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

[slowpoke]

How IS policing done within a US air base in another country? Strictly by Air Force investigators? Do they coordinate with Japan LE?

Another thought: I wonder if they’ll test those cans of the alcoholic beverages for dna? Maybe Trevor was drinking with someone.

Is an Air base like a gated community? Are all comings and leavings of residents from the base recorded? Trevor was said to have entered the base by that east gate; does that mean he should be somewhere on the base grounds?

 

[bancam]

The phone reset certainly suggests a deliberate intention not to be tracked. And he was surely not getting around barefoot in 50-60F deg weather either so he must’ve changed shoes. Harder to physically track someone wearing unknown shoes, and not so easy to identify them on grainy camera in a different jacket (uniform? boots?). I wonder what the CCTV is telling them. Base access has to be well monitored, surely.

It really sounds to me like he’s deliberately done a runner. I’d be looking closely at who he teaches.

 

[whitelilac]

^ then why did he go home at 1:30am ? To retrieve something he needed?
Were the belongings perhaps left at that garden apt after he went home?

 

[whitelilac]

FB page...Yokota Air Base
family is commenting
some other details

 

[charminglane]

Why did he and his wife sleep separately?

 

[whitelilac]

Why did he and his wife sleep separately?

Could be that it was just that night. Maybe she was angry he came back so late, and the plan to watch a movie. Understandable.

 

[bancam]

The whole timeline is curious. According to what I’m seeing on the page setup to help find him, he was at the East Side Express at 8:30am in the morning (it was a Sunday). It is an on-base convenience store with a Subway attached and beauty salon behind. The next 1.5hrs they pointedly call a “critical time of interest”. Why?? They next place him back at Tower 4305 at 10am (which is presumably the couple’s apartment). It’s hours later, at 1:30am the next morning, that he’s last seen. What exactly do they imagine he was doing on the Sunday morning that makes this a critical time of interest? What did he buy at the convenience store in the morning, and was he with someone else or did he know someone working there?

I also see DODEA has corrected their initial description of his employment to say that he ended teaching - at his own request - in November 2020.

“...Correction: A previous version of this article described Trevor Balint as an active substitute teacher for Department of Defense Education Activity. DODEA-Pacific spokeswoman Miranda Ferguson, who initially confirmed Balint’s employment, provided an update Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021, saying his employment ended in November 2020, at his own request.”

 

[whitelilac]

FYI only. These are notices at the Air Force Base, instituted Feb 5.
Maybe nothing to do with anything, or maybe restrictions that were known to be coming/ continued. Maybe something to do with something.....?

https://www.yokota.af.mil/Portals/44/PHE Declaration Updated - 5 Feb 21 (EN).pdf

https://www.yokota.af.mil/Portals/44/20210205 COVID Update 29.pdf

https://www.yokota.af.mil/Portals/44/PHE Protective Measures - 5 Feb 21 (EN).pdf

 

[modesty blaise]

Sounds like it could be voluntary.

 

[Luwin]

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.

I would assume this means she asked their mutual friends if any of them had spoken to him and the answer was no. I would also take that to mean he had no friends/acquaintances that she didn't know about?

 

[imstilla.grandma]

His wife Britni, who’s from Brookfield, is a defense department analyst on the base.

According to Britni’s mother, Denise Mott, Trevor was last seen last Monday morning, and he hasn’t been seen since.

Mott says Britni received a call from a woman saying she had 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 Mott.

She says it’s out of character for Trevor to just disappear. He and Britni had been in Japan for about a year.

Mott is working to get clearance to travel to Japan to be with her daughter and help with the search.
Family concerned for Northeast Ohio man missing from US military base in Japan

 

[Tortoise]

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.”

View attachment 283249
Trevor and his Corgi, Mr. Waffles

I'm quite curious about a few points (questions underneath)-

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.

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.

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.

---

1. Was he missing in the morning when BB went to work?

2. Did BB notice all the messages were marked unread before she finished work (use of word 'still')?

3. I'm not sure how close the wallet was to the vacant home, but if it looked like it had been dropped (my assumption), why were the other items not also seen by the finder?

