Teenage dirt bike rider missing around CT/RI border

[backinthesaddle]

Been missing a few days now, hopefully he is found.

Volunteers continue search for missing Connecticut teenager - News - providencejournal.com - Providence, RI

[Tekime]

[Stromper]

If they are still searching saturday I will show up with little dirt bike
How about you

I thinkon face boof "searching for tj"

[GearHd6]

Lots of people at this point are thinking it's all a hoax. 3 days of hundreds of people searching has come up with nothing. He sent a text to a girlfriend early on saying he crashed the bike and hurt his leg and that was it, supposedly. They pinged his phone and it was nowhere near where he was supposed to be riding. He could legitimately still be out there but I figured I'd throw all the info out there before people raced out to search for him.

[aldend123]

Does anyone know if this has made the rounds among the MTB groups in that area? They're closed facebook groups - RI NEMBA, and I think Quiet Corner NEMBA. I hope it has, and maybe anyone who is a member can share it because the fatbike and diehards are probably still out riding.

Lots of people at this point are thinking it's all a hoax. 3 days of hundreds of people searching has come up with nothing. He sent a text to a girlfriend early on saying he crashed the bike and hurt his leg and that was it, supposedly. They pinged his phone and it was nowhere near where he was supposed to be riding. He could legitimately still be out there but I figured I'd throw all the info out there before people raced out to search for him.

Is there any reason to believe that though? Like homelife was shitty, owed some people some money or something? GF is so crazy he had to fake his death? Seems fairly implausible that a kid would go missing, and involve the gf with the txt. Why not just ride off and disappear?

Most of what you said is in OP's article. Except the phone location bit differs. Do you have a different source? "Police said several attempts to call, text and ping Allen's cell phone since Monday showed that his phone is either turned off or the battery is drained. An accurate location for Allen could not be found by tracing the phone."

[GearHd6]

There is a Facebook group for the search and many other Facebook sources. Early on in that group was the info about the ping location. He sent the texts about the crash and hurt leg and I believe this was the last contact. I don't know the kid or anyone involved, I've just been reading through many of the posts on Facebook.

To me, if I'm hurt to where I can't ride out on my own my first text is going to sound pretty damn urgent with some rough location details. No ooh, my battery is about dead so I'll send some cryptic text.

[aldend123]

Do you have reason to believe he couldn't ride out? For all we know the txt was just a heads up that he'll be back late. There isn't enough to be suspicious about, and must assume it's for real until then because clock's ticking. Anyone interested, they said yesterday: "Search groups can be organized at the Sterling Fire Department. Connecticut State Police Search and Rescue K-9 Teams, however, will be searching in the wooded area in Sterling, and would appreciate the assistance of search parties – but are also asking them to check in with police or fire personnel for further instruction. Police are saying that the fewer people in the search area, the better the K-9 teams will be able to conduct a search."

Search For Tj Public Group | Facebook
Here's probably 'the' FB group. The rumor mill is running at full speed. All kinds of nonsense. Seems like there's growing speculation of foul play, but with no basis. There's also discussion based on inputs from psychics.

Here's an XR100 posted on his instagram from a couple weeks ago
Instagram

[GearHd6]

Hey I'm not knocking the search, I'm just throwing the info out there to the people that aren't in "the know". If you want to search, go for it. Just let it be known that hundreds have been searching for days and have come up with zero. It's eastern Connecticut, not the Northwoods of Maine here. Roads and houses just aren't all that far away in any direction.

[FriskyDingo]

Well a woman did just die in the same area (approx 5 miles south of Oneco & 3 miles from my house) right along the RI/CT border last month. Out for a walk with her dogs, found her car so had general area where she was, search parties/police dogs out for 4 days before they found her dogs which lead them to the body in the thick brush approx 1 mile from a road. So shit happens

[black]

if the area is anything like the " big river" management area where I went mtn bikingin RI ... plausible to search that area and not find someone for a while. Thought hat FB page does seem like a giant clusterfuck of people unfortunately. Good intentions but people are getting lost searching for him. Some one just posted they needed help to get out as they got lost. :rolleyes

[aldend123]

I'm a curious person, and wanted to see how this story evolved now that enough time has gone by with respect to search possibilities. Earlier, I didn't want to participate in the rumor mill, figuring it just contributes to the shitpile without anything credible. But I noticed there was one trend on the now closed-membership FB group that kept coming up. And typically from more local people.

I almost hate to link to this site, since it's basically a local tabloid, but they do paint a decent picture of the trending discussion: Missing 18 Year Old In Connecticut Has Turned Into The Greatest Internet Speculation Mystery Of All Time – Turtleboy Credibility on all that is extremely little, which is important to keep in mind.

The whole thing's kinda interesting to see from a social POV. Textbook version of a clusterfuck when it came to integrating the digital world in to a search operation. Kinda weird how little info the news has had too, even days in. And no matter what happened, I can't get past the idea of wearing camo when riding solo.

