GA GA - Timothy Cunningham, 35, Chamblee, 12 Feb 2018

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Looking at his route and where he was last seen, I am wondering if the reason he went home and left his car, phone, and other belongings so that once he didn't answer and they checked the house they would definitely know something was amiss and take care of Bo. :( Otherwise he could have just driven off in another direction and not gone home.
 
I'm just now caught up on this thread and I would like to put the rail yard theory to rest.

My husband works at that rail yard (NS Inman) and says TC could not have been a train hopper. This particular rail yard is an intermodal rail yard, so the only cars are shipping containers like you see on the coastal docks. These containers are placed onto a wheeled chassis (by using a crane) when they build the trains there. They are all sealed, so you can't get inside one, and they don't have ladders attached to climb up them and ride on top. He said the only way you could maybe get on top of one is by jumping from a bridge to land on top of a car as the train passes by on the tracks below.

I prefer not to publicly discuss the security situation at that rail yard, but after our conversation, my husband explicitly said there's absolutely no way someone can hop a train at this particular rail yard due to the type of cars.
 
I don't think someone of Mr. Cunningham's intelligence and experience would just decide to end it all because he did not get a promotion that several people were in the running for. At this point, I am tending to agree with previous posters who thought someone came to his door and he followed / went them them knowing he could get back in the house with his garage code.
 
EA18G said:
I don't think someone of Mr. Cunningham's intelligence and experience would just decide to end it all because he did not get a promotion that several people were in the running for. At this point, I am tending to agree with previous posters who thought someone came to his door and he followed / went them them knowing he could get back in the house with his garage code.
Click to expand...

This has been said time & again, intelligence has nothing to do with suicide or mental health. There are many members of this board that have lost loved ones to suicide & to imply that intelligence is a factor is quite insensitive at best.

Mental illness has NOTHING to do with intelligence. It is misconceptions like this & many others that prohibit us from truly addressing the mental health crisis.

I don't mean to pick on you or your post, as I'm sure you had no ill intent. I just feel the issue needed to be addressed as there have been numerous similar comments.


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EA18G said:
I don't think someone of Mr. Cunningham's intelligence and experience would just decide to end it all because he did not get a promotion that several people were in the running for. At this point, I am tending to agree with previous posters who thought someone came to his door and he followed / went them them knowing he could get back in the house with his garage code.
Click to expand...

Getting the promotion wouldn't have been the cause, but it could have his breaking point, where he felt he couldn't handle anything else, or that the status quo was intolerable. What he achieved and accomplished has very little to do with how he might have seen himself, or how he felt emotionally, or his ability to cope.

Source - myself, as an overachiever with degrees and letters after my name and a high level position at a fortune 500 company. I'm on two antidepressants, an antianxiety med, sleeping meds... just so I can get up and get through the day and pretend to be ok. Coworkers and friends are clueless. Family, less so, but still nowhere near knowing how close to the edge I've gotten.

He is not in a high-risk demographic to be a crime victim (age, education, employment, family background, etc), and far more people commit suicide than disappear to start another life. With his family's comments, leaving his dog and belongings, this just screams suicide to me.

They need to search within a couple miles of his home, and searchers need to remember to look up.

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EA18G said:
I don't think someone of Mr. Cunningham's intelligence and experience would just decide to end it all because he did not get a promotion that several people were in the running for.
Click to expand...

Highly intelligent people complete suicide every day. Depression does not discriminate. We do not know what other circumstances he was dealing with and this disappointment may have just been the final straw.

It’s a difficult possibility to accept that he may have taken his own life. But in my opinion, it’s the most obvious, logical, and simple explanation for what happened. It would be an exceedingly odd coincidence for someone to attack him at the same time he was experiencing this disappointment. And for it to have also coincided with the odd correspondence that so worried his family would make it even stranger.

I my opinion, based on my personal experience with a spouse who took their own life under fairly similar circumstances, TC is dead. I imagine he set out walking through the woods behind his house and took with him either a gun, a rope (or similar), or a large quantity of pills. He probably walked as far as he could that day, perhaps making it to the banks of the Chattahoochee and following its shoreline. And when he felt reasonably certain that he was in an area secluded enough so as not to be found immediately, he ended his life.

It’s entirely possible that I’m wrong, of course, but this strikes me as the most obvious and simple explanation.
 
“I think it's pretty consistent that he was definitely upset, he told several coworkers that he was and he was expecting this promotion,” said O’Connor. “He tells the supervisor he's not feeling well, he had actually called in sick the two previous work days,” he explained.

They said he called his mother, who missed the call, and didn’t leave a voicemail.

