There’s no reason for a scooter driver to push the scooter that far though. Just get it to the shoulder or to the turnoff for this scenic area. No reason to push it all the way to this area.
3 Likes
I don’t think that someone could kick the fork into that condition… But, as I mentioned before, you could easily run it into a wall or into a large rock to make that kind of damage.
Here is the main road there (Coastal Hwy 9):
This is where the turnoff to that scenic area is. You keep going down that turnoff road and you eventually get to the location the scooter was filmed in the news report. There are plenty of places to stash a scooter. Why push it all the way down to the scenic area a half kilometer away?
1 Like
Also, how it it known he ran out of gas for sure? An impact like that would make the bike fall over and the gas tank open up. This happened to me. Some scooters like that have spring loaded tank cap connected to the keys. My scooter fell on it’s side, the tank popped open and all the fuel poured out onto the road,
1 Like
The place where the scooter ended up is far from the main road. Trust me.
1 Like
It is an estimate of what is more likely that makes me think that an accident on the main road is probably what happened. What is more likely, an accident or some type of suicidal act? I would choose the former. Now an act in a fit of rage down in the area where the scooter is parked, I view that as a likely scenario, especially in view of the details that we all know. An accident on the main road, then getting the bike down to the area where it’s parked, yes I agree that doesn’t make the most sense but probably makes more sense to me than a suicidal act that many are insinuating.
1 Like
Is it possible the accident was at the main road, sure. But anyone who’s familiar with the area would immediately rule that out. It would be absolutely unnecessary to move the scooter to that location even if one could in it’s obviously damaged state. I would put the chance at near zero.
And there is no way you would be that far back from the main road to “perform repairs”.
1 Like
I’m not necessarily insinuating a suicidal act. It’s very possible that he was drunk and angry, accidentally running his scooter into a wall or something down by the scenic spot. Regardless, I feel that whatever happened to that scooter, likely happened in close proximity to where it was found.
2 Likes
Fair enough, but when I read through this thread after some time away from the board, it seems in the last few days many are latching onto this idea of suicide as what happened (not necessarily you). And not all that far from a road very famous for many, many accidents, well, I naturally would think that to be a real possibility. Now the distance to the place where the scooter was parked is something that wasn’t made clear until about an hour ago. So perhaps the main road accident theory needs to be re-thought. But I’m not yet convinced. I’m not being stubborn, and I would really like to see this resolved (for Dave’s brother to find answers), but that high accident prone road right there nearby makes me continue to see that as a real possibility.
This thread is getting a bit long, so excuse for not going back and read all the posts again… But please fill me in about the CCTV claim:
- is there footage or is it the wife who claims to have seen then video?
- was he positively identified in the footage?
- what was the location of the footage?
- and when was this alleged footage taken?
2 Likes
Well, there’s no way anyone would convince me this happened on the main road. It’s borderline preposterous. It’s about as likely as the accident talking place in Taidong itself and someone trucking the damgaged bike there. You seem to be insinuating suicide more than anyone else at this point. There are literally places just steps away to put the scooter aside safely or even hide it if someone didn’t want it found.
The way I see it now I don’t think the wife’s story is as preposterous as originally believed.
But I certainly would like to understand this CCTV bit. It’s a loose end.
The wife didn’t do things right by Dave or Dave’s family when he wasn’t missing in what looks like possible
suicide. Its not necessarily malicious but …not cool.
Dave’s family should get over here and check what happened to him, Dave didn’t have any friends he could count on when the chips were down I feel bad for him.
I can only say that I see that as one of the last possibilities. Just numbers. (Also, see above by what I mean re the direction of posts in this thread.)
I will also state that I drove my dirt bike about 30 minutes on dirt roads after hitting a tree stump that bent the forks like you see them in the picture above. Is it possible? I think only a look at the actual scooter would provide the answer to that question. Would someone WANT to do that? Probably not.
Hi all, I lurk here sometimes but this has really gotten my attention to log in.
Really nice of all of you helping Dave’s brother with this!
My regards to Dave’s brother and family and hope you can find out what happened. Looks like you have plenty of good people here helping already.
Mainly some observations on the front wheel but also the key…I think as someone mentioned, the key could likely have been simply placed in there. I’ve also seen that done. Another possibility is the police put it in there after opening the seat to look for the registration.
Will probably never know, but that wheel looks bent so far back I wonder if it was even possible to roll it. At least I doubt anyone could roll it far. And seems unlikely if there was an accident that someone with a blue-truck crane lifted it into a truck to move it there. Just some thoughts.
Now the wheel…I’m not so sure what people in previous comments mean when they say the wheel damage…it seems maybe they mean the bent forks?
I notice something I’m not sure everyone else is looking at… at least maybe not focusing on too much.
The edge of the wheel rim is dented well in and you can see a curved scuff mark on the tire where it looks like it impacted a somewhat rounded object…and whatever the object was it doesn’t seem it could have been very high or there would have been more damage to the nose of the scooter?
In order for the rim to have been bent like that with an inflated tire…the impact would have been pretty hard and of course that can be seen from the way the forks are bent.
