Found Deceased CO - Alphonse Michael "Mike" Barbiere, 23, Breckenridge, Feb 2008 - #1

hipmamajen · #1 02-10-2008, 06:20 AM

http://www.9news.com/news/top-articl...?storyid=86083

Police are asking for the public's help locating a man last seen staggering away from a Main Street bar early Friday morning, in adverse weather conditions.....

Barbiere's friends tell police the Wycoff, N.J. native was out drinking on Thursday night. Reports indicate that he had at least 20 drinks before leaving the bar at 1:18 a.m. on Friday morning, walking in extremely poor weather, which included high winds, low temperatures and snow.

Man, that doesn't sound good.

Hiker · #2 02-10-2008, 07:43 AM

Severe intoxication and hypothermia (which causes irrational thought and lack of coordination among other problems) are not a good combo.

STO4 · #3 02-10-2008, 01:09 PM

Update:

http://www.summitdaily.com/article/2...56454/-1/rss02

hipmamajen · #4 02-10-2008, 01:15 PM

Thanks for the update.

I have a really bad feeling about this. Like they might not find him until spring thaw.

mom3dd · #5 02-10-2008, 02:34 PM

I don't think he went very far in that condition and in a blizzard. I hope they find him soon for his family's sake.

hoppyfrog · #6 02-11-2008, 09:18 AM

http://www.summitdaily.com/article/2...79/0/FRONTPAGE

10 Feb 08

The search for 23-year old Alphonse “Michael” Barbiere has been suspended by law enforcement and search and rescue officials based on the expertise of rescue coordinators.

and

Police are also looking to identify three white males that were seen interacting and posing for pictures with Barbiere only two hours before his disappearance. These three individuals are not suspected of any suspicious or criminal activity but police want to determine if the missing man made any comments to these individuals before his disappearance.

“We want to rule everything out and tie up any loose ends,” said Assistant Chief Morrison. “We may pursue with additional search dogs in the future. We are going to see what leads come in and identify any people that were out that night and saw him.”

more at link

hoppyfrog · #7 02-12-2008, 06:04 PM

http://origin.denverpost.com/news/ci_8239297

12 Feb 08

The family of a New Jersey man missing in Breckenridge said they hold hope that he was able to find shelter, based on reports from the search and rescue units that have been looking for him since Friday morning.

Alphonse "Mike" Barbiere, 23, left Cecilia's Martini Bar around 1:20 a.m. Friday, after consuming somewhere around 20 drinks, police said. The weather outside was termed "ghastly" by Assistant Police Chief Greg Morrison, with heavy snow, very cold temperatures and winds near 65 mph. Barbiere was wearing pants, a golf shirt and a shell jacket with no insulation or fleece. He had no gloves and only a small ski cap, which he wasn't wearing, friends said.

Over the weekend, 16 search teams comprised of 60 members looked for him. Dogs located his scent outside the bar but lost it within 100 yards.

Experienced searchers said a person dressed like Barbiere could last only 40-45 minutes in those conditions before turning hypothermic.

"We've been given some hope by the fact that a very high-qualified search and rescue team searched for two full days and told us there is a high probability that he's not here (in town)," said Barbiere's older brother, Bob, 46.

At the time, Hoosier Pass to the south was closed, and both directions of I-70 were closed because of weather. So Barbiere would have to be somewhere in between, Bob said.

"Mike is a very smart, trusting person," he continued. "Our feeling now, because they can't locate him, is that he's done something he's done in the past like sticking his thumb out to get a ride. It leads us to believe he got into a car, either in good faith or in bad faith. He's either in a safe place or potentially something very bad has happened to him, like a criminal act....

more at link

pics of Mike and the search at link

SeriouslySearching · #8 02-12-2008, 08:55 PM

The bartender should be charged if something has happened to this guy!!! 20 drinks is an extreme amount of alcohol for anyone!! It doesn't sound like he was in any condition to travel very far without help. It would be wonderful if they found him alive and well tho...maybe with some new girl he met or some ski buddies.

Everyone should have a "drinking buddy" to insure they don't get stupid and to help them find their way home safely. Too many young people go missing after visiting a watering hole and this should not be happening.

j2mirish · #9 02-12-2008, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hipmamajen

http://www.9news.com/news/top-articl...?storyid=86083

Police are asking for the public's help locating a man last seen staggering away from a Main Street bar early Friday morning, in adverse weather conditions.....

Barbiere's friends tell police the Wycoff, N.J. native was out drinking on Thursday night. Reports indicate that he had at least 20 drinks before leaving the bar at 1:18 a.m. on Friday morning, walking in extremely poor weather, which included high winds, low temperatures and snow.

Man, that doesn't sound good.

glad they arent my friends------------- why the hell would they let him go?

murdershewrote · #10 02-13-2008, 06:16 PM

I don't know...seems if he fell/collapsed, the searchers or dogs would have already found him fairly close by. I just can't picture foul play on a night like that with a blizzard and all...I lived in a climate like that, and if you are driving around in a blizzard with frigid temperatures, the last thing you are thinking about is harming somebody.

Maybe he died from too much alcohol combined with the temperatures and his friends panicked???

hipmamajen · #11 02-13-2008, 06:23 PM

http://www.summitdaily.com/article/2...23934/-1/rss02

From the article: Police are looking to identify anyone that was seen interacting with Barbiere at Cecilia’s Bar on Thursday night and have obtained a photo of two females who may have more information on the series of events that led to Barbiere leaving the bar alone.

“We have a picture of a blonde girl Mike was dancing with for the last hour he was at the bar,” said close family friend Bob Nixon. “We are trying to track her down and see if she can help us put the pieces together.”

