Where Is Michael?

[jaidam]

Post edited - nothing of use to add to this topic.

[chuchok]

Indeed allane, and for very good reason.

Most "missing" people are missing through choice. To put it more plainly, they do NOT want to found by the nagging ex-wife or whatever trouble they ran from. Putting ads in the Malay engineering papers as suggested above is again a terrible idea. Do you think this guy Michael wants all his new mates/wife/whatever to get on his back about things??

The only time I would consider such a manhunt necessary is if he's been previously diagnosed with some mental disorder causing him to forget where he lives, what his name is etc.

Please give the guy a break and close this thread. There are proper channels for this sort of thing. Generally a person can be declared "dead in absentia" after 7 years. After this his posessions will go to next of kin or whatever his will dictates.

PRIVACY is the key word here.

did you bother to read this part..

his wife would like to know either way. Approaching bankruptcy and unable to sell the house due to it being in his name are only a few of the poor lady's worries

[Boo]

actually there is nothing in the OP that suggests they were broke when he went missing. There is also nothing to suggest that he had a "nagging wife" so I suggests you keep the specualation to yourself unless you have some useful info or suggestions.

This missing person plea is on the australian embassy webite so isn't a "manhunt" he could have died & been unclaimed, he could have had a mental breakdown & is living in a slum somewhere or he could have just decided to do a runner. Either way his (legal) wife & family deserve to know and if it is the former then they should be able to help or put him to rest & if it was the latter, then he isn't man enough to deserve "his privacy" IMO.

[Livinginexile]

Chons - hmmmm sounds like maybe he doesnt want to be found?

Indeed it does Brit, but his wife would like to know either way. Approaching bankruptcy and unable to sell the house due to it being in his name are only a few of the poor lady's worries.

So the ex just wants to find him so she can sell his house? looks for him after 7 years?

Maybe Michael has requested the embassy not to release details of his where abouts to anyone.

So what is your interest in this matter Chonabot? Are you the wifes lawyer?

[chonabot]

Chons - hmmmm sounds like maybe he doesnt want to be found?

Indeed it does Brit, but his wife would like to know either way. Approaching bankruptcy and unable to sell the house due to it being in his name are only a few of the poor lady's worries.

So the ex just wants to find him so she can sell his house? looks for him after 7 years?

Maybe Michael has requested the embassy not to release details of his where abouts to anyone.

So what is your interest in this matter Chonabot? Are you the wifes lawyer?

Yes that's correct, I'm a lawyer/PI/Bounty Hunter who also happens to have been a member ofThaivisa for over 3 years, wating for this opportunity to abuse my position as a moderator....lucky me....

I suggest you read the original article and you may well find the answer to your questions.

If I can help further please pm me.

[britmaveric]

Well its either gone off the radar for a good reason.... or he expired. Hopefully his wife will get some answers, I'm sure not knowing is the worst bit of it all.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Just wondering if it's now OK to start other topics with missing persons?

Not at all.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

When I once posted a "missing person" item, I received a message from the moderator that such postings were not allowed, and that mine had been deleted.

Try reading the whole thread.

[sbk]

Well its either gone off the radar for a good reason.... or he expired. Hopefully his wife will get some answers, I'm sure not knowing is the worst bit of it all.

I can't even begin to imagine how awful it must be to not know what has happened to a loved one. There are people who's loved ones died in the WTC 9/11 disaster who are making sure that the govt attempts to DNA id every bone fragment that gets found now that new construction has started. I can understand their anguish, what if the person is alive but mentallly damaged? Amnesiac and suffering? It would be a relief to know that they are actually dead and not suffering somewhere.

There was a story in the US about a man who was found wandering the streets of Denver with no idea of his name or where he came from (or even how he got there). He made it onto natl news and his fiancee contacted the Denver Police. Apparently he had a form of epilepsy that caused amnesia and had had short term episodes before. This was, by far, the worst, longest one he had ever had. A month later, even after going back home, meeting his fiancee and parents, he still did not remember.

As for the right of privacy well, I believe that facing one's personal responsibilities outweighs that. It seems that many people use that as an excuse to avoid taking responsibility for their own behavior. Others are allowed their opinions on this, just as I am allowed mine.

