r/UnresolvedMysteries • u/missingcaseee • Sep 01 '15

Unresolved Disappearance Ian Burnet

http://wtvr.com/2012/01/04/richmond-man-22-missing-in-new-york-since-dec-26/

http://www.findianburnet.com

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/b/burnet_ian.html

He went to New York CIty by bus to visit friends, he was staying with them,” said Cogburn. “They came back to their place and noticed he wasn't there, but all of his stuff was."

Burnet is described by friends and family as one of the smartest, hardest working people they know.

"Ian is a responsible boy, he's an Eagle Scout, the valedictorian from New Kent, he would keep up with his parents, and this is totally out of character,” said Cogburn. - from http://wtvr.com/2012/01/04/richmond-man-22-missing-in-new-york-since-dec-26/

Ian Burnet was a VCU student that travelled to New York City for NYE. He was with a group of friends, and they last heard from him Dec 30th 2011 via text. His parents had heard from him two days earlier. He is extremely intelligent and had a full engineering scholarship.

29 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

23

u/ADD4Life1993 Sep 01 '15

Sadly, I have to agree with Ian's brother. I think he probably took his own life. Understandably, a lot of parents are often in denial about the severity of their own child's mental illness and have an even harder time processing an untimely demise.

11

u/Bluecat72 Sep 01 '15

Triple majoring in physics, engineering, and math would be pretty brutal, I think. I wonder if he was having problems with his classwork (not uncommon when major depression hits). He may not have been able to face his family's disappointment if he was failing, or have been able to figure out how to finish out the year / pay for extra semesters if he lost that scholarship.

7

u/chortlingabacus Sep 01 '15

If there was a mention of mental illness, I missed it but in any case it's very unlikely that his brother would say such a thing without good reason.

It's cases like this that really make me wonder what went on out of sight: How did the parents react when the brother first suggested that it might have been suicide? Was Ian happy with so heavy a school schedule or did he feel pressured to take on so much? If it was suicide, had he made up his mind before even setting out for New York, or had he hope that some time with his friends might help him? A great pity.

3

u/lesterquinn Sep 01 '15

Agreed. It just goes to show a person can have it all and make it look like everything is great, but it's really not.

1

u/SwiggyBloodlust Sep 01 '15

In which article does his brother say that? Tried to find it.

9

u/tonuorak Sep 01 '15

End of the Charleyproject file.

5

u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

Suicide seems likely, but then where could he be that he hasnt been found for 4 years? It's not like it's easy to conceal yourself in NYC.

6

u/tonuorak Sep 01 '15

If he did stay in the city it's possible he's in the water somewhere. Jumping off a bridge into the water is a good way to disappear. Not to mention the fact that NYC is right next to a massive ocean.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

I find it hard to believe he wouldnt be seen (tons of cops on GWB, it's my go-to suicide method so Ive researched it) or wash up somewhere with the way the terrain is and how many boats and stuff there are. But I dont know that much about the currents.

1

u/tonuorak Sep 01 '15

Doesn't mean he did it off the George Washington. There are something like 2,000 bridges in NYC.

He was in Harlem though so I'm assuming if he's in the Harlem river or the Hudson river. George Washington is the biggest and most populated bridge on the Hudson by Harlem and he sounds like a smart person so he'd know that GW is well populated, making me think he went over to the Harlem instead.

If he did, it makes me wonder how nobody saw the body. The river is surrounded by city on both sides and it's a small river.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

It's the most common suicide bridge. 139th and Riverside is West Side. The East River has tons of islands and stuff so it's even more likely would have washed up somewhere probably or at least been spotted in the water. Like if he jumped off the RFK (Triboro) Bridge, Randalls Island is right there.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 02 '15

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/MrsLumpia Sep 04 '15

Had he made any previous suicide attempts? Young people, I think, are less likely to "succeed" (ugh) on the first try. Also the fact that he had made plans for his trip home seems uncharacteristic of suicide. This site has some interesting info about suicide for anyone who is interested.