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The original was posted on /r/unresolvedmysteries by /u/AlfredTheJones on 2024-01-10 19:16:03+00:00.
Hello everyone! As always, I'd like to thank you all for your comments and upvotes on my writeup on the case of Dorothy "Dottie" Yates-McCathran- I hope that she will be found soon and that her family will be reunited with her.
Today I wanted to write about a case of a man who seemingly vanished on vacations.
BACKGROUND
Ildar Rakhmatulin was 38 when he went missing from a resort in Fiji. It appears that he resided in New Zealand before he went there.
Ildar was a Canadian national of Russian ancestry- he had both a Russian and a Canadian passport. He used to work in tech in Mississauga. He wasn't employed at his former company at the moment of his vanishing.
Ildar was a seasoned traveller and was planning on heading to Malaysia after visiting Fiji. Fiji was actually the last stop of his "journey of a lifetime" through South Pacific. He had a plane ticket to Malaysia for the 10th of April.
Alexander Patrushev, who met and befriended Ildar when both studied at the University of Western Ontario together, said about Ildar: "He was travelling around the world, his dream was to travel. He was travelling a lot since Covid". He also described Ildar as "cautious". Ildar let Alexander stay with him for free for a month when Alexander was graduating- that was one example as to why Alexander considered Ildar a "good friend".
At some point in time, Ildar was married; His ex-wife has been searching for him and had to deal with the police department in Peel, Canada, so it's possibly where she resides.
DISAPPEARANCE
Ildar has flown to Fiji from New Zealand on the 7th of April. He spent two days in a resort on the Coral Coast on the island of Viti Levu.
Ildar would call his mother every other day and last called her one day before he went missing (8th). She said that she heard "drunk voices" in the background, which are assumed to be tourists. According to Alexander, Ildar didn't like to drink and did it very rarely.
On the 9th of April, Ildar has checked out of his hotel at 9:48am after attending a morning yoga class at 8:46am; The weather was, reportedly, quite nice.
Ildar's disappearance was noticed when his phone, a set of keys, flip-flops and a blue bag with a "MiWay" logo (not his red Osprey Farpoint backpack or suitcase-these haven't been found to today), were found abandoned on one of the beaches near the hotel where he was staying. A search of nearby waters and land were conducted, but nothing was found. The bag was taken to a local bar by a night watchman who found it where it spend a month; It was only tied to Ildar's case because the employees saw information about Ildar's disappearance on social media. It's unknown what the keys unlock- it was theorized that they were supposed to open a luggage locker at Nadi Airport, but staff didn't find anything.
Fijian police has recieved a missing person report via the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Australia.
At an early point of the investigation, there was allegedly a lack of comunication between the police in Fiji and Canada. Ildar's mother claims that the local (Fijian) Russian community has helped her more than either police. Ildar's loved ones couldn't even get the info on if Ildar has left the country or not. His disappearance haven't been registered in Canada for weeks. Alexander, Ildar's friend, found out that Ildar went missing in the middle of April after his ex-wife contacted him to ask if he knew where Ildar was. The case was, allegedly, only opened in mid May. In June, it was confirmed that Ildar has not left the country through plane.
CONCLUSION
I'm sorry if this writeup is somewhat chaotic, this case is a bit messy due to how many hands it went through and how many countries it spans, not to mention that Ildar was officially reported a month too late because his ex-wife couldn't get any assistance from local police.
The explanation that seems to be the most likely according to a lot of people is that Ildar went into the ocean and drowned. It's said that he didn't drink, but nobody was able to confirm it- people do different things on vacations. He might've been attacked by an animal like a shark or had a medical accident. He wasn't found during the water search, but his body could've drifted off or been eaten by animals (sorry to be graphic, but we have to consider that). However, the beach he seemingly went missing from was right in front of the resort he was staying at- wouldn't someone notice that he was drowning or needed help?
Another possibility is foul play- there are dangerous people everywhere, be it locals or tourists. It seems like Ildar was quite well-off, so someone might've wanted to nab his backpack and luggage. Serious crime is rare in Fiji, but there's always a possibility.
Suicide is always an option- like I've said, people who travel so far and especially alone are prone to different behaviors than they are at home. There's nothing that pointed to Ildar being suicidal or depressed, but like I've said, we never know what's going on in somone's head. Maybe he had a mental health break? This is, of course, pure speculation, but it's been said that he was no longer working in his old company and he went off to such a far trip- maybe it was related to his mental state? Like he stopped working at his old job and made an impulse decision to travel? Of course we don't know the broader context, but it may point to a shifted mental state, at least to me.
Ildar might still be alive and living in Fiji, maybe under a different name- perhaps he wanted to start fresh, maybe he decided that he wants to leave his old life behind? He also might've left Fiji through different means, like a boat- we only know that he didn't leave by plane.
Ildar Rakhmatulin went missing when he was 38, so he's likely 39 at most. He's white (of Russian ancestry) and was last seen wearing a navy t-shirt with white writing, blue shorts and beige and black slip-on running shoes.
SOURCES:
- yahoonews.com
- ottawasun.com
- ctvnews.com
- au.news.yahoo.com (has footage of Ildar doing yoga on the patio before he went missing)
- dailyhive.com
Ildar's websleuths.com thread