Missing Icelandic man

Bigmac1euro · 26-02-2019 12:21am #1

This story struck me as really strange, that area in general is quite safe how did he just go missing

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/fresh-appeal-issued-for-icelandic-man-missing-in-dublin-1.3803655

UrbanFret · 26-02-2019 12:24am

Bigmac1euro wrote: »

This story struck me as really strange, that area in general is quite safe how did he just go missing

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/fresh-appeal-issued-for-icelandic-man-missing-in-dublin-1.3803655

He went missing because he chose to I'd imagine.

Bigmac1euro · 26-02-2019 12:26am

UrbanFret wrote: »

He went missing because he chose to I'd imagine.

Brought no phone
left his passport behind
His bank cards haven't been used.

Man Vs ManUre · 26-02-2019 12:30am

This is a very strange incident. Hope he will be found alive and well. Not sure if there would be some shady characters on the scene at these poker competitions?? Carrying large sums of cash, if it was known to others, could attract some gangster lowlifes. There must be something the partner knows that we are not hearing??

Strazdas · 26-02-2019 12:31am

Bigmac1euro wrote: »

Brought no phone
left his passport behind
His bank cards haven't been used.

If he was mugged or murdered, it's extremely unusual there is no trace of him, his body or a crime scene. He's a big guy too, 6ft tall and of stocky build.

Man Vs ManUre · 26-02-2019 12:32am

I meant to say I am sure there would be some shady characters attending these poker competitions.

screamer · 26-02-2019 12:34am

Maybe he won some money from someone who had no intention of parting with it..... I feel sorry for his family searching for him in another country and no clue as to what happened

Strazdas · 26-02-2019 12:35am

Man Vs ManUre wrote: »

This is a very strange incident. Hope he will be found alive and well. Not sure if there would be some shady characters on the scene at these poker competitions?? Carrying large sums of cash, if it was known to others, could attract some gangster lowlifes. There must be something the partner knows that we are not hearing??

If he was murdered, it sounds like the killer or killers took great care to cover up the crime.

It's all very strange, apparently he only arrived in Dublin the day before.

Get Real · 26-02-2019 12:43am

Hope this man is found safe and well.

The Bonnington/ former Regency hotel already had bad luck brought upon it with a boxing tournament. Now this with a poker tournament.

Hopefully he shows up.

t1h9mgqsxopj0r · 26-02-2019 7:26am

I'm really fastinstated with this. I've been keeping an eye out on the news but it's really strange at the same time. No phone, wallet or money and vanished. 4 children waiting for him and a desperately worried wife and family. I want to say that he had his reasons and knew what he was doing or knew where he was going. Footages show that it looks like hes making his way to a destination rather than looking lost.

Bigmac1euro · 26-02-2019 8:02am

Strazdas wrote: »

If he was murdered, it sounds like the killer or killers took great care to cover up the crime.

It's all very strange, apparently he only arrived in Dublin the day before.

This is also what’s strange. Though he could have been bundled into the back of a van.
But from my experience the poker scene isn’t as seedy and dangerous as in the movies though. I used to play in the casino closest to the hotel a few years ago.
The whole story is baffling.
Could he have been run over and his body discarded ???

Bigmac1euro · 26-02-2019 8:05am

Bigmac1euro wrote: »

This is also what’s strange. Though he could have been bundled into the back of a van.
But from my experience the poker scene isn’t as seedy and dangerous as in the movies though. I used to play in the casino closest to the hotel a few years ago.
The whole story is baffling.
Could he have been run over and his body discarded ???

On 2nd thoughts absolutely no way.
11am on a Saturday absolutely way too many people around.

Teyla Emmagan · 26-02-2019 8:37am

Such a strange case. But how frightening got the family, 4 kids wondering where their Dad is. Awful.

