Found Deceased PA - Dakota James, 23, Pittsburgh, 25 Jan 2017 #1

[pittsburgh1]

In terms of finding a phone from the riverbed, I've metal detected around the banks in Pittsburgh and there is so much debris (rebar, wire, etc) that trying to find a phone would be almost impossible. Near the Clemente Bridge there isn't any shore, it just kind of goes straight into river from the sidewalk, so with all of the metal on the bottom of the river I think would be a very, very difficult task.

I just caught up after about a week, and am in agreement with the poster regarding the butt-dial to Dakota's dad. Is it the family that is assuming it's a butt-dial? Putting myself in their place I might think that rather than an accident, that instead he was trying to call for help and either not able to speak, too afraid to speak, or cut off before he could say anything. How long was the call for? Was it 10 seconds, or just immediately hung up on? Was his dad one of his recent calls, or would he have had to go to his contacts or scroll back in his calls to have called him (thereby reducing the chance that it was a random accidental dial).

Additionally, were there any other calls around that time? I'm sure this has been posted but I'm trying to catch up. The only time I accidentally call someone on my phone (smartphone, which I am sure he had) is when I am trying to call someone else and I accidentally hit the wrong part of the screen. I can't remember a time that I called someone by accident without realizing it or when trying to do something else.

Has the city tested each camera with video for accuracy? Story time: I served on a student judiciary in college, and we were part of a panel that would review cases where there was a breach of the university code. A foreign girl was accused of using another man's debit card to take out money from the ATM (he had left it in by accident). Law enforcement matched the time on the ATM video clearly showing her walking up at the exact time that the money was debited from his account. Clear-cut, right? She had even confessed! But she recanted and said she confessed because she was scared. I was extremely dubious.

HOWEVER, after probing a bit more, we noticed that previous video showed someone else using the ATM, and we couldn't find a record of it on the ATM withdrawal timesheet. Summary: the debiting record system and the ATM camera were off-sync by about 3 minutes, meaning that whoever used the man's card was there earlier than this woman. Her entire university career would have been over if we hadn't noticed. She would have been arrested, maybe deported. It was extremely sobering, first for realizing that this woman had made a confession when she clearly could not have taken the money, and also how many crime timelines have been incorrect and misleading due to several minutes' worth of difference.

It would be very easy to go to each camera and hold up a sign with the exact time on it so you can go through and compare the timestamp with your signs. I wonder if this has been done, and what it would reveal.

 

[psu2007]

Yes, it was Pamela James, DJ's mother, who said it was a butt dial. I think you're referring to my post. I'd really like to know the details around the butt dial. Did his dad answer and talk to DJ, did they have a missed call when they woke up in the morning, did DJ text his dad afterwards saying "whoops...butt dial"? That actually would fit both the parents and LE stories on the subject (butt dial and text). But then the obvious question is...was DJ in danger and called his dad, but someone else grabbed the phone, ended the call, and sent a text saying whoops?

Considering how close the times are and being aware that the videos and real time may be out of sync, it's something worth looking into.

In terms of finding a phone from the riverbed, I've metal detected around the banks in Pittsburgh and there is so much debris (rebar, wire, etc) that trying to find a phone would be almost impossible. Near the Clemente Bridge there isn't any shore, it just kind of goes straight into river from the sidewalk, so with all of the metal on the bottom of the river I think would be a very, very difficult task.

I just caught up after about a week, and am in agreement with the poster regarding the butt-dial to Dakota's dad. Is it the family that is assuming it's a butt-dial? Putting myself in their place I might think that rather than an accident, that instead he was trying to call for help and either not able to speak, too afraid to speak, or cut off before he could say anything. How long was the call for? Was it 10 seconds, or just immediately hung up on? Was his dad one of his recent calls, or would he have had to go to his contacts or scroll back in his calls to have called him (thereby reducing the chance that it was a random accidental dial).

Additionally, were there any other calls around that time? I'm sure this has been posted but I'm trying to catch up. The only time I accidentally call someone on my phone (smartphone, which I am sure he had) is when I am trying to call someone else and I accidentally hit the wrong part of the screen. I can't remember a time that I called someone by accident without realizing it or when trying to do something else.

