Italy - Liam Biran, 32, Turin, 9 May 2019

[ZaZara]

He's listed on the Interpol database, he must still be missing:

View Yellow Notices

Missing from Torino, the date is May 9th.

That would have been when he arrived (in the morning). So no hotel, hostal or AirBnb where he stayed the night has been found?

His last trace would have been a credit card transaction at the railway station the next day. If that was him. If it was, he surely must have spent the night somewhere?

 

[Elgana]

Earlier on in this thread, someone mentioned that before he went to Italy, he was in Israel and was witness to a murder in the room next door to him. I honestly don't think that his disappearance is a coincidience, and I think the likelyhood is that someone came after him and probably disposed of him so that he couldn't speak up about what he saw. I hope I'm wrong as that is truly awful if he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. MOO.

 

[ZaZara]

Earlier on in this thread, someone mentioned that before he went to Italy, he was in Israel and was witness to a murder in the room next door to him. I honestly don't think that his disappearance is a coincidience, and I think the likelyhood is that someone came after him and probably disposed of him so that he couldn't speak up about what he saw. I hope I'm wrong as that is truly awful if he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. MOO.

Hiya, IMHO the programme Chi l'ha visto tried to make more of it than there really was.

This is what indicolite22 posted:

The murder supposedly occured in Tel Aviv. Italian TV (RAI) correspondent in Jerusalem relayed information from a police spokesperson. Apparently a Filipino woman killed her husband and is currently in jail. I've seen no proof that this murder took place anywhere near where Liam was staying; they only said it was in the southern part of Tel Aviv. I assume they had a time frame as well.

If Liam was upset about the murder taking place in the next hotel room, if this was the same case from the previous paragraph, I don't think he was in danger, as the person responsible is in jail.

.

BBM

 

[chimpface]

Really strange one this. Absolute crickets online no family making an appeal etc.

 

[indicolite22]

Really strange one this. Absolute crickets online no family making an appeal etc.

Some of his family have high profile jobs but rarely post on SM. His disappearance isn't mentioned at all, as if they moved on. At some point there was a private investigator working on the case, but there were no new leads. To me it still stands out that a female voice replied after the family tried to call him on his iPad. I wonder if it was a wrong number or someone had his belongings.

I can't decide if he is voluntary missing or something happened to him accidentally. Since nobody knows where he went, it's difficult to search for him.

A while ago there was a similar case of an American tourist who disappeared in a European city without a trace. Several months later he was found deceased by hikers, but not in the area he intended to visit.

 

[ZaZara]

No updates on his LinkedIn profile, no new postings on his blog.

In fact, no new news.

Still missing from Torino according to Interpol since May 9, 2019.

 

[ZaZara]

Liam Biran now has a page on NAMUS. The page was created on October 22, 2020.

Missing Person / NamUs #MP74917

Liam David Biran

Date of Last Contact
May 8, 2019

Missing From
Queens, New York

Last Known Location (Map)
Location
Queens, New York 11430

Circumstances of Disappearance
Mr. Biran resides in Marlboro Township, New Jersey with his family. He was last seen by family at JFK airport. He was in email/text contact with family while in Israel and Europe prior to disappearance.

Investigating agencies are INTERPOL-USNCB and Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office and Marlboro Police Department.

I wonder what this means. The 'Map' leads to JFK airport.
For all we know Liam Biram went missing from Italy, probably Turin.
Apparently, he is still missing.

 

[Romulus]

Americano scomparso nel 2019, trovata la tenda a Saint-Pierre

Carabinieri e vigili del fuoco al lavoro per cercare Liam Biran, di cui si sono perse le tracce a Torino nel maggio di tre anni fa. Forse è suo il materiale trovato nei boschi della Valle d'Aosta. Ricerche sospese per il buio, riprenderanno domani

www.rainews.it

American disappeared in 2019, tent found in Saint-Pierre
Carabinieri and firefighters at work to look for Liam Biran, whose traces were lost in Turin in May three years ago. Perhaps the material found in the woods of the Aosta Valley is from him. Searches suspended for the dark, will resume tomorrow

