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Thursday, March 28, 2013

The "Sunil Tripathi is Missing" Hype

When there are so many young men whose suspicious disappearances aren't being investigated, why the costly hunt for a suicidal college-dropout who's made it clear to his wealthy family he doesn't want to be found...?
 
The beguiling 'Find Sunil Tripathi' Facebook campaign that instantly transformed a mundane family melodrama into a major missing-persons saga not only showcases the value of mastering social media, but also the disparity in the way rich and poor are treated by the press and police agencies.
 
To wit: From the start, 22-year-old Sunny Tripathi, the son of a wealthy software CEO, has been shrewdly marketed by his tech-savvy family as a "missing Brown student" who mysteriously vanished one brisk March morning while strolling his college campus.
 
In reality, however, this young man isn't missing, per se, and he's not a student at Brown University either...read more
 

19 comments:

  1. Yes, all of this attention must be because Sunil's family is rich. How very deep of you. How long did you sit and ponder that one? Apparently you are forgetting that Facebook is FREE, Twitter is FREE, Instagram is FREE, Tumbler is FREE, word of mouth is FREE, volunteers are FREE. But yes, I guess they did use their "riches" to pay for their phones and phone bills that were used to call the local authorities and to organize search parties with their volunteers and people that love Sunil. I guess by that token we also have to admit that they did indeed use their "riches" to pay for their computers and internet access to post on these FREE websites to raise awareness about their loved one who is indeed missing. (By the way, missing is defined as: (of a person) absent from a place, especially their home, and of unknown whereabouts. I believe that fits the case here.) Are you stating that because this boy was depressed and had a mental illness that he is not worth finding as much as the other boys you mentioned? Do you truly believe that Sunil's family is not going through the same heartbreak, fear, and worry as those other families are? You have judged this boy and his family based on a little Googling and news reports. I'm guessing this is how it went: Googling #1: Mr. Tripathi is a CEO at a software company. Conclusion: they are rich and paying everyone to look for their son. Googling #2: Sunil took a leave from Brown University and has been depressed. Conclusion: Sunil's family didn't care about him enough to get him help. Oh and look at that, he wasn't a real Brown student either. Am I on the right track here? Googling #3: Left a note. Conclusion: He does not want to be found, so let's forget about him. Googling #4: The FBI is involved and they are expanding the search to neighboring states. Conclusion: OUTRAGE! Sunil isn't worth all of this attention. It must be because they are RICH! Sound about right? Next time do a little more digging before you write a half-ass blog about a family you know nothing about. Better yet, why don't you continue to be an advocate for missing persons only this time don't discriminate and be an advocate for ALL missing persons.

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    1. Thanks for dropping by. Yes, Facebook, Twitter, this blog, they are all free--we don't charge anybody for publicizing real missing person cases here--but, while what your son did to you is rotten, he's 22 so his running away isn't a crime and, obviously, no crime befell him either.

      Rest assured, everybody and anybody with a sympathetic bone in their body feels bad about your plight, naturally. How like a serpent's tooth it must feel indeed, and hopefully Sunil has not additionally taken his life as you fear.

      It is, however, exceptional for so many agencies to launch such a massive and expensive manhunt for a grown man who doesn't want to be found. Obviously you have a lot of pull, so therefore I'm asking you to peruse the genuine missing/murdered cases on this site and consider spreading that largesse around.

      Two cases your friends at the FBI can quickly and efficiently intervene in (in the name of justice), is that of Matt Ward and Joshua Swalls. Both youths were killed in Indianapolis less than a mile from each other and only weeks apart. The IMPD is giving the victims' families the runaround with a host of ridiculous lies that I feel certain they wouldn't dare repeat to an FBI agent.

      If you click on my name in this specific comment, you can find Matt and Josh's suspicious disappearances and "drownings" discussed at length with their parents in the VOICES FOR THE DEAD interview section.

      And, again, thanks for visitng. I wish you a happy and speedy resolution. Many families post rewards when their sons actually vanish into thin air and some even hire private detectives...Sunil's not missing, per se, but still have you considered those alternatives?

      E.R.


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  2. Do you still hold the opinions you express here, although the last sighting of Sunil may be at 1.35am on the morning of Saturday March 16?

    I think Sunil would very much be seen as a Brown student. He lived very close to campus and was last seen on Brooke Street, which has Brown buildings on both sides.

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    1. He's missing, and then he's not missing, and now he "may be" missing once more...