Has the city tested each camera with video for accuracy? Story time: I served on a student judiciary in college, and we were part of a panel that would review cases where there was a breach of the university code. A foreign girl was accused of using another man's debit card to take out money from the ATM (he had left it in by accident). Law enforcement matched the time on the ATM video clearly showing her walking up at the exact time that the money was debited from his account. Clear-cut, right? She had even confessed! But she recanted and said she confessed because she was scared. I was extremely dubious.

HOWEVER, after probing a bit more, we noticed that previous video showed someone else using the ATM, and we couldn't find a record of it on the ATM withdrawal timesheet. Summary: the debiting record system and the ATM camera were off-sync by about 3 minutes, meaning that whoever used the man's card was there earlier than this woman. Her entire university career would have been over if we hadn't noticed. She would have been arrested, maybe deported. It was extremely sobering, first for realizing that this woman had made a confession when she clearly could not have taken the money, and also how many crime timelines have been incorrect and misleading due to several minutes' worth of difference.

It would be very easy to go to each camera and hold up a sign with the exact time on it so you can go through and compare the timestamp with your signs. I wonder if this has been done, and what it would reveal.

 

[M-Henry]

Like you said, did they dismiss it, did they answer...if they did miss it and it went to vm and recorded background noise that would be something to re-listen to if still avail. Makes me more curious for details surrounding that.

Yes, it was Pamela James, DJ's mother, who said it was a butt dial. I think you're referring to my post. I'd really like to know the details around the butt dial. Did his dad answer and talk to DJ, did they have a missed call when they woke up in the morning, did DJ text his dad afterwards saying "whoops...butt dial"? That actually would fit both the parents and LE stories on the subject (butt dial and text). But then the obvious question is...was DJ in danger and called his dad, but someone else grabbed the phone, ended the call, and sent a text saying whoops?

Considering how close the times are and being aware that the videos and real time may be out of sync, it's something worth looking into.

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

With the rain we've been having, the rivers are high and currents are moving quickly. I walk across the Smithfiled Bridge every morning and I was amazed at how much debris was floating. If DJ did end up in the river, it might be a good time for them to search the surface and banks again.

I wonder if they've tried looking for his phone on the riverbed in the areas they've searched by the Clemente Bridge. I don't really know how metal detectors work, but would searchers have that capability? Would any data be able to be recovered from the phone?

Good point re: his phone. As I understand, the last ping was off a tower in the area of Grant Street. However, I can find only one MSM article that talks about this -dated Feb. 3, almost a month ago-, and it reads:

Dakota James was seen around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday in the area near Market Square. The family said police told them his cellphone pinged in the area near Grant Street around that time as well.
http://www.wtae.com/article/pittsbu...for-missing-duquesne-graduate-student/8655397

Given the article is a month old, I'm wondering if anyone has seen anything to suggest this was not the last ping from Dakota's phone? Has his mom said anything about it?

I am wondering because if Dakota got into a car, met up with someone who lives in one of the apartments located along Scott Place, or really, went anywhere after being captured on video at Katz Plaza, it seems to me the phone would have pinged at least one more time, and possibly off a different tower, unless the phone was turned off by Dakota himself, by someone with malicious intentions or ran out of battery immediately after the ping in the area near Grant ST. I also think that if LE has discovered new information as to Dakota's phone usage, that would have been included in the timeline that was published yesterday.

For example, in the case of Joey LaBute -a 26-year-old gay man, who the detective in the case says, "may have been using a dating app at the bar [where he was last seen before disappearing]" (and we had people -though unverified- here on WS saying they had seen Joey's profile on Grindr)-, LE says, "data from cellphone towers in the area indicate LaBute's phone was active for at least two hours after leaving the bar, and that he remained in the Short North/Grandview area [where the bar was located]." Joey's remains were found in a nearby river a little over three weeks after he went missing; though his body was severely decomposed, the coroner says he was likely already dead when he entered the water. Police are still looking for clues in Joey's case (a new article on the case was published about a week ago: http://www.columbusalive.com/entertainment/20170222/what-happened-to-joey-labute).

