Found Deceased UK - Alexander Stern, 36, last seen at Bull Inn, Sonning, Berkshire, 11 January 2020

[Frivolous]

Police are continuing their search for a missing man last seen in a pub in Berkshire.

Alexander Stern, 36, was last seen at the Bull Inn in Sonning on the evening of 11 January.

A number of search operations have taken place to find Mr Stern, who is from Kensington in west London.

Mr Stern, who according to reports is the son of stationery businessman and Ferrari collector Ronald Stern, was last seen at the pub at about 19:30 GMT.


[Alexander Stern, 36, is reportedly the son of Ferrari collector Ronald Stern]
He was wearing dark clothes and had a rucksack and a suitcase.

CCTV images from the evening show Mr Stern heading past the Coppa Club towards Sonning Bridge on B478, the force said.

The pub he was last seen at was close to George Clooney, the Hollywood star's £12m mansion.

There are speculations that Alexander fell into the Thames, but I believe that's not what happened. The unusual behaviour from him proves that something else may have happened.
Help me work out what happened to Alexander Stern.

<ADMIN NOTE: Adding MSM link to news article to support opening of thread>

 

[Al Ka]

Published - 16 Jan 2020 - MISSING LAD HUNT
Police hunt millionaire’s missing son after disappearing near George Clooney’s house

POLICE were hunting for the missing son of a millionaire who disappeared close to George Clooney’s house.

Fears were growing for the safety of Alexander Stern, 36, who was last seen leaving a pub near the Hollywood star’s £12m mansion, in Sonning, Berkshire.

Mr Stern is the son of stationery tycoon Ronald Stern - who is famed as one of Britain’s top Ferrari collectors.

He sold one of the Italian supercars for £21million.

The Stern family live in an £8million home in Hampstead, London, while Alexander had moved to upmarket Kensington, where he had a business.

Alexander, who is thought to be boss of a property company, was last seen on a CCTV a at The Bull pub in the exclusive village.
---
A major police search in Sonning has failed to find any sign of Mr Stern amid fears he might have fallen into the fast-flowing River Thames, which runs alongside the theatre and the actor's home.

Police hunt tycoon's missing son after disappearing near Clooney's house

 

[Al Ka]

Published - 19th January
Police 'very concerned' for missing man Alexander Stern

MORE pictures have been released by police in a bid to trace missing man Alexander Stern. Thames Valley Police appealed to the public earlier in the week to track down the missing 36-year-old from Kensington, London.

Today the force has re-appealed for help after Mr Stern was last seen in the Bull Inn, Sonning, at about 7.30pm on Saturday, January 11.

He was last seen wearing dark clothing and was carrying a rucksack, he was also wheeling a suitcase.

It is possible that he is no longer in possession of the rucksack.

The force has released further images today of missing Mr Stern one of which shows him wheeling a suitcase and heading past Coppa Club towards Sonning Bridge on the B478.
---
“If you information about his whereabouts contact the non-emergency number 101 or make a report online, quoting the reference 43200016370.”

Police 'very concerned' for missing man as they step up search efforts - more pictures released

 

[Al Ka]

Published - 24 January 2020
Alexander Stern: Search continues for missing London man

Police are continuing their search for a missing man last seen in a pub in Berkshire.

Alexander Stern, 36, was last seen at the Bull Inn in Sonning on the evening of 11 January.

A number of search operations have taken place to find Mr Stern, who is from Kensington in west London.
---
CCTV images from the evening show Mr Stern heading past the Coppa Club towards Sonning Bridge on B478, the force said.

Detectives are appealing for information.

Police search continues for man last seen in pub

 

[Al Ka]

Published - 12th February
Kensington man last seen in Sonning still missing one month on

Thames Valley Police confirmed today (February 12) that Mr Stern is still missing and the investigation is ongoing.
---
The force also said as part of its search operations it has been helped by Berkshire Lowland Search and Rescue Team.
---
Investigating officer, detective inspector Ben Henley, said: “If anyone in the area could check any CCTV or dash-cam footage they have and let us know of anything you find which could be related to Alexander, please share this with us.

Man still missing a month after last being seen at Berkshire pub

 

[Al Ka]

There are speculations that Alexander fell into the Thames, but I believe that's not what happened. The unusual behaviour from him proves that something else may have happened.
Help me work out what happened to Alexander Stern.

Welcome to Websleuths Frivolous.

Majority of people who disappear after night out or after leaving pub are unfortunately found in body of water. We have seen it on this forum unfortunately too many times. That does not necessarily mean that this is what have happened to him even though it is quite likely.

There is not much information about him in any of the articles so far, what he usually does, his personality etc so it is hard to say if anything he did or the way he behaved on that day was "unusual". Feel free to elaborate.

