MN MN - Bryce Borca, 23, college student, seen at 2AM, search focused near Minnesota River, Eagan, 30 Oct 2022

[SAMS]

Noooo I hate to read these! I am sad to say I believe he will be found deceased in water, and tox reports will show alcohol.

It’s a very sad phenomena- the combination of young adult male confidence, drinking, and water can often prove fatal. There is NOT a serial killer hiding in the woods waiting for drunk college men to pass through so they can drown them… moo

That doesn’t mean that there isn’t one targeting drunk men as they leave the club/bar, etc. Why is it so far-fetched that there could be a serial killer targeting men and not women in this country? MOO IMO so all of these men are leaving spots under the influence so extreme, that they just make a beeline and fall into water? Make it make sense.

 

[SAMS]

No, a lot of them are found in rivers, but they did not all drown. Often the coroners cannot determine the cause of death, and sometimes drowning is assumed because of the situation, and not from direct evidence.

<modsnip - not an approved source but a conspiracy theorist>

This. MOO

 

[ChatteringBirds]

so all of these men are leaving spots under the influence so extreme, that they just make a beeline and fall into water? Make it make sense

IMO it really is usually accidental drowning. But fair enough, if you want to explore some of the more "odd" cases. Are you on those threads about the young male drownings phenomenon?

This particular case, though, I don't understand questioning it. Is there really something that doesn't make sense here? It's very dangerous terrain, and it's known he was not only out there in the dark but definitely lost. The chance he experienced misadventure seems extremely high to me, unfortunately.

 

[acutename]

True. However, my question is if professional search crews are having a tough time getting through that ‘challenging terrain’ in daylight, how far would a heavily intoxicated guy realistically have made it in the dark?
It’s not like you are walking on a nice level field with short grass, and can see where you are going and what’s in front of you.

I think, and I know this from being in a boggy area totally sober in daylight(!), that you might panic when the grass is over your head and your feet are sinking unpredictably and you have no sense of direction- big grasses in every direction. He was young so he might have gone some distance, exhausted himself and then hypothermia and if he partly sunk, just not easy for searchers to locate or to extract him.

 

[acutename]

Anyone attempting to search in that srea probably ought to be equipped with an "I'm fallen" alert bracelet and red water buoy. That are some unforgiving wetlands in there.

JMO

compass, apple air tag in a waterproof container...beacon...?

 

[GMS]

Interesting article with some discrepancies from what was originally published in news stories. First, they said partying in Stillwater all day. I thought I read they took a party bus to Punch Bowl Social in St. Louis Park? Second they mentioned he was in tall grass and marsh on his FaceTime, but original reports said a heavily wooded area. If he truly kept falling in the grass where his phone pinged, doubt he would have made it too far…as I’ve said before. So how have they not found him? Wonder if that is the same grass I kept tripping in just next to the tracks? And then how did the K9s track him up to the ponds? Did he make his way out of the grass and up to the ponds or beyond? Third, some timings are off.
So where did this article come from and who wrote it, I wonder.
However it did give more info as to places that were searched and some other info we have not heard before.

It may just be standard LE protocol, but I've always wondered why police continue not to release the business where Bryce was captured on surveillance video. They don't suspect foul play, so what would be the harm in releasing that information? I'm not trying to create undue speculation, just always felt the information may be important in tracing Bryce's path. Below is the latest response taken from the News Break article:

"They confirmed Bryce Borca was seen on a local business's surveillance, but because it is still an open and active investigation, they could not provide us with what business that was."

 

[lassy]

IMO it really is usually accidental drowning. But fair enough, if you want to explore some of the more "odd" cases. Are you on those threads about the young male drownings phenomenon?

This particular case, though, I don't understand questioning it. Is there really something that doesn't make sense here? It's very dangerous terrain, and it's known he was not only out there in the dark but definitely lost. The chance he experienced misadventure seems extremely high to me, unfortunately.

