UT UT - Macin Smith, 17, St George, 1 Sept 2015

re: video: the video was originally posted on "Michelle's" facebook page.

Of course this and everything is all just speculation, right...

Smith is indeed the most common last name in the USA. And no last name is mentioned in the video. However...
So according to the latest US census estimates, there are 165 million males in the USA currently. And there are less than 1,643 people in the USA with the first name spelled "Macin". It's all probably just a coincidence for sure, and unrelated.

Much interesting like the fact that the original video was posted on September 1, 2014 and Macin vanished on September 1, 2015, one year to the day. Totally gotta' be just another coincidence I think.

How did you 1st come across the video? Just wondering how it was found & linked to a possible connection? If you saw it on "Michelle's" FB page do you know where this person is from or is there any other info available on their fb page?
 
How did you 1st come across the video? Just wondering how it was found & linked to a possible connection? If you saw it on "Michelle's" FB page do you know where this person is from or is there any other info available on their fb page?

Totally hanging off this post with the exact same questions. <antennae twitching>
 
The video was to "Macin" from "Michelle". On the original fb post, "Michelle" spelled the name "Macin" - not Mason or any other variation. The FB page of Michelle where the video was originally posted was removed a long time ago. I don't personally think anyone needs to jump down the "michelle" rabbit hole and go looking for "her"/him.

Consider that there are about 1,600 males named Macin (with that spelling) in the USA.
It's totally possible, maybe even probable that this was aimed at another Macin altogether and unrelated. Probably just coincidence that "Michelle" was an avid gamer, spelled the name "Macin", and was approximately in the same age range at the time. But of course, no one really knows.

Macin is an adult now and almost age 21 (yippee he can soon legally buy alcohol in every state). I personally feel there is no point in searching for him anymore as no one can legally make him go back to Utah. (can't same I much blame him on that one). I think he just wants to live his new life in peace (as we all do, right). Maybe we owe him that as well.
 
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The video was to "Macin" from "Michelle". On the original fb post, "Michelle" spelled the name "Macin" - not Mason or any other variation. The FB page of Michelle where the video was originally posted was removed a long time ago. I don't personally think anyone needs to jump down the "michelle" rabbit hole and go looking for "her"/him.

Consider that there are about 1,600 males named Macin (with that spelling) in the USA.
It's totally possible, maybe even probable that this was aimed at another Macin altogether and unrelated. Probably just coincidence that "Michelle" was an avid gamer, spelled the name "Macin", and was approximately in the same age range at the time. But of course, no one really knows.

Macin is an adult now and almost age 21 (yippee he can soon legally buy alcohol in every state). I personally feel there is no point in searching for him anymore as no one can legally make him go back to Utah. (can't same I much blame him on that one). I think he just wants to live his new life in peace (as we all do, right). Maybe we owe him that as well.

Can you tell us how you came across that video in the first place?
 
there is myriad of videos and whatnot on Facebook though... how did you happen to come across it? were you researching Macin's case? You indicated it was long gone, so you found it a long time ago and just decided to share news of it here now? Do you know how long ago the account was closed?

because wow, you have quite a career ahead of you! I'd want you on my case should I go missing!
 
Well thanks for the kind comments. I only mentioned the video in passing on a former post as I thought (inaccurately I guess) it was very common knowledge, and if had I realized otherwise, I never would have mentioned it in the first place. I will not say any more about the "Michelle" thing because I don't want people chasing rabbits, because I am quite certain "Michelle" does not want to be bothered either, if in fact he had any connection to this Macin at all.

I hope what we walk away with is they never found Macin's body which is a pretty good indicator he is most likely still alive. Because, if he was going to do himself in, there would be no need to hide his stuff-why would he care anyway, if indeed that was his intent. No, he hid all that for a reason. For him, it think it was not a fight-or-flight thing; it was flight all the way. Every indicator I found was that he had been planning this get-away for a very long time-maybe even a year or more. He hid his stuff to put as much distance as he could from his family, and perhaps as a final 'message' to parents that he COULD do it all on his own. And also because he did not want to be found-and still does not want to be found. My gut tells me that he is doing just fine.
 
Thanks but trust me, I'm hardly chasing "Michelle" - I don't even have a FB account. These questions came to me without FB, imagine that!

O/T - I just want to scream that the world does not revolve around FB!!! But I'm thinking that I should qualify that and say that MY life doesn't revolve around FB because it is certain (and sad IMO) that many lives do.

I think a lot of people could surmise that story just that way with what has been reported. I appreciate additional insight and ideas.

And I hope that - no matter what - Macin is not hurting.
 
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Well thanks. I was not suggesting or implying that you would do that. That was just a statement in general for anyone reading this, so please do not take it that way.

And to be honest, I can't stand facebook. Facebook is evil for a variety reasons. And almost no one I know uses it anymore. But back then a few years ago, people had not yet come to their senses. lol :)
 
He hid his stuff to put as much distance as he could from his family, and perhaps as a final 'message' to parents that he COULD do it all on his own.

Ejay can you provide the source about how Macin hid his stuff. I watched the Disappeared episode about Macin a couple of years ago but don't recall any mention of Macin hiding his stuff but I could have missed it. Most media sources indicate that when Macin went missing he had no money with him and only had the clothes and shoes he was wearing and nothing else. TIA.
 
Not to speak for the poster but I think it was all just in his opinion as to what MIGHT have transpired. I think the OP surmised from what is known that Macin was secreted clothes to grab when he decided to go. I think it was all just a theory.
 
Of course. And as I said in every communication I posted, "This is all speculation". Anything anyone posts on sites like this can only be that right? I said it over and over again, because no one except Macin knows the entire story or the details of how it all played out. And I also stated that my theory is no better or no worse than any others I have read.

