TX TX - Caleb Harris, 21, Texas A&M University student, Corpus Christi, 4 Mar 2024 #3

[branmuffin]

Green’s answer to the first question was “both”

Based on Green's answer to the question as to why the feds were involved and if it was due to the wealth of resources or whether a federal crime had been committed, and he answered "Both", suggests to me after scrolling through federal crimes that it's the wire fraud crime.

All those requests for information dumps means they are looking for some communication between Caleb and an unknown person. People all over the world respond to complete strangers for random reasons and we don't think anything about it until something bad happens. Like those internet Romeos who swindle lonely widows out of their fortunes or Tinder hook ups that go south or anonymous hookups through myriad forms of communications.

Maybe Caleb was in the habit of hooking up with random people who don't try to hide their identities online. I'm sure LE have already contacted or are aware of many interactions online of Caleb with numerous people. We do it here on WS, using avatar names, very rarely do people use their real names, and there's nothing suspicious about it (on the whole) but when people are using VPNs to hide not only their identity but their trail online, it could raise a lot of red flags and that's why we aren't going to get any information from LE until they find a perp. Because everything they are doing, suggests this is foul play. If it was a hookup gone wrong, I think we'd already see an arrest. But the lack of any sort of information suggests that Caleb may have been targeted.

I feel sorry for the parents and family of Caleb because much like Riley Strain's parents, to give up hope means facing facts that the chances of their son coming home is infinitesimal.

 

[SMK777]

It’s just an enormous amount of data to sort through. If I’m thinking about this correctly- these 15 warrants could be for other people’s data. Caleb’s accounts and data would have been the first sets requested. maybe these 15 are accounts/data connected to people he was in contact with when he went missing. Thoughts?

That makes the most sense:
First all of Caleb’s data would be gone over with a fine-tooth comb, and subsequently others’ who were connecting with him prior to his disappearance would be put on a short list or priority list, and then their own data would be investigated. It takes time and work to get the warrants and do the probing.
So I agree with your assessment.

 

[Diavola]

Do you think LE actually has any leads and are just saying they still don't know anything to make the perp relax?
We're coming up to three months missing soon.

 

[SMK777]

If it was a hookup gone wrong, I think we'd already see an arrest. But the lack of any sort of information suggests that Caleb may have been targeted.

Snipped for focus:
I would agree that had there been some unplanned, unintentional mishap involving drugs or sexual activity that was then covered up in a panic, it’s likely that a suspect would have been questioned and charged hastily. It does appear that the responsible party must have planned in advance in order to be extremely successful at hiding their identity. What does @MassGuy think about this?

 

[SMK777]

Do you think LE actually has any leads and are just saying they still don't know anything to make the perp relax?
We're coming up to three months missing soon.

It’s certainly possible, and I’ve certainly seen “no suspects at this time” said when LE were about to arrest a suspect who’d been under surveillance.

On the other hand, if the person responsible for Caleb’s disappearance premeditated it and used sophisticated technology to cover his identity and location, perhaps having even done this kind of thing before without detection, it would be a very lengthy process in locating them.

 

[MassGuy]

Snipped for focus:
I would agree that had there been some unplanned, unintentional mishap involving drugs or sexual activity that was then covered up in a panic, it’s likely that a suspect would have been questioned and charged hastily. It does appear that the responsible party must have planned in advance in order to be extremely successful at hiding their identity. What does @MassGuy think about this?

There appears to not only be evidence that he frequently sought out stranger hookups, but that he was attempting to do so that very night. There's no proof these actually occurred, but if you're fishing you're bound to catch something eventually.

I think he communicated with someone unknown to him via a dating type app, and this person had ill intentions. I think Caleb intended this to be fairly quick, which is why he wasn't wearing shoes. He drops off the dog and heads back out to the meetup point, and Caleb either shuts off his phone so his location cannot be tracked, or this person does that himself.

I believe we're looking at a Mackenzie Lueck situation, and unfortunately, this ended the same way.

This person lucked out because of the fog, but hopefully there is a digital trail that leads to him.

 

[Bahshudc]

There appears to not only be evidence that he frequently sought out stranger hookups, but that he was attempting to do so that very night. There's no proof these actually occurred, but if you're fishing you're bound to catch something eventually.

I think he communicated with someone unknown to him via a dating type app, and this person had ill intentions. I think Caleb intended this to be fairly quick, which is why he wasn't wearing shoes. He drops off the dog and heads back out to the meetup point, and Caleb either shuts off his phone so his location cannot be tracked, or this person does that himself.