It is very concerning though that it is 3rd month now of no sightings and no news from him.

 

[Al Ka]

Few more articles, not much new though, plus his listing as missing on Missing People org site

===
Help us find Alexander Stern
===
Yesterday, working from its mobile base in the car park of The Mill at Sonning, the BLSAR team deployed its water, and drone teams alongside the foot search teams.

BSLAR said that it has used all resources available to plan and activate the search and cover as much ground as possible.
---
“We have deployed the BLSAR team to assist Thames Valley Police in the search for Mr Stern,” said Adam Waller, Search Manager and Clinical Lead for BLSAR.

“So far, we have provided over 440 search hours and resumed today with additional drone, sonar and underwater camera resources to support the water and foot teams.”

Search & Rescue team takes to river in bid to find missing man Alexander Stern - The Wokingham Paper
===
Renewed appeal to find missing Jewish man last seen in Berkshire village

Mr Stern is the head of a property company and his father, Roland Stern is the founder of an office products firm.

https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/alexander-stern-missing-berkshire-village-sonning-bull-inn-ronald-stern-thames-valley-police-appeal-1.495746

 

[dotr]

Welcome to Ws Frivolous!
Wondering why A Stern was walking around with a suitcase?

Fears grow for missing man as police release new images
''CCTV images have now been released of him inside the pub as well as wheeling a suitcase and heading past Copper Club towards Sonning Bridge on the B478.

Sonning is in Berkshire near Reading, a five-minute walk from the South Oxfordshire district border at Sonning Eye, which was the direction Mr Stern was heading.

Police have also released an image of the smaller version of the type of suitcase he was wheeling.

 

[Tortoise]

At least this article indicates the order of events -

"New CCTV stills from inside the pub show him standing at the bar, before leaving the building and heading past the Coppa Club towards Sonning Bridge, while wheeling a suitcase behind him."

[also] "Mr Stern is the head of a property company"

New pictures of missing multi-millionaire's son released after 9 days | Metro News

 

[Tortoise]

After an initial appeal for information on January 16, Thames Valley Police said three days later that officers believe he is no longer in possession of the rucksack.

https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/...thames-valley-police-appeal-1.495746/1.495749

 

[Frivolous]

Hello all, thank you guys so much for your feedbacks and replies. Very much appreciated.
Answering some questions now:

1-
Concerning Alexander may of fell into the Thames:
- If he did, the suitcase he had would of resurfaced by now.
- Extensive search of the river have shown no signs of a body

2-
Suitcase and rucksack
- I'm confused as to why Alexander was wheeling a suitcase with him. Immediate thought that comes to mind is; a trip away.
- The rucksack was no longer on him when he's captured on cctv, only the suitcase
- The rucksack has clearly been left in the pub. Why? Did he forget it, or did he give it to someone else?

My theories and thoughts:

The pub is in an affluent area, a few minute walk from George Clooney's house. I'm not saying it has any relevance, but I'd like to put it out there.
His dad runs an empire collecting Ferrari's and he is head of a property firm.

I think the rucksack carried drugs, he goes to the pub and deals it. The pub is a speakeasy, if you know what you want, you get it, if you don't then it's there for what you think it is. Something goes wrong, and someone decided to take an opportunity from this. He leaves the pub wheeling the suitcase, heading towards Sonning Bridge. Perhaps he's taking a taxi? Waiting for the taxi, someone takes advantage and throws him into the river and takes the suitcase. Or, they take him with him, or he's been killed and hidden somewhere. All plausible, but I'm not sure where all this ties together.

Open to hearing your thoughts.

 

[Frivolous]

"Villagers fear Mr Stern, of Kensington, London, has become the latest victim of a 'curse', with four other people dying on the same stretch of river in the last six months.

On Sunday a body was recovered from the Thames at Fawley Court, upriver from Sonning, after reports of a man 'entering the water'.

In November a woman was found dead just downstream at Marlow, and a 24-year-old man was found in the river at Henley in August.

Last month Bogdan Skarbeck, 49, from Poland, who lived and worked in Reading, was found dead in the Thames, also near Henley.

Thames Valley Police are not linking the deaths, but one Sonning villager said: 'Some folk are saying the stretch of river might suddenly have had a curse put on it.

We do get people drowning in the river but to have four in six months is very unusual, and now Mr Stern has gone missing too."

Millionaire tycoon's son, 36, vanished in Berkshire as police fear he may have fallen in the Thames | Daily Mail Online

Are these linked, or are these drownings the case of losing your foot and accidentally falling in?

 

[Sillybilly]

ADMIN NOTE:

Websleuths TOS (aka The Rules, linked in my signature) require that ALL newspaper articles and images be linked to the source and that no more than 10% of any article can be copied due to copyright regulations.