Maybe it was misadventure in the marsh, but it doesn’t make sense to me at the point where his phone pinged and where he was lost. That area was right by the RR tracks/businesses/lighted buildings and more solid grassy ground that he was tripping in. And it seems the dogs tracked him up to the ponds. I just question how much further out into the marshy wetland area he would have gone intoxicated and in the dark if he was tripping in grass where his phone pinged or if he truly made it to the ponds which is quite a ways up the tracks right next to a brightly lit up building and parking lot.
And it said the friends went to the grassy area to look for him. Again did they yell for him? And would he not have heard if he went some distance trudging through the grass or up to the ponds. Just odd IMO.

 

[lassy]

So what really sticks out to me in that article…
‘Around 2:45 AM, one of the friends received a Facetime call from Bryce Borca. It appeared Bryce was lost with the friend, saying he looked like he was walking in tall grass and kept falling. According to the friend, it looked like he was in the tall grassy marsh area just north of the train tracks, just west of Highway 13 and Yankee Tavern. Unfortunately, Bryce Borca's phone died during the Facetime. A few friends went down to the train tracks behind the Blue Cross & Blue Shield grounds by the Eagan Police Gun Range but could not find him. Later that morning, after the friends had not heard any updates from Bryce Borca, they called 911 around 10:50 AM on Monday, October 30th, requesting a welfare check at Bryce's apartment. The friends reported that his car was there, but they have been unable to get ahold of him’.
So the friends knew the exact spot he was lost, intoxicated, and tripping in the long grass and marsh, a ‘few’ friends went to look there, couldn’t find him, so they all went home?! Then went to his apt in the morning and found his car there. Where else would it be, if he was lost in the marsh?
I get they were also intoxicated, but if that is true that sounds really suspicious IMO. Did they ALL really think he would make his way out of that and get home on his own? I would think at least one of the few friends would have been smarter than that…and not just leave him there all night.

 

[lassy]

Is it also odd to anyone, that the Eagan Police Gun Range was specifically mentioned as to where the friends looked? Never seen it mentioned in any news report or article before. And now the place is closed. Did the friends or Bryce run into something there? Wonder when it closed and why?
Something else bothering me…InternetGhost who was completely invested in this case early on, went to search multiple times, and posted continually has not posted since January… when she mentioned being suspicious of the friends and wondering why there were affidavits involved. Did she really give up or get too close to something?

 

[Ladyotm]

From what I have read so far, I thought that on the route Bryce walked, the road ended at some point and he had to enter the forest area to go on . I was wrong . When I looked at Google street view yesterday, I saw that the main roads and secondary roads continued as he was walking I guess. In other words, he must have chosen to leave the road and jump into the dark forest with bushes on the ground. Why would a young man leave the main road and enter the forest area to find his way home? Was his house in a wooded area like that ? Even if being drunk, I think one can distinguish between the main road and the forest. As soon as he stepped in the woods if ever , he would realize that . Maybe he was running away and hiding from someone . Foulplay would be my number one guess .If Bryce was a woman , foul play, abduction , rape and killing, sex trafficing etc would be on the table . So sad.. Jmo .

Maybe he saw an animal and was spooked. What animals love in that area, that time of year. I'm a city girl living in a rural area now. The animal noises alone, have me peeking into the darkness, from inside the safety of my home.

 

[Trino]

Maybe it was misadventure in the marsh, but it doesn’t make sense to me at the point where his phone pinged and where he was lost. That area was right by the RR tracks/businesses/lighted buildings and more solid grassy ground that he was tripping in. And it seems the dogs tracked him up to the ponds. I just question how much further out into the marshy wetland area he would have gone intoxicated and in the dark if he was tripping in grass where his phone pinged or if he truly made it to the ponds which is quite a ways up the tracks right next to a brightly lit up building and parking lot.
And it said the friends went to the grassy area to look for him. Again did they yell for him? And would he not have heard if he went some distance trudging through the grass or up to the ponds. Just odd IMO.

I think whatever happened to Bryce was done before the friends got there to look for him. By the arrival time of friends, IMO he was either deceased or taken. Would really like to talk with an Eagan officer, which, of course, isn't about to happen, but after a year do officers really, really believe he's still at Ft Snelling Park? Do we?

