| Title | : | Missing 411: A Sobering Coincidence |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1511885661 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781511885669 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 379 |
| Publication | : | First published August 29, 2015 |
The author continues with his profile points involving the disappearances and applies them to a series of incidents involving young men and women, mostly college age. Many of the victims vanished within the confines of their college or university town. These individuals were brilliant scholars, athletes and stellar people in their community. They disappear under unusual circumstances and are often found in areas that were previously searched. Medical examiners in these cases often cannot determine the cause of death. Many times the victim was recovered in water, yet autopsies show the body was not in the water the entire time the victim was missing. The majority of the families in these cases believe their loved ones were abducted and held, then later dumped in the water. These allegations are generally ignored by authorities until pressured by facts presented through secondary autopsies that families requested and paid for.
This is a chilling and shocking series of stories that will cause many parents and young people to rethink their nighttime activities.
Missing 411: A Sobering Coincidence Reviews
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The fifth in the Missing 411 series by
David Paulides, this is possibly the most disturbing of these books, due to the fact that there really is no way to discount the connections between these cases. Again, the author does not reveal his theories as to what is happening here, he just presents the facts of each case, calling the reader's attention to the relevant details. I'm hopeful that this book will spur new ways of investigating these "accidental drowning" cases, specifically with the testing for GHB in the bodies. Something very strange is going on -- this time in cities and on college campuses. It's time for us all to start paying attention. As with all the Missing 411 books, highly recommend. -
[library]
I know these Missing 411 reviews are extremely repetitive, which I suppose in some important way is indicative of the nature of the beasts involved, both missing persons cases (which are, of course, horribly, all the same story, with different characters and different sets, but essentially the same action) and the fringe pseudoscience conspiracy theory cult thinkers who are Paulides' primary audience. Because he's pitching to them, he can never come to firm conclusions or state anything outright: he has to leave ambiguous space for them to fill in the blanks. In some of his books he hints strongly at Bigfoot. In this one he hints strongly at alien abduction.
What's deeply frustrating about Paulides is that in his raw data, he could be compiling valuable statistics, tracking important patterns, maybe providing a genuine theory or two about what happens when someone goes missing--or in this book, when someone gets drunk, goes missing, and ends up dead in the nearest body of water. (Especially young men in La Crosse, Wisconsin, because I think I agree something hinky is going on there, although my guess would be serial killer rather than aliens.) But he fails consistently to do so, partly because he has to keep things open-ended and partly because dudebro does not understand either statistics or probability theory, and does not know the meaning of the word "coincidence" I swear to god although he uses it repeatedly.
In this particular book, and maybe the most egregious of all possible examples, we have first the case of Elisa Lam, who vanished (with some very peculiar footage on the CCTV) and was found in the roof watertank of the Los Angeles hotel she'd been staying in. Now, there are serious questions about how she got into that tank, assuming that he's presented all the information available (he's right to emphasize how extraordinarily difficult it would have been for her to either accidentally or on purpose get into the tank by herself), but Paulides goes haring after a very peculiar coincidence: at the same time Elisa Lam died, there was a severe outbreak of TB in Los Angeles, and one of the tests used to identify the strain was the LAM ELISA. Yes, that's bizarre. BUT IT IS A COINCIDENCE.
On the other hand, back in his "Other Water-Related Cases" section, which is basically a catchall for things he wants to include that don't fit his "criteria," there's the case of Frances St. John Smith, who disappeared from Smith College (where she was a freshman) on January 13, 1928, and was pulled out of the Connecticut River March 29, 1929, in Longmeadow MA. Now on the same day (January 13, 1928), a Smith College junior, Alice Corbett also disappeared. Corbett has never been found.
While Paulides says he thinks he should include Corbett in one of his next books, he thinks the fact that two Smith College students disappeared on the same day is nothing but an interesting coincidence, and I'm sorry, just like I can't buy that the LAM ELISA test is anything more than a bizarre coincidence in relationship to Elisa Lam's death, I cannot buy that two young women from that small and restricted a population (fewer than 2,000 women) disappearing on the same day is coincidental. I don't know what the connection is (I can make up stories very easily, but they'd only be stories), but I am not buying that there is no connection between Frances St. John Smith's disappearance and Alice Corbett's.
So there's that. There are the problems I've talked about in other Missing 411 reviews, like the lack of a control group, the sloppy research, etc. etc., but there's some particular problems with this book.
1. As in Missing 411: Hunters, Paulides' "criteria" have magically produced a sinister phenomenon that only happens to white men. In this case, it only happens to young, white, college-educated men. To me, this says there's something wrong with his study. I don't buy that the aliens are only interested in young white men. And I think statistics on drowning, properly compiled, would suggest a very different panorama than the one Paulides is trying to sell.
2. There's this weird disjunct between Paulides insisting that all of these young men are bright, generous, moral, outstanding et cetera, and the fact that they're out getting shitfaced when they disappear. Several of them get thrown out of bars or have encounters with the police the night they disappear. One got cited for underage drinking and using a false ID, and yet Paulides is still saying he's responsible and mature, like this is totally a thing that responsible and mature people do.
(I'm judging, yes, but not them. Young college-age men go out and get shitfaced and make bad decisions all the time, and while I don't think it's a great idea, I don't think it makes them bad people and I certainly don't think it means they somehow "deserve" what happened to them. I'm judging Paulides for pulling the "he was such a nice boy" schtick. He marvels at how many people say the missing/dead young man was a wonderful human being, which is either painfully disingenuous or painfully naive and I don't know which. OF COURSE THEY SAY THAT.)
