208. Looks Like It's Good To Volunteer - The Missing Persons Cases Of Dane Elkins, John Stivers And Ron Brown

Over the course of these first three-and-a-half seasons of this podcast, Melissa has been presented with a wide array of missing persons cases from Tip-Sters from around the world.  Melissa has followed up, done her research, and presented many of them as episodes.  The inspiration for “Just The Tip-Sters” itself was inspired by Melissa’s deep devotion to solving the 2017 disappearance of Will Cierzan – an ongoing mission that could be culminating soon with the trial of Will’s nephew Daniel.  But hovering over every such case are questions – about the nature of the case itself – and how to actually help when help is needed.  What makes one missing persons case more compelling or worthy of attention than another?  How can one tell if a reported vanishing is evidence of wrongdoing or someone walking away from their life or a hoax?  And if one is motivated to help the family and friends of a missing person, how does one do so without getting in the way or actually hindering the investigation?  And what, in fact, are one’s motivations to help in the first place?  In this episode Melissa touches on all of the above by focusing on three recent missing persons cases – two of which are now closed (with the missing persons in question now known to be alive and well) and one of which is still open (with the missing person still missing and actively being sought)…  Dane Elkins, a 23-time world champion professional racquetball player, disappeared in mid-December 2020 after visiting friends in Northern California.  His brand-new car – with four flat tires and his wallet and cell phone inside – was found abandoned near a rural exit off Interstate 5 between Bakersfield and Los Angeles.  All indications are that the then-21 year-old had become delusional and paranoid for reasons that are still unclear.  His family believes he has gone “off the grid” and is slowly working his way up to Oregon – and is seeking help from anyone who thinks they’ve spotted him.  John Stivers is the owner of an RV campground and marina in Jamestown, California in tiny Tuolumne County.  On August 2, 2021 Stivers left his wife and daughter to run some errands and did not return.  His van was found abandoned on a nearby road.  Local residents, friends and family rushed to social media to find him – and started a GoFundMe account that raised nearly $20,000 to help the family conduct the search.  On September 4, 2021, just over one month since his disappearance, the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office issued a statement that Stivers was located;  that he has been removed from the missing person database; that foul play was not indicated; and that all other information will remain confidential.  As word has spread, outrage by some of the volunteers who helped search for him has grown – many believing that the entire case was a fraud, and that they are owed payback for the time they devoted in the search.  Others – Melissa being one – believe that sometimes people just walk away from their lives – for whatever reason – and that if one volunteers to help find someone before anything else is known, that should be the end of the discussion – that volunteering means letting go of pride or any sense of being “owed.”  Ron Brown, a 62 year-old resident of the small mountain community of Sierra Madre in Southern California, is a part-time golf instructor and longtime server at a well-known high end restaurant in next-door Pasadena.  He went missing on August 9, 2021 after his car was found – engine running – in the parking lot of a Pasadena fast-food restaurant.  Melissa relates her personal investment in getting involved in the search for Brown – the frustration of a day in the field – and the joy she felt when she learned, just after arriving home from the field trip, that Brown had been found alive and well.  All three of these cases demonstrate the varying but equally important considerations that must be taken when getting involved in missing persons cases.  Melissa doesn’t hold back on her opinions – and she also offers kudos to those who are helping find the missing – and some helpful hints from her own experience on how to be prepared when going into the field to help search.  During her search for Ron Brown, Melissa discovered the AWARE Foundation – a Virginia-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit made up completely of volunteers dedicated to locating those who have gone missing, wherever their help is needed.  AWARE can be contacted by phone at (540) 357-5135.