Something very strange has happened. A friend of mine was coming to visit at the weekend. He is from Esperanza near to Mao and got the guagua to Santiago. Just before noon he sent a message saying he was arriving in Santiago and was going to take a Transporte Espinal down to the capital. And since then he has completely disappeared. Didn't turn up, his whatsapp says the last time he was active was when he sent me that message. I've tried calling using a normal number and the phone is switched off. I've sent an email, no reply. At first I thought maybe his phone had been lost or stolen, but now that time is going by I'm beginning to wonder if he has been involved in an accident. I guess he may have got a concho from the Esperanza guagua stand to Transporte Espinal so I'm wondering if maybe they had an accident en route. Can anyone make any suggestions on what I should do?
- Thread starter MariaRubia
- Start date
Missing in Santiago
Report it to the Police with his Phone number. They're already have a department who tracks devices
Thanks. I haven't, and I could, but I'm not sure how they could help. What do you suggest?
That's what I'm hoping. Or he dropped it when he was transiting between the two buses. And he probably doesn't back up his numbers so it will take him a while to remember he can contact me through work. That's certainly what I'm hoping, but then I sometimes see these signs saying someone has disappeared and I just wouldn't want to ignore the situation.
You cannot not sure how they could help because you didn’t call them, they were transporting your friend as I understand.
I understand under certain circumstances people don’t think right, but all the time missing people are presented on several Dominican media coming from official sources. At the very least they could clarify if the missing is just the cell or the rightful owner of the cell (or both.)
Maria, first of all, I hope your friend is okay. But since this much time has elapsed, it does seem something has happened beyond a lost/stolen phone. I know with an android phone, contacts are usually saved in the person's Google account, so would be available when a new android phone is set up. I assume similar is true with an iphone. Have you contacted any friends you have in common with the missing person? One other idea is to contact the embassy, assuming your friend is not Dominican. Recently an American friend passed away on a weekend, and the consular here in POP was aware the following Monday.
Again, I hope everything turns out okay,
Again, I hope everything turns out okay,
With an iphone you can get the exact geolocation of the cell from another iphone or ipad.
The whole thing is transferable to a new device, not just the contacts. Once that is done, everything looks exactly how you left it on the old iphone.
It's been a long time since you've heard from your friend. Not good.
No news unfortunately. I am worried as well, part of me thinks maybe he will just pop up and say he had phone issues or something, but it's likely he was involved in an accident or something. He is Dominican - well at least he has a cedula and was born here - but his mum is Haitian, so it also occurred to me that he had been picked up by Migracion by mistake and was being held somewhere.
I tried to put a police report on the Denuncias Virtual app in the missing persons section, but as I filled in the report I realised how little I knew. He moved to Esperanza and I don't have his home address. The report asked me which part of Santiago he was in when he disappeared and again I don't know, I just got a message saying he was approaching Santiago so he could have been anywhere in the city. It asked how he arrived, and again I didn't know, I guess he was on a guagua from Esperanza but I don't know which company he was with. And there were so many gaps on the form that it didn't let me continue. The thought of going to a police station in the capital and being bounced around from office to office and probably told to go to Santiago leaves me cold, especially since I have so few facts.
His phone hasn't been on since that last message and I have tried texting, emailing, and calling using a non-whatsapp.
The only consolation is that if he's not dead, at some point he will reappear.
I tried to put a police report on the Denuncias Virtual app in the missing persons section, but as I filled in the report I realised how little I knew. He moved to Esperanza and I don't have his home address. The report asked me which part of Santiago he was in when he disappeared and again I don't know, I just got a message saying he was approaching Santiago so he could have been anywhere in the city. It asked how he arrived, and again I didn't know, I guess he was on a guagua from Esperanza but I don't know which company he was with. And there were so many gaps on the form that it didn't let me continue. The thought of going to a police station in the capital and being bounced around from office to office and probably told to go to Santiago leaves me cold, especially since I have so few facts.
His phone hasn't been on since that last message and I have tried texting, emailing, and calling using a non-whatsapp.
The only consolation is that if he's not dead, at some point he will reappear.
I should think that is very likely, as the police tend to pick up black people and send them to the immigration centre, regardless of whether they have a cedula or not. Once the cedula is verified, hopefully they will let the person go, but may demand a "fee" is paid. If the person does not have, or cannot get hold of the required amount anything could happen.
This has been the experience of my friend on more than one occasion, in fact now if she is making any long journeys, I insist on taking her in my car.
Hopefully, you will hear from your friend soon and he will be alive, well and still in the DR.
He has a French last name as well that won't help. I'm really hoping that's what has happened as the alternatives would be much worse.