Lost Lovers Last Embrace Murder Suicide

California cops say a murder suicide explains the last embrace of lost lovers found dead in Joshua Tree national park.

Relatives had been hoping against hope to find 22-year-old Joseph Orbeso and his girlfriend, 20-year-old Rachel Nguyen, alive, but the mysteriously missing couple's bodies have finally been located.

Orbeso and Nguyen vanished in July of 2017 after the two failed to return to their AirBnB rental following a hike into Joshua Tree's wilderness, where daytime temperatures often exceed 100-degrees Fahrenheit and water is in scarce supply.

Despite a massive rescue effort that spanned several weeks, neither was ever seen nor heard from again. 

Then, on October 15th, a search party -- which included Orbeso's father -- came across the pair's remains in a remote canyon area of the park.

Their corpses were allegedly "locked in an embrace."

The team also told reporters at the time that it appeared the young couple died together from either heat exhaustion or prolonged exposure to the elements.

However, autopsies performed this week revealed one of the victims had been shot to death and the other committed suicide.

Investigators have further disclosed that unspecified "evidence" was additionally recovered "at the scene," leading them to fairly conclude that Joseph Orbeso killed Rachel Nguyen before taking his own life.

The case is still under investigation, and a motive for the murder suicide is not known yet.

update by Eponymous Rox

Will diggers find missing student Kristin Smart this time?

The stunning blonde in the poster below is Kristin Smart. The 19-year-old freshman vanished from a campus beer party at Cal Poly in May 1996 and was declared deceased in 2002, although her remains were never found.

This month, however, “excavation” of the college grounds has begun at various locations which, according to a report by the Washington Post, cadaver dogs have hit upon.

The FBI also revealed that a new lead had “developed” during the past couple of years that prompted them to target those “high visibility” sites in September.

The renewed effort to solve Smart’s mysterious missing-persons case follows two decades of sporadic inquiries which resulted in only one individual being labeled a ‘person of interest’ -- a male student who escorted the inebriated undergrad to her dorm room that spring night.

He wasn’t identified in the Post’s article this week, but police say the man had been repeatedly questioned when Kristin "Roxy" Smart first disappeared and, while he’s back on their radar again in 2016, still hasn’t been named a suspect in her puzzling cold case.

And he may never be, due to the amount of time that has passed and lost evidence.

A barely conscious and barely dressed Smart was last seen alive in the young man’s company wearing only “running shorts” and a “short cropped” tee shirt.

A female classmate of Smart’s told the Associated Press that she’d attempted to alert university officials about her friend’s subsequent unexplained disappearance and that they declined to take any action, insisting “she’ll be back” after the Memorial Day break had ended.

But Kristin Smart was never seen or heard from again.

Eponymous Rox

The Baffling Disappearance of Mike Vanzandt

The disappearance of 36yo Mike Vanzandt in Hermosa Beach California earlier this month continues to baffle investigators and his loved ones.

The veteran airman and father-of-three momentarily strayed from family and friends on the night of March 5, 2016, as the group was waiting in line at a popular waterfront restaurant to watch an Ultimate Fighting Championship match.

Very soon after that, Vanzandt's phone went dead and, weeks later, there are still no answers as to what happened to him.

Initial reports that he was filmed by surveillance cameras walking away with strangers proved false, according to police who claimed a closer inspection of the "grainy" footage showed the subject in it was a different man.

"The quality of the footage was very low ... the man in the video isn't him," Detective Josh Droz of the Hermosa Police announced during week-two of the unsuccessful Vanzandt hunt.

The 36-year-old's mysterious disappearance has even recently been featured on Dateline, but the publicity hasn't helped one iota in solving his missing persons case -- he's "simply fallen off the map" and his phone and bank accounts remain inactive.

Michael Vanzandt is a Caucasian adult male about 6-feet tall and 190 pounds with blond hair and blue eyes. The former security forces airman, expert swimmer, and scuba diver is employed at the Edwards Air Force Base and a devoted family man.

Although "there is no evidence that foul play is involved" in his unexplained disappearance -- nor PTSD -- the Hermosa Beach Police Department is urging anyone with information to contact them at (310) 318-0360.

Tips may also be submitted directly to Detective Droz at (310) 318-0334, or by emailing him at jdroz[at]hermosapolice[dot]org.

For those who would like to financially aid the family of Mike Vanzandt so they can continue to travel to California and search for their missing relative, a GoFundMe campaign has been launched as well.

EPONYMOUS ROX

Cops confirm body of missing 22yo Avery Danley found in bay

A coroner has confirmed that the body of missing man Avery Danley was found in an estuary of Morro Bay.

The grim discovery was made a week ago and several weeks after the 22-year-old full time boat-dweller inexplicably vanished.

Local authorities said an autopsy was conducted to determine just how Avery Danley died, but indicated they don't suspect foul play in his missing persons case and presumed drowning.

