CA CA - Jeff Joseph, 45, Hoopa, 21 June 2014

[EastHumboldt]

In

Throwback Thursday:
I'm reposting this article that was in LoCO two years ago. I didn't read it too carefully at the time when Los2188 posted it here, but now I notice that it contains the names of associates of Jeff's. LE had not been able to contact them, nor had the PI at the time. Have they been talked to yet, Peaceofmind?

One individual is Robert Chris Hunter. Kaplan believes Hunter may have met with Joseph. He is currently wanted by the Trinity County Sheriff’s Department — see photo from his wanted poster on the right — and efforts to contact him have been fruitless.

Two other people who lived/worked this past year on the property that Jeff Joseph leased near Weitchpec are also important to speak to, said the investigator. One is Eliot Storms. Joseph’s family describes him as having been a friend and business partner of the missing man for over seven years. The other, Ben Rogers, was someone Joseph knew in Louisiana as well as here in Humboldt. A family member says neither have responded at all to multiple attempts to communicate with them.
BBM

$10,000 Reward for Information About Missing Man Jeff Joseph

In regards to Robert Chris Hunter (he has always gone by Chris) it's a little disturbing to see how far he's fallen. He was my neighbor at one time and he was always friendly and a bit of an airhead.

I had to point out one thing, and it's a long shot, but I can't help but speculate.

Missing Idaho man’s remains identified – Times-Standard

The property this person was recovered from belonged to a close relative of Chris's Step-Father. While I can't see the Step-Father maintaining family ties it wouldn't be far fetched for Chris to be involved in his current state.

I'm going off memory here but my family reported McElroy missing upon discovering a known criminal using his vehicle, a small SUV. That party would eventually be convicted of his murder and serve time.

It's always sat unwell with me that someone could be murdered for their car and it shouldn't be overlooked that it has happened in this area.

 

[burblestein]

I'm really surprised that no one has noticed the similarities between Jeff's case and that of Chris Giauque.
CA - Chris Giauque, 36, Mendocino County, 9 Aug 2003
That said, I seem no connection between them but explicable coincidence. It seems like typical cases of "greenrusher" unfamiliar with the ET shows up with big jackpot of buy money for pot, and disappears.
And, EastHumboldt, no insult, but you seem a bit naive. People will murder for any reason, or none at all. An acquaintance's friend was killed over a match. One single lousy paper match for a cigarette.
I do congratulate you on having the conscience to feel unwell over murder. It is a decent and honorable reaction.

 

[somequestions]

In certain airplane accidents, searchers ended up searching the wrong area because they did not realize the pilot had gotten lost and was in a completely different area from where he was expected to be located. Maybe that happened in this case?

I know that is unlikely because someone probably would have accidently come across Jeff Joseph's green Toyota Rav4 after over 5 years. So it looks like there was some type of deliberate attempt to get rid of any trace of Jeff Joseph and his vehicle.

It is kind of amazing that in today's modern age of technology that people(and their vehicle) can still manage to disappear and vanish without a trace. But it happens. This case is proof of that.

 

[burblestein]

Actually, somequestions, there are any number of places in the ET to easily "disappear" a car. Any of the three counties comprising the ET are larger than some eastern states, and are more rugged and unsettled than any ground east of the Appalachians. There are countless cliffs, over which a car can be discarded into jungley vegetation, to say nothing of the Pacific Ocean for disposal. I'll repeat what I have said here before--northern California is not beaches, bikinis, and endless sunshine, as in folks popular imagination. North of Napa, it's the gloomy wild Pacific Northwest.

 

[Midge Montana]

#BringJeffHome

 

[somequestions]

I hope someday someone finds Jeff Joseph...and his 1998 Toyota RAV4, license plate XMZ062 with an LSU sticker in the back window.

 

[EastHumboldt]

Weitchpec Man Still Missing: Family Received a Ransom Note and Tracker Found Possible Evidence Indicating Foul Play – Redheaded Blackbelt

A local is missing from the Weitchpec area. (South of Weitchpec on HWY 96). I seen the Sheriff in the area for two days under heavy fog conditions and then never again. If a ransom note gets no response then I don't know what will.

