Method disappearing without a trace. is this a realistic scenario?

[endofeverything]

the last few weeks in particular have been almost non-stop wishing to die and forging ideas on how i would do so. i'm wondering if this is a scenario that could possibly go over well, or if it's too risky/too complex??? let me know your thoughts.

i'm planning to disappear without a trace, nor a hint that i took my own life (although a few close people would probably know). the first step would be to throw away a few items containing sensitive info or things i don't want people to know about me after my death. i'd wipe my phone and replace my hard drives, and delete most online accounts (as deletable as they are...) so that there are as few things as possible linking my real life and online life together.

next up, i would pack my bags with a few basic items: some clothes, some cash, maybe some food. i'd leave all electronic devices at home, to avoid tracking. maybe bring an offline mp3-player with me so i'm not too bored on the road. i'm gonna attempt to cross a few country borders. shouldn't be too hard since i'm within the european union, but ideally i don't have to show my passport anywhere, to avoid leaving a trail. at this point, i'd probably already count as missing, unless i depart on a weekend or holiday and nobody tries to reach out for a few days.

i'd like to reach the ocean. anywhere is fine. this is the hard part. i'll have to either throw all my belongings in a dumpster, including most of my clothes; or i burn them in a pit in some remote location. i'd watch the sunset one final time. then, as it gets dark, i'll attempt to swim out into the ocean as far as i can without being seen or rescued. i'll have to do research on ocean currents beforehand, to make sure i don't get swept back to shore after dying, as i'd hate nothing more than having my body be found.

the main risks of this are being stopped on the road, or not managing to swim out far enough - i've never been a particularly good swimmer. i'm a fairly determined person though, so the risk of me changing my mind during the trip would be minimal. it also doesn't bother me that drowning or freezing in the ocean is an agonizing way to go, as once the panic sets in, i'll be way past the point of no return, and time takes care of the rest.

how feasible is this? i know this sounds like a fairly complex process, but it'd put me most at ease knowing i'm leaving no ugly corpse behind, and finally let me escape the agony. i think it would be quite cathartic, also, to go on that final adventure. it's all just fantasy for now anyway, but i can't rule it out either. i don't see myself doing it any other way.

 

[JesiBel]

Traveling for several days and being without communication... wouldn't that raise suspicions among family and friends? If they notify the police about your disappearance, they could start looking for you.

I suppose that in all countries or states there are border controls where they identify people entering and leaving their territories. They always have a connection with the police, if there is a report that you are "missing", they will detain you.

 

[cme-dme]

It is certainly possible but very hard. You'd have to go somewhere no human would ever cross accidentally. Out in the middle of the woods or somehow get out in the middle of the ocean far away from shore.
You'd have to remove any traces of where you're going though which is the hard part. Going somewhere far away with a car without leaving any trail seems impossible to me so you'd have to walk to your destination. I supoose you could drive somewhere far away and walk the rest of the distance.
Although, how would you want the people who care about you to remember you? Would you rather they be left thinking you've been kidnapped, murdered or some other horrible thing or that you have committed suicide? Jusy something to think about.

 

[J&L383]

In today's age of technology it's very difficult. Just the plan of closing accounts indicates that something was planned so you'd have to do nothing of that if you wanted to look like you're just disappeared without a trace without warning and without premeditated plans.

As for locale, the ocean probably would be your best bet, but you'd have to weigh your body down so you don't become a floater and wash back to shore. And hope that you get consumed by ocean dwellers.

Murder victims have been known to disappear and never been found but that's because their perpetrators buried them but I don't know how you could bury yourself.

And if you tell anyone ahead of time that info would eventually get leaked.

 

[endofeverything]

Traveling for several days and being without communication... wouldn't that raise suspicions among family and friends? If they notify the police about your disappearance, they could start looking for you.

I suppose that in all countries or states there are border controls where they identify people entering and leaving their territories. They always have a connection with the police, if there is a report that you are "missing", they will detain you.

being detained would indeed be my main concern, but i think i could disappear for a few days without raising suspicion. i'm not exactly known for responding to messages on time hahah

It is certainly possible but very hard. You'd have to go somewhere no human would ever cross accidentally. Out in the middle of the woods or somehow get out in the middle of the ocean far away from shore.
You'd have to remove any traces of where you're going though which is the hard part. Going somewhere far away with a car without leaving any trail seems impossible to me so you'd have to walk to your destination. I supoose you could drive somewhere far away and walk the rest of the distance.
Although, how would you want the people who care about you to remember you? Would you rather they be left thinking you've been kidnapped, murdered or some other horrible thing or that you have committed suicide? Jusy something to think about.

i don't have a car, so most of the way would have to be done by train and by foot. should still be a largely anonymous travel, even if i get seen by some people there is no way they would remember me or even be questioned in the dissapearance of a random guy from far away.

i don't care what the people who care about me will think. i just don't want them to see a corpse

In today's age of technology it's very difficult. Just the plan of closing accounts indicates that something was planned so you'd have to do nothing of that if you wanted to look like you're just disappeared without a trace without warning and without premeditated plans.