 

[Trino]

Is it also odd to anyone, that the Eagan Police Gun Range was specifically mentioned as to where the friends looked? Never seen it mentioned in any news report or article before. And now the place is closed. Did the friends or Bryce run into something there? Wonder when it closed and why?
Something else bothering me…InternetGhost who was completely invested in this case early on, went to search multiple times, and posted continually has not posted since January… when she mentioned being suspicious of the friends and wondering why there were affidavits involved. Did she really give up or get too close to something?

I, too, wondered about the affidavits. Never have heard this being required of friends unless there was suspicion.

 

[Trino]

Well, here we are post one year. Eagan PO keeping same ideas. Is there no one who will talk, explain concerns? Where is the media? This should be a big story, splashing across local headlines. Have his friends been told not to talk, or are they frightened/intimidated? Why no posters? Why no interviews? Why no relative calls for help finding him?

 

[SAMS]

Reference Josh Guimond disappearance and renewed search 2022. "there were a series of attacks, and stalkings, attempted abductions of college men in the area, not just in November of 2002, the same month that Josh went missing, but, really, in the years surrounding that as well. 20 years after Josh Guimond's disappearance, podcast turns up new leads

Thank you for posting this. Appreciate the back up. I’m going to check out the podcast.

 

[lassy]

The Bryce case just doesn’t sit right with me. Hasn’t since day one. Turning searchers away. Minimal info. Little media coverage. Friends/family saying nothing relevant to finding him. Invested people just going silent. Now over a year with all the supposed professional searches, organizations, and technology. And still nothing?

 

[lassy]

Here is my logical brain working overtime again. Here is a news video from day one. Pay attention to the terrain…leaves off lots of trees, dry, solid ground in wooded area, waist high very dry weeds/grass/brush on the other side of RR tracks. If Bryce had trekked and stumbled through that, would LE not have seen his path if he went into the brush that first day? Wouldn’t the dry weeds have been broken or packed down where he walked or fell? I have read, they turned away lots of the people that showed up to search, and the few they kept were confined to searching one small area. Then further public searches called off. No drones, K9s, or sonar able to locate him?
Police searching for missing 23-year-old man

 

[DeDee]

OCT 31, 2022

Out of respect to the family, the police know one thing but won't be releasing that information, except to prepare the family.

The search warrant affidavit reveals later that morning a searcher found a tie believed to belong to Borca in the roadway along his suspected route of travel. < > Friends search the area along Highway 13 on foot but were unable to locate him," Detective Schroepfer wrote.


During the past year, there has been no indication that anyone saw Bryce after the FaceTime with friends. Based on two other MP of young college men who became lost or disoriented in cold temps, it is my humble opinion that BB likely removed his clothing during this event as a sign of

The Bizarre Effects of Hypothermia ... "paradoxical undressing" is even more confounding. The term describes the behavior among many victims of extreme hypothermia of peeling off most or all of their clothing, increasing heat loss. <> Over time, however, the muscles necessary for inducing vasoconstriction become exhausted and fail, causing warm blood to rush from the core to the extremities. This results in a kind of "hot flash" that makes victims of severe hypothermia — who are already confused and disoriented — feel as though they're burning up, so they remove their clothes, researchers have concluded.​

In this theory, Bryce not only removed his tie, but he also likely stripped himself of most all of his clothing as he went along due to effects of hypothermia. This could be an embarrassing detail for the family, if released. Besides, internet rumors would latch that fact and make something bad and untrue of it.

The ground search was called off Nov 1 near the Minnesota River due to the already described perilous conditions that are far too treacherous for searchers. If it is too dangerous for searchers during the daylight hours, how much more dangerous was it for Bryce that fateful night?

 

[lassy]

OCT 31, 2022

Out of respect to the family, the police know one thing but won't be releasing that information, except to the prepare the family.

The search warrant affidavit reveals later that morning a searcher found a tie believed to belong to Borca in the roadway along his suspected route of travel. < > Friends search the area along Highway 13 on foot but were unable to locate him," Detective Schroepfer wrote.