On an aside a car crusher is scheduled to be in the Pecwan area soon. Given the chance I'll inquire if they recall a green suv from prior trips to the area.

 

[burblestein]

That followup inquiry to the car crusher staff is a great idea. It seems they should have records of the cars they have crushed.

 

[Valiant]

That followup inquiry to the car crusher staff is a great idea. It seems they should have records of the cars they have crushed.

Any legitimate business records and reports the VINs of any vehicles they scrap.
One would hope the VIN from Jeff's car was flagged by the police when he went missing.

 

[EastHumboldt]

Any legitimate business records and reports the VINs of any vehicles they scrap.
One would hope the VIN from Jeff's car was flagged by the police when he went missing.

While they are a legitimately hired business I know it takes quite an effort for Tribal staffing to collect the information and utilize it to the best of their abilities. Trying to find the owners registered to the vin, citing said owners, and ultimately getting state to certify abandonment of said vehicle. Sometimes the vins are removed or the car is badly damaged (wreck recovery, vandalism) and the Tribal Police then are involved to take any information available as a possible stolen vehicle. It takes a long time and if anything, Tribal record retention would be the better option to pursue than a scrappers memory. If Jeff's Sister is still active I'd have her contact their Environmental Department and ask if they keep records of blight projects specific to abandoned vehicles as a follow up. Even if they don't have record of it now, they'll be able to flag it in the future.

 

[burblestein]

An excellent suggestion.

 

[Valiant]

While they are a legitimately hired business I know it takes quite an effort for Tribal staffing to collect the information and utilize it to the best of their abilities. Trying to find the owners registered to the vin, citing said owners, and ultimately getting state to certify abandonment of said vehicle. Sometimes the vins are removed or the car is badly damaged (wreck recovery, vandalism) and the Tribal Police then are involved to take any information available as a possible stolen vehicle. It takes a long time and if anything, Tribal record retention would be the better option to pursue than a scrappers memory. If Jeff's Sister is still active I'd have her contact their Environmental Department and ask if they keep records of blight projects specific to abandoned vehicles as a follow up. Even if they don't have record of it now, they'll be able to flag it in the future.

You can't remove all traces of the VIN from a car. You'd have to remove the dash plate, the engine, the transmission, the build sticker on the door, and then find the hidden VIN stampings on the body.
If they scrapped a car, the scrapper is going to have records of the VINs they scrapped. They do this to protect themselves from being implicated in stolen car schemes.

 

[somequestions]

You can't remove all traces of the VIN from a car. You'd have to remove the dash plate, the engine, the transmission, the build sticker on the door, and then find the hidden VIN stampings on the body.
If they scrapped a car, the scrapper is going to have records of the VINs they scrapped. They do this to protect themselves from being implicated in stolen car schemes.

What are the statistics for a person and their vehicle disappearing at the same time and neither ever being found? Maybe one of these shows like Disappeared will do an episode on this case because of how mysterious it seems to be.

 

[Valiant]

What are the statistics for a person and their vehicle disappearing at the same time and neither ever being found? Maybe one of these shows like Disappeared will do an episode on this case because of how mysterious it seems to be.

Unfortunately it has happened somewhat frequently, but in the cases I’ve seen solved it’s usually an accident where the car and driver ended up in water. But not very time - one guy buried the car of his female victim.

 

[burblestein]

For all you citified sleuths who keep nattering on about the least likely method used to dispose of Jeff's vehicle, that is via crusher or junkyard--this is wilderness up here. A car 20 feet off road in brush can be completely hidden and forgotten. There are rivers and ponds. There's a shoreline of cliffs where cars can be dumped into the ocean. There are canyons.
Abandoned vehicles abound. Upon sporadic occasions, some authority arranges for a mobile car crusher to visit for a few days. And yet you folks believe someone would haul Jeff's hidden vehicle into the open to be sent through the crusher? Or are you saying his car was dragged into Eureka/Arcata to the junkyards, right in front of potential witnesses.
Nope, that car is still in the boondocks.