The tent, probably, of a US citizen who disappeared in May 2019 would have been found today, Tuesday 1 November, in the woods above Saint-Pierre. The carabinieri and firefighters of the Valle d'Aosta corps have started, so far without results, the search for the young sommelier, originally from New Jersey, Liam Biran.
The alarm went off after a local resident recognized in the tent the one mentioned in the show "Who saw it?", Assuming that he was thirty years old.
Once on the spot, the military also alerted the firefighters to look for other traces of Biran. Inside the shelter was also found a shirt similar to one used by the young man. But on the correspondence between the material found and Biran among the investigators there is a lot of caution and the utmost confidentiality.
Biran disappeared on May 9, 2019, around 9 am, with a flight from Athens and arrived in Turin. The last telephone contact he had with his brother-in-law the same day, but then, from that moment, there has been no news of him. In the previous days he had expressed to his family his desire to reach the Turin Porta Susa station and then from there take a train towards Paris. According to what has been reconstructed, however, instead of going to France with his credit card, he would have bought a ticket to Aosta. Always Who saw him, a few days ago, found a young man in Sarre who says he crossed paths with a person who could have been Biran.
At the moment no other traces have been found and searches have been suspended due to the dark, but they should resume tomorrow, Wednesday 2 November.

 

[ZaZara]

Liam Biran, proseguono le ricerche nei boschi sopra Saint-Pierre

Liam Biran, the search continues in the woods above Saint-Pierre
The case of the young man, whose trail was lost in 2019, will be explored in depth on the programme "Chi l'ha visto?" on Rai3

The search has been going on for two days in the woods above Saint-Pierre for Liam Biran, the young American sommelier whose trail was lost in Turin in May 2019.

Coordinating the search, with the help of drones, are the Carabinieri and the fire brigade of the Valdostan fire brigade who, however, have found nothing so far.

The alarm had been raised on 1 November, when a local resident had reported the presence of the tent to the police, after recognising it in the images of the RAI programme 'Chi l'ha visto', which recently dealt with the case and returned to it tonight on RAI3.

A t-shirt was also found inside the shelter, which the young man's parents allegedly recognised among his personal belongings, as reported by the programme.

Biran disappeared three years ago from the capital of Piedmont, where he allegedly arrived on a flight from Athens. In the days before, he had told his family that he wanted to go to Turin's Porta Susa station and from there take a train towards Paris.

According to reconstructions, however, instead of going to France, he had bought a ticket to Aosta with his credit card. Also 'Chi l'ha visto', a few days ago, found a young man in Sarre who said he had met someone who could have been Biran.


BBM

I wasn't aware that LB had a tent with him.... when did that happen?

 

[ZaZara]

Liam Biram, Chi l'ha visto rivela: trovati i vestiti e la tenda del ragazzo americano scomparso nel 2019

Liam Biram, clothes and tent found of American student who disappeared in 2019

The young man had left in the spring of 2019 from the United States and travelled to Greece and then stopped in Italy. He was supposed to arrive in Paris, but his journey was cut short early. Records show that the man had arrived in Turin Porta Susa and then in Aosta by train, buying a ticket with a credit card. From there, investigators had not been able to reconstruct his itinerary until this week when a viewer phoned the studio of 'Chi l'ha visto?' reporting the discovery of some clothes in the woods of St-Pierre, near a waterfall.

After a 20-minute walk in the mountains of Valle d'Aosta, correspondent Giuseppe Pizzo reached the site of the discovery, where the cameras captured the remains of a tent, a map with Greek writing on it, foodstuffs with an expiry date of October 2019, socks and a grey shirt with white motifs, recognised by the parents.

The items also include earrings, possibly a gift from Liam to his mother, and the keyboard of an iPad, the one the young man used to communicate with his family in the US. Shoes, documents and glasses are missing.

After the report, the Carabinieri and the police were alerted, and they have not stopped their search since then. And hope remains in the hearts of his parents and sister, who have not heard from the lad since 2019.


BBM

 

[Periwinkl3]

Does anyone her know if he was traveling on an American passport or an Israeli passport?

 

[indicolite22]

From the June 12 article below (automatic translation):

"He had told his parents that within the next two days he would be in the Piedmontese capital and that he would probably go camping before leaving for Paris from the Porta Susa station."

"In the mystery of his disappearance there is also the mysterious female voice that answered from his iPad before hanging up."

Liam Biran, americano scomparso a Torino/ Spunta biglietto per Aosta (Chi l'ha visto)

Apparently he had a flight scheduled on May 16th from Paris to the US.

I don't remember the tent either, although going camping was mentioned early on. It was also speculated that his iPad might have been stolen.

 

[ZaZara]

Il giallo del turista scomparso nel nulla tre anni fa: trovata una tenda tra i boschi

In recent days, a viewer of the popular TV programme 'Chi l'ha visto?' recognised in the tent he had come across between last December and January, a tent that the programme assumed to be the missing man's. He reported that there was a smell of 'dead animals' in the area of Babelon at the time. The report was passed on to the Carabinieri, who collected the tent and the material in it to carry out the necessary investigations. "The parents recognised the shirt among the personal effects found in the woods above Saint-Pierre," the programme by RaiTre reported. No documents were found. The search of the area by the fire brigade, with the help of drones, could lead to further news. The search continues in the woods above Saint-Pierre.