It's all my theory - my point of view - and was based on factual information I have researched (or in the case of the parents, as factual as Macin's parents would lead us to believe), as well as from similar experiences with circumstances in my life, and with a similar family dynamic that is ultimately ruled by the church (whatever "flavor" of religion that happens to be-many of them use a similar play book).

And I would also caution about relying totally on what is revealed in a tv show. Those shows, all shows actually, are heavily edited, and they only place items that can fit in the 60 minutes (less the 20 minutes of commercials), and of course, always from the video editor's point of view. And then of course, signed off by his parents prior to airing. That's not a lot of time to tell a 'real' story about anyone, and still keep the viewer captivated and interested, and above all, keep the parents "happy" with the production. Sometimes the absence of total truth (selective editing) could be worse than an outright lie I think.

Dig deep if you are truly interested in learning more; data is out there. Connect your own dots. Then come to your own conclusion. I apologize my posts have caused so much discussion. I really only intended to post my point of view on this matter. And, also to urge people to stop looking for him and let him live his life in peace.

Namaste
 
It depends on the settings. You can see lots of people's pages depending on the settings.


But you dont get random people's posts that you're not friends with or at the very least have a mutual friend with. That would be insane to get posts from complete strangers with no common friends/groups filling up your feed.

On a side note, I spoke with a close family member of MS and police have looked into the video and poster and said there's no connection just a creepy coinsidence.
 
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Please know that we (or I can speak for myself only I guess) don't rely on TV shows for information. Or FB. Many of us are researchers by trade and have much better and more thorough avenues to pursue.

And discussion is good, even if only to get comfortable with otherwise uncomfortable events. No harm in discussing. never know what else might fall out.
 
I think it's good to explore all avenues that may lead to a tip. I usually learn about missing persons through social media or television shows, then take it upon myself to research the cases that resonate with me. I resonated with Macin because he likes anime and seemed very introverted. He reminds me a lot of my boyfriend. I have a hard time believing a kid like Macin didn't have people who he chatted to on forums or video game chats. There are so many anime forums and communities out there - anime is a hobby most fans keep quiet about in the real world. My boyfriend doesn't talk about his love of anime to anyone except me, because - even though it's popular - many people have judged him for liking it.

It just baffles me that they didn't find anything on his phone to suggest communities he may have been part of. I understand he cleared the history, but can't they recover anything that's been deleted? I know real life isn't like Criminal Minds, but you'd think there'd be something there. Unless he was using a library computer to access those communities because he was afraid of his parents finding out about his online activity.
 
Regarding FB, anyone researching/writing about Macin might put his name in the search bar and the video would likely turn up.

And Jay, discussion is a good thing. That's why people come here. So your contributions have been most interesting and compelling.
 
@thecatmeows. re: nothing on phone/laptop

(sorry for getting long winded again)
That is not surprising at all. Example: If you were to look at my cell phone or laptop, you would not find anything traceable other than dead ends. And remember, Macin was an avid gamer. The gaming community (and there are a few really major entities and they are all connected in one way or another), is huge-many millions of members. And to sign up in these requires nothing really; fake name, fake email address, etc., nothing that could trace you back to your real identity. And with the use of VPNs, even more obscurity. (If you were to trace my ip address this minute, it would show I am in Warsaw Poland, when I am actually in the USA, but no one would ever know that). Tomorrow, I may choose to look like I am in Germany or Timbucktu. And all chatting and communications between people is done from within the community, and not Instagram, facebook or otherwise. (My facebook-which I never use- indicates that I have 4 friends).

And how do I know all this?
(Ok time to fess up) Well, I have been part of the internet and beyond gaming community since I was 12. I am in there 365 days a year for at least 1-2 hours a day, and on a fair amount of days, far more hours than that. With that much involvement over a long period of time, I have developed many, many close friendships with people. Some of them know more about me than my life-long 'real' friends that live down the block. I have friends in every state of the country (and beyond), and any number of them would assist me to escape or relocate if I desired to do that. And since they would not know my real identity (unless I chose to tell anyone - which sort of defeats the purpose), no one in the community would even know (or most likely care) if there were missing person posts about me, because there is simply no way to connect the two - real and alias identity. Yet, if you looked at my stuff, there would be no clues to any of this. And if it were me, wiping the browser history for the left-behind computer and phone would totally just be a red that herring I created, to sort of try to stop them from looking further.

On a side thought, that is total crap that they could not "decrypt the hard drive on the computer" or what not. That is a total lie. The only way that would be even partially possible is if Macin reformatted the entire hard drives before he left, and there is no public indication that he did that. Parents last post about that topic was a couple of years ago-said, "...are further trying decrypt the data...". This was not a government or NASA or Pentagon laptop that it would make it that difficult to decrypt, and certainly not over a multi-year time span. It was a 17-year-old kid's laptop computer. Yet we never heard the outcome of all that; Other than "we are still trying to decrypt", which does not surprise me at all for reasons I stated above, as well as on previous posts. And decrypted or not they are not going to find anything that would be of help to them.

He had tons of friends by virtue of his avid involvement in anime and gaming. And depending on when he first started in this (like I said I have been in it since age 12), he developed an entire network of good friends. And his parents, (as well as my parents), don't have a clue about any of this, because, well, they just don't. Macin was said to be "addicted" and if he was/is addicted, why would he not, how could he not, be operating in these communities to this very day. And with respect to the above, until or unless they find a body, I declare once again, there is absolutely no reason to believe he is not alive. And doing quite well for himself.

Again, I am only presenting an "alternative" possibility. Other than what I said about myself above, it's all speculation right...
 

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