4. Why was it 'again' starting to get dark/cold - not for the first time?

 

[houndpounder]

Maybe he put a change of clothes at the empty garden apartment prior. He ended his teaching in November 2020. Seems like he has been following her with her jobs. Perhaps he gave up what he wanted and never did what he actually wanted to do in his life. I haven’t heard anything about his family commenting, maybe he is on his way back to Ohio. It’s tough living and working in a foreign country. You never feel at home.
Ps his mother said she hasn’t spoken to him since around Christmas time which is odd with all the free ways you can speak to each other internationally.

 

[Laughing]

That chiming you hear may be my Hinky Meter:


image from goodreads.com

As cited upthread:

Underemployed, could indeed be for many reasons including the marriage
Geographically isolated from family
Ongoing pandemic stress

Very interesting!

There is a thread her about a wife missing from a US Air Force installation in Japan:

Japan - Kelli Cribbs Abad, 27, Okinawa, 26 Oct 2011, American wife of airman in USAF

This is Kadena AFB.

Most recent article apparently:

U.S. Air Force wife Kelli Cribbs Abad still missing seven years after disappearing in Japan

jmho ymmv lrr

 

[houndpounder]

One more thought about the phone reset and that he did it. He would need to enter his password to reset the phone. There are safety measures set up to proceed with a reset.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

There is no relation between this death and the ongoing missing-person case,” said a statement issued Tuesday evening. A DOD civilian worker’s spouse, Trevor Balint, 34, vanished from Yokota on Feb. 1. Investigators searched parts of the base last week but haven’t reported new leads.
Dependent dies at Yokota Air Base, Japan; no relation to missing person case, wing says

 

[CoverMeCagney]

One more thought about the phone reset and that he did it. He would need to enter his password to reset the phone. There are safety measures set up to proceed with a reset.

I wonder if she means a full reset, or just things like deleted call log / messages / internet history.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

There is no relation between this death and the ongoing missing-person case,” said a statement issued Tuesday evening. A DOD civilian worker’s spouse, Trevor Balint, 34, vanished from Yokota on Feb. 1. Investigators searched parts of the base last week but haven’t reported new leads.
Dependent dies at Yokota Air Base, Japan; no relation to missing person case, wing says

How do they know it’s not connected if they don’t know who Trevor was talking to or where he was for 4 hours?

 

[Panhypopit]

He also went missing on a huge holiday time, as January 1-3 are the main holiday days there, and mostly everything is closed down. You may find a 7-11 or other small store, but you may not. People are home eating.

 

[PommyMommy]

I'm quite curious about a few points (questions underneath)-

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.

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.

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.

---

1. Was he missing in the morning when BB went to work?

2. Did BB notice all the messages were marked unread before she finished work (use of word 'still')?

3. I'm not sure how close the wallet was to the vacant home, but if it looked like it had been dropped (my assumption), why were the other items not also seen by the finder?

4. Why was it 'again' starting to get dark/cold - not for the first time?

My understanding:

1. Was he missing in the morning when BB went to work?

It is unknown when he disappeared, but sometime after he returned home at 1:30 a.m. Feb. 1.

2. Did BB notice all the messages were marked unread before she finished work (use of word 'still')?

Possibly. It's not clear, but I don't think the use of the word "still" would indicate one way or the other. Do we know when the messages were sent? I also wonder if she is allowed to have her cellphone at work. (I have a relative who works in a similar environment who is not.)

3. I'm not sure how close the wallet was to the vacant home, but if it looked like it had been dropped (my assumption), why were the other items not also seen by the finder?

It sounds like the wallet was found on the porch. I think it's possible that the other items were seen by the finder but the only thing identifiable was the 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 Mott.
Family concerned for Hubbard man missing from US military base in Japan | WKBN.com

4. Why was it 'again' starting to get dark/cold - not for the first time?

No idea.

MOO