3. He repeatedly uses the word "intellect" when he means "intellectual," and it drives me up the wall.
4. Apparently, no one has ever told him that drinking alcohol impairs your judgment.
5. Sometimes it's like he isn't reading his own research. "I silently chuckle to myself when I read older articles talking about amnesia as a reason for a disappearance. In the early 1900s and late 1800s, I've often read these types of theories. I have never seen a credible allegation in more modern times" (199).
AND YET.
139 pages earlier, he presents the case of Stephen Kubacki, one of only two survivors in the whole book. Stephen disappeared in Holland, MI, February 19, 1978, under what are quite puzzling circumstances not gonna lie, and "woke up" May 5, 1979 in Pittsfield, MA. "He told me he lost consciousness," his father said, "and he didn't remember anything until he woke up in Pittsfield" (62). Kubacki himself said, "I didn't know where I was. I was wearing clothes that weren't mine. I started going through a backpack, which I assumed was mine and I found maps. I would guess I was hitchhiking. I didn't know what the date was until I walked into town and got a newspaper" (62).
Assuming you believe Kubacki is truthful, which there doesn't seem to be a reason not to, this is a case of "amnesia as a reason for a disappearance." Of course, Paulides (won't admit he) believes Kubacki was abducted by aliens and that's the explanation for his missing fifteen months, but seriously. Are you reading your own words, dude?
There's another case where he cites the victim's blood alcohol content and further down the page asserts the body was so drained of blood that no tests could be made, and I don't know what the hell's going on there at all.
I find the subject matter of the Missing 411 books both fascinating and tragic; I find Paulides as a Virgil deeply frustrating. -
This is another fascinating look at unusual disappearances by Mr. Paulides. The focus this time is not national parks or other wilderness areas. Instead, the spotlight is on the cases of college age men who disappear while out with friends, and then turn up days or weeks later, deceased, usually in places that have been thoroughly searched before. Paulides explains that these are not run-of-the-mill disappearances, but each one follows a specific pattern detailed in the book. People who have read the other "Missing 411" will be fascinated with this expansion of the study into cities. I was also very happy to find that the editing mistakes that have made some entries in previous books in the series difficuult to read were not apparent in this one.
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This is the fifth book in the Missing 411 series by David Paulides. It is an amazing account of unusual disappearances, mostly of young men between the ages of 18-27 from college towns around the USA. There is a heavy concentration of these disappearances in the Great Lakes regions. Reading these accounts you will be stunned and amazed as well as puzzled as to what their cause really is. Most of victims have been found in water, many times several days or weeks later. A compelling read that will make you reconsider what you know about the world around you.
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This book tells various stories of young men and women who go out on a social night to a bar or party, they get separated from friends and then are either never found, or are found deceased under very strange circumstances. I cannot understand why law enforcement and other appropriate authorities are not looking into these deaths more closely. Given that two retired detectives have also investigated some of the cases in this book and they believe some of these young men did not meet accidental deaths.
The main reason this book piqued my interest was here in the UK, the same thing is happening. As an example, the Manchester Canal Deaths. Mr Paulides also writes about a cluster in Durham.
However, Mr Paulides does not discuss the Manchester cases in his book. I just wanted to draw attention as to why I began reading A Sobering Coincidence.
Whether you believe Mr Paulides has his facts correct or not, there are some strange events in this book. One example is a young man who meets friends in a bar, the friends lose contact with him and he just simply vanishes. CCTV footage from the bar was examined for hours on end and the authorities are convinced he never left the bar. Where did this young man go? Terribly sad for his remaining family who never, ever got any answers.
This book appears well researched and it is a sad read as I felt quite upset for the families and friends of these young men and women. -
A slightly different set of circumstances comes under Mr Paulides scrutiny. Very interesting and shocking this isn't discussed more widely in the media at large.
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I quickly became highly addicted to this book. I was already interested in the subject from listening to the author on various radio programs. To enjoy this book, you have to be "into" the subject of human disappearances. If you are not, you may find this to be a boring read as it is just a presentation of "facts" surrounding actual cases. The author does a great job of organizing and presenting the details.
The real enjoyment for me was having an opportunity to analyze the facts and form my own hypothesis as to who or what is behind the disappearances. It's like reading the best mystery novel ever because the details are tantalizing and are 100 percent factual! Unfortunately, the author cannot reveal the culprit at the end of this sad, disturbing book, the "ending " is up to our own imaginations. -
David Paulides adds to his Missing 411 books by focusing on college age men who drown in unusual circumstances. As a former prosecutor, I appreciate being presented with facts and drawing my own conclusions. Each case is something for critical thinkers to consider. I would like to see the full police and autopsy reports, but many times they aren’t available. My thoughts are with the families who lost their loved ones.
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As always, Paulides offers a thorough, well-researched overview of the cases of missing people involving water. The similarities are unnerving to say the least. I commend him on the work he is doing to bring the truth of what is happening to these mostly young people. I hope that his work becomes more publicly acknowledged soon.
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All of David's books are sobering. The cases of missing young men found in water stunned me. David has brought these cases together in this book and revealed patterns that should help in more thoroughly investigating this mystery.
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Excellent, baffling, shocking, scary, sad. These books never get boring. Just when you think you’ve got it figured out, BAM!, some new evidence shows up that blows your theory out of the water.
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411 is an appt title as the book presents a boat load of information which, as the author makes the case, is disturbing in the aggregate. However, no conclusions are drawn. We are left with a sense of dread, suddenly afraid of the dark and soft noises just out of our field of vision, but nothing concrete to pin our fears on. Perhaps it's better not to share. Perhaps those theories would seem crazy and distract us from the strange web Mr. Pauldies has woven. I questioned his methodology and conclusions at times, but I'm hooked. I'll read more in the series.
