Missing FG

[Samurai_Jerk]

Wow! Lucky it's not a white woman who's missing...

SDH, you're wrong here. If this were back in the US, I'd totally agree with the whole "Missing White Woman Syndrome" assessment (not sure how common than phenomenon is in ANZ, UK, etc.). However, the Western FG community in Japan is pretty small so stories like this tend to spread pretty quickly. Especially when you have a guy who's been here a long time, runs a successful business, and seems to know a lot of people in Tokyo's expat community.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

I agree. I'm wrong and I apologize for making light of a situation that shouldn't have been mocked.

[IparryU]

Good info would be, map where he parked his car, supposed entrance where he was going to take the metro. Recon to check if there would be exploitable CCTV cams. Combing around. Did he have a subway card, does their computer monitor and link ingress/egress or tally. Then same at the station exit until the meeting point.
More than one week now, i don't see this ending well, if it even ends...
The lowbatt on the iphone is a big bummer...

These would seem to be standard procedures performed in other countries, but I have my doubts as to how capable the local keystones would be of undertaking an investigation like this. I think that the phone company should be able to track the location history of the iPhone regardless of the battery being dead now.
As the iPhone movement history is recorded, maybe there is some way Softbank/KDDI and/or the coppers can track the movement up until the battery died (I would think they can track the movement history as it passed by cell towers using the phone's IMEI number).

Seem to recall them refusing to do this in the Lucy Blackman "investigation"...

Docomo didnt refuse to do it when my wife asked... cunning lady she was. I took off for a week after getting kicked in the head from her. so she went to Docomo and said that I was missing and that she wanted to check my gps to see where i was.

they gave it to her in 10 minutes and was down to the exact building i was in...

[matsuki]

it's a KIDNAPPING.

In Japanese "logic," it's only joshiki/common sense that Dart's event planning business is catering which equals mizushobi which in turn can be construed as a business that must pay licence fee/insurance/tribute to the True Police of Japan. A foreign business person would just laugh at such demands and perhaps this is how the whole problem started.

Wow...this could be the next Japan movie in the making. I just hope it has a happy ending...this guy seems like a genuinely good human being and there are far too few of those on this planet.

[matsuki]

Good info would be, map where he parked his car, supposed entrance where he was going to take the metro. Recon to check if there would be exploitable CCTV cams. Combing around. Did he have a subway card, does their computer monitor and link ingress/egress or tally. Then same at the station exit until the meeting point.
More than one week now, i don't see this ending well, if it even ends...
The lowbatt on the iphone is a big bummer...

These would seem to be standard procedures performed in other countries, but I have my doubts as to how capable the local keystones would be of undertaking an investigation like this. I think that the phone company should be able to track the location history of the iPhone regardless of the battery being dead now.
As the iPhone movement history is recorded, maybe there is some way Softbank/KDDI and/or the coppers can track the movement up until the battery died (I would think they can track the movement history as it passed by cell towers using the phone's IMEI number).

Seem to recall them refusing to do this in the Lucy Blackman "investigation"...

Docomo didnt refuse to do it when my wife asked... cunning lady she was. I took off for a week after getting kicked in the head from her. so she went to Docomo and said that I was missing and that she wanted to check my gps to see where i was.

they gave it to her in 10 minutes and was down to the exact building i was in...

Wow...did she come hunting for you afterwards?

[IparryU]

Good info would be, map where he parked his car, supposed entrance where he was going to take the metro. Recon to check if there would be exploitable CCTV cams. Combing around. Did he have a subway card, does their computer monitor and link ingress/egress or tally. Then same at the station exit until the meeting point.
More than one week now, i don't see this ending well, if it even ends...
The lowbatt on the iphone is a big bummer...

These would seem to be standard procedures performed in other countries, but I have my doubts as to how capable the local keystones would be of undertaking an investigation like this. I think that the phone company should be able to track the location history of the iPhone regardless of the battery being dead now.
As the iPhone movement history is recorded, maybe there is some way Softbank/KDDI and/or the coppers can track the movement up until the battery died (I would think they can track the movement history as it passed by cell towers using the phone's IMEI number).