During the past year, there has been no indication that anyone saw Bryce after the FaceTime with friends. Based on two other MP of young college men who became lost or disoriented in cold temps, it is my humble opinion that BB likely removed his clothing during this event as a sign of

The Bizarre Effects of Hypothermia ... "paradoxical undressing" is even more confounding. The term describes the behavior among many victims of extreme hypothermia of peeling off most or all of their clothing, increasing heat loss. <> Over time, however, the muscles necessary for inducing vasoconstriction become exhausted and fail, causing warm blood to rush from the core to the extremities. This results in a kind of "hot flash" that makes victims of severe hypothermia — who are already confused and disoriented — feel as though they're burning up, so they remove their clothes, researchers have concluded.​

In this theory, Bryce not only removed his tie, but he also likely stripped himself of most all of his clothing as he went along due to effects of hypothermia. This could be an embarrassing detail for the family, if released. Besides, internet rumors would latch that fact and make something bad and untrue of it.

The ground search was called off Nov 1 near the Minnesota River due to the already described perilous conditions that are far too treacherous for searchers. If it is too dangerous for searchers during the daylight hours, how much more dangerous was it for Bryce that fateful night?

Have there been any reports of any of his articles of clothing being recovered? Other than his tie? No guy I know likes wearing a tie and would ditch that. And we have no report of where that was found along his route of travel. It could have been in the road next to the friends yard where they were dropped off. And the temps were warm for MN that day…60 and low of 45. Is that cold enough for extreme hypothermia to set in and strip yourself of your clothes? When he had pants, a shirt and sweater on? Or do you have some insider knowledge of what was found by LE?
George Musser from Stillwater was found in a field in below zero temps last December after leaving a bar intoxicated. Nothing was reported about keeping details quiet in his case. He likely had details not much different than Bryce IMO.

 

[DeDee]

With hypothermia, core temperature drops below 95 degrees. In severe hypothermia, core body temperature can drop to 82 F or lower.

Bryce loosens his tie.

Heat loss speeds up when skin is exposed to wind or moisture.

Bryce drops his tie.

More skin exposed will cause his core temperature to drop.

Bryce walked for 45 minutes. Has he been sweating/perspiring? If so, he's getting wet, too. So, now he's wet and cold and probably exhausted and fearful and disorineted. It was windy that night and a sweater is not a windbreaker. Also, breathing in air that's 45 degrees will cool the body.

Under these conditions, in that dangerous environment, Bryce probably didn't understand what was happening to him. Therefore, he lacked the ability to save himself. It makes me so sad.

First signs of hypothermia

Warning signs of hypothermia in adults include:

• Shivering, which may stop as hypothermia progresses.
• Slow, shallow breathing
• Confusion and memory loss
• Drowsiness or exhaustion
• Slurred or mumbled speech
• Loss of coordination, fumbling hands, stumbling steps
• A slow, weak pulse

 

[DeDee]

Is it also odd to anyone, that the Eagan Police Gun Range was specifically mentioned as to where the friends looked? Never seen it mentioned in any news report or article before. And now the place is closed. Did the friends or Bryce run into something there? Wonder when it closed and why?
Something else bothering me…InternetGhost who was completely invested in this case early on, went to search multiple times, and posted continually has not posted since January… when she mentioned being suspicious of the friends and wondering why there were affidavits involved. Did she really give up or get too close to something?

This is InternetGhost91's post

the friends gave an affidavit to the police, it is quoted in several articles linked in this thread. do you give an affidavit if you aren’t involved in a crime? i’m guessing yes since the friends had info necessary for police to obtain the search warrant.

why did they get a search warrant vs. doing a well check? search warrant implies that they knew for certain he wasn’t there. something was definitely found those first days that hasn’t been released
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/threads/mn-bryce-borca-23-college-student-seen-at-2am-search-focused-near-minnesota-river-eagan-30-oct-2022.642195/page-27#post-17968463

I am unable to find info on the friends offering an affidavit. If anyone has it, please post it.

LE did not conduct a wellness check for Bryce at his apartment. They wanted any electronic devices that may have been linked to his phone so they could locate him.

New details in Eagan missing person investigation revealed in search warrant