Found Deceased CA - John Sturkie, 55, planned to go to the beach, Oceanside, San Diego County, 4 Jan 2019

I hadn’t heard that the family was in danger of losing their house. But regarding life insurance... why wouldn’t he have life insurance? Especially if he intended on working again. FWIW, he could have had his life insurance policy for years, and if he cancelled his
policy, it would likely be more expensive to get a new policy at his age. I don’t see any reason to not keep a life insurance policy if you’re out of work for a year.

The information on the risk of losing the house was on the Go Fund Me page which... *modsnip*/ not to be linked, against TOS

Life insurance if purchased in your 50's can be expensive, especially if you smoke. It can be in the thousands in premiums so if he wasn't working they may not have wanted to put money into that.Average Cost of Life Insurance (2019): Rates by Age, Term and Policy Size (I don't know how accurate their figures are, it's just a FYI) OR he had a policy and cashed it out to cover the mortgage for the year he wasn't working.
 
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The information on the risk of losing the house was on the Go Fund Me page *modsnip*

Life insurance if purchased in your 50's can be expensive, especially if you smoke. It can be in the thousands in premiums so if he wasn't working they may not have wanted to put money into that.Average Cost of Life Insurance (2019): Rates by Age, Term and Policy Size (I don't know how accurate their figures are, it's just a FYI) OR he had a policy and cashed it out to cover the mortgage for the year he wasn't working.

Thank you for the info on them at risk to lose their house. Regarding life insurance, we recently took out a couple of policies and my husband is in his 50s, so I agree it can be very expensive to take out policies the older you get. I don’t remember reading when they obtained his policy though, or whether it was a whole life or term life policy. If it was a term life policy, they likely wouldn’t have been able to cash that out to cover expenses, as term life policies are typically death benefits only. I tried looking back but can’t find the source of the life insurance policy so I could be off base with this reply.
 
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Thank you for the info on them at risk to lose their house. Regarding life insurance, we recently took out a couple of policies and my husband is in his 50s, so I agree it can be very expensive to take out policies the older you get. I don’t remember reading when they obtained his policy though, or whether it was a whole life or term life policy. If it was a term life policy, they likely wouldn’t have been able to cash that out to cover expenses, as term life policies are typically death benefits only. I tried looking back but can’t find the source of the life insurance policy so I could be off base with this reply.
There's been no info on this thread of in MSM that he had or didn't have life insurance. It was just a question by a member. This may not be related but a man's body was found near the coast. At first LE thought it was the missing day trader from Scotland that tried to fake his death on the CA coast but he has been ruled out. Body not yet identified. Body found by US police hunting for missing Inverness street trader
 
Interesting. This is the only US MSM article I can find about that and it really doesn’t have any useful information.

Monastery Beach is quite a ways up the central coast of California (roughly 400 miles north of Oceanside), however with no real clues as to where Mr. Sturkie actually went, he could be anywhere!

Man found dead near Salmon Creek
 
A very lengthy update has been posted on one of the fundraising sites (the one to benefit John's wife and kids).

Apparently John was off-roading in the mountains and got his truck stuck. He encountered three men on Jan. 5th (Saturday) who tried to help get the truck out, but couldn't. They later called 911 (once they got cell service). John's truck has recently been located (at 6,500 ft elevation) but he was not with it.

I wonder why John wouldn't have gone with the men. Very concerning. I wonder what the weather was like in the mountains that weekend. According to the update, there is more than 4 feet of snow pack.

ETA: The update also states his wife has been in contact with the police "from the very beginning". Curious why police waited a month to publicize his disappearance -- maybe they considered it voluntary until that point?
 
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A very lengthy update has been posted on one of the fundraising sites (the one to benefit John's wife and kids).

Apparently John was off-roading in the mountains and got his truck stuck. He encountered three men on Jan. 5th (Saturday) who tried to help get the truck out, but couldn't. They later called 911 (once they got cell service). John's truck has recently been located (at 6,500 ft elevation) but he was not with it.

I wonder why John wouldn't have gone with the men. Very concerning. I wonder what the weather was like in the mountains that weekend. According to the update, there is more than 4 feet of snow pack.

ETA: The update also states his wife has been in contact with the police "from the very beginning". Curious why police waited a month to publicize his disappearance -- maybe they considered it voluntary until that point?
I find it odd that the media isn't reporting that his truck was found. Anyone can post anything they want on a go fund me page. Not implying it's not true, but I wish it was backed up by mainstream media.
 
Apparently John was off-roading in the mountains and got his truck stuck. He encountered three men on Jan. 5th (Saturday) who tried to help get the truck out, but couldn't. They later called 911 (once they got cell service). John's truck has recently been located (at 6,500 ft elevation) but he was not with it.

I am bit confused by the sequence of events. Was John's truck found in two different locations.
First by the three men to help John and then at another location after the 911 call.
Was John's truck on a make shift road or an official road and were there any shoe/boot prints nearby to indicate what direction he might have walked in. Maybe they have been covered up by snow or washed away by rain.
 
I find it odd that the media isn't reporting that his truck was found. Anyone can post anything they want on a go fund me page. Not implying it's not true, but I wish it was backed up by mainstream media.

