Pittsburgh PA with his roommates on the evening of December 16, 2014. He has not been seen or heard from since.

An image of the 22-year-old intensive care nurse was captured that same night showing him on foot and apparently alone. Wherever Kochu was headed though, he never got there.

Family members who viewed that surveillance tape said the young man's hand appeared to be wrapped in a towel and his gait was strange. They worry Kochu may also have sustained a head injury during a night out that has now become a total mystery.

His roommates contend that Kochu left the packed bar without them around midnight, but later called there to report he'd sliced his hand on broken glass. The two then allegedly returned to the apartment they share so to assist their friend with a cut they describe as "not bad enough to require him to go to the hospital for stitches."

Thereafter they went out once more, they say -- this time leaving Kochu behind -- to see if they could get some food, but he was "gone" by the time they got back. The missing man had taken his keys, cell phone and wallet with him, but not his vehicle.

Kochu recently graduated from the nursing program at Duquesne University and works in the intensive care unit at Allegheny General Hospital,. He did not show up for his scheduled morning shift on December 18th, something which his father, Jack Kochu, insists is highly unusual and troubling.

"It is 199-percent uncharacteristic of Paul not to be where he was supposed to be," he said. "He's wanted to be a nurse the last six years. There is absolutely, positively, no way he would miss work."

"He is not impetuous, he's not a reckless person," Kochu's mother, Ellen added. "And there's no rhyme or reason to how or why he disappeared that night."

Paul Kochu, 22, is approximately 6-feet tall and 180 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes. Anyone with information is asked to call the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police Missing Persons Unit at (412) 323-7141. A $20,000 reward is additionally being offered for help in solving his case. 

Eponymous Rox

Shane Montgomery Missing: Presumed Drowned

The search for missing student Shane Montgomery has focused on the river and canal. Like other Smiley Face Killer victims who vanished after a late night mid-winter encounter with heavy-handed police, and/or bouncers, he too was instantly presumed to have "somehow" drowned:

Montgomery disappeared in Philadelphia over the Thanksgiving holiday immediately after an over-zealous bouncer unceremoniously ejected the youth from the bar he and his friends were celebrating at.

It is the same district that Carlesha Freeland-Gaither's violent street-abduction occurred last month. One which was captured and thus quickly solved via surveillance cameras positioned throughout the area, and, of course, with aid from the kidnapped woman's abandoned cell phone.

Yet, strangely enough, Montgomery's would-be rescuers claim those very same devices are of little help to them now. It seems, when a hunt involves a missing young man, "it's a real challenge looking for video from surveillance cameras." And, "Trying to determine from the missing person's cell phone where they were last using the phone," is also weirdly perplexing.

But at least these inordinately confounded authorities are "interviewing as many people as [they] can."

Classically, this approach too will no doubt prove futile, as stories quickly change and film footage of the event and the territory it took place in begins to rapidly deteriorate, ultimately to vanish just as Shane Montgomery did: without a trace.

One thing is for certain though, if indeed the *educated hunch* is correct that Montgomery is somewhere in the frigid canal or river, then his body won't refloat to the surface for a number of weeks and maybe even months. By which time his slowly decomposing corpse would have naturally created volumes and volumes of alcohol -- far in excess of what he consumed just prior to his death.

And, using that false BAC level, he'll thereafter officially be declared to have been "severely intoxicated" and to have "accidentally drowned" as a result.

Case closed. Again.

Story from 12/1/14 - see comment section for updates

NOTE:  Body found in river on January 3rd 2015
believed by family to be Shane Montgomery's -  read 
SHANE MONTGOMERY "ACCIDENTALLY DROWNED"
(Feel free to add your own comments and
updates in either article's comment section.)