Or maybe Dakota's phone did run out of battery as LE said yesterday, "(h)e is seen holding his phone in one video. When he enters the frame of the second video, he is walking down Scott Place toward Fort Duquesne Blvd. Puts his cellphone into the right pocket of his jacket."
http://triblive.com/local/allegheny/12004988-74/james-police-duquesne

 

[Coldpizza]

Rules Social Media - Facebook, Twitter, etc

 

[Beamer15]

Human trafficking

I said this several pages back, it's a real problem in the Pittsburgh area. A young, cute, thin guy...slightly intoxicated...alone, easy prey.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SomeoneElse333]

I said this several pages back, it's a real problem in the Pittsburgh area. A young, cute, thin guy...slightly intoxicated...alone, easy prey.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Do you have links to articles about human trafficking being a problem in Pittsburgh? I've heard other people mention this, but I haven't read about it personally. Thanks.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[Trackergd]

There are a number of our young people who go into rivers during the cold seasons. A couple of years back I did a case in Manayunk where a young man went missing after being caught on camera going across a pedestrian bridge over a canal to a parking lot. Spent a day searching the area. While intoxicated and despondent, he had passed through a hole in a security fence, walked across a grassy section of the island to the river embankment and gone in. He was found days later in a depression in the bottom of the river. He had not surfaced. This is not uncommon in cold water where the current has moved the body into a depression/hole or been caught up in debris. Of course this is only one scenario.

 

[M-Henry]

Good to know..we have someone missing local to me in Reading, PA. Thanks for the knowledge

There are a number of our young people who go into rivers during the cold seasons. A couple of years back I did a case in Manayunk where a young man went missing after being caught on camera going across a pedestrian bridge over a canal to a parking lot. Spent a day searching the area. While intoxicated and despondent, he had passed through a hole in a security fence, walked across a grassy section of the island to the river embankment and gone in. He was found days later in a depression in the bottom of the river. He had not surfaced. This is not uncommon in cold water where the current has moved the body into a depression/hole or been caught up in debris. Of course this is only one scenario.

 

[OnTheBreeze]

http://www.wtae.com/article/dakota-james-mother-criticizes-police-no-evidence-of-abduction/9081075

I agree that LE had the PC to prove that they are indeed working on the case. I understand DJ's family being upset and feeling like they are running out of time or that time is being wasted. But, from what I heard in the PC LE are following leads and trying to find him. One thing that I find interesting is - "I'm so angry over the press conference. So many inaccuracies and yet again Dakota's mayor Bill Peduto has failed him and didn't even show up for support,” Pamela James wrote" Is it typical for a mayor to get involved? Pittsburgh is not a small town where the only thing going on is a missing person case. As far as him holding PC or whatever you want to call it, I am local and honestly don't take anything the Mayor says all that seriously. He seems to butt himself into things without having complete knowledge or jumping to conclusions. So I am not really taking what he said as anything accurate.

That "butt dial" feels to me like such an important piece of the puzzle! So does whatever the co-worker might have said!

If there is more video I really believe LE are holding back for a purpose. Maybe someone else is in it and they feel it might be important later. This is what makes me think maybe they don't actually have anything else - they said they do not know if he turned left or right on FDB. If they had video surely they could say at least which way without giving anything away.

As far him running away and starting over. It's possible but, it seems unlikely that you would just up and go without anything when he could have gone home packed bag or taken out some money. I find it hard to believe that you wouldn't even take a backpack filled with a change of clothes and toothbrush or a phone charger anything.

 

[psu2007]

Well, the other side of that argument is that if someone wants to run away and start over, then they wouldn't want to be found. They wouldn't take anything because that would leave a trail indicating they ran away. If you're making a decision to leave, you'd want people to believe you're dead.

http://www.wtae.com/article/dakota-james-mother-criticizes-police-no-evidence-of-abduction/9081075

As far him running away and starting over. It's possible but, it seems unlikely that you would just up and go without anything when he could have gone home packed bag or taken out some money. I find it hard to believe that you wouldn't even take a backpack filled with a change of clothes and toothbrush or a phone charger anything.

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

Good to know..we have someone missing local to me in Reading, PA. Thanks for the knowledge

Are you perhaps talking about Brad Verett? Think of him every day ... .
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?329186-PA-Brad-Verret-26-Reading-7-Feb-2017

 

[M-Henry]

I am...with the details on that case though, honestly I feel that was his own choosing, which I don't buy for DJ's case.