Seem to recall them refusing to do this in the Lucy Blackman "investigation"...

Docomo didnt refuse to do it when my wife asked... cunning lady she was. I took off for a week after getting kicked in the head from her. so she went to Docomo and said that I was missing and that she wanted to check my gps to see where i was.

they gave it to her in 10 minutes and was down to the exact building i was in...

Wow...did she come hunting for you afterwards?

nope. i was meeting a client and to my luck, right by love hotel hill in shibuya. i had the guy's meishi and the address was in the area that the gps said i was at.

too close for comfort might i add.

[matsuki]

So she was trying to catch you cheating?

[FG Lurker]

Docomo didnt refuse to do it when my wife asked... cunning lady she was. I took off for a week after getting kicked in the head from her. so she went to Docomo and said that I was missing and that she wanted to check my gps to see where i was.

they gave it to her in 10 minutes and was down to the exact building i was in...

Was it a family contract with her as the main name on the contract? If so the phone & phone number was technically hers. Docomo would just be telling her where her phone (that you were using) is located.

If that's not the case you'd think it would be against the privacy laws here and that Docomo could get into a fair amount of trouble for giving out this information. I'd certainly take it up with them if it was me.

[sublight]

Well one police officer has confirmed that he's not aware of Dart's being in custody in his koban.

Source?

Uhh, you? I was clarifying your post just above mine.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Well one police officer has confirmed that he's not aware of Dart's being in custody in his koban.

Source?

Uhh, you? I was clarifying your post just above mine.

So you just pulled that out of your ass then. I get it.

[sublight]

Whatever, dude. I don't know what your problem is, but I certainly don't have your faith in the NPA's ability to keep track of their own detainees.

[Taro Toporific]

For most of the week now, the Dart family and the Foreign Volunteers Japan's Facebook page (who have been acting as the main information source for Garin Dart) both have been closed mouth and adopted the party-line that: "Extraordinary sensitivity and judgement is requested" about the Garin Dart's disappearance.

Lori Henderson (currrent chair of Foreign Volunteers Japan):
The authorities are gathering information now. We are assured that everything possible is being done at this point. Missing Persons Abroad (charity set up in the name of Lucie Blackman) also providing support.

However, Gart Dart's name is not showing up Missing Persons Abroad missing list. Similarly, missing person's posters and fliers for Dart are not authorized yet.


The last news report 1 day ago:
independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/police-search-for-missing-british-businessman-garin-dart-in-tokyo...

[Russell]

Investigators have been trying to retrace his steps from the time he left the offices of his company, Bluesilver, on the afternoon of May 22. He reportedly called a friend shortly afterwards to say his cellphone battery was about to run out, then vanished in the center of the city.

I find it a bit strange that he called a friend about the status of his battery, especially since he would arrive in less than an hour or so at his destination.

That seems to suggest that he planned to take off by himself, or that he was forced by someone to make this phone call.

[wagyl]

Investigators have been trying to retrace his steps from the time he left the offices of his company, Bluesilver, on the afternoon of May 22. He reportedly called a friend shortly afterwards to say his cellphone battery was about to run out, then vanished in the center of the city.

I find it a bit strange that he called a friend about the status of his battery, especially since he would arrive in less than an hour or so at his destination.

That seems to suggest that he planned to take off by himself, or that he was forced by someone to make this phone call.

I have not posted in this thread because I do not know the person involved and I have no information other than conjecture and I really wouldn't want to be his family seeing a worrying event turned into idle speculation for strangers... and posting your thoughts here is tantamount to slacktivism since it does nothing to improve anyone's situation... but I will say that when the media reports "called to say his phone battery was low" that does not necessarily mean to say that that was the only content of the telephone call. These reports are coming second and third-hand, especially since I am a little surprised that the Independent is using the term "cellphone." Maybe I shouldn't be surprised: they are also scraping his parents' Faecesbook accounts for content.

[legion]

Investigators have been trying to retrace his steps from the time he left the offices of his company, Bluesilver, on the afternoon of May 22. He reportedly called a friend shortly afterwards to say his cellphone battery was about to run out, then vanished in the center of the city.