[jaidam]

Well its either gone off the radar for a good reason.... or he expired. Hopefully his wife will get some answers, I'm sure not knowing is the worst bit of it all.

I can't even begin to imagine how awful it must be to not know what has happened to a loved one. There are people who's loved ones died in the WTC 9/11 disaster who are making sure that the govt attempts to DNA id every bone fragment that gets found now that new construction has started. I can understand their anguish, what if the person is alive but mentallly damaged? Amnesiac and suffering? It would be a relief to know that they are actually dead and not suffering somewhere.

There was a story in the US about a man who was found wandering the streets of Denver with no idea of his name or where he came from (or even how he got there). He made it onto natl news and his fiancee contacted the Denver Police. Apparently he had a form of epilepsy that caused amnesia and had had short term episodes before. This was, by far, the worst, longest one he had ever had. A month later, even after going back home, meeting his fiancee and parents, he still did not remember.

As for the right of privacy well, I believe that facing one's personal responsibilities outweighs that. It seems that many people use that as an excuse to avoid taking responsibility for their own behavior. Others are allowed their opinions on this, just as I am allowed mine.

As you can see above, only opinions that agree with the mods are not allowed. My previous post was deleted because I had "nothing of use to add to this topic".

The irony here is that as a young lad, I had the pleasure of a female stalker. Its not as much fun as it sounds, and I had to leave uni and move away to stop it. Didn't work, she still tracked me down, and then again 2 years ago made it as far as Koh Phangan which was way too close for comfort.

That this michael had applied for a passport in malay would suggest that he both remembers his name and definitely doesn't want to be found.

Over and out...

[Boo]

as you said, you have nothing of interest or use to add so why not drop it. This isn't some stalker, it is his legal wife, he made the commitment to marry the women so she has the right to know what has happened to him. End of story. He managed to elude her so far so getting the embassy to release the photos that were submitted with the passport application will at least tell her yes or no, if it was him applying for it. If she hasn't tracked him down after so many years then whats the harm in knowing yes or know if he is at least alive but not wanting to be found.

But if it isn't him then someone attempted to commit passport fraud, which, in any country, is a crime.

[wim00]

as you said, you have nothing of interest or use to add so why not drop it. This isn't some stalker, it is his legal wife, he made the commitment to marry the women so she has the right to know what has happened to him. End of story. He managed to elude her so far so getting the embassy to release the photos that were submitted with the passport application will at least tell her yes or no, if it was him applying for it. If she hasn't tracked him down after so many years then whats the harm in knowing yes or know if he is at least alive but not wanting to be found.

But if it isn't him then someone attempted to commit passport fraud, which, in any country, is a crime.

Thanks Boo. You seem to be able to 'get it' in one. I've just got off the phone with Sheila and she is bearing up. Pretty emotional, but bearing up. Until a few months back she was convinced that Michael was dead. The coroner did not issue the death certificate because there is a lot of doubt as to whether Michael is really dead. The coroner turned up the information that someone had attempted to renew the passport in 2001. The Australian Embassy in KL say that it was Michael and so do the the AFP. Sheila would like to see the renewal photo and application form with her own eyes so that she knows for sure. So many mistakes have been made already that she wants proof.

So far, no one will help her out on this. The legal aid was specifically to help her with the coroner and so has now stopped as the coroner reckons 2001 was a confirmed sighting. (.. or at least there is reasonable doubt that it was Michael). So the only avenue left is Kirsten Livermore the local MP ... so far no date on Sheilas appointment.

Imagine how she must feel. She paid for Michael to go to university and made every payment on the mortgage and supported him throughout. If he has simply done a runner, and there is some further evidence to suggest that he might have, ..... then make your own minds up.

In the meantime she has asked that I give her a hand with getting onto the media after Christmas is out the way.

What she needs is confirmation. If he is alive I imagine Sheila will divorce him, if dead, then back to the coroner. Hopefully someone can help.

[Nignoy]

When I once posted a "missing person" item, I received a message from the moderator that such postings were not allowed, and that mine had been deleted.

Me too!! looking for a missing army mate, But then he was not australian Nignoy

[deminister]

removed stupid content

Edited December 17, 2006 by Boo
read the rules. you stupid comments about women will not be tolerated on this forum.