      Take a look around this blog and show some respect for the dead--you stand a good chance of seeing your son ALIVE again, whereas the parents and loved ones represented here will not.

      Regarding his uni status: Under your theory if I go rent an apartment "very close to campus" and then stand "on Brooke Street" in the precise spot "which has Brown buildings on both sides" then I'd be a Brown student too.

      Ridiculous.

      This is not a time for false pride; evidently the lad feels he's failed at Brown and possibly his leave of absence expired as well, so he's in crisis. (If there isn't in fact something more going on--he's at the age where certain truly disruptive mental disorders begin to manifest in young men, by the way.)

      Anyway, as to the allocation of scarce resources to search for a wealthy family's runaway when there are sons and daughters of the less fortunate truly missing FROM FOUL PLAY and the police and FBI don't give a damn about them, nope, I haven't changed my mind about that being unacceptable.

      It is beyond peradventure that the missing children of the 99 Percent deserve justice too. PERIOD.

      Now, as to your own familial dilemma (which, I reiterate, doesn't compare to others on this site), I will make suggestions but I absolutely demand in return that you use your influence regarding the two cases I referenced in my prior post above. Those youths are dead, true, but all the more reason for your FBI friends to look at their cases because the evidence is strong that both were murdered in cold blood and the crimes covered up.

      So here goes: I went to a highly competitive university too, (no, not Brown) and there were plenty of my mates who found it difficult to make the grade and/or to live up to what they believed their parents' expectations were...

      If Sunil's not committed suicide, then he'll prolly be annoyed that I'm suggesting this, but too bad: What some of my friends would do at those times was just hit the road for a few months, visiting other friends at different uni's so they didn't have to pay rent or whatnot.

      Try that angle and see what you discover. Also, it's possible he had this planned for awhile so maybe he set up a PayPal account or something similar which you don't know about and therefore can't track.

      You should also consider that this 'Sunil is Missing' drama you've created is sooooooooooooooo BIG now that he could be too embarrassed to come home, or even concerned he'll be incarcerated in a mental facility for observation if he does.

      He's not stupid, you know.

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    2. The class warfare shtick is getting old, way past stale in fact.

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    3. It is--we wish you guys would quit widdit--but thousands of years of tyranny and no end in sight means either we eat cake or continue to resist.

      By the way, you've described Sunil as shy, quiet and withdrawn, with prolonged bouts of depression PLUS suicidal tendencies. By now those personality traits send up red flags for criminal profilers: If you have any reason to believe that this man is not only a danger to himself but to others you should fess up immediately.

      I saw there was an odd incident yesterday at the University of Rhode Island concerning a gunman there that was and then, mysteriously, wasn't...

      It got me wondering.

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    4. There is a DIFFERENCE between a young man who clearly has depression and could possibly be suicidal and a young man who is NOT depressed and suicidal and seems to have been Kidnapped and MURDERED.

      As tragically unfortunate as it is for someone to take their own life... that is a PERSONAL Action (I won't call it a "choice", but an "action") -- and completely different than an individual who CELEBRATED Life, had plans for living that Life, and was unexpectedly kidnapped and MURDERED through no choice or action of their own.

      THERE IS A DIFFERENCE.

      The issue being raised here is WHY would a young man with clear tendencies to take his own life -- who left a "Suicide Note" -- garner so much more response from Federal Agencies such as the FBI when other young men who CHERISHED their lives (which Sunil, sadly, did not) and looked forward to living did not envoke the same response from the same authorities. The only difference in the cases... FAMILY MONEY. That's what is being pointed out here.

      And I'm sorry, but Sunil is NOT... I repeat **NOT** seen as a "Brown Student". He should be referred to as a FORMER Student or a PREVIOUS Student, but not a "Brown STUDENT" because he Was NOT a student at the time. It is as simple as that.

      There are 1000's of people "who live near" college campuses all across this country... who are drop outs as Sunil was... and not a one of them are considered "STUDENTS" as they do not currently attend the school.

      A person has to actually be attending a school to be considered a "Student"... not just live close to a university.

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    5. Well, to be fair, the President of Brown University claimed him as a student in a statement released to the student body. So, I can see why people would think that. You say Sunil is not "seen as a Brown student" - not seen as one by whom? The student body? The Brown administration?

