Fred…is…dead.
I’d like to be an insomniac optimist about this, too, and think he is off wandering around in some native village, but the raw truth is that he is dead and his mom (I think his father died long ago) is in mourning. If nothing else, we should honor her tears with respectful postings.
Fred Frontier. Poetic last name. Fitting. RIP.
MY sincerest condolences to his family. I looked at his background a bit. Interesting chap. They did an article about him in his Anchorage newspaper when he ran for the Green Party in a congressional election. Shame that something like this could happen to such an interesting young man.
If they did a documentary about him, the conclusion could be entitled “Taroko - The Final Frontier.”
pussy barber, also interesting is that he came from the Last Frontier, Alaska’s nickname, was surnamed Froniter (did he take that from the name of Alaska, since he was really a Polish emigre?) and he came to Taiwan, surely the world’s last subtropical frontier… or reartier, whatever.
Yes the advice to follow the trails indicated in lonely planet would be very good for any search operation. I heard that German guy was following a disused aboriginal/Japanese trail across Taiwan on his own…talk about crazy. They shoulda got some sniffer dogs out but now it’s too late I suppose.
“Death be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and Dreadful…” – John Donne, Brit poet
Am a nwebie here and to this fine country and capital city,b ut just read the newspaper today with a very interesting article by said David Mormphand at the Taipei Times about this guy Fred. Sad story any way you cut it. But it seems that the reporter did most of his research quote unquote right here at forumosa.com and just quoted from web info here. Didn’t he do any gumshoe investigating? Or that how newsies do things in Taiwan?
Did they find the poor chap yet?
I didn’t know anybody from Miami ever said “poor chap.”
You found this buried thread pretty fast for someone brand new. Oddly enough, it just happens to be one of formosa’s favorite threads. Are you one of formosa’s new online personas?
Pretty good article on Fred by David Momphard in TT today
[taipeitimes.com/News/feat/ar ... 2003068734](http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2003/09/21/2003068734)
Fred's forumosa profile [forumosa.com/3/profile.php?mode= ... ile&u=4560](http://forumosa.com/3/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=4560)
Fred's posts [forumosa.com/3/search.php?search ... edfrontier](http://forumosa.com/3/search.php?search_author=fredfrontier)
Pictures of fred [geocities.com/theezine/fredpics/tw.html](http://www.geocities.com/theezine/fredpics/tw.html)
From reading his posts and internet site, he seems like a really interesting, open person with a great joy for life. Given his experience and love of the outdoors and mountains I would guess that he took off by himself hiking up some mountain near Tienhsiang and got lost, fell, got caught in a rock slide, got bitten by a snake, or something like that. I would hate to think that there was any foul play but that seemed to be one possibility that the article was hinting at. :frowning:
I wonder if there were any more clues that might have been mentioned but were left out or were edited out of the article.Well, first I read that article in the Taipei Times this morning, and did a search here to see if there was talk of this guy. We do say poor chap in Miami, Mr Ni, and a lot of other things.
Yes, the news article made it sound like someone murdered him, and some people at the hostel there were trying to cover it up, right? I got that impression, too.
Clues were the missing wallet that was later replaced inside the hostel and stuff like that. So if it was murder, who would do it and why? Do the local Aboriginal people there often knock off foreign tourists out of anger, like the Indians in the USA? If it was murder, they probably won’t find the body for a very long time. Next glacial melt probably.
I didn't get one thing: his mother was coming to Taiwan to be a teacher too? A 60 year old grandmother? Did the reporter do his homework? Or just copy earlier posts from this very thread?
All in all, though, it really opened my eyes to what can happen here. Why were people making jokes about this way back when before I became a member of this board? I read them yesterday and wonder why anyone would make fun of someone who might have died in foul play or natural death in a cliffhanger.
Somebody said shadenfreud but I don’t get the reference.
[quote]winter
Wangyou
Joined: 18 Sep 2003
Posts: 21
Location: Tienmou
Guanxi: 123[/quote]
Anybody else notice something in this profile that doesn’t add up? How did you aquire 123 guanxi with only 21 posts?
Has anyone even thought to check out some of the monasteries or kooky buddhist cults around that area?
Look at the graphic Fred has made of himself and then read his religious zeal on his website
There’s no reason why a cult would contact authorities if they had a foreigner amongst them. Don’t many of them seclude themselves up there in the hills? And I imagine Fred, judging from his site, would enjoy a set of saffron robes swathed around him…:?
Winter, let me clarify the thing about his mother. She has lived in many countries and has had an odd assortment of jobs in her life. I believe her resume is also on Fred’s website. Furthermore,on many Taiwan forums, Fred mentioned that his mom was looking for work as well. I am not defending the Taipei Times, but in my opinion the piece was not too bad.
Anybody know any screenwriters in Tinseltown? This whole story should be written into a science fiction screenplay.
Ta for Now,
Chewy
[quote=“mod lang”][quote]winter
Wangyou
Joined: 18 Sep 2003
Posts: 21
Location: Tienmou (Tianmu)
Guanxi: 123[/quote]
Anybody else notice something in this profile that doesn’t add up? How did you aquire 123 guanxi with only 21 posts?[/quote]Ask Bu Lai En
Reading all this reminds me a bit of the guy in the book INTO THE WILD.
Mod Lang axed; “Anybody else notice something in this profile that doesn’t add up? How did you aquire 123 guanxi with only 21 posts?”
it adds up. somebody must have given me about 100 kwanshee the other day, because when I woke up yesterday, they were there. Is that so unusual? it does add up. everything adds up. go figure.
after reading Times article again, i agree, it was a good story, informative, when most of the media has given us nothing. What has APPLE DAILY or the real Chineese papers here said about this?
The cult angel is interesting, alien. you might be on to something there.
As for his mother, i hope peace comes to her. the worst thing in the world is lose a grown child, I have heard.
I would almost lay a bet on it, wintermosa. His bag returned to the hostel mysteriously, didn’t it? There are very few gangsters in the Hualian area, and rather a lot more cults around there. Many cultists are highly educated beings and would no doubt be able to speak English to this westerner just off the plane. Someone should investigate around there. My sixth sense tells me he’s not dead and decaying in a chasm somewhere.
Anyway, DOES make for a great screenplay.
Yoo hoo, Almas Johnnnnnnnn? You could be the investigator/writer. Someone?
Alien, between your sixth sense and the police’s investigation, it is very very eiry. How DOES one spell that word?
E-E-R-I-E
[quote=“winter”]Alien, between your sixth sense and the police’s investigation, it is very very eiry. How DOES one spell that word?[/quote]A-I-R-Y, or is that between my ears ?
“Lost Frontier”
What a classy headline. I hope someone will spend the extra time to make a pun out of my name should I die or disappear.
[quote=“chainsmoker”]“Lost Frontier”
What a classy headline. I hope someone will spend the extra time to make a pun out of my name should I die or disappear.[/quote]Gone up in smoke ?
shrug