Have you seen Jonathan Spollen? Missing in Rishikesh since February 3rd, 2012

Mach, it would be great if you could contact your friend. My friends are leaving Leh in a few hours on a short cycle trip. There is no way I can make contact.

That's OK, Rosewater. They're a well-known member here. I'm busy with some stuff, but will indeed contact them asap, should be indeed over the coming few days.

It would be a pity if we'd neglected the area so far; the high season will be just about wrapping up there, and it would have been busy. Many folks here were looking to visit, as they do each year.

Anyways, let's hope posters were up there, and are now perhaps just gone. And again every little bit helps, and better late than never, and all that. Thanks for keeping an eye, yourself. Wish your friends prosperous further journeys.

ps And edit, I just dropped that member a line about it. I don't think they're around here all the time, but let's see what transpires.

ps The member I mentioned tells me they'll be looking into having some posters up in Leh and perhaps the wider area, and that this is little trouble to them. (I take it they don't live in Leh, themselves, and so had kind of overlooked it, being focused on other things.) They do tell me such posters once up tend to stick around in some places there.

We should have looked into this before, but then sometimes the obvious just doesn't strike one. Exactly next door to Rishikesh of course Ladakh isn't. As that person also reminds me, it's virtually impossible to get in there undocumented. If anything, they (and I) thought to have these posters up there could serve as a good cautionary reminder to others.

David & Lynda, or close ones, if you are still reading along here: We will of course forever wish you the best of luck with it. You need a virtual shoulder to cry on, or goof around with or whatever, I'll be privately here, most of the time. May of course always be suddenly unavailable for a few days or so, but we've been in touch before.

You nor Jonathan won't be forgotten by none here, as I hope is clear.

I am returning to this thread after a while so will need some time to look back at posts to see if what I am telling has been already discussed.

About two-three weeks back I saw a Sadhu (Caucasian) in Delhi (CP)..he was about 6 ft tall (may be more) and wearing black robes and without any sandals. He looked quite fit and was carrying a "Chimta" and "Kamandal", and had a hand-made cotton bag across his shoulder.

It was lapse on my part that I totally forgot to report it in this thread....This is not to raise any false hopes but have we looked at this possibility?

Mach, how wonderful that you were able to follow up on this. Thank you so much.

There is a possibility that he is wandering around as a sadhu. What is unknown, at least to myself, is how often Caucasians that fit this description/guise are questioned/interrogated by police(or otherwise officials who can coerce their identity) ..... since the odds are that they are in violation of their visa obligations somehow. Or is there is some unwritten 'spiritual immunity' that is offered to those foreigners that assume this dress and lifestyle?

This sounds like the man who was spotted at Yamunotri,is it Jonathon? KK

I have rarely seen the Indian police misbehaving with Sadhus...I guess the police would not bother any Sadhu (even if he is non-Indian) unless they have specific inputs.

As far as the Europeans wandering as sadhus in India are concerned, I guess instead of getting suspicious, the police would pass them off as "another westerner" drawn towards Indian mysticism and experimenting with it for time being.

Can you elaborate on what is it you mean by 'fit'. Keeping in mind that Jon, by more than a few accounts, was very, very thin at that time of his last sighting - now 7 months ago.

The Sadhu I saw was lean and appeared athletic but definitely not very-very thin. When I said "fit", I meant the same thing.

I am sure CCTV cameras are installed at CP. Can it be arranged to have a look at those?

I spotted that Sadhu near the old Wimpy's (now it has been converted in to a Pizza shop and a restaurants), walking on the outer road.

You seem to have been close enough to describe his clothes bag & health,didn't you get a look at his face & if so how does it compare to the photo's on first page of this thread? KK

As I said in my previous post, I would prefer to tread cautiously, not to raise false hopes unless I was 100% sure.

I saw his side profile that is why I can not say anything definitely. Another thing I could recall was that though his hairs were wounded-up at the top (in the same fashion as the sadhu do), they were not matted/dread-locked, which means he was relatively new in to this "avatar".

And, if I remember correctly, he was carrying "Chimta" in his left hand. Is Jonathan a left-handed person?

I wonder if the police interrogated this thug on if he or his 'gang' do any 'business' with foreigners in and around that area. I know I would .......

Death on the Path to Enlightenment: Inside the Rise of India Syndrome

Read More http://www.details.com/culture-trend...#ixzz27d16zigR

"Although Spollen's parents have stopped commenting on his disappearance, his father told an Irish newspaper in late April that visiting India was an eye-opening experience."

I can understand the predicament for David & Lynda on whether it's wise or not to post on, comment or even get involved in conversations in this thread,it must have been a difficult choice for them to make.
However, personally i feel a little more input from them & not keeping things too close to their chests would have helped keep this thread going & maybe encouraged members to get a little more involved in the search, an example of this was the last recent alleged sighting in Delhi, i noticed David or Lynda were logged in after that post but never commented, which i feel would have created more interest/help if they had. I may be totally wrong & David & Lynda may have made the wisest decision for reasons unknown to me, either way Best of Luck to both of you with your search if you are reading this. KK