[aussiestyle1983]

Has there been any proof of his existance since his comfirmed embassy siting in 2001? It has been 5 years since 2001 and alot can happen in 5 years.

I agree it is not fair to his wife what he has done but we dont know the full story and maybe he has his reasons. I feel for his wife but unfortunantly there is not much anyone can do except for the man himself. I just hope she will have an answer one day so she can sleep at night. Maybe a quick phone call with an explination to his missus wouldnt hurt, but I doubt that will ever happen. Maybe he is reading this?

[sbk]

Seems like a quick phone call and a divorce would be more helpful.

[aussiestyle1983]

Indeed it would. Christmas is just around the corner

[wim00]

Hi aussiestyle1983,

There hasn't been a word back home to his wife, or to other relatives to whom he was very close since 1998. The 'confirmed' sighting at the embassy with the unfinished passport renewal application (one more form/letter was needed by the embassy which was promised for the following day .... but that person never came back). Not a word since.

You are right that a lot of time has gone by since and he could be anywhere by now. Might have even snuck back into Oz - who knows. I hope that the coming media attention (if the papers are interested) will find him - pretty difficult to hide a 6'3" blond Australian, especially as Michael was a very outspoken person.

[aussiestyle1983]

It seems strange that he did not go back the following. Maybe he realised that he could be traced by using a new passport so he decided not to apply, meaning he would of had to obtain a fake passport to travel on unless he is illegally staying in Malaysia because he does not have a valid passport to leave. Or He may of left via land or sea without checkpoints and entered a different country the same way, so he could either be on a fake passport, or could just be sneaking into other countries as he pleases. The chance that he was not able to return to the embassy the following day because he was murdered or had an accident would be quite slim, so he's either on a fake passport or just traveling without a passport. Maybe the Tsunami got him? Good luck for his wife.

Edited December 17, 2006 by aussiestyle1983

[wim00]

It seems strange that he did not go back the following. Maybe he realised that he could be traced by using a new passport so he decided not to apply, meaning he would of had to obtain a fake passport to travel on unless he is illegally staying in Malaysia because he does not have a valid passport to leave. Or He may of left via land or sea without checkpoints and entered a different country the same way, so he could either be on a fake passport, or could just be sneaking into other countries as he pleases. The chance that he was not able to return to the embassy the following day because he was murdered or had an accident would be quite slim, so he's either on a fake passport or just traveling without a passport. Maybe the Tsunami got him? Good luck for his wife.

Good deductions ... I wondered that if someone did 'bump him off' in '98, they might have thought to wait a few years before renewing the passport and then 'bottled out' at the last minute. This scenario sounds a bit unlikely, but if Sheila could see the photo and decide for herself if it was Michael or not .... then the 'deceased' possibility gains a few more percentage points.

[aussiestyle1983]

So this guy has completely vanished, apart from the time that he (or someone else) tried to re-new his passport. Just seems either very very well planed or he was killed in 1998. Like mentioned before, no evidence of his existance in the form of using his name, or bills, credit card use, bank account use. He either planned it very very well and has not slipped up yet, or he is dead and maybe it was the people who murdered him that were trying to steal his identity (which would be very hard to do because there would be loved ones trying to track him down like what is happening here.) Did he have a life insurance policy? Who was the benificiary? Would he have the funds to survive of radar or would someone else be supporting him? So many missing answers to important questions.

I am interested to see what happens with this story and good luck.

[aussiestyle1983]

BTW The photo the embassy has. If the person didnt return to continue the application it was most likely not michale because the embassy might of detained the person so the person thought it would be to hard and just decided not to renew the passport. Im sure if michael applied for the passport he would of had the intentions to go through with it, but another person would of been scared off when further doccuments were requested. When were the authorities first notified of michales situation? Im sure embassies would have a list of names with pics of missing people and when the passport was applied for, after some checking, the embassy decided to request futher doccuments so that the applicant could return and be detained for questioning. This makes me further believe that the guy is dead. To just go missing they way he did and for so long without any traces is just to strange to believe. You know many people use fake passports or steal identity and this is what may of happened. Did anyone have a reason to bump him? did he family see any sings of him doing the bolt? The key to this is getting the photo from the embassy.......................

