What to do if a regular has disappeared from ATS, been "warned off', or worse?

reply to post by QContinuum


Exactly why I also offered several other potential theories. But Googling might even provide an answer to one of the alternatives. For example a Google search might yield a link to a Facebook page - and that page might say something like "Met a wonderful woman/man ( whichever applies ) and have been spending every waking hour with my new love!"... or "Decided to buy a boat and sail the Caribbean for a few months. Will post upon return".

Or, sadly, one might find an obituary or FB wall posts leading to that same conclusion.

It's not a sure thing. Many members choose to make sure their ATS information is unique to ATS, But the OP member has expressed worry, so I am simply trying to provide as many helpful tips as I can.

~Heff

Originally posted by QContinuum
Judging by the op's words, he probably didn't just leave to start a profile on another internetsite, without saying something.

Jumpin' right in, eh, Q? 'Atta-Boy.

Heff's probably right...however I do worry about one of our past posters here myself. A big shout-out to Dimensional Detective....wherever you are my friend.

I tried Heff's suggestion: No luck.

reply to post by Hefficide


Off course, your suggestion could be helpfull in some cases.

On the other hand, everything you said doesn't apply to what the op said about this poster.

reply to post by The GUT

Jumpin' right in, eh, Q? 'Atta-Boy.

Not sure what you mean, how's that?

Originally posted by QContinuum
Not sure what you mean, how's that?

Means you have an inquisitive mind and a hard head. It was a compliment.

I think a lot of us disappear occasionally. I just barely returned myself. I even had a few messages when I came back asking if I was ok. And I have sent those messages before too. I think it's normal to want to keep in touch and make sure our 'friends' are alright. But ATS also makes the majority a little paranoid and we tend to think in worst case scenarios. So.... It's also too easy to jump to conclusions. Keep sending messages to the member, let them know you care. But beyond that, unless you have more to go off of....what else can you do?

Yes, I have sent 2 or 3 messages, but nothing returned.
I know what you are all saying - that we just have to leave it at that and if they come back, then they come back. The point is that it is "out of character" and it is not just me who is concerned.

I mean, after all, if you have got to "know" somebody online and think the same kind of way, and have the same kind of interests, , then of course you consider them as "internet friends" and therefore are concerned if they just disappar without saying anything at all.

As we know, anything could have happened to them from nothing to dropping dead. It is a little sad that we dont get emails when we get forum messages like happens on other forums, but even that does not mean that they would reply if they were offline for some reason. However, at least we would know that the email was sent rather than waiting for them to return to ATS - which may never happen.

I also thought it was a topic that probably happened enough times to warrant a discussion, and as we all know, there ARE people who disappear/die in other areas of life under suspiscious circumstances and there have been plenty of threads on ATS about these incidents.

reply to post by Hefficide


Maybe...he heard of the bacon shortage....and bought ALOT of pork. And is sitting in his bunker eating pork chops with gravy!!!

reply to post by stonebutterfly


This bacon shortage is haunting me everywhere! I've hunkered down, barricaded the doors, and filled my freezers. ATS'ers KNOW... THERE IS A COUP DE TAT HAPPENING RIGHT NOW! PROTECT YOUR BACON RIGHTS!



~Heff

Maybe the ATS member has gone on holiday......

Having health problems........

Going outside and doing other activities, some people do that kind of thing....

Computer broken.....

Hasn't paid the electricity bill....

Taken up pottery....

Found a new lover....

Or maybe the ATS member has got a bit bored by the futile, mundane and kindergarten type threads, posts and general childish behaviour here on ATS, like so many others have.........

I like how all of the replies are trying to tell the OP nothing is wrong and to remain calm.
I thought this was a conspiracy site, apparently its not anymore

Shills, Disinfo agents and payed CIA operatives, ALL OF YOU!
you probably have the disappeared members locked up in an underground asylum.

lol jk, theyre probably right, sometimes people just have to leave for a while.

theyre probably right, sometimes people just have to leave for a while.

Yes, I agree, and they have done so in the past, but only for a week or so to get away from the intensity. Then it was planned a few days in advance and mentioned in the thread.

The point I am making is that an out-of-character disappearance is odd.

And in answer to somone's question above, I think the member does have a 'history' of involvement in authority-unpopular issues and demonstrations and just recently has been writing a book and publishing the chapters in the thread. There were a lot of relevent facts which could be used to bring legal cases against the perpetrators and it brought together many diverse pieces of information from the thread and elsewhere into a coherent and useful form. That in itself is a dangerous activity if it makes the legal case more likely to be initiated and won.

Considering the FBI now reads peoples face book pages to check if they need to be arrested it could be a worry......
Too bad you cant just come right out with the persons name and ask......i hate this oh so proper protocol....
Good luck with that..............

I know how you feel. I miss certain people from time to time and check their last log in date to make sure they are still here. You just bond with some people and feel a kinship with them. I get it.

If you are talking about the gentleman who hasn't logged in since September 4th, I say do some research. If you know the area he is from pull up news clippings. You can send him a PM letting him know you are concerned and are going to look for him.

Be a sleuth. Chances are though, if he doesn't want to be found, he won't be. However, if he is going through a rough patch and he sees you reaching out, maybe it will help to know you care.

Also, it would help if you go on and name the person. Someone on here may know more about it. (Or did I miss the name, even thought I think I know who it is.)

S/he could just be fed up with all the political BS on the site right now. That'll calm down in about 4 months.

I have read all of the others responses, and I guess from what I read in your original post "warned off" and such. Well What were the topics this person was talking about the past week or two before they went missing? I am just saying if you think they are not just taking a break, hoarding bacon(I couldn't resist), on vacation, or whatever. What would he have been discussing that would have caused him to be scared away? Also how come you can't just tell us who your talking about?

Originally posted by UFO1414
reply to post by qmantoo

 

Probably just sleeping one off... but stranger things have happened.

Boncho???


Peace.

I'm alive and well. a little hungover, but definitely still breathing.

Sometimes this happends, I've played the same online game for 10years now. I hav many close friends that are all over the US and Canada , there was a player that was in our group for 5 years and he just up and disappeared all of us were very worried for awhile but we had no way of contacting him

Sadly he is still missing after 2 years, but it shocked all of us and now we all have phone numbers and addresses of each other in case this happends again

I've met a few of my online friends face to face most of them are just voices on our comm channels but they are still concidered good friends

Oh the online game is mechwarrior, and the soon to be public mechwarrior online


Hope everything works out

Be safe everybody

reply to post by loam


On the flipside, just because people don't say anything, doesn't mean they aren't wondering where the heck somebody went with all of their provocative posts, Loam, ahem...

Maybe I read too much here, but I notice when I've been reading a certain number of hours and haven't come across a post by boncho or wrabbit or domo or charles1952 or skyfloating or...

If you are genuinely concerned and not just seeking attention and/or pitypartyinghard, then perhaps you should google his name, as Hefficide and a few others have already suggested repeatedly. I googled the name of the likeliest candidate for your missing poster and found his myspace on the first page of results, verifiable because his myspace picture matches his avatar... so just google the name in "quotes" and see what you get.

If you're friends with this person, you would know more about him than I do, so you'd be able to gauge well enough which results are him and which ones aren't, which is something that I can't do because I don't know the guy.

There are actually several posters who were regulars in the thread you're talking about who seem no longer to post on ATS, fyi. One of them's been banned, but the others are just gone, unlamented by any despite their voluminous contributions to the unnamable, obvious thread you keep referring to. I found this out by looking at their profiles after going through the last 30 pages of the thread and opening the profiles of anyone who posted more than five times.