Police presume Cunningham drove himself home from the CDC’s Chamblee campus, but haven’t seen video of him getting into his car and leaving.

“CDC is checking cameras now because we wanted to confirm that it was him that gets into his vehicle and drives home. They’re not certain that they have cameras that cover the parking deck but they’re checking that for us again now,” said O’Connor.

[...]

Police are planning to canvass Cunningham’s Atlanta neighborhood again in the coming days.

[...]

Several volunteers are continuing the search efforts by canvassing the wooded area near the CDC.

http://www.wtvm.com/story/37607708/...continues-three-weeks-after-his-disappearance
 
A nationwide search-and-rescue team descended into Atlanta Saturday to help search for a missing CDC worker.

[...]

"I heard about him on the news. I heard this was happening. I wanted to come out and help," said Bryan Thrasher, a search volunteer.

Saturday, Police, volunteers and K9 team searched a wooded area near a CDC office and the Mercer University Atlanta campus.

"These dogs are trained to find people. So we train all the time to disassociate critters from real people," said Gary Bonneau, President of the Alpha Team K9 Search and Rescue Group.

"We have a good skills. We have great dogs. We're just passionate about helping the community."

That passion is what's keeping volunteers going, even during the darkest times.

"I guess it's just the notion that he might be out there and I could do some good to help find him," Thrasher said.

http://www.11alive.com/article/news...-saturday-for-missing-cdc-worker/85-525209657
 
[...]

A group made up police, friends and family spent the morning Saturday searching for any clues as to where Cunningham might be. Among the search were members of the Alpha Team K9 Search and Rescue Team, professional search team volunteers.

“These dogs are trained to find people. We train all the time to disassociate from critters to people. And we first focus on them and how they react to the areas and then we follow up with people to kind of look at more details,” Gary Bonneau with the Alpha Canine Rescue Team told Halloran.

Dozens of people joined Saturday’s search, all optimistic something will shed light on what happened to Cunningham.

[...]

“We were aware of some concerns at work that he had shared with us and there were some personal issues too,” O’Connor said.

[...]

“He has such a history of being responsible and dependable that, that’s what puts us at such disbelief at this state,” Cunningham’s father, Terrell Cunningham, said.

But at the end of Saturday’s search, there was still no sign of the commander for the public health service.

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/police-friends-start-new-search-for-missing-cdc-worker/710328180
 
I'm not sure if this has been addressed but where does his scent go as far as the search dogs? How far does it take them away from the home? If at all? Does it fit the MO that he walked away from the home?

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Wyle_E_Coyote said:
Getting the promotion wouldn't have been the cause, but it could have his breaking point, where he felt he couldn't handle anything else, or that the status quo was intolerable. What he achieved and accomplished has very little to do with how he might have seen himself, or how he felt emotionally, or his ability to cope.

Source - myself, as an overachiever with degrees and letters after my name and a high level position at a fortune 500 company. I'm on two antidepressants, an antianxiety med, sleeping meds... just so I can get up and get through the day and pretend to be ok. Coworkers and friends are clueless. Family, less so, but still nowhere near knowing how close to the edge I've gotten.

He is not in a high-risk demographic to be a crime victim (age, education, employment, family background, etc), and far more people commit suicide than disappear to start another life. With his family's comments, leaving his dog and belongings, this just screams suicide to me.

They need to search within a couple miles of his home, and searchers need to remember to look up.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Agree. I have known five individuals who have committed suicide that are close to myself and my family. Four of the five were very high Achievers that were at the top of where they were at in their life. One actually packed up all her belongings and a Truck and drove into the mountains to end their life. She wanted to have less trouble for everyone to clear out her belongings I guess?

I'm not one of those folks who says the person was a coward, I am one of those persons that just wants to hug the person at the end of their life as they leave it. God gave them the choice...

Unless you have somebody close to you it has committed suicide, you may not get where I am coming from.

:grouphug: to all those on this thread that have had friends and family take their own lives. We know that they were troubled, and they loved us all.

ETA- reinforcing that 4 out of the 5 were very high in their careers in at their point of life! Everyone was shocked because of what happened because they were so high in their careers and where they were in their life but every single one of the four of the five could not cope with the setback for they were at.
 
FluffyUnicorn said:
I'm not sure if this has been addressed but where does his scent go as far as the search dogs? How far does it take them away from the home? If at all? Does it fit the MO that he walked away from the home?

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Click to expand...

Great questions. AFAIK, the public hasn't been told about the scent dogs, what results they got ?
 
liz b. said:
Great questions. AFAIK, the public hasn't been told about the scent dogs, what results they got ?
Click to expand...