Danley's cause of death hasn't been announced, but the outgoing and "free-spirited" youth was last seen alive dining with acquaintances aboard their docked vessel in Morro Bay on January 21, 2016.

Those individuals reportedly told investigators he returned to his own craft after dinner in a kayak early that same night.

The unmanned craft was later found floating in bay waters, although Danley's kin has stated this wasn't the first time it had ever drifted away from the main boat where he lived year round.

They have scheduled Avery's memorial service for 1:00 p.m. February 20th at Westside Ministries, 950 Columbia Avenue, Turlock. If you would like to assist them with their funeral costs please visit gofundme.com/averydanleysmemory.

EPONYMOUS ROX

Corpse of Missing College Student Praveen Galla Found in Ocean

The body of missing Cal State student Praveen Galla (below) was found floating about a 1000 feet from a Newport Beach pier this week.

The 23-year-old disappeared ten days ago, allegedly after taking an Uber taxi from Fullerton to his college campus.

Galla's university officially classified him a missing persons the next day when his roommates reported that they couldn't locate him.

"It is not like Galla to not return home," the group also informed the Fullerton Police Department.

Investigators, however, stated the missing college student "was depressed lately."

They also said Praveen Galla sent a friend a cellphone message around the same time claiming he had "checked into" a hotel in the Newport Beach area.

On Tuesday morning, lifeguards in Huntington Beach spotted Galla dead in the water, but the condition of his remains or the cause and manner of death hasn't been disclosed yet.

An admin for the Orange County Coroner's Office posted on their website only that “the decedent was found in the ocean.”

The young man's autopsy results were still pending at the time of Tuesday's confirmation that his corpse had been recovered and formally identified.

The reason Praveen Galla went to the shore instead of to school is also unknown. 

Eponymous Rox

Help Sought in Odd Disappearance of Avery Danley

Police and family are asking for help in solving the Avery Danley disappearance late last month.

 

Danley, 22 of Turlock, has been living solo on his boat in Morro Bay for the past year or so, but vanished in thin air on January 21st.

He was last sighted that day near Harbor Patrol and/or the Blue Sky Bistro, reportedly soon after declining someone's invitation to go for a drink with them.

In the days following this last known encounter Danley's empty kayak was discovered adrift in the bay, but the missing man's family has said that wasn't an uncommon occurrence and believe it, therefore, irrelevant.

The young man's abrupt departure -- and now being gone for so long -- without contacting them, however, is totally out of character, they've assured.

The Danley's finally filed a missing person report for Avery with the Morro Bay Police Department on January 27, 2016, when they exhausted all search possibilities and still couldn't find any trace of their 22-year-old "free spirit."

Since then, the MBPD and harbor patrol have jointly conducted water searches themselves, and likewise found no sign of him either.

While this doesn't rule out a boating accident, or even that Avery went missing voluntarily, it's still unusual that he hasn't reached out to relatives and friends in almost two weeks:

“Anything is possible," a family spokesperson conceded yesterday. "But we’re all sick to death worried about him. In our opinion, if he knew we were looking for him, he would contact us. He would not like us to be worried.”

Avery Danley is a slender Caucasian male about 6-foot-3 and 140 pounds, with dark hair and brown eyes.

If you know where he is, or have other information, his loved ones urge you to contact the MBPD at (805) 772-6225 right away, or to alert Detective Gene Stuart at (805) 772-6229.

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

Smiley in Cali? Paulo Netto found drowned in San Francisco

With confirmation that 22-year-old Paulo Netto has been found drowned near Pier 48, the search is still on for the Frisco Five missing under ominously similar circumstances. 

Brazilian-born Netto came to the city in October 2013 in order to explore art schools there. He vanished one night after placing a frantic call for help to his sister.

Police say they tracked the youth's cellphone but "no one was there" when they arrived shortly thereafter. They then began suggesting that Netto's "state of mind" must have been impaired somehow, although never elaborating on the reasons for their theory.

Paulo Netto's missing persons case mirrors hundreds of "Smiley Face Killer" ones accumulated nationwide over the past 16 years -- including a handful from the specific area he was visiting.

The west coast, however, is a recent hot spot for these kind of disappearances and drownings, having never before made it on the map.

So far there are five other missing young men in the California cluster since 2010, all of whom vanished without a trace and from the exact same San Francisco district:  

1. The body of Derrick Shao, 20, washed ashore on November 7, 2013, eight days after the college student went missing;.

2. Nineteen-year-old Sean Sidi has been missing since May 21st of this year;

3. Shawn Dickerson, a 24-year-old, has been unaccounted for since 2011;

4. Businessman Cameron Remmer, 31, hasn't been heard from since checking out of his hotel room in October 2011;

5. Jackson Miller, 23-years-old, likewise mysteriously disappeared in May of 2010;

The badly decomposed body of Paulo Netto was actually found floating in McCovey Cove last month, but it allegedly took all these weeks for the coroner to positively identify those remains.

His cause of death has not been released yet.