I find it a bit strange that he called a friend about the status of his battery, especially since he would arrive in less than an hour or so at his destination.

That seems to suggest that he planned to take off by himself, or that he was forced by someone to make this phone call.

Busy people these days are reliant on mobiles, schedules have become very fluid, so being out of touch for half a day can seem like a real issue to some. It's no big deal.

I don't know the guy but I also don't feel like speculating in public. However, with modern media we are going to have to get used to these kinds of situations becoming a topic among more than the mainstream press. In a way it interests us because we feel close, but obviously the people who are really close obviously find the attention uncomfortable.

A quick resolution is the best we can hope for.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Whatever, dude. I don't know what your problem is, but I certainly don't have your faith in the NPA's ability to keep track of their own detainees.

There was nothing in that article I linked to that suggested it was only one policeman talking a out his koban.

[Russell]

Wagyl, Legion, all fair points that you make. I do not intend to hurt his family and friends, and I hope he will be back well soon.

But the points in my speculation will certainly have been raised by the people close to him, so I do not see why I should refrain from it.

His disappearance is affecting me very much, and I cannot help wondering what could have happened.

[Coligny]

Investigators have been trying to retrace his steps from the time he left the offices of his company, Bluesilver, on the afternoon of May 22. He reportedly called a friend shortly afterwards to say his cellphone battery was about to run out, then vanished in the center of the city.

I find it a bit strange that he called a friend about the status of his battery, especially since he would arrive in less than an hour or so at his destination.

That seems to suggest that he planned to take off by himself, or that he was forced by someone to make this phone call.

Busy people these days are reliant on mobiles, schedules have become very fluid, so being out of touch for half a day can seem like a real issue to some. It's no big deal.

I don't know the guy but I also don't feel like speculating in public. However, with modern media we are going to have to get used to these kinds of situations becoming a topic among more than the mainstream press. In a way it interests us because we feel close, but obviously the people who are really close obviously find the attention uncomfortable.

A quick resolution is the best we can hope for.

Yup, over analysing journalists wording is extremly misguided.
Especially since you basically go "he called to say his battery was dying" / "then he disapeared" -> that make it weird and is therefore a clue there is something wrong to be assumed from that call.

If i'm on a business outside my office and notice my battery is low, calling to warn aboot potential difficulty to reach me is the first thing i'd do. (Did/done) Especially for people often outside who have the habit of doing a lot by phone with their assistant/co workers. That means: avoid calling me for bull, keep it for urgent stuff.

[IparryU]

So she was trying to catch you cheating?

yes

[IparryU]

Docomo didnt refuse to do it when my wife asked... cunning lady she was. I took off for a week after getting kicked in the head from her. so she went to Docomo and said that I was missing and that she wanted to check my gps to see where i was.

they gave it to her in 10 minutes and was down to the exact building i was in...

Was it a family contract with her as the main name on the contract? If so the phone & phone number was technically hers. Docomo would just be telling her where her phone (that you were using) is located.

If that's not the case you'd think it would be against the privacy laws here and that Docomo could get into a fair amount of trouble for giving out this information. I'd certainly take it up with them if it was me.

it was a family plan under her father's name.

sort of glad that you can do that though. one reason why i want my sons to carry a phone with them when they go to elementary school.

[matsuki]

Investigators have been trying to retrace his steps from the time he left the offices of his company, Bluesilver, on the afternoon of May 22. He reportedly called a friend shortly afterwards to say his cellphone battery was about to run out, then vanished in the center of the city.

I find it a bit strange that he called a friend about the status of his battery, especially since he would arrive in less than an hour or so at his destination.

That seems to suggest that he planned to take off by himself, or that he was forced by someone to make this phone call.

Busy people these days are reliant on mobiles, schedules have become very fluid, so being out of touch for half a day can seem like a real issue to some. It's no big deal.

I don't know the guy but I also don't feel like speculating in public. However, with modern media we are going to have to get used to these kinds of situations becoming a topic among more than the mainstream press. In a way it interests us because we feel close, but obviously the people who are really close obviously find the attention uncomfortable.

A quick resolution is the best we can hope for.

