Found Deceased JAPAN - Trevor Balint, 34, from Hubbard, Ohio, missing from Yokota Air Base, 1 Feb 2021

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Family concerned for Hubbard man missing from US military base in Japan | WKBN.com

trevor-balint-of-hubbard-missing-in-japan-1.jpg


A Hubbard man has gone missing from a U.S. military base in Japan, and his family is concerned that foul play may be involved.
  • Trevor Balint, 34, teaches high school students at the Yokota Air Base.
  • His wife BB is a defense department analyst on the base.
  • According to BB’s mother, DM, Trevor was last seen Monday morning.
  • DM says BB received a call from a woman saying she found Trevor’s wallet.
  • “And she went and met the lady. The lady told her where she found it. Then, she went over and looked where the lady found it and found his cell phone, his keys, his mask, his shoes and his sweatshirt all on a porch of a garden apartment,” said DM.
  • She says it’s out of character for Trevor to disappear.
  • He and Britni had been in Japan for about a year.
  • DM is working to get clearance to travel to Japan to be with her daughter and help with the search.
 
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FEB 8, 2021
Mystery surrounds DODEA substitute teacher’s disappearance from US air base in Tokyo - Pacific - Stripes
The wife of a substitute teacher who vanished a week ago from the home of U.S. Forces Japan in western Tokyo is appealing to the military community for help with the search.
  1. Trevor Balint was reported missing Feb. 1.
  2. He is 6 feet tall, 170 pounds, with blue eyes and brown hair.
  3. He sometimes teaches high school chemistry and physics for Department of Defense Education Activity, according to his LinkedIn profile.
  4. Investigators searched parts of the base last week.
  5. On Saturday, BB, posted a plea for help on the Yokota Spouses & Families Facebook group.
  6. BB said she’s posted dozens of fliers with her missing husband’s photograph and appealed, in her Facebook post, for help hanging more.
  7. Air Force investigators have removed Trevor’s possessions, including his laptops, from the couple’s home, which they share with two cats and a corgi.
  8. BB has visited some of the locations that Trevor is thought to have gone in the hours leading up to his disappearance.
  9. On Jan. 31, the couple drank wine in their on-base tower apt and played a card game called Escape Room with a friend in the U.S. over a video link. Trevor was in good spirits, making plans to watch a movie and play more games.
  10. That evening, Trevor told BB he was going out at around 8 p.m. to search for a neighbor’s lost cat, which he’d earlier spotted near the base movie theater.
  11. Gate guards report Trevor coming on base through its east gate at 9:09 p.m. while carrying a bag from a convenience store and talking on his cellphone.
  12. “We have been unable to track who he was talking to – it is nobody in our joint network, which really is the only network that I knew he had,” she said.
  13. BB said she last saw Trevor when he returned home at 1:30 a.m. Feb. 1 without his jacket.
  14. The couple slept in separate bedrooms and BB went to work the next morning without realizing Trevor was missing until she finished work and saw a message that someone had found his wallet near a vacant townhome on base.
  15. “All the messages I’d sent to Trevor were still marked unread at this point,” she said. “I returned home to find the front door unlocked, but Trevor was not home.”
  16. When BB went to the vacant home near where the wallet was found, she discovered his jacket, shoes, mask, cellphone, keys and some empty cans of Chuhai – a Japanese alcoholic drink, she said.
  17. Somebody appeared to have reset Trevor’s phone, BB said.
  18. “At this point, it was Monday evening and it was again starting to get dark and cold. I had no idea where he could possibly be, especially without any of his belongings. I called Security Forces to get assistance,” she said.
  19. BB said she made a report to the Japanese police on Tuesday, Feb. 2.
  20. A Japanese police spokesman in Fussa city, which borders Yokota’s western side, said local officers brought a dog to search inside the base Feb. 3.
  21. Japanese police have no info on where Trevor might have gone, or that he left the base, so they haven’t checked security cameras in the city, he said.
  22. The couple has been together since high school, married in 2012, and lived in England while BB worked at RAF Menwith Hill from October 2016 until June 2019, when they moved to Japan.
  23. Trevor’s mother, KB said she last spoke to her son around Christmas and has contacted the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo seeking help.
  24. “The embassy told me that because they reside on the [Air Force base] that there is not much/anything they can do, it's a military matter,” she said.
  25. Britni’s mother said she is seeking an emergency visa to come to Japan.
  26. Trevor holds a Ph.D. in physics from George Washington University as well as a bachelor's in mathematics from Youngstown State University and worked as a data scientist after graduation, BB said.
  27. “I do not believe he would just jet off to get away or anything of the sort,” she said. “He is a very smart person and would know that others are looking for him and are worried.”

Trevor Balint and corgi.jpg
Trevor and his Corgi, Mr. Waffles
 
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Let me get this straight.
He went out at 8pm on Jan 31 to look for a cat, this after planning to watch a movie.
He came back on base at 9;09 pm (so he went off base presumably) with a bag from a store.
He came home at 1:30 am Feb 1. (where was he for 4 1/2 hours?)
Wife didn't know he was missing till she came home from work, with front door unlocked.

Then the wallet message, and going to that garden apt. where his belongings and alcohol cans were found on the porch ( this garden apt on base, right?)

Phone reset, no shoes, no keys, no phone, no mask etc with him.
Base searched with dog, he's not there.

What on earth?
 
^ Yes, very upsetting. Trevor appears to be a bright serious guy, very odd circumstances. Since I'm assuming that garden apt is on base, I am assuming that not everyone can enter the gates, for example some nefarious characters up to no good.