 

[somequestions]

For all you citified sleuths who keep nattering on about the least likely method used to dispose of Jeff's vehicle, that is via crusher or junkyard--this is wilderness up here. A car 20 feet off road in brush can be completely hidden and forgotten. There are rivers and ponds. There's a shoreline of cliffs where cars can be dumped into the ocean. There are canyons.
Abandoned vehicles abound. Upon sporadic occasions, some authority arranges for a mobile car crusher to visit for a few days. And yet you folks believe someone would haul Jeff's hidden vehicle into the open to be sent through the crusher? Or are you saying his car was dragged into Eureka/Arcata to the junkyards, right in front of potential witnesses.
Nope, that car is still in the boondocks.

I think being familiar with a location is important to understanding it and the possibilities in this case. Living there is the best experience.

It is a distinct possibility that his vehicle went off the road somewhere and has never been found. It is such a mystery as to where that place may have been where Jeff Joseph and his green Toyota Rav4 disappeared.

 

[Tee7077]

What are the statistics for a person and their vehicle disappearing at the same time and neither ever being found? Maybe one of these shows like Disappeared will do an episode on this case because of how mysterious it seems to be.

As someone who has lived in Humboldt I have heard whispers about one form of local justice being people and their cars getting buried. I remember a comment on Kym Kemp suggesting that may have happened to the 4 men (still) missing from LA. That they might have been up there to rip people off and they and their car ended up in a hole.

 

[burblestein]

I dunno about it being justice, Tee7077, but I recall finding the same rumor about those four, during my research for Emerald Triangle cases. The onset of the legalized pot green rush has seen plantations large enough to support keeping a front-end loader around. Purportedly, the four guys and their vehicle were buried in a pit dug by a front-end loader.
Another nasty local custom enters into this also. For some reason, any broken -down cars left in rural areas are trashed by the locals. I have personal experience of this. I left a broken-down car in Mendo National Forest and hitchhiked out for a tow truck. By the time I returned with the truck--three hours--the rear window of my station wagon was smashed in.
The longer a car stays abandoned on an Emerald Triangle back road, the more battered it becomes. Parts are often stripped, and the hulks usually burned.

 

[EastHumboldt]

Very

I dunno about it being justice, Tee7077, but I recall finding the same rumor about those four, during my research for Emerald Triangle cases. The onset of the legalized pot green rush has seen plantations large enough to support keeping a front-end loader around. Purportedly, the four guys and their vehicle were buried in a pit dug by a front-end loader.
Another nasty local custom enters into this also. For some reason, any broken -down cars left in rural areas are trashed by the locals. I have personal experience of this. I left a broken-down car in Mendo National Forest and hitchhiked out for a tow truck. By the time I returned with the truck--three hours--the rear window of my station wagon was smashed in.
The longer a car stays abandoned on an Emerald Triangle back road, the more battered it becomes. Parts are often stripped, and the hulks usually burned.

Very true for the area Jeff Joseph went missing too. A new thing that is happening is the locals are documenting abandoned vehicles found on back roads through Facebook. There have been too many found vehicles linked with missing persons for such a small community to ignore and everyone has a cell phone with a camera nowdays.

 

[somequestions]

Very


Very true for the area Jeff Joseph went missing too. A new thing that is happening is the locals are documenting abandoned vehicles found on back roads through Facebook. There have been too many found vehicles linked with missing persons for such a small community to ignore and everyone has a cell phone with a camera nowdays.

This case is approaching 6 years with Jeff Joseph and his green Toyota Rav4 still missing. I think the documenting abandoned vehicles is a great idea since that is one avenue to try to link a missing person back to their car. In my opinion, finding Jeff Joseph's 1998 green Toyota Rav4 license plate XMZ062 with LSU sticker in the back window is one way to try and figure out what happened in this missing person's case. It does not seem like there is anywhere to go with this case.