I believe we're looking at a Mackenzie Lueck situation, and unfortunately, this ended the same way.

This person lucked out because of the fog, but hopefully there is a digital trail that leads to him.

BBM

The location thing is always confusing for me, because from a young persons perspective, I find it hard to believe Caleb would be worried about location tracking. Who would track his movements? Someone would have to be hacked into his phone (a complex process which takes a lot of effort), or he’d have to be under some sort of official surveillance. Or, perhaps, he had a tracking app from his parents downloaded onto his phone — if this was the case, it’s much easier to just disable THAT app or location access to it. My friends used to do this a lot when their parents tracked them on an app, it’s easy. I just can’t see him worrying about location being tracked as a young guy in the middle of the night.
MOO!

 

[MassGuy]

BBM

The location thing is always confusing for me, because from a young persons perspective, I find it hard to believe Caleb would be worried about location tracking. Who would track his movements? Someone would have to be hacked into his phone (a complex process which takes a lot of effort), or he’d have to be under some sort of official surveillance. Or, perhaps, he had a tracking app from his parents downloaded onto his phone — if this was the case, it’s much easier to just disable THAT app or location access to it. My friends used to do this a lot when their parents tracked them on an app, it’s easy. I just can’t see him worrying about location being tracked as a young guy in the middle of the night.
MOO!

We know he had Snapchat, which allows for location tracking. I think he was trying to be very secretive here, and took precautions.

If he didn’t do it himself, that means he was likely quickly overpowered.

 

[savysheart]

IMO I think it's more likely that if he went with somebody else and they had bad intentions, they would be the one to turn the phone off. Nowadays, the most important thing that can catch a perpetrator is either surveillance footage or GPS data. (Excluding DNA evidence/when there is no body.) In the 70s and 80s, nobody had a cellphone, there was hardly ever video footage, and you could disappear a person and if there were no witnesses you could probably get away with it.

If they were planning to commit a crime, this would be the first thing they'd do if they wanted a chance of getting away with it and to not put them in the same place as Caleb at that time (ie alibi). I considered the possibility that Caleb turned his phone off himself because of Snapmaps, a Snapchat feature which shows your location to all your friends, but there is a Ghost Mode where you can switch it off and nobody can tell. This is still a possibility as to why his phone was off, but less likely when he didn't have to completely turn his phone off to stop sharing his location. I guess if he wanted to make it seem like he was still at the apartments he would do that, though.

 

[SMK777]

There appears to not only be evidence that he frequently sought out stranger hookups, but that he was attempting to do so that very night. There's no proof these actually occurred, but if you're fishing you're bound to catch something eventually.

I think he communicated with someone unknown to him via a dating type app, and this person had ill intentions. I think Caleb intended this to be fairly quick, which is why he wasn't wearing shoes. He drops off the dog and heads back out to the meetup point, and Caleb either shuts off his phone so his location cannot be tracked, or this person does that himself.

I believe we're looking at a Mackenzie Lueck situation, and unfortunately, this ended the same way.

This person lucked out because of the fog, but hopefully there is a digital trail that leads to him.

Thank you for your response. Yes, I think you’re correct in those observations.

 

[SMK777]

@MassGuy
Over the years on Websleuths you’ve been on target on many cases, so I’ve come to trust your judgement. I was just wondering, in a case like MacKenzie Luek, do you think her being a female made her scenario more likely (ie, a male wants to dominate and be sadistic in a rape scenario, and lures with the pretense of romance, then kills the victim to leave no witness)?

Whereas if Caleb was a willing participant, not seeking romance and not likely to make an accusation of rape, what would be the motive behind murder? Would it be murder itself?

 

[OrangeCash]

@MassGuy
Over the years on Websleuths you’ve been on target on many cases, so I’ve come to trust your judgement. I was just wondering, in a case like MacKenzie Luek, do you think her being a female made her scenario more likely (ie, a male wants to dominate and be sadistic in a rape scenario, and lures with the pretense of romance, then kills the victim to leave no witness)?

Whereas if Caleb was a willing participant, not seeking romance and not likely to make an accusation of rape, what would be the motive behind murder? Would it be murder itself?