Did BB notice he wasn't wearing shoes either, besides not wearing the jacket? If not, did he go back to that apt?
No medical issues?
It's been a week now :(
 
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Here's a map of the area. Trevor is said to have come in from the east entrance, looks to me like there's a 7Eleven about 50 metres away, and a couple of other convenience store options nearby. Also, not a huge amount of space or buildings to search on base - he has to be inside the perimeter if he wasn't seen leaving again (unless by vehicle).

Google Maps
 
A bit of info about accommodation at the base:

Yokota AB Housing
Government housing consists of garden and tower units in four locations:
- East Area
- West Area
- North Area
- South Area

Yokota Specific Pet Restriction
- Garden Units: Authorized up to two dogs and/or cats--no more than two, total
- Designated Towers, first three floors: Authorized up to two dogs and/or cats--no more than two, total

Yokota AB

(note, Trevor lived in a tower apartment with his wife and 3 pets, his possessions were found at a garden unit.)
 
There's a new piece of info on the Find page. Namely that Trevor was seen at 10 pm (jan 31) near East Side garden apt. He was on the phone, either still or again from the 9:09 pm sighting at the gate.
also, a "critical time of interest" that morning.
 
whitelilac said:
There's a new piece of info on the Find page. Namely that Trevor was seen at 10 pm (jan 31) near East Side garden apt. He was on the phone, either still or again from the 9:09 pm sighting at the gate.
also, a "critical time of interest" that morning.
Click to expand...
Is that anywhere near the movie theater? Could he have been speaking to the neighbor whose cat was missing? Surely, they would have uncovered that information in a week though, so probably not... Ugh. :(

ETA: Thanks for the map @CoverMeCagney. I added a movie theater nearby but obviously I have no idea if it is THE movie theater where he had seen the cat.

movie theater - Google Maps
 
MissMalowe said:
Anyone else getting the vibe that he wasn't looking for anybody's cat?
Click to expand...

I hope that investigators have been able to confirm that there WAS a neighbor whose cat was missing, and that they've spoken to that person to find out whether or not they knew Trevor socially/professionally. I agree that it *does* sound like it could've been just a cover story for him to leave his apartment at an odd hour AND without specifying a particular destination ("near the movie theater" isn't really very specific, IMO) to his wife.

I was struck to read that he holds a doctorate in physics from George Washington University* and is employed as an occasional substitute teacher of science at the high school level. While there's nothing wrong with this (heck, I have a doctorate and hold a job which some folks might consider to be "beneath" someone with my training) it *is* a somewhat unusual career choice, IMO. To this end, I wonder if he held this type of job because he wanted to and enjoyed it OR if there were other reasons he did not pursue a more--for lack of a better word--"prestigious" job, or one more commensurate with the advanced degree he held.

Related to this point, I am curious about his mental state relative to his job and living situation--was he happy where he was, professionally and in terms of his personal relationships?

I did think it was interesting that on the night prior to his disappearance, TB left the house around 8 PM with plans to look for the neighbor's missing cat--BUT he also apparently planned to return home to watch a movie/play more games later that same night.

He didn't come back home until 1:30 AM, 5.5 hours after he left! Did BB try to call him at any point in the interim (to find out what the heck was taking so long, or ask when he was coming back, or just to see if he was having any luck locating the cat)? I would've been worried (and maybe annoyed, too) if my spouse said they were going out for a short errand and then didn't return for the next 5.5 hours.

I'm wondering if BB *was* (understandably, IMO) annoyed with TB when he returned, in part because she mentioned that they slept in separate bedrooms after he returned at 1:30 AM.

To be clear: I don't have any reason to think BB is responsible for/involved in TB's disappearance, but based on my interpretation of the reporting so far, it does seem possible that the couple might've been having some issues in their relationship, which speaks to TB's frame of mind before vanishing.

All of the above is my opinion and conjecture only!

EDITED TO ADD: Has TB actually received his Ph.D. yet, or is he still in ABD (all but dissertation) status at GWU? The GWU Physics Department blog says he received an award for his outstanding work as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in 2015, but he is not listed on that same blog post as a graduate that year, or on subsequent posts about graduates of the department in 2016 (though I know when people graduate at points in the year OTHER than the big May graduations they often don't get as much publicity/recognition!). Department of Physics celebrates graduating students | GW Physics I actually don't see anything online (OTHER than his own LinkedIn page) that confirms he completed his Ph.D. program.
 
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One thing I noticed his hair was sandy brown, then all of a sudden JET BLACK, a friend mentioned he did crazy things with his hair cuts never mentioned he dyed his black. It wasn't like he was an artist or in the fashion industry.
 
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Re: why he might’ve been at the vacant apartment, on TB’s LinkedIn he says he worked as a volunteer for “Airmen’s Attic,” an on-base (I think) thrift store exclusively for servicemembers and their families.I assume their services might include helping clear out the apartments of/pick up donated items from military members/families that are moving off-base. TB might’ve been aware of which on-base units were currently vacant as a result of this volunteer experience. If he wanted a quiet place to relax alone (or with somebody else) for a little while that evening, he might have headed over to one of those unoccupied units like the one near which his belongings were found.
 
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houndpounder said:
I think he reset the phone and left it there, why would someone bother to do that, instead of taking it, turning it off and throwing it away or in the water. I read in one of the articles his items were with empty cans scattered around?
Click to expand...
Speaking of the empty cans (I read upthread it was a Japanese brand of alcohol), was that what was in the bag he carried on entry through the gate? Or did someone else bring the alcohol. Or were the discarded cans from another day?

Wonder if there was a receipt lying around, or in the wallet he left behind.

This is so mysterious. His shoes too?
 
The wife said they were unable to determine who he was talking to because the person was not in their joint network. I have a vague idea of what this means, but can anyone explain it to me so it's very clear? She said it's the only network she knew he had, so it jumped out at me.
 
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