That's a big man, there is no way just one person picked him off the road if he didn't want to go with them.

dar_cool · 26-02-2019 8:44am

Very strange case, looks to me from the videos he might have been up drinking/playing poker all night and maybe was invited to an underground game and god knows what might have happened there. Feel sorry for his family

ciaran76 · 26-02-2019 9:32am

I see the Irish Independent are saying he lost 4k on a poker game the night before.

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/icelander-lost-4000-at-poker-before-going-missing-37855067.html

Icelander lost €4,000 at poker before going missing...
The Icelandic man who vanished after leaving a Dublin hotel more than two weeks ago had lost €4,000 in a poker game the night before.

Bigmac1euro · 26-02-2019 9:39am

ciaran76 wrote: »

I see the Irish Independent are saying he lost 4k on a poker game the night before.

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/icelander-lost-4000-at-poker-before-going-missing-37855067.html

Icelander lost €4,000 at poker before going missing...
The Icelandic man who vanished after leaving a Dublin hotel more than two weeks ago had lost €4,000 in a poker game the night before.

Didn’t see this. I was thinking possibly suicide and the body just hadn’t been found yet.

Uncharted · 26-02-2019 9:39am

Man Vs ManUre wrote: »

I meant to say I am sure there would be some shady characters attending these poker competitions.

"You're sure" ????

How many poker tournaments have you attended?

There are shady characters in all walks of life.

Poker tournaments are in the main attended by enthusiasts and semi pro's with the very occasional card shark.

They are not Scorsese-esque as you seem to think.

:rolleyes:

Having said all that,I hope that guy is safe,wherever he is.

seamus · 26-02-2019 9:43am

It seems unnecessary for the Indo to start spreading that information at this stage. 4k is not a large amount of money.

I can understand someone leaving without a wallet or passport (especially if they were going to play poker), but leaving without a phone seems less likely. It's never looked good for him. It's a credit to his family though the effort they've put into this.

I wonder if a better picture might help? The CCTV picture shows a much heavier man than the picture the family have released. If they showed something more up-to-date it might jog someone's memory.

highgiant1985 · 26-02-2019 9:50am

seamus wrote: »

4k is not a large amount of money.

If is if you don't have any.

Bigmac1euro · 26-02-2019 9:53am

From reading the latest article if he lost 4K on the Friday before entering the tournament that may have been his buy in money. I’m starting to think this is going to end quite sadly. There’s a few fields around the area, surely these areas have been searched though.

Dr Turk Turkelton · 26-02-2019 9:59am

highgiant1985 wrote: »

If is if you don't have any.

To any sort of a poker player it's chump change.

Uncharted · 26-02-2019 10:08am

highgiant1985 wrote: »

If is if you don't have any.

4k to any poker player who travels internationally to play is absolute trash money.

Cash games in pubs on a Tuesday night would easily have €1000 in the pot ffs.

A tournament is a whole other world.

Another level above that is the after tourny side games.

That's really where the big money goes....

Bigmac1euro · 26-02-2019 10:35am

Dr Turk Turkelton wrote: »

To any sort of a poker player it's chump change.

But he was a taxi man. I doubt he was cleaning up.

Bigmac1euro · 26-02-2019 10:38am

Uncharted wrote: »

4k to any poker player who travels internationally to play is absolute trash money.

Cash games in pubs on a Tuesday night would easily have €1000 in the pot ffs.

A tournament is a whole other world.

Another level above that is the after tourny side games.

That's really where the big money goes....

I played weekly tournaments in my local and when you got knocked out people would hit the cash game.
It would be rare that there would be more than 700 euro between everyone at the table.

4K is a significant amount of money. This guy was unlikely a pro. I somehow doubt this 4K was chump change to him.

neris · 26-02-2019 10:42am

seamus wrote: »

It seems unnecessary for the Indo to start spreading that information at this stage. 4k is not a large amount of money.