Also, the article goes on to say they'll be having a candlelight vigil this Friday.

murdershewrote · #12 02-13-2008, 06:31 PM

hopefully these two females will come forward....they might have been from out of town themselves and don't even know he is missing. Hope this gets some TV air time and maybe they will see it. Seems like he might have left alone with a plan to meet up with one or both of them. Or maybe the girls went to get their car and they were going to meet him outside. I mean, he's pretty drunk and been dancing with one of them for an hour...that sort of tends to lead to some after hours activity.

SuziQ · #13 02-14-2008, 03:25 PM

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news...38/detail.html

(snip)
On Tuesday, police released eight pictures of women they wanted to talk to regarding his disappearance. All of eight of the women came forward on Wednesday and talked to police, but investigators said they are not anywhere closer to solving the case.

Police have already interviewed three men who were spotted with Barbiere at the bar that night.

lew657 · #14 02-14-2008, 03:46 PM

I spent several years living in Denver and many weekends in Breckenridge. It is a resort town with a bunch of bars and restaurants - if he really had 20 drinks it was probably spread out over 6-8 hours and at least as many bars.

My first thought when I saw this was he fell walking to someone's condo but since all the girls came forward I would think one of them would have said he was supposed to come back but he didn't. Also, I don't have the link but I did read somewhere that the search and rescue teams felt confident that he was not in the area. I have seen those search dogs out there work after an avalanche - they are trained to search for live or dead.
With the conditions being what they were my feeling is he was hit by a car - probably someone drunk and they moved him to avoid charges. I keep think he has to be in someone's condo or car somewhere - the roads were closed to go out of town.

murdershewrote · #15 02-14-2008, 03:47 PM

I hope they have searched every nook and cranny in and near the bar right to where he was staying. I wonder if they were staying in a condo or hotel...

I remember we've had several cases where young men were missing and they ended up found in like air conditioning rooms, very close to where they went missing, one was right on campus. Maybe Mike could have found shelter in some kind of small structure or crawl space like that, then maybe passed out and froze to death. I just can't seem in being too far away from where he left the bar.

Sounds like they've only done one search but they did alot of searches on these other cases and they weren't found right away. Doesn't really seem like a foul play kind of case, more like he hid somewhere because of the horrible weather and then just didn't make it.

Lew, just saw your theory on his being hit by a car...that is entirely possible.

This poor guy, I feel badly for his friends and family.

olympicprincess · #16 02-14-2008, 04:56 PM

I agree murdershewrote; especially after reading:

"Experienced searchers said a person dressed like Barbiere could last only 40-45 minutes in those conditions before turning hypothermic."

hipmamajen · #17 02-18-2008, 01:45 PM

http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=86607

Police say contrary to rumors the department is hearing, a New Jersey native, who has been missing for more than a week, has not been found.

Still no sign

simplesimon · #18 02-26-2008, 07:49 PM

any news ?

lew657 · #19 02-27-2008, 12:32 PM

Hate to say it but from everything I have found they seem to just be waiting for the spring thaw.

hipmamajen · #20 03-13-2008, 02:53 AM

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news...s=den&psp=news

The family of a man who went missing in Breckenridge has hired their own private investigator.

Mike Barbiere, of New Jersey, went missing the morning of Feb. 8, after a night out with his friends. The 23-year-old was seen on surveillance video leaving Cecilia's Bar at 1:30 in the morning.

"It is main street Breckenridge; stores, shops, other people, cars," said Chris Barbiere, Mike’s mom. "If something happens to you someone sees something."

She said the recent snowmelt proves that her son is not laying out in the snow somewhere, as some have suspected. Friends said he left the bar in blizzard conditions after having at least 20 drinks. Police have interviewed eight women and three men who were spotted with Mike at the bar before he disappeared, but investigators still have no clues to his whereabouts.

More at link...

lew657 · #21 03-13-2008, 09:39 AM

These vanish in thin air stories always amaze me but this one more so than others. According to reports the highways were closed due to bad weather which mean if someone else was involved they couldn't have gotten him out of Breck.... where could he be?

hipmamajen · #22 03-19-2008, 11:15 PM

The family has started a website: http://helpfindmike.com/

I keep thinking about this story, where could he be?

lew657 · #23 03-24-2008, 12:10 PM

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,330624,00.html

Saw the recent story... the family website www.helpfindmike.com has some pictures of people who were in the bar that night - a few with cameras. They are looking for ways to identify and contact these people to get copies of their pictures - they think the clue to finding Mike could be in those pics...

murdershewrote · #24 03-24-2008, 04:02 PM

LE had surveillence photos of inside the bar that night and of Mike...they did interviewed all the people that were identified as being with/around him...I can understand the family wanting to find as many photos as possible....but in a town like Breckenridge, alot of those people were there to ski and party and then left town. I think it would be pretty impossible to track them down if they haven't already come forward. I mean, it's certainly worth a try but if the family gets private photos of two or three people, how do they expect to find out who they are? They could be anybody from anywhere.

This one is certainly a mystery...There are only two scenarios I can think of. With him being so drunk, he got into a car with some people, went with them to party, and then something bad happened. Then when the roads opened up, they did something with him. That's the only scenario that makes sense to me at this point. Or he hid under a porch, took some kind of shelter from the storm, and even though the snow has melted they just haven't found that place yet.

Blink34 · #25 03-28-2008, 09:01 AM

We appreciate that people are still talking about Mike, it's important to get these answers for the family. However, I have read the family is adamant reports that he was "highly intoxicated" are untrue. The surveillance footage of him inside the bar proves that, as well as when he left.