I have followed other cases where scent (tracking, not cadaver or human remains detection) dogs were used to look for a missing person who may have left on foot. What I learned from those cases was extremely interesting. We had some search and rescue experts posting at that time on those cases. These people were expert dog handlers and knew just about everything there is to know about how dogs track people, either dead or alive.

The experts told us that a person who is depressed or suicidal may give off a different scent than when they are not in a depressed or suicidal state. Humans would not be able to notice such a subtle difference in body chemistry or the person's scent, but to a trained search and rescue dog, there would be a different scent.

The way it was explained to me was that if the scent article provided to the dog was a shirt or a towel or something that the missing person had at the home, the dog would be trying to track that scent. However, if the missing person left on foot in a suicidal or depressed state, the scent wouldn't "match" the scent article the dog was tracking and the dog would not be able to to find a trail for the missing person.

I hope that makes sense. Maybe a verified search and rescue expert will join us here to further explain the science behind this.

And for the record, I obviously don't know if Tim left on foot or if he was depressed or suicidal when he left, since he has not been found, but I have been thinking about the dogs and if that's why they haven't found a trail for him, if they haven't.
 
As a person with mental illness (borderline personality disorder), a fairly high achiever and a perfectionist who hates to disappoint people, suicide has sometimes seemed like an attractive option. When everything else is out of control, it is the one thing you can control, and you can do it on your own terms ("You can't fire me, I quit!").

For me, one specific thing has stuck out like a sore thumb. In either a TV or print interview, Tim's dad was quoted as saying he "ordered" his children to join him at his destination 60th birthday. They were "expected" to be present. Perhaps it was a joke; I'm not aware of any context that might have accompanied that quote. Mr. Cunningham's continued insistence that his son was so dependable, so reliable, this was so out of character for Tim, says something very important to me: Either A) Tim's parents were unaware of any potential mental health traits, conditions or impairments he may have had, or B) Tim's parents have some awareness of potential mental health issues but believe they're the sort of thing that can be overcome with "willpower" or "discipline."

Depending on the family atmosphere, having to tell his parents that he didn't receive a promotion may have been just as devastating as missing out on the promotion itself. I can empathize with that.

I can only speak about BPD, but a hallmark of that illness is an intense fear of rejection and abandonment. The fear may be based in reality (neglect, abuse) or it may be perceived. Regardless, the borderline will do almost anything to avoid the rejection/abandonment. Often, those coping mechanisms or behaviors are negative and destructive. It could be extreme ("If you leave me, I'll kill myself") or harmful only to the borderline themselves (self-harm). To somebody like a borderline, the idea of suicide seems attractive. No more disappointing anyone. Nobody can leave you or reject you if you're gone. And most of all, your brain will finally be quiet and at peace.

I am NOT suggesting that Tim is a borderline. But I wanted to give some perspective.

Roughly one out of every 22 people in the United States has a mental illness that would be considered debilitating or disabling. That doesn't mean they've been diagnosed or are receiving the proper care. That's just a raw number. Seems like you'd know who those people were, right? They'd be popping up left and right, but they aren't. That's because it is eminently possible to continue living your life, with varying degrees of success, without other people realizing something is wrong. By simply showing up to work, getting your kids to school and paying your bills and taxes, many other things can and do fall under the radar.

Sometimes, we take refuge under that radar. And when the cover is blown, it is a catastrophic blow to an already precarious life.
 
liltexans said:
I have followed other cases where scent (tracking, not cadaver or human remains detection) dogs were used to look for a missing person who may have left on foot. What I learned from those cases was extremely interesting. We had some search and rescue experts posting at that time on those cases. These people were expert dog handlers and knew just about everything there is to know about how dogs track people, either dead or alive.

The experts told us that a person who is depressed or suicidal may give off a different scent than when they are not in a depressed or suicidal state. Humans would not be able to notice such a subtle difference in body chemistry or the person's scent, but to a trained search and rescue dog, there would be a different scent.

The way it was explained to me was that if the scent article provided to the dog was a shirt or a towel or something that the missing person had at the home, the dog would be trying to track that scent. However, if the missing person left on foot in a suicidal or depressed state, the scent wouldn't "match" the scent article the dog was tracking and the dog would not be able to to find a trail for the missing person.

I hope that makes sense. Maybe a verified search and rescue expert will join us here to further explain the science behind this.

And for the record, I obviously don't know if Tim left on foot or if he was depressed or suicidal when he left, since he has not been found, but I have been thinking about the dogs and if that's why they haven't found a trail for him, if they haven't.
Click to expand...


