I would like to start by saying that I lived in this area for many years until just recently. I have visited this and other area casinos multiple times and have stayed at the hotel that is connected to the Lucky 7 Casino. I am very familiar with the surrounding area.
I have read through all the posts and links, viewed the security footage multiple times and listened to the Mysteriously Missing podcast. These are my observations and thoughts:
THE LUCKY 7 CASINO & SURROUNDING AREA
-I am including a link to a google earth aerial photo of the area because I believe it is important to understand how close the casino is to the ocean, as well as how secluded and rural the area is. If you click on the link and explore a little, you will see that the immediate area is very rural with the ocean to the west and miles of wilderness area to the east. This part of the coast line is sparsely populated on both sides of the border.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lucky+7+Casino+&+Hotel/@41.9568065,-124.2061122,636m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m8!3m7!1s0x54d0732573f44939:0xb3028f7eeedb89f2!5m2!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d41.9568025!4d-124.2039182
-If I remember correctly there are 2-3 main entrances to this casino, all located on the west side of the parking lot. Max and the man in the video footage seem to walk away from one of the main casino entrances, pass a secondary casino entrance and then past the main entrance to the attached hotel before walking across the parking lot and then south, leaving the property together.
-When I’ve been at the casino I remember that the back area of the casino seemed to be used more by employees and maybe for overflow parking during busier times of year rather than a normal entrance/exit for customers and guests.
-The nearest public beach access in this area seems to be reached from S Indian Rd which boarders the northern side of the casino and then curves south on the west side of the highway, but a local (which Max was) would likely be able to access the beach at multiple spots along this stretch of coast whether it was a marked “public access” or not. Given how dark this area would be, I find it unlikely anyone would notice even if someone were to cross through their private property to get to the beach at that time of night.
-You will find all different types of people camping along these beaches. They are all public and it is common to find people partying or having bonfires on the beach. It is also common to find hikers, travelers or other transient types camping on the beaches. I believe it was in the low 40s that night and the beach would have been chilly.
-The beaches along this stretch of the coast can be very dangerous. Because of the hilly nature of the beaches as well as the fact that many of the beaches are very narrow and back up to sheer cliff-sides, sneaker waves are a real problem. Basically, a sneaker wave is a wave that comes up significantly higher than the tide line and they have been responsible for multiple drownings or near drownings along the coast. I will include a link for general knowledge (One particular quote I found interesting, “While there's no official season for sneaker waves, plotting out major incidents in Oregon shows an undeniable
seasonal trend. Since 1990, all major sneaker wave incidents have occurred between October and April, peaking in November and March. In that time,
at least 21 people have been killed.”). Also, because of the narrowness of many of the beaches, people can become trapped on the beach or even swept away during high tides.
Sneaker waves on the Oregon coast: 5 things you need to know to stay safe
-There would be very few cars along 101 (the highway the casino is located along) at this time of night making hitchhiking unlikely. There is no public transportation at that time of night and a taxi would be very expensive. There are no other highways, freeways or main roads leading out of the area.
-Lastly, as with many areas in the U.S., Crescent City, CA and Brookings-Harbor, OR (the towns to the south and north of the casino, respectively) both have a very prevalent drug scene, with meth, opioids and heroin seeming to dominate.
MAX
There are many things that stick out to me regarding Max after listening to the podcast and reading quotes from his sister in the different articles:
-He seems like a loving and kind person, perhaps a little too trusting but that is just a feeling I get from the overall picture painted.
-Max was an artist and always carried his art supplies with him in the black duffel bag from the security footage, according to his sister. She also says that he didn’t have more than a change of clothes with him, which seems to indicate he wasn’t planning to leave town. To me it looked like a large plastic Snapple bottle sticking out of his duffel bag, but I couldn’t be sure.
-Max is from the Los Angeles area and went to art school around Portland, OR.
-Max’s father (who sadly passed away after Max went missing) lived some 400 miles south of Max and was sick at the time of Max’s disappearance.
-Max, as so many people do, struggled with mental health issues and relied heavily on his mom and sister for support and assistance.
-Max also dealt with drug addiction in the past, namely heroin according to the Mysteriously Missing podcast (I believe they stated that this information came from his mother and that some of the medication Max was taking could have been related to his past drug use). Although it sounds like he wasn’t known to be using at the time it is important to know that this was something he had dealt with in the not too distant past.