      So, whatever his designation, he was on leave from Brown because he was having some personal "struggles," but NPR reported that his family nevertheless does not believe he killed himself. A surveillance video caught him at 1:36am or so on March 16, which was the last day he was seen. The time fits Smiley's pattern. The suicide note was, apparently, "vaguely worded," doesn't sound like a former Brown philosophy student. I just don't get what made you believe with such absolute certainty that Sunil's death was unrelated to Smiley, before his body even turned up. Why the anger about police wasting money on searching for him? Perhaps he was injured or drugged. Were all of the other victims poor, or working class? I didn't get that impression from their profiles - they all struck me as decidedly middle class. Bro-ish, perhaps, but middle class.

      And the fact that he ultimately ended up in water like the others is even weirder, you have to admit.
      So, he killed himself...and then threw himself in the water? Or he drowned himself, Virginia Woolfe style? That's a tough sell - suicide by drowning is extremely rare. I suppose he could have od'd on drugs to render himself immobile or something, then went into the water, but this seems unlikely. If he had the drugs, why not just od in his apartment.

      On a side note, I feel you on the refusal to eat cake.

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    6. @Anonymous April 25th: Well said, friend. Moreover, this site covers actual crime, not suicide, although that is a different sort of offense.

      @Anonymous April 26th: Can't keep going around and around on this -- a couple days into the "Sunil is a Missing Student" social media campaign the family admitted to reporters that he ran away from them, left a suicidal "sounding" note, and had been SUFFERING CHRONIC DEPRESSION WITH SUICIDAL IDEATIONS OF DROWNING HIMSELF for quite some time before that. This, the Tripathis revealed, is what had actually derailed the young man's stint at Brown University, yet now they're claiming he was murdered...?

      Well, fine then, maybe if they can convince their FBI pals to pursue that new theory then the Bureau will have to look at every single one of the bona fide Smiley cases as well, all the way back 16 years!

      (FYI: Read my analysis THE CASE OF THE DROWNING MEN - Virtually none of the genuinely suspicious missing/drowned events are premeditated anyway, drugging included. And, yes, these otherwise under-reported disappearances and deaths are covered on this site without regard to the wealth and status of the victims...but, as stated before, only those cases that truly smack of foul play.)

      Thanks for dropping by today.

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    7. I didn't realize his suicidal ideations involved drowning himself specifically. That makes a huge difference. Do you know where to find that interview with his folks, or links to it? I had no idea that was common knowledge.



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    8. I had the article bookmarked on a different browser...let me see if it's still filed there. I seem to recall the piece was from March and pubbed by a Providence press, but not sure now because there has been a lot more coverage since then.

      E.R.

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    9. Found the March 25th article/interview via Rhode Island Nat'l Public Radio: 'FAMILY FEARS MISSING BROWN STUDENT KILLED HIMSELF'

      Relevant extract is below (click on my name in this particular comment to read/hear entire archived news story):

      "The family of a missing Brown University student has told police they fear he’s killed himself. Providence police searched portions of Narragansett Bay and the Seekonk River in hopes of finding the body of 22-year-old Sunil Tripathi, a Brown University philosophy student who vanished March 16th.

      "Providence Police Sgt. Carl Weston says the student’s family fears he killed himself. 'They’re convinced if he committed suicide it would have been by the use of the water...if he did use the water it could be quite a long time until he is found.'”

      E.R.

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  3. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  4. Boston bombing suspect!

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  5. Based upon events in Watertown, MA, this morning, there may well have been a very good reason to find Tripathi.

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  6. The author of this article looks real a serious dumbass now.

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  7. Anonymous said...
    You all naming this poor guy Sunil is really wrong and shame on all of you especially,
    Kami Mattioli " I went to high school with him, oh it looks like him, cnn are calling me!". Please. Did you think of the hurt to the family and friends of this guy? And what about the guy himself. You all are racists, "they all look the same to me" his father said he is a quiet sweet guy who gets on with eveybody. I hope they sue all of you, and may all of you naming him have paIN AND HEART ACHE IN YOUR LIFES! KAMI MATTIOLI!

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  8. To much of a coincidence.

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  9. Now that Mr Tripathy's body has been found, I was wondering if you have any thoughts or theories regarding this case? I find it strange that his body was found at the water at India Point park after almost 6 weeks time. As a former mariner I would've thought the tides and currents to have moved him along much farther. Regarding the facts pertaining to the Tsarnaev brothers being set up as patsies for the staged bombing event I do not find it a coincidence that Mr Tripathy's name was dropped at the beginning, nor that he was conveniently "found" on April 25th, shortly after the feds implicated the brothers. I do find it odd that this young man from Bryn Mawr disappeared at 1:30 in the morning without a trace or a clue as to what happened. Your thoughts?

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