[Chippertheripper]

Camo Riding Gear at Chaparral Motorsports

[black]

i'm following as well..... one htign i'm curious about.. where are all these "trails" that people ride around there? I"m jelly

( but hope for the kid to be found)

[Paul_E_D]

Still missing? Well, if he didn't run off, there is about 0 percent chance he's alive.

[black]

yeah ... still missing. if he's out in the cold.
Areed 0 chance. One reason I bought a SPOT tracker.

[typeone]

been following this story since last Tues/Wed ... gets nuttier every day ... the private FB group got up to ~5,500 AceNet Detectives before it was shut down

[aldend123]

i'm following as well..... one htign i'm curious about.. where are all these "trails" that people ride around there? I"m jelly

( but hope for the kid to be found)

A lot of people ride trails that might be described as 'tolerated'. Where he lives is a good bit more rural than the 128/495 area, and you'll see more confederate flags and dirt roads. It's kinda weird to be like 30 minutes from providence, but you wonder if you accidentally drove to the backwoods of West Virginia.

He's also close to Pachaug, which I believe is a legal riding spot in CT. Places like RI's Acadia and Big River are probably just out of reach for a backdoor ride on his XR100, but I'm pretty sure both those places have history with dirtbikes. Popular MTB spots now, but I think they're riding a lot of old moto hand-me-downs.

[black]

search has been called off by the cops now. They'll find his body soon I hope.
Yup I remember seeing/ passing dirtbikes in Big river. I miss that place.( except the sand, I hate the sand)

[Chippertheripper]

All mtb trails are old moto hand-me-downs.
With the very rare exception, of course.

[backinthesaddle]

We used to have a blast riding the sand dunes on division rd in west Greenwich. Not on a weekend though. You had too many bikes ATV's (the three wheeled ones in the day), dune buggies, trucks, people who might have been under the influence, etc, but on a week night just a couple of you in all that sand pit, what a blast of whoops and hills. Bad for the bearings, chain and sprockets, and better have a good sticky air filter and no gaps.

[backinthesaddle]

A lot of people ride trails that might be described as 'tolerated'. Where he lives is a good bit more rural than the 128/495 area, and you'll see more confederate flags and dirt roads. It's kinda weird to be like 30 minutes from providence, but you wonder if you accidentally drove to the backwoods of West Virginia.

He's also close to Pachaug, which I believe is a legal riding spot in CT. Places like RI's Acadia and Big River are probably just out of reach for a backdoor ride on his XR100, but I'm pretty sure both those places have history with dirtbikes. Popular MTB spots now, but I think they're riding a lot of old moto hand-me-downs.

Yeah I think Big River would be out of reach but it is well ridden by MTB riders I pass them almost every day even this time of year, and Connecticut people correct me if I am wrong but I believe the pachaug trails require a plated bike? Also I think the CT to RI railway trail is off limits to dirt bikes. Of course decades earlier we called it trestle trail and we all rode it.

Hate to add to internet speculation but many sayings its not a case of a rider getting lost but who knows. I went over a hill in big river years ago and put the bike right into the a big pine tree that was below. Took three of us to get the bike off the branches and back on the ground.

[backinthesaddle]

Camo Riding Gear at Chaparral Motorsports

I don't think he was wearing riding gear that was camo , just a camo sweatshirt.

[aldend123]

Sweatshirt is what the news was saying. Regardless, I'm surprised that there's pages of camo riding gear. I get that quad hunters might be looking for camo riding gear, but some of it is more moto oriented. I guess it's a style choice to some, and probably don't need extra visibility on a moto track.

I think Pachaug does require plates, but just saying there's lots of trails and probably less likelihood of people calling the cops etc. Same with the trestle down that end of the state. Might be illegal, but I bet on any given day you can find tracks in the dirt. It's so weird how popular the sport is given how few openly legitimate spots there are. On the opposite end (MA/RI border) the trestle had off-shoots of trails in various spots and it served kind of as a connecting route. It's being paved for bicycle path right now so those days might be fewer.

Hate to add to internet speculation but many sayings its not a case of a rider getting lost but who knows.

That's the summary of the turtle blog and the trending commentary I'd seen. Various unsubstantiated suggestions of drug deal gone bad, and ran away from home due to family dispute. That's allegedly the reason officials weren't in a hurry to keep 24hr search going. Whatever it is, there's possibly more to the story than just hurt in the woods.

[backinthesaddle]

Yeah I can see the ATV guys in camo, or MX camo as I think at least one SX a year pays tribute to Armed Services and those guys ride wearing camo, but dirt bike riding in the woods I can't see it being a smart thing to wear.

At 5'10 isn't he a bit too tall for that XR100?

[theducman]

Hey I'm 5'11 and I rock my XR 100R well