-According to the podcast, the reason Max arrives at the casino and immediately exits is because he does not have his ID with him. He then goes to the back of the building for approximately 50 minutes before meeting the man we see in the video out front. The reason for him staying near the casino for so long may be because his phone wasn’t connected to cellular service at the time and could only be used when connected to wifi. I believe it was confirmed that Max was in fact connected to the casino’s wifi during that time and did not connect again after he left the property with the man in the video.
THE MAN IN THE VIDEO
Here are a few thoughts/observations I have about the man in the security footage who leaves casino property with Max:
-In the footage the man looks to me to be anywhere from 45-60 years old, give or take.
-To me, it looks like he is wearing glasses, but also has sunglasses pushed up on his head. This makes me think the man had potentially been in the casino since daytime.
-He seems to be sipping from one of the plastic cups from the free beverage stations located inside the casino. I only point this out because I believe they use different cups for alcoholic beverages. Also, it would probably have drawn attention to the man if he had exited the casino with an alcoholic beverage as I don’t believe that is allowed.
MY OPINIONS/QUESTIONS/POSSIBLE THEORIES
-Did Max have any interaction with casino security or other employees for the approx. 50 minutes he was at the back of the casino?
-From my observances when at this and other area casinos, I find it unlikely that casino security would not approach Max at that time of night, while he was standing at the back of the casino unless he was known to them or was there for a reason- perhaps to meet with an employee of the casino???
-Lucky 7 is one of a handful of Native American owned casinos in the Oregon/Northern California area. I bring this up because this means the casino follows federal as opposed to state laws regarding things like marijuana use. Meaning if someone wanted to smoke a joint (this wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for this area at all) they would need to leave the casino property all together or risk a run in with security. Marijuana use is very common in the area and could be a fairly innocuous reason for Max and the man leaving the property and the man returning alone 18 minutes later. Perhaps they smoked a joint and went their separate ways…
-I think the man in the video with Max could very well be an employee of the casino or at the very least a regular and perhaps had prior interactions with Max who also frequented the casino.
-I am including a link to a google picture of the driveway directly to the south of the casino property. This driveway is mere feet from where Max and the man are seen leaving the property and moving out of view of security cameras and would be virtually invisible to anyone driving by on the road. I believe this may well be where Max and the man were going if they planned to do something they weren’t comfortable doing on casino property. Perhaps they were smoking a joint together, doing drugs, making a drug deal or exchanging some sexual act for money. Any of these things would fit the 18 minute time frame before the man is said to have reentered the casino alone. To give an idea of how close this is to the casino, the two story building in the top left corner of this photo is the hotel attached to the Lucky 7 Casino. Max and the man would have reached/passed this spot almost immediately after going out of range of the security cameras.
Google Maps
-Please take a moment to look at the aerial map included above and rewatch the security footage of Max and the man. I believe that Max’s hand movements at the beginning of the video could be him pointing and gesturing towards the driveway just past the casino to the south.
-If Max was struggling with his sobriety and procured drugs near the casino that night, I think he may have ended up on the beach either as a place to get high, to try to sleep for the night (even though it was in the low 40s that night) or as someplace he stumbled to while already high on drugs. From there he may have run into someone along the beach and had an altercation, been injured in some way or swept away by the ocean. I found one report of unidentified partial remains found by fishermen a month later, much further up the coast, but it is not unheard of for remains to turn up much further from where they went missing due to strong currents and weather patterns. I also found a report of an unidentified human occipital bone found washed up on a beach near Santa Cruz a year later. I am including both links here:
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
-If Max was interacting with drug dealers/users in the area it is possible one or more of these people are responsible for his disappearance. As I mentioned, the area surrounding the casino backs up to miles and miles of wilderness area accessible only by old logging and forest service roads. If something happened to Max (foul play, an overdose) I think it is plausible that whoever was with him at the time may have left him somewhere in these woods which eventually connect to the more populated areas of Grants Pass and Medford, OR. I found three cases on the NamUs site of unidentified skeletal or partial remains that could fit the parameters and will include links although the areas where the remains were found are quite a distance from where Max disappeared.
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
-Lastly, because of his previous struggles with substance abuse and his mental health I think it can’t be completely discounted that Max left of his own accord that night and headed to his father, his hometown of Los Angeles, the Portland area or other parts unknown. However, this doesn’t seem likely due to his close relationship with his sister and mother combined with his seeming dependence on them in his day to day activities (giving him rides, making sure he took his medication, etc.,)
I hope more than anything that Max is found safe and reunited with his family. I hope this helps and that Max, his family and friends know that there are many people who care and are still looking for him.