The Indo is a rag and full of low life bottom of the barrel sensationalism & muck. Just look at the article yesterday on the "sniper" culling deer when in reality the guy was a hunter

Fiftyfilthy · 26-02-2019 11:18am

Unfortunately I’m thinking suicide

Wouldn’t imagine someone arriving in a country the day before would leave without phone, wallet or ID

Also after losing 4K the night before

MarkR · 26-02-2019 11:24am

Only guesswork by everyone. People always seem to be falling into rivers and bodies of water. I'm not flush, and if I lost 4k, i'm sure i'd get an earful, but wouldn't be killing myself over it.

Poor family, hope they get some results soon.

klaaaz · 26-02-2019 11:32am

The Swords Rd is a very busy road most times of the day, he must have been picked up in a vehicle or just wandered walking towards the airport. Thing is that road is riddled with cameras(and traffic witnesses) so if he wandered off towards the airport he would have been spotted on camera along the way. It's likely he probably walked off a side road which is why it's harder to track his movements. And he didn't know the area!

Vela · 26-02-2019 11:49am

His family organised a big search (80+) on Saturday kicking off at the Bonnington and nothing was found. I was talking to his sister and she genuinely cannot understand what happened. His family seem to be close, but you still never know what's going on in someone's head. What I've found strange is that his fiance hasn't spoken out at all.

Bigmac1euro · 26-02-2019 11:52am

MarkR wrote: »

Only guesswork by everyone. People always seem to be falling into rivers and bodies of water. I'm not flush, and if I lost 4k, i'm sure i'd get an earful, but wouldn't be killing myself over it.

Poor family, hope they get some results soon.

There’s no rivers nearby. Unless he jumped in a taxi.

eviltwin · 26-02-2019 11:55am

Vela wrote: »

His family organised a big search (80+) on Saturday kicking off at the Bonnington and nothing was found. I was talking to his sister and she genuinely cannot understand what happened. His family seem to be close, but you still never know what's going on in someone's head. What I've found strange is that his fiance hasn't spoken out at all.

Did they search the shrub land leading down to the M1 do you know? Plenty of places along there for a person to disappear

klaaaz · 26-02-2019 12:13pm

If one looks at the map for a person walking northwards with last sighting at Highfield, they have Plunkett College and its sports grounds directly across the road and farmland behind that with Albert College Park(beside DCU) directly behind that. Further up, there is a left turn at the big houses at Iveagh and then you head onto the crossroads at the big church, there is open waste ground(housing due to be built) to the right and established housing behind that.

At the crossroads, one can turn left and head to DCU(more housing as well) or turn right heading to Whitehall. I cannot see a "hiding place" in either direction, too many houses and not enough closed greenland. Then if one heads past the crossroads continuing northwards, there are two options of a slight left towards Santry (Omni)or a right slip road towards Beaumont, impossible to disappear there without being spotted in the 11am-12pm bracket, a busy Saturday morning full of shoppers. If he got past the Omni, there is an industrial estate on the left, might be quiet on a Saturday morning though but alot of units would have been shuttered. Further on up towards the airport(M1 road) there is no footpath so a large man wandering off that direction on the grass would have been spotted by hundreds of drivers.

He either wandered on a very long walk passing housing estates heading east towards Clontarf or west towards Finglas or north on the Old Swords rd passed the Omni(more cameras), he would have been spotted by many. Or picked up by a vehicle shortly after leaving the hotel, this I think is more likely. Speculation of course, it really is a mystery.

Keyzer · 26-02-2019 12:17pm

Man Vs ManUre wrote: »

I meant to say I am sure there would be some shady characters attending these poker competitions.

You've no idea what you're talking about so best keeping your innuedo to yourself.

silverharp · 26-02-2019 12:31pm

its odd for sure, as a foreigner you are not going to know every little nook and cranny , not near the coast, random tourists don't just get bundled into cars and made disappear and difficult for a body not to be noticed in a built up suburb. At this stage the least worst outcome is that he doesn't want to be found for whatever reason.