As for locale, the ocean probably would be your best bet, but you'd have to weigh your body down so you don't become a floater and wash back to shore. And hope that you get consumed by ocean dwellers.

Murder victims have been known to disappear and never been found but that's because their perpetrators buried them but I don't know how you could bury yourself.

And if you tell anyone ahead of time that info would eventually get leaked.

i wouldn't tell anyone. the accounts i would delete are mainly accounts that nobody currently knows of but that may be found if someone starts rummaging through my hard drives. it's mainly so there's no link between my real life and any of the other lives i've lived. in other words, you can't notice the absence of something you never knew existed


but yeah, its definitely difficult and a needlessly complex way of going about it. it'll take some planning and won't happen any time soon if i do decide to start the process. currently it's just an idea.

 

[cme-dme]

Also, can't bring your phone with you unless you keep it on airplane mode the entire way. Phones are fancy tracking devices.

 

[endofeverything]

Also, can't bring your phone with you unless you keep it on airplane mode the entire way. Phones are fancy tracking devices.

yeah, hence a cheap old offline mp3 player is all i'm bringing at most. i'll also need to plan my route out in advance to avoid getting lost

 

[cme-dme]

If you did bring a phone and just kept it on airplane mode, you could download an offline map and use that for directions

 

[Darkover]

it's going look suspicious when they see your browsing suicide forums, browsing history is kept by your internet service provided unless your using tor or vpn

 

[Kali_Yuga13]

I don't think it's nearly as difficult as people make out to be. People disappear all the time. If an adult goes missing police don't usually investigate much unless foul play is suspected. Who's going to be doing all this hard drive and network forensics?

If you have people in your life that care enough to go through a multi-country manhunt maybe the right thing to do is send a delayed email or send a letter from the last mailbox on your destination.

 

[endofeverything]

it's going look suspicious when they see your browsing suicide forums, browsing history is kept by your internet service provided unless your using tor or vpn

possibly, but do police investigations into missing people go as far as checking the browsing history of the service provider they had? i sorta doubt it. from what i understand, unless you're a high profile missing person case, they don't do much investigation beyond the minimum

If you did bring a phone and just kept it on airplane mode, you could download an offline map and use that for directions

i wouldn't trust airplane mode to not still be trackable. should i really get lost i can probably ask a local or check in an internet cafe somewhere. they wouldn't know who i was

 

[Tots]

I get you completely. I think you have to gradually cut ties with everyone instead of disappearing abruptly. Or maybe make a habit of going MIA once in a while so that your eventual final disappearance doesn't seem uncharacteristic.
If nobody is looking for you, it significantly decreases the probability of being found.

 

[Kali_Yuga13]

but do police investigations into missing people go as far as checking the browsing history of the service provider they had?

There's two levels of browsing history in this scenario. The history of the web browser on your device and the ISP. In a genuine missing persons case, I would think family would just ok the police looking at it provided they can get in and you haven't erased it.

The ISP is another story. They would need to file a subpeona. ISP devices may not be able to give all the info they may want anyway. For example, youtube/google use https (secure) so ISP might be able to see you went to youtube but not know the video you watched. That type of data gathering is done at a higher level than the connection. I guess they could subpoena youtube but that amount of effort isn't likely.

 

[EmptyBottle]

There's two levels of browsing history in this scenario. The history of the web browser on your device and the ISP. In a genuine missing persons case, I would think family would just ok the police looking at it provided they can get in and you haven't erased it.

The ISP is another story. They would need to file a subpeona. ISP devices may not be able to give all the info they may want anyway. For example, youtube/google use https (secure) so ISP might be able to see you went to youtube but not know the video you watched. That type of data gathering is done at a higher level than the connection. I guess they could subpoena youtube but that amount of effort isn't likely.

wouldn't using DNS over HTTPS hide the use of this site, since it uses cloudflare? Since cloudflare themselves operate a DoH server, setting DNS to 1.1.1.1 or 1.1.1.3 keeps the ISP is in the dark, and isn't suspicious

 

[Kali_Yuga13]

wouldn't using DNS over HTTPS hide the use of this site, since it uses cloudflare? Since cloudflare themselves operate a DoH server, setting DNS to 1.1.1.1 or 1.1.1.3 keeps the ISP is in the dark, and isn't suspicious

You are probably right, I forgot about cloudflare.

 

[EmptyBottle]

You are probably right, I forgot about cloudflare.

Happy to help. Just note that it won't erase past DNS queries, no idea if they are logged, or how long the logs are retained for.

PS: I was also considering how far I can swim in the ocean, not sure if I considered it as my final journey tho.