I agree but it seems the media isn't interested in reporting anything about this case. Ditto for the police. This is such a strange case all around.
 
The PI firm answers a comment on the IG posting linked above as to the origin of the sighting in Beaumont, fyi.

That isn't a cheap nor old truck- even used, value is about 25K. Editing my original due to new info about it being stuck). I wonder what shape it was in if stuck. Wondering how any tow company, etc could get it out of there. Depending on insurance types- he could lose $ or $$$.

Media reports are so vague- I wonder if it was John with his truck, or someone else?
 
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I've put together a timeline based on the little information out there. Due to the abysmal MSM reporting, consider this all JMO/MOO etc.

~Christmastime
  • JS finds work as an electrician, after having been unemployed for most of 2018.
Friday, January 4th
  • 5:00 PM – After getting home from work, JS has a quick dinner at home and rushes off, telling his wife that he is meeting friends at the beach. He brings nothing to suggest he’s staying overnight. He is reportedly in good spirits. Before leaving, his wife blesses him and asks for same in return.
  • That evening, his wife uses the Find My iPhone app to track him to his friend’s house in El Cajon.
  • JS and his friend (and possibly a third man) may have been abusing substances (see Feb. 8th).
Saturday, January 5th
  • 2:00 AM – JS’s truck is seen parked outside of his friend’s house in El Cajon (police using license plate scanning cameras) (see Feb. 8th).
  • Later that morning, JS’s wife, upon waking up, realizes he did not come home. She continues to use the app and sees his phone is still at the friend’s house in El Cajon.
  • According to an update on the fundraising site (see Mar. 20th), JS was off-roading in the mountains and got his truck stuck. He encounters three men who try to help but are not able to get the truck out. Once those men get to an area with cell reception, they call 911 (see Feb. 28th).
Sunday, January 6th
  • JS’s phone is still being tracked to the house in El Cajon; this is the last date the app can connect with the phone (battery dies or phone is otherwise disabled).
Monday, January 7th
  • JS does not show up for an electrical job he had in Orange County, which is out of character.
~January 18th
  • JS’s friend, a fellow electrician, learns of his disappearance.
January 23rd
  • Oceanside Police post a missing person flyer on Facebook.
January 27th
  • A fundraising campaign is created online by a relative to pay for a Private Investigator, advertising and other expenses related to finding JS.
January 29th
  • JS’s family retains a Private Investigation firm.
January 30th
  • A fundraising campaign is created online to support JS’s wife and children.
February 1st
  • Media begins reporting on JS’s disappearance.
February 8th
  • The PI firm posts a blog entry on their website with details of JS's case.
February 26th
  • An update is posted to the original fundraising campaign stating JS’s last known location was in the San Jacinto Mountains in Riverside County, and that several helicopter searches had failed to locate JS or his truck.
February 28th
  • The PI firm posts on Instagram that JS was reportedly seen in Beaumont on January 5th. In response to a comment, they clarify that someone had helped him with his truck and called it in.
~March 20th
  • An update is posted to the second fundraising campaign disclosing details about JS’s truck getting stuck in the mountains the day after he disappeared (see Jan. 5th), and announcing that his truck had recently been located in the mountains (~6,500 elev).
 
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With the additional information discovered (assuming all factual) and going back to the beginning with the wife's actions and statements, it makes more sense.

It's my belief she suspected he was falling back into old habits, maybe with bad influences, and that's why she waited a bit to contact police (but was immediately tracking his phone). In the past he "always came home" so she had no reason to think this time would be different. Maybe with their active role in their religious community, she especially felt the need to keep this quiet.

I assume the men on Saturday would have confirmed JS was who they saw (using photos and/or by description) on the mountain. Assuming JS went up there alone, the main possibilities in my mind are he got lost or injured and succumbed, or he was feeling shame/guilt and self-harmed. I wonder if he had a favorite spot he was trying to get to.
 
I know that it's been reported that his wife used the find my phone to trace it to El Cajon, but this is the 1st I've heard Anything about a friend, or that the phone was actually traced to his house. And was his vehicle located outside the friend's house, was it located in the mountains, or is it still missing? And what about this friend? If his wife was not the last person to see him that night, then it puts her in the clear as to being involved. I feel like at this point, the best case scenario is that he was in the mountains alone, and something happened to him due to unfortunate circumstances. Hopefully it isn't darker than that, but the chances he's alive seem to be slim at this point.
 
I know that it's been reported that his wife used the find my phone to trace it to El Cajon, but this is the 1st I've heard Anything about a friend, or that the phone was actually traced to his house. And was his vehicle located outside the friend's house, was it located in the mountains, or is it still missing? And what about this friend? If his wife was not the last person to see him that night, then it puts her in the clear as to being involved. I feel like at this point, the best case scenario is that he was in the mountains alone, and something happened to him due to unfortunate circumstances. Hopefully it isn't darker than that, but the chances he's alive seem to be slim at this point.
Neither MSM or the Private Investigator has backed up the claim on the family's Go Fund Me Page that John was seen in the mountains by 3 men who then called 911. The only fact verified by the media or the private investigator was that John and his vehicle were last seen at a male friend's (another electrician) house in another city where his car was seen overnight. If his vehicle ever left there has not been verified.
 

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