Vela · 26-02-2019 12:36pm

eviltwin wrote: »

Did they search the shrub land leading down to the M1 do you know? Plenty of places along there for a person to disappear

I think so. I'll say it to her though just in case!

scamalert · 26-02-2019 12:39pm

as these tournaments go, 4k isnt just worth the hassle, most average have buy-ins of 5k just to get a seat at a table.

unless there's deeper issues not disclosed, think its completely irrelevant. but for someone to vanish mid day, and not a small guy, doesn't seem like some voluntary decision.

easy to speculate but without further info seems irrelevant.

....... · 26-02-2019 12:43pm

This is a bizarre case.

I can only think of 3 possibilities.

1 - Something deliberately nefarious has happened to him - but I feel like if this was the case that there would be some clue, someone would have seen something, a crime scene etc...

2 - An accident that has put him missing from sight, such as falling into a body of water, down a well etc...

3 - He deliberately disappeared.

I really hope he is found safe and well.

averagejoe123 · 26-02-2019 12:54pm

scamalert wrote: »

as these tournaments go, 4k isnt just worth the hassle, most average have buy-ins of 5k just to get a seat at a table.

unless there's deeper issues not disclosed, think its completely irrelevant. but for someone to vanish mid day, and not a small guy, doesn't seem like some voluntary decision.

easy to speculate but without further info seems irrelevant.

€4k isn't worth the hassle of what exactly? There was 4 tournaments a part of the boddington series ranging from €230 to the €1,000 highroller. I'm open to correction but I think the maximum buy in for an irish tournament in 2019 is €2,000. You can get a "seat at the table" for cash game poker in most card rooms for €50.

Unfortunately it seems very likely to me that this guy wanted to disappear for some reason or another. Such a strange case when someone disappears in a country they have only been in for a day and vanish in the middle of the day. I think there must of been public transport or a taxi used.

klaaaz · 26-02-2019 12:54pm

Or he could have got the bus at either of the bus stops heading either north or south(towards town), using Dublin Bus or one of the private operators like Aircoach. Then buses do have cameras inside and outside them so this option might be ruled out. And we have to assume all the waste ground/park/farmland in the immediate vicinity has already been searched. Also at Plunketts across the road, there might have been Saturday morning football matches on, another ton of witnesses to spot something.

26-02-2019 12:55pm

scamalert wrote: »

as these tournaments go, 4k isnt just worth the hassle, most average have buy-ins of 5k just to get a seat at a table.

unless there's deeper issues not disclosed, think its completely irrelevant. but for someone to vanish mid day, and not a small guy, doesn't seem like some voluntary decision.

easy to speculate but without further info seems irrelevant.

There are no tournaments held in Ireland that have a 5k buy not for years and even when they were they were rare

Also the indo havent a fecking clue how much money he may have lost the night before the only person who would know is him, absolute piece of trash click bait

Fiftyfilthy · 26-02-2019 12:59pm

Also yes, he was a big man but why are people on here focusing on that so much ?

If he was 5ft 6 for example it would be easier to go missing?

averagejoe123 · 26-02-2019 1:02pm

Fiftyfilthy wrote: »

Also yes, he was a big man but why are people on here focusing on that so much ?

If he was 5ft 6 for example it would be easier to go missing?

Because he's not a stereotypical looking Irish man. His size is a distinguishing feature that may make it easier to identify him

Fiftyfilthy · 26-02-2019 1:04pm

averagejoe123 wrote: »

Because he's not a stereotypical looking Irish man. His size is a distinguishing feature that may make it easier to identify him

Yes but Dublin isn’t just Irish people living here. He is 6ft? Quite big build it’s not that unusual in the slightest

kenmc · 26-02-2019 1:07pm

Am I the only one who finds it strange that there's been nothing from his Fiancee who he travelled with? It's all quotes from his family, from what I've seen, rather than her. Would have expected to see something from her, being the last person from home he was in contact with.