Are you perhaps talking about Brad Verett? Think of him every day ... .
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?329186-PA-Brad-Verret-26-Reading-7-Feb-2017

 

[M-Henry]

Here's something I wonder....
Does anyone here think about the fact that this happened on a Wednesday? Point being, sure I go out for happy hour on a Wednesday from time to time but it seems like an odd day of the week to be drinking to the point of service refusal and someone involved not remembering much detail of the night.
In response to someone quite a bit earlier saying that they hadn't had much experience drinking and not remembering details, I think a lot of people can say that it's happened to them. Probably more times than either of us would like to openly admit. I don't find that odd, just the day of the week and the level of drinking that the story puts out there.

 

[psu2007]

Yes, I've been wondering why they were out that late on a Wednesday as well. He had a full-time job and was a grad student...staying out till midnight seems odd.

Also, I wonder how often his friends/coworkers did something like this. How often did he walk that same path to get home?

Here's something I wonder....
Does anyone here think about the fact that this happened on a Wednesday? Point being, sure I go out for happy hour on a Wednesday from time to time but it seems like an odd day of the week to be drinking to the point of service refusal and someone involved not remembering much detail of the night.
In response to someone quite a bit earlier saying that they hadn't had much experience drinking and not remembering details, I think a lot of people can say that it's happened to them. Probably more times than either of us would like to openly admit. I don't find that odd, just the day of the week and the level of drinking that the story puts out there.

 

[M-Henry]

I've found myself losing track of time if I'm having a good time. It happens and I get that, especially at a young age.
So the story that's out there makes it seem like this was a bit more than happy hour drinks - multiple locations, late night (for a week night), refusal of service, lost details. Which all of this is totally fine (I'm not judging anything - go have fun). I'm just thinking that it sounds more like Friday festivities than a Wednesday and that hasn't been sitting right with me. I'm not sure why, and I'm not even really sure what I'm trying to arrive at. There's likely no real thing to come out of this thought.

Could it be possible that maybe someone was following them, slipping something in a drink I mean so many scenarios could happen. Was it always just DJ and the 1 coworker (that got in the Uber) who went for drinks or where there more of them and throughout the night some made their ways home?

Yes, I've been wondering why they were out that late on a Wednesday as well. He had a full-time job and was a grad student...staying out till midnight seems odd.

Also, I wonder how often his friends/coworkers did something like this. How often did he walk that same path to get home?

 

[pittsburgh1]

I know that the area from Katz Plaza towards the Sixth Street (Roberto Clemente) bridge can be a little confusing, so I went there at lunch today and took some videos about a minute long each to show what Dakota's path would have looked like from the ground starting at the Wood Street T Station on Liberty Avenue. Hope it's not too cumbersome, and I'm glad to answer any questions if something is unclear.

Click the links for the videos. I'll post the first 5 here and the next in my following post.

1) Liberty Avenue at Wood Street T Stop to Katz Plaza on Penn Avenue

2) Katz Plaza to Scott Place

3) Scott Place to Barkers Place

4) Barkers Place to Fort Duquesne Boulevard

5) Fort Duquesne Boulevard to 6[SUP]th[/SUP] Street

 

[pittsburgh1]

6) Sixth Street to Roberto Clemente Bridge

7) Across the Roberto Clemente Bridge and down the stairs

 

[psu2007]

Your video of Scott to Barkers is pretty helpful in ruling out my theory that he entered that door to the stairs. Right before you showed the door, you showed a camera pointed right at it. I'd assume LE has footage from that camera. I guess it'd also rule out DJ going that way towards Barkers.

By ruling those two things out, it makes it even more confusing why he took the Scott shortcut to begin with...

 

[OnTheBreeze]

Well, the other side of that argument is that if someone wants to run away and start over, then they wouldn't want to be found. They wouldn't take anything because that would leave a trail indicating they ran away. If you're making a decision to leave, you'd want people to believe you're dead.

I see your point. I guess I was thinking along the lines of what I would do.

Every time family or friends say that it is totally out of character or not something they would do I think honestly how well do you really know someone. When I was younger I sure as heck didn't share everything with my family. For example when I was about 22 I lived at home with my parents and had the police bring me home after they found me asleep on my neighbors steps completely drunk. My mother was upstairs sleeping and didn't know until I told her years later. I am not saying he was up to anything bad just that maybe going out on a Wednesday and getting drunk was in his character. I know people who have problems/habits that their families know nothing about. Not saying DJ does but, his family lives in a different state. They aren't around day to day. Maybe he was having a hard time at work or school or in general and did just run away. What we show the world isn't always what we really are and how we actually feel.