Found Alive TX - Jake Obad-Mathis, 20, & Melvin Jones, 20, Fort Bliss, 19 Dec 2016

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Gardener1850

Gardener1850

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Jake Obad-Mathis and Melvin Jones were both last seen together Monday, December 19th in Jones' black 2013 Camero on post. They haven't been heard from or seen since.

Obad-Mathis, 20, didn't have leave from Fort Bliss and is currently being considered AWOL by post officials.
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On December 21st, Bliss Officials called Obad-Mathis' parents to report him as AWOL after he failed to report to duty for two consecutive days.

Jones, 20, was also seen last on December 19th. He was actually awarded leave for the Christmas break, so as of today, Fort Bliss officials don't consider him a missing person.


His father, Duane Jones, planned on visiting Melvin in El Paso and the two had tickets to attend Friday's Sun Bowl Game. Jones arrived at the El Paso International airport Thursday evening and Jones never arrived to pick him up. He's been searching for his son ever since.

The two are believed to possibly be together in Jones' 2013 Chevy Camero with Texas license plates HTV9983.
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http://www.elpasoproud.com/news/loc...ng-fort-bliss-soldiers-seek-answers/633827580
 
Any bank or phone activity to trace? Social media?
 
1483297724653.jpg

Two 20-year-old soldiers who were best buddies left an Army base in Texas in a Camaro almost two weeks ago and haven’t been heard from since.
The families of Jake Obad-Mathis and Melvin Jones have tried to contact them without success. Carin Obad told FoxNews.com Sunday that her son’s disappearance from Fort Bliss in El Paso has been a “gut-wrenching” ordeal.
“It’s completely out of character for him,” she said.
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Obad told FoxNews.com that she was angry the Army had not addressed the disappearance of her son and Jones with more urgency.

She said she has been told a soldier has to be AWOL 30 days before a search is conducted.
“It’s been 12 days of not taking any action,” she said.
Obad said she can’t go to the El Paso police because they consider Fort Bliss missing person cases a military matter.
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http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/01/01/two-soldiers-reported-missing-from-fort-bliss-since-dec-19.html
 
meanmaryjean said:
I wonder about this- esp. with the car being in water. I mean, the one fellow had plans to go to a college bowl game w/ his dad.
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Where are you getting information about the car being in water? I don't see any mention of the vehicle being found in any of the articles linked so far.
 
TGIRecovered said:
Where are you getting information about the car being in water? I don't see any mention of the vehicle being found in any of the articles linked so far.
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No- My first thought in these situations is usually 'car in water somewhere' -I did not mean to imply there was evidence of this in this case. Sorry...

The reason my mind always goes there is because I lost a close relative to a car driving into water- he would be missing yet today were it not for a freak circumstance.
 
Having lived in El Paso all my life, what I'd like to know is: did they frequent Juarez? We are only minutes away and I went there quite a bit before I was of legal drinking age here, which was 20 years ago. It was quite safe back then, not long afterwards it got scary. Interestingly enough, after I started typing this a story came on our local news about a recent uptick in violence again over there. El Paso had 18 homicides last year, Juarez 500+. Mind you, most of those were cartel related or violence against women. Sorry, no link for this right now. Anyway, could these two have gone to shop or party and run into trouble?

The car accident angle is always plausible, but I really can't think of where (in El Paso) that would happen and go unnoticed for any length of time. Our terrain is pretty much flat desert and not really conducive to concealing wreckage. JMO

I feel like something is wrong here. My understanding of military workings is admittedly minute, but intentionally going AWOL would not be a decision one would make lightly. So...why? I haven't read anything that indicates either/or were having any trouble, but then again they might not release that information.

I'm terribly sorry for their families. It seems the military and the EPPD aren't on the same page and they're having trouble getting anything done. Hoping the local news will keep this story alive until these guys are found!

JMO, MOO, etc.
 
Gardener1850 said:
This is such a ridiculous policy. I wonder if Texas Equusearch would help them?
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That policy is a hot mess! Good question about Texas Equusearch, but don't they need an invite from LE? It doesn't seem like EPPD has much authority at this point.
 
I found an article about this story that has a comment which caught my eye. Someone else mentioned Juarez, but not the way I was thinking about it. Could they be in jail there? Good grief, surely someone has looked into that?

Take this for what it's worth because I never experienced it, but it used to be "common knowledge" that the police would arrest you for basically anything. However, if you had cash on you, they would usually let you go. If you get busted taking a gun there though, well...you're scre***.

lp375_border_highway_gun_warning_at_zaragosa_31-may-2001_lres.jpg
 
They missed Christmas and New Year's with their loved ones. I can't believe it's voluntarily except they are running from something/hiding out.
 
[h=2]Disappearance of 2 soldiers casts light on gaps in military, civilian investigations[/h]
WASHINGTON — Army criminal investigators said Thursday that they began looking into the disappearance of two soldiers from Fort Bliss, Texas on Dec. 31, nearly two weeks after they were first reported missing by family members and their commanders.
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Delays in launching an official probe in the days after the disappearance has cast light on the often frustrating and bureaucratic entanglements between military and civilian law enforcement when troops go AWOL, said Maggie Haswell, a former Air Force security forces specialist who volunteers to search for missing troops and veterans.

Army criminal investigators were alerted to the disappearances Dec. 31 and immediately launched the investigation, Army spokesman Christopher Grey told Stars and Stripes on Thursday. Army investigators typically handle felony cases.
Agents from the Army’s Criminal Investigations Command “are aggressively investigating the whereabouts of the two missing oldiers in question and we take this matter very seriously,” Grey said Wednesday.
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https://www.stripes.com/news/disapp...-in-military-civilian-investigations-1.447538
 
LaborOfLobe said:
http://www.elpasotimes.com/story/ne...ort-bliss-soldiers-safe-but-missing/96254262/

Some good news!!
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From the article:
Obad’s mother, Carin Obad, declined to comment. She said that the family is working with the U.S. Army and has agreed to stop talking to the media. Jones' family could not be reached for comment.

Carin Obad has been consistently posting pleas for help and updates on the investigation into the whereabouts of the two missing soldiers on Facebook.
On Thursday, she posted “Final Update on Jake and Melvin. We received some information this week that leads us to believe they are together and okay. We still have not been able to communicate with Jake directly and don't know when that will be. Our hearts are still heavy but the outlook is positive.”
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Hmmm... Maybe they ended up in jail in Mexico like a pp here suggested? Could that explain why the Army believes they are together and ok?
 
Gardener1850 said:
From the article:


Hmmm... Maybe they ended up in jail in Mexico like a pp here suggested? Could that explain why the Army believes they are together and ok?
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After rereading the article this morning, more awake than I was last night, I think I have even more questions. Mexican jail made so much sense to me when I posted it and it still does. It does not say together and safe like I thought it did last night, it says together and okay. Ugh. Why has Jake's mom not been able to speak to him directly? Ugh. No more communication with the media? I guess that's not a surprise. It seems the military wanted to keep this all to themselves from the beginning. Huh.

They don't owe me (or us) any answers, but I hope the families are satisfied with the information they are getting and what is being done. I'm still very worried about these two.
 
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