Man Found Dead With Mysterious Suicide Note
The Disappearance
Rey Rivera was thirty years old when he and his wife, Allison moved from California to Maryland in 2004. Rey had been trying to break into the film industry but was having trouble, so an old friend, Porter Stansberry offered him a job at his company, Stansberry Associates, despite Rey having no experience. The two were happy in Baltimore, but in May 2006, something strange happened.
Allison had a business trip planned in Richmond, Virginia, and later recalled that the morning was normal like any other. She called Rey that night at 6:30 pm, but he didn’t answer. Allison then called a colleague, Claudia who was staying at their house, a few hours later at 10 pm. Claudia said that Rey got a call around 4 pm, left the house in a rush, and hadn’t returned. Allison assumed that Rey was out drinking and didn’t worry until the next morning.
At 5:30 am the next morning, Claudia called Allison and told her that Rey had never come home. Allison immediately came back and began calling friends and family to see if they knew anything, but no one did.
When Allison got home, she noticed that a can of soda was open, as was a bag of chips, that his Invisaligns were on the counter, and that all the lights were still on, so it did look like Rey had left in a rush.
Claudia left so that family could move in while they searched for Rey.
The Search
They began looking for Rey by calling hospitals, restaurants, coffee shops, and places of the like, but no one said they had seen him. There was no sign of Rey; no phone calls, credit card payments, or cash withdrawals since his disappearance. There was no explanation for his vanishing.
Six days later, they found the car by the Belvedere Hotel and Stansberry Associates. They searched in and around the car and found nothing. That is until they spotted a hole on the lower roof of the hotel and a pair of flip-flops next to it. The hole was in a peculiar spot, it would not have been easy to get to. The police checked the scene and found Rey’s decomposed body through the hole in an empty room.
The police determined that he must have fallen from a significant height to make the hole and sustain the injuries that he did. But everything about the scene felt wrong.
The Theories About Rey’s Death
The police had a couple of thoughts on how Rey could have died.
The first one was that he fell from the roof of the hotel–but this was unlikely because he couldn't really have jumped and landed where he did from there unless he did some Olympic-style jump, which again, was unlikely as he was wearing flip flops. Allison also informed the police that Rey was afraid of heights so she didn’t know why he would have been there anyway.
The second theory was that he fell from the parking lot. This too, seemed unlikely because it also wasn’t in the right spot and the fall was only twenty feet or so, and a fall from that height wouldn’t have killed him.
The last and most probable theory the police had was that he fell from the eleventh-floor ledge. Even though this is the most probable of the three theories, it still seems like a stretch as it would have been incredibly difficult to even get to the ledge.
There were also other details about the scene that didn’t really make a lot of sense. Rey’s phone was found on the roof, with no damage, as were his glasses, also unscathed. It doesn’t make sense that if Rey fell with his phone and glasses, they would be fine from the fall, but he would have been fatally wounded. Rey’s flip-flops were also on the roof, and there was a possibility that he was dragged, suggesting that perhaps the scene was staged. It was also discovered that the phone call that caused Rey to hurry away, was from someone at Stansberry Associates, but there is no way to know who.
Another odd thing was that no one in the hotel noticed anything weird, even with giant windows on each floor. There was no actual evidence that he was at the hotel that night and conveniently, the camera on the roof wasn’t working, so it captured nothing.
With all of this in mind, the police ruled that Rey probably committed suicide. But this again didn’t seem likely because Rey was happy, and Allison was adamant that he would not have killed himself without telling his loved ones, without leaving a note.
Except, that he did leave a note. Just not a suicide one.
The Note
The note that Rey left behind was found by Allison taped to the back of his computer. She knows that he was the one who wrote it. The thing about it is that the note was extremely odd and confusing. It was typed really small and didn’t seem to make much sense. People have come up with their own theories for what this note could be.
Theory #1 There was a connection to the Freemasons
Rey had shown interest in the Freemasons before and had even read a couple of books about them. The note could have been written in a crazy way because he wasn’t supposed to share any of their secrets. This would also explain the blank check that was with the note because it could have been his initiation fee.
Theory #2 It was a Speech he was writing
The beginning of the note is dramatized and ends in a similar way, kind of like how a speech is structured. The ending also could lead to applause.
Theory #3 He was acting out a movie scene
In the note, Rey mentions a movie, The Game. There is a scene in the movie, where one of the characters jumps off the roof of a hotel and falls through a glass roof. This is clearly very similar to what happened to Rey.
Theory #4 He was suffering from a mental illness
Because the note is so crazy and nonsensical, some thought that perhaps it is the result of a psychotic break.
Theory #5 It is written in code
Some thought that the note spelled out “HELP” or was written in code and that’s why it didn’t make much sense.
Theory #6 It’s the start of a screenplay
This is the theory that Allison most believes as he was a writer and was always writing new things.
Theory #7 It’s just a note
It’s always possible that it was just a note, a series of thoughts that are just typed out.
Most of these theories were dismissed by Allison as they hold no merit and she doesn’t believe they make sense for Rey.
Foul Play?
The family feels that Rey wouldn’t have committed suicide, it just wasn’t who Rey was. Rey and Allison had a plan to move back to LA, as he was unhappy at his job. She doesn’t understand why he would have killed himself when they had a future together planned.
Perhaps Rey knew something he shouldn’t have. Maybe he made someone angry, maybe it was an accident, maybe he killed himself. No one knows. But someone did call him from Stansberry Associates on the night he died, someone talked to him. That person may know something, but until they come forward, no one will ever definitively know what happened to Rey Rivera.