Yup, over analysing journalists wording is extremly misguided.
Especially since you basically go "he called to say his battery was dying" / "then he disapeared" -> that make it weird and is therefore a clue there is something wrong to be assumed from that call.

If i'm on a business outside my office and notice my battery is low, calling to warn aboot potential difficulty to reach me is the first thing i'd do. (Did/done) Especially for people often outside who have the habit of doing a lot by phone with their assistant/co workers. That means: avoid calling me for bull, keep it for urgent stuff.

I don't see any harm in speculating but yeah, need to separate the facts from journalist interpretation of the events. I also don't see anything odd about calling someone to let them know their battery was dying other than the likely irrelevant issue that it sounds like he left his portable charger at the office?

So she was trying to catch you cheating?

yes

Docomo didnt refuse to do it when my wife asked... cunning lady she was. I took off for a week after getting kicked in the head from her. so she went to Docomo and said that I was missing and that she wanted to check my gps to see where i was.

they gave it to her in 10 minutes and was down to the exact building i was in...

Was it a family contract with her as the main name on the contract? If so the phone & phone number was technically hers. Docomo would just be telling her where her phone (that you were using) is located.

If that's not the case you'd think it would be against the privacy laws here and that Docomo could get into a fair amount of trouble for giving out this information. I'd certainly take it up with them if it was me.

it was a family plan under her father's name.

sort of glad that you can do that though. one reason why i want my sons to carry a phone with them when they go to elementary school.

Ahhh, well good to know there was a reason why they gave her the info...you switched plans afterward, yes?

[IparryU]

Investigators have been trying to retrace his steps from the time he left the offices of his company, Bluesilver, on the afternoon of May 22. He reportedly called a friend shortly afterwards to say his cellphone battery was about to run out, then vanished in the center of the city.

I find it a bit strange that he called a friend about the status of his battery, especially since he would arrive in less than an hour or so at his destination.

That seems to suggest that he planned to take off by himself, or that he was forced by someone to make this phone call.

Busy people these days are reliant on mobiles, schedules have become very fluid, so being out of touch for half a day can seem like a real issue to some. It's no big deal.

I don't know the guy but I also don't feel like speculating in public. However, with modern media we are going to have to get used to these kinds of situations becoming a topic among more than the mainstream press. In a way it interests us because we feel close, but obviously the people who are really close obviously find the attention uncomfortable.

A quick resolution is the best we can hope for.

Yup, over analysing journalists wording is extremly misguided.
Especially since you basically go "he called to say his battery was dying" / "then he disapeared" -> that make it weird and is therefore a clue there is something wrong to be assumed from that call.

If i'm on a business outside my office and notice my battery is low, calling to warn aboot potential difficulty to reach me is the first thing i'd do. (Did/done) Especially for people often outside who have the habit of doing a lot by phone with their assistant/co workers. That means: avoid calling me for bull, keep it for urgent stuff.

I don't see any harm in speculating but yeah, need to separate the facts from journalist interpretation of the events. I also don't see anything odd about calling someone to let them know their battery was dying other than the likely irrelevant issue that it sounds like he left his portable charger at the office?

So she was trying to catch you cheating?

yes

Docomo didnt refuse to do it when my wife asked... cunning lady she was. I took off for a week after getting kicked in the head from her. so she went to Docomo and said that I was missing and that she wanted to check my gps to see where i was.

they gave it to her in 10 minutes and was down to the exact building i was in...

Was it a family contract with her as the main name on the contract? If so the phone & phone number was technically hers. Docomo would just be telling her where her phone (that you were using) is located.

If that's not the case you'd think it would be against the privacy laws here and that Docomo could get into a fair amount of trouble for giving out this information. I'd certainly take it up with them if it was me.

it was a family plan under her father's name.

sort of glad that you can do that though. one reason why i want my sons to carry a phone with them when they go to elementary school.

Ahhh, well good to know there was a reason why they gave her the info...you switched plans afterward, yes?

of course i switched plans. i am solo now. quite sure that she could go in there with her old ID and say that I lost my phone and because I dont speak Japanese... she is trying to locate it on my behalf.

she walked into UFJ with my tsucho and took all my money out of my account wiht no issues....