Also, please use quotation marks in your posts so that members can distinguish what wording is being quoted from the article and what is your own personal commentary.

Thanks.

And after all that, Welcome to Websleuths Frivolous and thank you for starting this thread for Mr. Stern.

 

[Frivolous]

Tracing Alexander's last known moments:

1- He's last seen at The Bull Inn, Sonning-on-Thames at 7:30


There's not much you can infer from the image apart from the fact that Alexander seems to be in conversation with someone over the bar. No signs of the suitcase or rucksack.

2- CCTV captures what is believed to be one of his final moments. Last known movements captures him wheeling a suitcase past Coppa Club towards Sonning Bridge on the B478.

Here, you can see him wheeling the suitcase, no sign of the rucksack. Was the rucksack left over at the pub, did he make a detour to give the rucksack/rucksacks content to someone? Is the person wheeling the suitcase even Alexander?


3- Distance from The Bull Inn to Coppa club

The distance from The Bull Inn to approx. Coppa Club is 4 minutes by foot.


If he's seen sitting (1) in the bar at 7:30, how long was he there for before he left? There's no time stamp given on the CCTV camera. We don't have that information regarding the time Alexander was in the pub for/ what time he was captured on CCTV.

4- Sonning Bridge as the initial destination?

Alexander is seen going past Coppa Club to what seems like a likely explanation as going towards Sonning Bridge.

Coppa Club is a minute walk towards Sonning Bridge which is a road bridge that overlooks the Thames.

Did Alexander loose his footing and fall into the River? Too many drinks may account to that or it might have just been an accident; it's dark, hard to see and he falls. What happened to the suitcase then? It would of been found by now?

Looking at google maps, if Alexander fell on his own, it would of been quite a heavy fall? Was he assisted? The ledge on the road bridge overlooking the Thames is quite high and seems sturdy.




So, where to from Sonning Bridge if that was the initial destination?

- A taxi to chosen destination?

- if he went by foot; going down the road bridge, leads into the Royal county of Berkshire.

- Seems like a small narrow place. Houses and greenery only seem to be present

Will be looking in detail to places that Alexander may of been going to. Going to update soon with information

 

[Frivolous]

Would it be ok to add Mr Stern's personal information into this thread?

 

[Frivolous]

Alexander Stern was director of "Merchant real estate LTD" which was closed down in 2017, the company was private and was incorporated in 2016.

 

[Frivolous]

List of possible destinations from Sonning bridge

1 - This image shows the possible cctv that captured Alexander's final moments which showed him wheeling a suitcase past Coppa Club towards Sonning Bridge on the B478.
[The circle on the image indicates the CCTV]

2 - If Alexander was captured on that CCTV camera, then it would position him roughly here:
[The white line represents Alexander's rough standing position at time of capture on camera]

3- Possible routes from Alexander's standing Position:
[Circle represents the cctv camera, upwards line represents Alexander's approx standing position and the two arrows, left and right, are two different ways that Alexander may of travelled to, unless he took a vehicle from that area.]

4- Exploring the right route

a- [Going down right, there's the Hart house, seems to be no relevance, just putting everything out there.]

b- [Opposite the Hart house is a restricted area that is only allowed entry via a 'vehicle access Thames water only'] Was Alexander bundled up in a car/willingly got in and taken here and then pushed into the river?

A close up of the circled section (b):


c - [Further along the Hart house road is a narrow bending road which leads to 'Thames path'

A close up of the circled section (c):
Seems to show several warnings and "unauthorised". Clearly should not be taking this path.

d - Further along the right route just shows the Sonning Bridge, with a seemingly sturdy ledge. If pushed over, you will fall into the river. Seems highly likely that someone would fall in by themselves, unless intentional. The upward line(vertical) shows Alexander, and the horizontal line shows approx. the falling height.

It is shown in every article that, "CCTV images from the evening show Mr Stern heading past the Coppa Club towards Sonning Bridge on B478, the force said."

^Police search continues for man last seen in pub

Why is the (right route), (Sonning Bridge/Thames) being the only area emphasised? Clearly it is, as no other option is explored. There are two possible ways to go, left and right, and in the CCTV image he's not facing any particular way which would not indicate a definite right or left approach on destination.

Is the initial thought meant to be suicide? River Thames, it's a quite area, obviously a great spot to do anything without being seen.

Will be doing the left route in the next post, and finishing off the right route too.

 

[Rosegold68]

hadn't heard of this!

 

[Frivolous]

hadn't heard of this!

Not necessarily headlines, although in many news articles.

 

[Rosegold68]

lots and lots of water there.....odd case