BettePorter · 26-02-2019 1:09pm

As someone said the guy in the photograph they've released looks nothing like the guy in the cctv. He's obviously built up considerably since that was taken. He could walk up o'connell st and nobody would recognise him from that released photo. He looks huge by comparison on the cctv

seamus · 26-02-2019 1:12pm

kenmc wrote: »

Am I the only one who finds it strange that there's been nothing from his Fiancee who he travelled with? It's all quotes from his family, from what I've seen, rather than her. Would have expected to see something from her, being the last person from home he was in contact with.

The Indo implies that there was an argument between them before he left.

She may just not have the emotional strength to be a public face in the search.

Bigmac1euro · 26-02-2019 1:35pm

kenmc wrote: »

Am I the only one who finds it strange that there's been nothing from his Fiancee who he travelled with? It's all quotes from his family, from what I've seen, rather than her. Would have expected to see something from her, being the last person from home he was in contact with.

The thing is he didn’t travel over with his partner.
She followed him over and arrived the morning he went missing.

Bigmac1euro · 26-02-2019 1:39pm

klaaaz wrote: »

If one looks at the map for a person walking northwards with last sighting at Highfield, they have Plunkett College and its sports grounds directly across the road and farmland behind that with Albert College Park(beside DCU) directly behind that. Further up, there is a left turn at the big houses at Iveagh and then you head onto the crossroads at the big church, there is open waste ground(housing due to be built) to the right and established housing behind that.

At the crossroads, one can turn left and head to DCU(more housing as well) or turn right heading to Whitehall. I cannot see a "hiding place" in either direction, too many houses and not enough closed greenland. Then if one heads past the crossroads continuing northwards, there are two options of a slight left towards Santry (Omni)or a right slip road towards Beaumont, impossible to disappear there without being spotted in the 11am-12pm bracket, a busy Saturday morning full of shoppers. If he got past the Omni, there is an industrial estate on the left, might be quiet on a Saturday morning though but alot of units would have been shuttered. Further on up towards the airport(M1 road) there is no footpath so a large man wandering off that direction on the grass would have been spotted by hundreds of drivers.

He either wandered on a very long walk passing housing estates heading east towards Clontarf or west towards Finglas or north on the Old Swords rd passed the Omni(more cameras), he would have been spotted by many. Or picked up by a vehicle shortly after leaving the hotel, this I think is more likely. Speculation of course, it really is a mystery.

This is why it’s a mystery, there isn’t many places to go. The closest park is ellenfield but again this is a small park. Dublin is so small and that particular area is all very busy roads, strange how nothing has been reports or he hadnt been sighted.

26-02-2019 1:40pm

kenmc wrote: »

Am I the only one who finds it strange that there's been nothing from his Fiancee who he travelled with? It's all quotes from his family, from what I've seen, rather than her. Would have expected to see something from her, being the last person from home he was in contact with.

She's presumably upset. She could be nervous. She might have poor English.
Lots of reasons not to speak out.

Artifacting · 26-02-2019 1:49pm

There's a fair bit of CCTV coverage around Dublin too compared to a lot of continental cities. It shouldn't be that hard to find him.

It's also not an area with many natural hazards. It's mostly just streets of suburban housing and gardens. I can't think of any queries or dangerous drops or anything like that. Even the coastline at Clontarf is very tame and also very busy with walkers almost all the time.

I assume they're asking people within walking distance to check their own gardens, sheds, properties generally, just in case he somehow wandered into private property or became unwell or something. There are lots and lots of big secluded gardens and laneways around Griffith Avenue and the other roads around there.

Strazdas · 26-02-2019 4:19pm

Bigmac1euro wrote: »

This is why it’s a mystery, there isn’t many places to go. The closest park is ellenfield but again this is a small park. Dublin is so small and that particular area is all very busy roads, strange how nothing has been reports or he hadnt been sighted.

One wonders where he was going too. Extremely odd that he left the hotel and just started wandering through the suburbs. He was only 24 hours in the city and unfamiliar with Dublin. He doesn't have a map in the CCTV images and hadn't got his phone. How was he going to get back to the hotel unless taking a taxi?

Missing Icelandic man

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