I think rapists and murderers are just that, rapists and murderers, regardless of the victim. Raping and murdering is their motivation. Mackenzie Lueck's murder was pre-meditated

Ayoola Ajayi admits he planned to murder Utah student Mackenzie Lueck before he even met her

Ayoola Ajayi pleaded guilty Wednesday to murdering Mackenzie Lueck, a 23-year-old University of Utah student from El Segundo, California. He said he plotted to kill her before meeting her in person.

www.deseret.com

 

[SMK777]

I think rapists and murderers are just that, rapists and murderers, regardless of the victim. Raping and murdering is their motivation. Mackenzie Lueck's murder was pre-meditated

Ayoola Ajayi admits he planned to murder Utah student Mackenzie Lueck before he even met her

Ayoola Ajayi pleaded guilty Wednesday to murdering Mackenzie Lueck, a 23-year-old University of Utah student from El Segundo, California. He said he plotted to kill her before meeting her in person.

www.deseret.com

So whether or not Caleb would be a willing participant in a hookup, this person may have had motive and intent to rape and murder regardless. It’s happened before in cases involving males, where a willing participant is murdered ( Herbert Richard Baumeister was a married man who in the 1990s killed willing male participants.)

 

[KooshBall]

@MassGuy
Over the years on Websleuths you’ve been on target on many cases, so I’ve come to trust your judgement. I was just wondering, in a case like MacKenzie Luek, do you think her being a female made her scenario more likely (ie, a male wants to dominate and be sadistic in a rape scenario, and lures with the pretense of romance, then kills the victim to leave no witness)?

Whereas if Caleb was a willing participant, not seeking romance and not likely to make an accusation of rape, what would be the motive behind murder? Would it be murder itself?

Mackenzie wasn't looking for romance, it was supposedly a hook up with a stranger for payment. So really, somewhat similar to what people are speculating happened to Caleb, meeting up with a random stranger with arrangements to be intimate. In my mind I picture someone just like Mackenzie's killer having done something to Caleb. It's scary thinking they are out there right now, and probably following the news for updates on LE's progress.

 

[SMK777]

Mackenzie wasn't looking for romance, it was supposedly a hook up with a stranger for payment. So really, somewhat similar to what people are speculating happened to Caleb, meeting up with a random stranger with arrangements to be intimate. In my mind I picture someone just like Mackenzie's killer having done something to Caleb. It's scary thinking they are out there right now, and probably following the news for updates on LE's progress.

Thanks for clarifying that. I wasn’t sure how MacKenzie was lured but now that I understand I do see how Caleb’s case could parallel hers.

 

[annpats]

So, where do you think Caleb's body is most likely to be?

Rural area?
In the sea?
Somewhere else?

 

[MassGuy]

I think rapists and murderers are just that, rapists and murderers, regardless of the victim. Raping and murdering is their motivation. Mackenzie Lueck's murder was pre-meditated

Ayoola Ajayi admits he planned to murder Utah student Mackenzie Lueck before he even met her

Ayoola Ajayi pleaded guilty Wednesday to murdering Mackenzie Lueck, a 23-year-old University of Utah student from El Segundo, California. He said he plotted to kill her before meeting her in person.

www.deseret.com

Yup, and that’s what I think happened here. One thing I’m not settled on is if Caleb was the intended target for a period of time, or if he became a target that very night.

Like this guy was looking for a victim and he found the perfect situation to make it happen with Caleb.

 

[Normancita]

So, where do you think Caleb's body is most likely to be?

Rural area?
In the sea?
Somewhere else?

In the water, 100%.

 

[flowershop]

“We wrote an additional 15 search warrants in the last few days. . .
Green confirmed that the investigation remains a missing persons case but noted the possibility of foul play. "The more evidence we gather tends to show that he left probably voluntarily but didn't return," he said. Despite rumors of witnesses spotting Harris, Green stated that no credible sightings have been reported.

Family continues looking for missing A&M Corpus Christi student, Caleb Harris

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The search for Caleb Harris, a 21-year-old student from New Braunfels attending school in Corpus Christi, continues more than two months

news4sanantonio.com

I am not seeing where it mentions the "we wrote an additional 15 search warrants in the last few days.."

Edited to add: It was in the video! My mistake.

 

[flowershop]

Mackenzie wasn't looking for romance, it was supposedly a hook up with a stranger for payment. So really, somewhat similar to what people are speculating happened to Caleb, meeting up with a random stranger with arrangements to be intimate. In my mind I picture someone just like Mackenzie's killer having done something to Caleb. It's scary thinking they are out there right now, and probably following the news for updates on LE's progress.

It is scary. Maybe they are burning evidence where they live or hauling large items. Makes you wonder how many people already suspect something about a friend, neighbor or relative.