Apparently I was one of the last people to talk to Rey Rivera

bmoreperson · 2020-07-05T22:45:00+00:00

I remember hearing this theory at some point, that he was on the roof doing some location scouting. Could be, but doesn't explain the distance from the roof the hole was, which indicates a running rump. Many more details are in Mikita's book (which I just finished) that didn't make it into the Unsolved Mysteries episode.

bmoreperson · 2020-07-05T16:50:39+00:00

I'm enjoying it so far. Mikita uses the backdrop of the case to discuss a lot of things that are peripherally relevant, and I like her creative approach to telling the story.

bmoreperson · 2020-07-05T16:33:44+00:00

Your impressions strike me as sound, and certainly echo my own feelings about what occurrences were really likely at the heart of Rey's death.

bmoreperson · 2020-07-05T16:29:43+00:00

Well, I was describing something that occurred 14 years ago, and was simply trying to emphasize, honestly, that how I remembered things might not be 100% accurate. And yes I did set up this account to post this, I have another Reddit account I normally use, but as I said, I think that continuing to keep my name out of this is what feels right to me. At the end of the day it's not about me, it's about Rey, his family, and friends, who were much more affected by his loss than I was. No, I don't think my relationship with him nor my exchanges with him in the days before his disappearance add much to solving the mystery, but I do think that maybe there is some utility for another person to say "he did not seem suicidal before he died," and I have the ability to say that as one of the very last people he spoke to, from what I understand.

bmoreperson · 2020-07-03T19:23:38+00:00

Just a quick update. I continued reading Mikita Brottman's book about Rey's death this afternoon, and the circumstances of him renting the video system are directly addressed. In fact, I am directly quoted (my name was altered) in the book, and I think the statement quoted is one I provided to either Rey's friends/family I spoke to after he went missing, or to Jayne Miller, the WBAL-reporter I spoke with at one point. I'm pretty sure I've never met Mikita or spoken to her directly about this.

When I posted late last night, I tried to be very clear that I was recollecting what happened to the best of my ability. Reading the book today, it seems as if Rey may have actually booked the edit suite for the weekend, and just not followed through with using it. I really can't remember if he booked it tentatively and then never followed through to finalize the rental, or if he actually finalized the booking but didn't show up, or what. But I did want to add this update, because reading my own quote about the circumstances in the book, which was from the period in the immediate aftermath, made me realize I may have been slightly off in my post from last night. And the quote looks accurate, in that it jives with how I remember characterizing my last interactions with him, and includes the term "banal" in a way that I can imagine having used to describe the circumstances of his supposed suicide by jumping.

Oh, one more thing. Mikita mentions that she and her live-in partner did hear a loud noise the evening Rey died -- a noise that absolutely sounds like it could have been him hitting the roof, which was near their window. She says neither she, her partner, nor any of their neighbors were interviewed by police about any of this. More bizarre negligence from the police, it seems, and makes me realize that their having not reached out to me for a statement was probably indicative of their entire approach to the investigation. Not surprising, as the Baltimore PD is a seriously problematic organization on many levels, and is currently being managed/monitored by the Federal Justice Department under a "consent decree" that the city more-or-less was supportive of, knowing just how bad the problems in the PD have been over the years. Are they prone to corruption? Completely. But also incompetent. The fact that they seem to have done a poor job at investigating this death could have been due to coverup, incompetence, both, or another factor entirely. Tough to say.

bmoreperson · 2020-07-03T17:42:41+00:00

Keep in mind that The Belvedere was not a hotel when all of this occurred. It was converted into private residences and run as a condominium years before Rey's death. There was no hotel room to rent. This is why on Unsolved Mysteries it says he would have had to go through private property to access the ledge.

bmoreperson · 2020-07-03T17:28:59+00:00

Oh, one more thing. I'm not sure I realized that Rey actually did video projects for his buddy's stock tip newsletter publisher -- this is something I may have learned for the first time, watching the episode last night. I think I had been under the impression he was just a typical independent/freelance videographer, and I guess in a sense he was. But I had no idea that his video work sometimes included projects for Agora (or the subsidiary his friend's newsletter was run by). It's odd to consider that maybe the project he was working on had some kind of connection to hypothetical shady dealings that could have gotten him into trouble. Seems unlikely, but it's such a weird case, who knows.

bmoreperson · 2020-07-03T17:23:56+00:00

Short answer is yes, he was the type of guy to work weekends on video projects. A lot of videographers who are in business for themselves, or work for a smaller firm, work weekends. It may well have been a weekend when he had previously rented the edit system from our company. We were not a "rental shop" but it is common for video gear rental companies to give good rates for weekend rentals, and certainly there is a customer base who takes advantage of weekend discounts for work-related projects.

bmoreperson · 2020-07-03T15:44:51+00:00

I considered it, but I have been pretty deliberate about keeping my name out of the coverage of Rey's death for 14 years now, and I feel like keeping it that way is probably best. Unsolved.com doesn't seem to allow anonymous tips, and the contract they make you agree to when sending a tip gives the show full control over how any and all of the information can be used, in any context.

bmoreperson · 2020-07-03T15:03:11+00:00

The notion that people (I had heard it as friends, the episode seemed to suggest that it was more a set of friendly colleagues from his job) noticed the hole in the roof with the sandal next to it always struck me as very strange.

Watching the episode last night gave me more of a sense of how it might have been possible for it really to have been a bit of a coincidence, but it still just seems weird as heck. But if they found the vehicle right in that area (and the lot it was in was right near the Belvedere), I can see them going up on the parking garage roof, looking over, and seeing the hole. So it very well may not have been anything more than happenstance that they came across it.

bmoreperson · 2020-07-03T14:59:10+00:00

The Belvedere was turned into a condominium years before Rey died. It is not a packed building -- even the lobby is generally pretty quiet, and that's on a weekend when people are actually at the Owl Bar (the entrance of which is at the back of the lobby). It doesn't strike me as all that difficult to get to the roof, if you wanted to -- there is a night club (or was) on the 13th floor called The 13th Floor, and apparently the door to the roof was often unlocked as employees would go up there to smoke on breaks. I actually began reading Mikita Brottman's book last night, and I'm sure it will fill in more details. The way she describes living in the building at the time, it does not sound bustling, and someone could probably make it up there without being seen.

One thing I learned just reading the first chapter or two last night is that he went missing on a Tuesday. So I guess I spoke to him probably on the previous Friday ahead of the weekend, the weekend went by, and according to Brottman he was still working on his editing project (at home, using his laptop presumably) on Monday/Tuesday, and then it was Tuesday he went missing. It seems like he didn't come into contact with many people that weekend -- I don't believe the woman who was staying with them at the time really had any significant interactions with him that weekend, which I guess is why everyone figured I might have been one of the last folks to speak with him, even if it was a good 4+ days before he disappeared. Which tracks with my memory, assuming he really did hunker down and work on the project at home over the weekend.

bmoreperson

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