Here are some pics of what I’m talking about and hopefully some clues as to what was hit if anything. Could it have been that stone bench in the back? Looks a little too high. Was there a stone in the wall that protruded much further out than the others so that the nose of the scooter didn’t impact so hard?
Anyway, great job you guys are doing! Hope this can help a little.
The rim edge dent
The tire looks like it could be flat. ? Notice the rim dent again
Curved scuff mark that could have been from what ever was hit and caused the rim edge dent.
The lowest part of the scuff mark looks like possibly initial abrasive contact with the object before solid impact? Maybe the object (if there was one) wasn’t hit head on but from a slight angle.
Further up is some other mark that maybe someone could enhance with a better program…I just used MS Paint.
Some possibilities of impact if my idea is correct. The blue line would potentially be the wall…but if that were the case, the nose would be more damaged, especially considering the forks gave in so far.
Oh, and while riding around last night I compared car bumper heights with that approximate height of the scooter wheel.
I couldn’t find any cars with that kind of bumper shape and they were all much higher…that they would have caused more damage to the scooter nose.
Only thing I can think of is that stone bench which looks a little too high…unless maybe it was not his head on.
7 Likes
I saw other pics where there is a kind of a pavement area before the stone wall. It could have hit that , but not in that location . So maybe irrelevant.
There are some low bollards at the entranceway to that road, but then he wouldn’t have picked up all the bits of the bike that fell off and transport it as well, along with part of the helmet, all the way from the entrance to the wall.
Good information and pictures. Can anybody see if the front panel laying on the ground is damaged from maybe hitting something?
The road/walking path you see in the pictures sort of bends around at a slight curve. From the main road to that point it’s probably about a half kilometer. It would be possible, not advisable, to go pretty fast on a scooter. It’s pretty wide too, like weirdly wide. They used to park tour busses back there before closing it off and building the new parking lot…just to give an idea of the spacing involved, it’s quite open. It would be possible to hit anywhere along that wall or hit another object in the vicinity in any number of ways. It would also be really dark at night.
I don’t think this took place during the day, at most times there are likely to be lots of tourists walking around right where the scooter ended up.
2 Likes
-
In Taiwan, when a foreigner marries a Taiwanese person, they must begin filing taxes jointly the following year. Taxes must be filed by the end of May, and on May first of each year, the tax authorities will provide a record of every legal hour worked for both husband and wife for the previous year.
This means that if they got married in 2011, they would have filed their taxes together for the first time in May of 2013 (for tax year 2012). It, of course, would not include anything off the books, but it could provide some interesting information.
If Dave ever worked legally in Taiwan after November 17th, 2016, even doing an hour of proofreading that someone reported, the tax authorities and the wife would know.
Also, looking back at tax records, you’ll find all the legal places Dave worked. This might give you leads to find any former colleagues. -
If I read it right, (correct me if I’m wrong), Dave’s father asked Dave’s wife if Dave had been evicted. Evicted is a strong word. It sounds like Dave’s dream was to set up a B&B near Taidong (kind of remote southeastern Taiwan). This is a very common dream for people who want to escape the rat race of Taipei etc. It sounds like Dave loved his daughter and maybe still loved his wife. So, perhaps Dave was finally told his dream was over, and he was crying outside of the Taidong home.
-
The drive between Hualien and Suao is maybe the most famous scary drive in Taiwan. Qingshui Cliffs aren’t famous for suicide (like the Golden Gate Bridge is), but it is the most famous cliff area in Taiwan, and it’s on the way from Taidong to Taipei.
I wonder if Dave gave a last phone call on November 16th from the Qingshui area, to his wife. And I wonder if she then immediately called the authorities, knowing that he was in Hualien County, near the cliffs, and depressed/suicidal/exhausted after a sleepless night.
2 Likes
In reply to Tango42 ( not sure how to use quote funstion yet)
The panel looks pretty busted up from what I can see. But the actual nose under-part is very much intact…only slightly busted on the left side. That could mean that the nose had only slight impact which was only enough to pop that nose fairing off and crack it? Looks cracked up from the video…hard to really say. Need to look at it more.
In any case…there is little nose damage compared to the rim dent. To me that suggest a low object. Or maybe the possibility that it got driven head on into one of those side ditches as someone mentioned. If that’s what happened it wouldn’t have been easy pulling it out and pushing it to the wall. As most of you know…scooters are pretty heavy.
Only grandmothers seem to be able to move them to park their scooters right directly next to yours so you can’t possibly get yours out.
Couldn’t resist that last part.
3 Likes
But if you bent the forks of the scooter in an accident on the main road and it was somehow possible to ride it (with much difficulty) or push it a great distance, why would you head down to a scenic area? Doesn’t it make more sense to stay on the main road and try to find a gas station, some help or something? Also, are we also to assume he bothered to clear bits and pieces of plastic from his scooter and helmet, carry them down to the scenic area and then throw them on the ground?
I’m just not seeing how an accident on the main road makes any sense with the only piece of physical evidence known to us.
1 Like