[wim00]

Hi Again ... Yes, he did have life insurance as part of the mortgage and I would imagine that Sheila is the beneficiary. In his last letter and calls to Sheila it was pretty obvious that he was short of funds and that he had a few schemes that he was going to try out that would hopefully pay out. One of them, and it isn't in too much detail ... was that he was 'working for the 'Forex' in Johor', whatever that means.

As to someone supporting him, there is a possibility here, because at his last known place of work they said to the police during the initial investigation, that he had a girlfriend at a hotel called The Flamingo (details on my website - link in first post). She was a Malaysian national who has also gone missing.

Thanks for these questions as it helps me get together all the facts into some coherent form to pass to the media. I've also been given the contact details for the MCA who will be first on the list.

Regards - Wim

[chonabot]

Thanks for the update Wim, let us know how the media blitz goes please.

[aussiestyle1983]

So he was working in Johor, Malaysia (next to Singapore) to try to make money by a scheme..........

interesting. His passport was applied for in KL Malaysia.

It seems that the answer to this story will involve Malaysia.

Maybe the scheme was a bad idea and he got mixed up with the wrong people, who then, if it was a bad scheme, have bumped him off and tried to steal his identity or obtain a passport in his name for some reason. So maybe he is either still in Malaysia or his life was terminated in Malaysia, or the other option is that he has obtained a fake identity (or not) and left malaysia to else where, but that would not make any sense of him to do if it was really him that applied for a new passport. The answer will be found if the Embassy can release the photo, but we dont know if the person in the photo is the person who applied. Maybe someone else applied by used a photo of michale or maybe michale applied using a pic of himeslf or maybe some one else applied using a pic of themselve. So if it was a pic of michale, that doesnt mean he was still alive, maybe someone lodged the application with michales pic. however, if the pic is of someone else, that will give a better clue as to what happened.

I look forward to hearing any positive updates.

[sbk]

aussie, that was my thought too, perhaps the person who lodged the passport application did use his photo but realized that they wouldn't be able to pick it up the next day since they didn't match the photo.

In any case, Wim, is there any chance of getting the Malaysian authorities more involved in this case? ie actively investigate?

[zzdocxx]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currency_market

From Wikipedia (note the comment about scams):

The foreign exchange (currency or forex or FX) market exists wherever one currency is traded for another. It is by far the largest market in the world, in terms of cash value traded, and includes trading between large banks, central banks, currency speculators, multinational corporations, governments, and other financial markets and institutions. The trade happening in the forex markets across the globe currently exceeds $1.9 trillion/day (on average). Retail traders (individuals) are currently a very small part of this market and may only participate indirectly through brokers or banks and may be targets of forex scams.

[chonabot]

b.u.m.p.

[dgoz]

bump

[percy2]

Australia

Grounds for Divorce

The only ground for divorce in Australia is irretrievable breakdown of marriage. This is shown by separation for a period of 12 months with no prospect of reconciliation.

The 12 month separation period must be continuous OR a total period of 12 months apart, broken only by one period of reconciliation of less than three months.

PROCEDURE

An application for divorce is filed in the Family court by either or both parties to the marriage. It is only necessary for one of the parties to want the divorce.

It can relate to a marriage which occurred in Australia or outside Australia provided that either the husband or wife:

is an Australian citizen, or is domiciled in Australia, or

has been resident in Australia for one year.

The application must be filed after the 12 month period of separation has expired and is normally heard about two months after the date of the filing.

A person wishing to obtain a divorce:

can obtain a "do-it-yourself" kit from the Family Court of Australia, or use a private solicitor to act on their behalf, or

if in the Brisbane area, apply through the Legal Aid Community Divorce Scheme, or in limited circumstances, apply to Legal Aid Queensland for assistance.

When the court grants a divorce it must be satisfied that proper arrangements have been made for the welfare of the children. If there are children, one of the parents must attend court for the divorce.

Where there are no children under 18, then the parties can request not to attend on their application. However, it is usually wise for the applicant to attend.

The court, if it approves the application for divorce, issues a decree nisi at the hearing and the divorce becomes final one month later and the court sends a decree absolute in the mail. A person can not apply to remarry until they have the decree absolute.

Is it necerssary to find him?