The police have so far taken both the tent and other material that was in it, much of it worn by the weather. Regarding the match between what was taken and the objects that Biran is known to have had (in particular, it seems, a T-shirt), there is great cause for caution.

BBM


The man who reported the find, came upon the tent about a year ago. Would he have been the only person to notice the tent? or could another passer-by have taken objects of interest?

If something happened to Liam Biran at that location, it probably happened in 2019 - given the expiration date of the food stuff. IMO the smell of dead animals would have disappeared two years on.

 

[ZaZara]

Picture of the objects found. Backpack, keyboard, clothes, bed sheet (?)

Ripartono da St-Pierre le ricerche di Liam Biran, il turista americano scomparso nel nulla tre anni fa

Text is subscription only.

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

Picture of the objects found. Backpack, keyboard, clothes, bed sheet (?)

Ripartono da St-Pierre le ricerche di Liam Biran, il turista americano scomparso nel nulla tre anni fa

Text is subscription only.

Yikes, that one item (second from the right; right next to the bed sheet) is awful similar to the shirt he is wearing in this picture he posted on Oct. 18, 2018, MOO :

https://www.facebook.com/813544823/posts/10156959817809824

 

[indicolite22]

The shirt that was found has the same paisley print. Closeup at the start of this video (from Italian news programme):

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=881306446214063

 

[indicolite22]

After his disappearance Liam allegedly posted a photo on his LinkedIn that might hold a clue. Nobody knows when or where this photo was taken:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1586030028009181186

Loose translation: Where was this photo taken? Finding out could be useful in the search for Liam Biran, an American tourist who disappeared in 2019 from #Torino. Who was the woman who answered his tablet? Can you get in touch?

It seems very likely that they found his belongings. But where is he? Where is his iPad and documents?

 

[Periwinkl3]

Maddening. That picture could be anywhere. A weird choice for someone's LinkedIn, unless the other man had special significance for LB. Maybe taken in a vineyard someplace, given his sommelier training?

I wonder if Interpol is involved? At minimum, an international police agency should be able to eyeball the yellow hat (and maybe the distressed/bleached jeans) and have an idea of where those garments might be worn. The clothing looks more utilitarian than fashionable to my eye. The yellow hat almost looks like a traditional Greek cap.

 

[annpats]

Well, at least now we now where he ended up after Turin.

Sainte Pierre, Valle D'Aosta is 147km north of Turin or 2 hours by road.

Saint Pierre is actually just below both the Swiss and French borders, there are roads leading from Aosta into both Switzerland and France. So, it would have been easy for him to get to France, as his plan was to fly out of Paris.

I'm wondering why he was camping? Lugging his tent all around Europe. He seemed wealthy and didn't need to camp.
There would have been many places to stay in these villages and farms, there is a big Agri-turismo thing in Italy, where you can stay in working farms and vineyards cheaply.

I'm now wondering if he went wandering in the mountains and wasn't suitable attired with appropriate footwear or slipped and had an accident or something?

 

[ZaZara]

Partito in treno da Torino e sparito nel nulla, trovate sue tracce in Valle d'Aosta


A search is under way in the woods of Saint-Pierre, in the Aosta Valley, for the body of Liam Biran (......), the US sommelier who disappeared into thin air after arriving in Turin on 9 May 2019. This after the revelations of the Rai 3 programme 'Chi l'ha visto?' in the Wednesday 2 November 2022 episode, in which a tent and a shirt are shown that, also according to his relatives, would belong to the man, who was 32 years old when he went missing. Analysis of his credit card, moreover, had shown the purchase of a train ticket in the direction of Aosta at Porta Susa station.

The search operations carried out by the fire brigade and Carabinieri in the area, also using drones, however, have so far yielded no results. Scientific analyses of the tent and of the material found inside it, mainly snack packs purchased in Greece, where the man had just been on holiday, as well as of the shirt, are underway. Photographic images have been sent to the family for official recognition.

During the episode of 'Chi l'ha visto?' a man from Sarre claimed to have met Biran and to have recognised him for sure by the gap between his two front teeth. It was another Sarre resident, a keen trekker, who had noticed the tent earlier in the year. But the actual discovery was made by the TV crew on the morning of Wednesday 1. It now remains to be seen what might have happened to him.


BBM