[matsuki]

Don't you wish you had set up another account (or just wired the $$ to the US? ) once you saw where she was heading?

[Samurai_Jerk]

I always figured that if I stole any gaijin's tsucho and hanko, I could clear his bank account out since they don't require photo ID here.

[matsuki]

I always figured that if I stole any gaijin's tsucho and hanko, I could clear his bank account out since they don't require photo ID here.

...or anyone's credit card. They NEVER ask for ID (but last time I used mine, the regi d00d asked why foreigners don't understand 一回？？ hahaha)

[Coligny]

I don't see any harm in speculating but yeah, need to separate the facts from journalist interpretation of the events. I also don't see anything odd about calling someone to let them know their battery was dying other than the likely irrelevant issue that it sounds like he left his portable charger at the office?

s

Speculating don't exclude a minimum of rigor and method in the thought process...

There is a difference between working with an incomplete data set. Incorporating their potential flaws in the estimation of the reliability of the conclusion/hypothesis reached. And making elements say what they don't...
Here, calling to say "my battery is dying i might be hard to join" hardly qualify as out of the ordinary. On the contrary, the guy seeming quite sharp, if he was already in distress and forced to make the call it would have been the perfect time to either call someone out of place to receive this information or slip a word/message indicating somthing is wrong. (Asking to feed the goldfish you don't have for example, who in highschool didn't have a codeword when on the phone to indicate "can't speak freely" )

[Russell]

Well Coligny, calling to say that your battery is low makes your battery even lower, so the logical thing is to *not* call for that sole purpose.

Of course, when he would have been in a call with someone, he could have mentioned that his battery is low, but that is not what is stated in the news report...

So, if he explicitly called to say that his battery is low, he may have had some other purpose in mind. Of course, this is speculation. I don't know the guy. But I found it a bit strange, in the light of the fact that he was expected to arrive in less than one hour (so, such a short communication gap wouldn't be so much of a problem to make an explicit call that would drain batteries further, isn't it?).

[IparryU]

I always figured that if I stole any gaijin's tsucho and hanko, I could clear his bank account out since they don't require photo ID here.

yup... just hope you dont go to the teller the other FG always goes to and you should be cool

[wagyl]

Russell, I wasn't really meaning to single you out as an idle speculator, because you are not the only one, you were just the one who tipped the balance enough for me to make a post...

but...

while I realise that you only have the information from the media to go on here, so it is perhaps understandable that you accept it at face value in the absence of any other reports to the contrary, I do urge caution in swallowing it wholesale and in reading too much into the casual words so published. Sadly, the media cannot be relied upon for rigourous accuracy nowadays, if in fact it ever could have been. We now need to read carefully for clues whether news reports are carefully researched and reviewed, or just casual pieces. The clues in the Independent piece that indicate that it has not been reviewed by an editor are 1) the use of non-British vocabulary "cellphone" in a British newspaper, and 2) excessive use of Facebook as a source. The item you are getting so worked up about, this telephone call, is only "reportedly" so, the journalist has not even checked the veracity. And, not wanting to get personal here, but the journo in question is one of the http://www.japanfocus.org/ people, who seem to be happy to not let facts get in the way of promoting an agenda.

I am sure that you have read media reports about an event or incident of which you have close personal knowledge, Russell. Think about how closely that media report agreed with your own experience, and that is an indication of how much media reporting differs from reality. The charitable description of it goes like this: Journalism is an attempt to record history, but it is doing it with a sense of immediacy and in that rush sometimes things are misinterpreted. The uncharitable description is that journalism doesn't really care so much about accuracy, more about getting eyes on those columns next to the advertising. They know that they can't be too outrageous, but they don't sweat the small stuff.

So in summary, neither should you sweat the small stuff, and you should not get all worked up about four words put together in a hurry by a journalist working to meet a deadline .

[Samurai_Jerk]

1) the use of non-British vocabulary "cellphone" in a British newspaper

I agree with your basic premise but this isn't really evidence of anything as news organizations use stories written by people of a lot of different nationalities.