Good point -- it may explain why the dogs that have been used so far (see quote below) apparently didn't find a trail. Also, there has been some rain since Cunningham disappeared; that might've contributed to the lack of a scent trail. Finally, though tracking dogs can be very helpful, they aren't infallible.

I don't know whether cadaver dogs have also been used.

"Police have searched nearby woods with dogs, canvassed hospitals and jails, reviewed cellphone records, looked in cemeteries and even flown over the immediate area with a helicopter looking for signs of life — or worse."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...-been-passed-over-for-a-promotion-police-say/
 
liz b. said:
Great questions. AFAIK, the public hasn't been told about the scent dogs, what results they got ?
Click to expand...

I made a mistake. the dogs apparently did not pick up Tim's scent going away from the house. I wondered if he left in a vehicle, but jmo.
 
liltexans said:
I have followed other cases where scent (tracking, not cadaver or human remains detection) dogs were used to look for a missing person who may have left on foot. What I learned from those cases was extremely interesting. We had some search and rescue experts posting at that time on those cases. These people were expert dog handlers and knew just about everything there is to know about how dogs track people, either dead or alive.

The experts told us that a person who is depressed or suicidal may give off a different scent than when they are not in a depressed or suicidal state. Humans would not be able to notice such a subtle difference in body chemistry or the person's scent, but to a trained search and rescue dog, there would be a different scent.

The way it was explained to me was that if the scent article provided to the dog was a shirt or a towel or something that the missing person had at the home, the dog would be trying to track that scent. However, if the missing person left on foot in a suicidal or depressed state, the scent wouldn't "match" the scent article the dog was tracking and the dog would not be able to to find a trail for the missing person.

I hope that makes sense. Maybe a verified search and rescue expert will join us here to further explain the science behind this.

And for the record, I obviously don't know if Tim left on foot or if he was depressed or suicidal when he left, since he has not been found, but I have been thinking about the dogs and if that's why they haven't found a trail for him, if they haven't.
Click to expand...
Wow. Thank you for that insight, that is indeed very interesting but almost common sense because it makes complete sense!

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samara.matisse said:
As a person with mental illness (borderline personality disorder), a fairly high achiever and a perfectionist who hates to disappoint people, suicide has sometimes seemed like an attractive option. When everything else is out of control, it is the one thing you can control, and you can do it on your own terms ("You can't fire me, I quit!").

For me, one specific thing has stuck out like a sore thumb. In either a TV or print interview, Tim's dad was quoted as saying he "ordered" his children to join him at his destination 60th birthday. They were "expected" to be present. Perhaps it was a joke; I'm not aware of any context that might have accompanied that quote. Mr. Cunningham's continued insistence that his son was so dependable, so reliable, this was so out of character for Tim, says something very important to me: Either A) Tim's parents were unaware of any potential mental health traits, conditions or impairments he may have had, or B) Tim's parents have some awareness of potential mental health issues but believe they're the sort of thing that can be overcome with "willpower" or "discipline."

Depending on the family atmosphere, having to tell his parents that he didn't receive a promotion may have been just as devastating as missing out on the promotion itself. I can empathize with that.

I can only speak about BPD, but a hallmark of that illness is an intense fear of rejection and abandonment. The fear may be based in reality (neglect, abuse) or it may be perceived. Regardless, the borderline will do almost anything to avoid the rejection/abandonment. Often, those coping mechanisms or behaviors are negative and destructive. It could be extreme ("If you leave me, I'll kill myself") or harmful only to the borderline themselves (self-harm). To somebody like a borderline, the idea of suicide seems attractive. No more disappointing anyone. Nobody can leave you or reject you if you're gone. And most of all, your brain will finally be quiet and at peace.

I am NOT suggesting that Tim is a borderline. But I wanted to give some perspective.

Roughly one out of every 22 people in the United States has a mental illness that would be considered debilitating or disabling. That doesn't mean they've been diagnosed or are receiving the proper care. That's just a raw number. Seems like you'd know who those people were, right? They'd be popping up left and right, but they aren't. That's because it is eminently possible to continue living your life, with varying degrees of success, without other people realizing something is wrong. By simply showing up to work, getting your kids to school and paying your bills and taxes, many other things can and do fall under the radar.

Sometimes, we take refuge under that radar. And when the cover is blown, it is a catastrophic blow to an already precarious life.
Click to expand...
Good observsation! Someone else mentioned that the family may have been overly strict and disciplined which could've added a stressor in Tim's life, I know it would be in mine.

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Wonder if there were any cameras, or any procedures, for when Tim left the CDC building ? I know there is no footage of him in the parking lot area, but I wonder about leaving the actual building ? Seems like an agency like the CDC would keep track of comings and goings, but jmo.
 
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