Formerly *coined by me (I think)* "Braid Theory" **Disclaimer: I'm honestly saying this in a mostly...
When a first responder takes a tourist on a date to a hiking trail then leaves her when she has signs of heat stress--is it a crime?
Dario Dizdar, Phoenix police officer of 14 years at the time of this incident took Angela Tramonte on a date to a popular hiking trail on Camelback Mountain. On July 30 at 10 AM, without any water. A half hour into the hike when she felt hot and tired and wanted to go back--he left her and continued to the top. Should he have known better? Was a obligated morally or by law to assist her, knowing the signs and risks of heat stress/stroke and also resuscitation techniques? Later, less than 24 hours after arriving in the state to meet him for this date, she was found dead.
Characters, timeline, and commentary below
Do you have information?
usually we'd go to the police, but are they doing their due-dilligence? I honestly don't know...
2. Anyone with further information is urged to contact CrimeOnline reporter Ellen Killoran at ekilloran@crimeonline.com, or on Signal at 347-462-7208.
3. Here are links to all of the AZ elected officials: https://az.gov/elected-officials
It wouldn’t hurt to send each a message
-That you care about this case and want to have more investigation.
-At the very least would like to see preventions put into place for tourists.
-Protections for hikers and outdoor activities in the harsh environment.
-And should first responders have a legal responsibility to help even if they’re off-duty?
**Disclaimers**
I don’t have any insider information
I am not an investigator, journalist, law enforcement, wait instead of a list… I’m nobody. Just a spectator who lived in AZ from 2017 to March 12, 2022 (5 years) and who watched the news there, watches Investigation Discovery. With a mind.
Who hiked there:
I’m not saying Dario Dizdar is a murderer, but as you’re about to see, going hiking at 10AM. In July. Without water. With a tourist from the East, not used to the heat, that just got to the state. Is preposterous. It’s ridiculous for an Arizonan. And it’s FUCKING ridiculous for a first responder that knows better.
In other words, innocent until proven guilty, blah, blah. Take with a grain of salt… But also, as a brief local–I have a lot of questions.
https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueCrime/comments/oxackm/familyfriends_of_boston_native_who_died_hiking/
The characters
Dario Dizdar
(listed first because the questions I/we have are for HIM)
local Police Officer (joined force in 2007)
Internal Phoenix Police Department documents published by ABC15 last year show that Mr Dizdar was previously disciplined and put on the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office “Brady list” tracking officers with integrity concerns because of previous misconduct.
According to an internal document, Mr Dizdar was at a Sangria Lounge in Glendale, Arizona, in September 2009 when he was questioned by an officer about an unidentified friend who allegedly had been assaulted outside the bar. According to the report, Mr Dizdar didn’t witness the assault and identified himself as a Pheonix police officer. But the document states that he gave a fake name and date of birth to the officer, as well as the wrong number for the victim.
Rumor mill said he was currently married with kids when he met up with her, but I could not find a primary source to verify this (very common name, and I’m not paying money about it).
Angela Tramonte
31 years old
Angela woke up early every morning to go to the gym.
She also loved walking her dog, Dolce every day
She did weekly meal planning and was obsessed with drinking water.
Visiting AZ for the first time from Massachusetts
The Witnesses/The Bachelors:
Matthew Orr, Hunter Robinson, and Matt Brubaker
Angela’s Mom, Nancy Tramonte:
+a lot of concerned family members, family friends, and friends of Angela that are interviewed.
Camelback Trail:
These are the signs in the parking lot:
AZ Hiking and “Tribal Knowledge” that all Locals Know and Most Abide By:
These signs are at the trailheads, and a local would absolutely know this stuff. A first responder???????! He knew what to do therefore, his story doesn’t make sense to me.
At the time of this incident, Phoenix area hiking trails did not close for extreme heat.
Phoenix Area Police during the time of this incident (concurrent with when I lived here)
***trigger warnings***
violence, guns, yelling, just--don't click these vids if you're sensitive in any way
(though they were each on the local news)
https://youtu.be/t6m5gU9XoGk?si=rDePza4GNS9Bl2oL
https://youtu.be/mwzANgFp0so?si=0JXWSc4sX0AYQjVM
AZ weather at this time (Death occurred 7/30/21; data 2020-2023)
One year prior (July 2020) we had 8+ days in a row of 90F+ LOW temps. That’s the lowest temp of the 24hr period, guys.
2020 (the prior year temp trends):
Here’s an article about the 2023 weather (2 years after the incident, but showing weather trends in AZ):
https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/19/phoenix-breaks-its-old-record-for-110-degree-days/
We knew 2021 was a hot one!
Hourly for Phoenix, AZ July 30, 2021-
They started their hike at 10AM and she had signs of heat stress at 10:30AM. He called 911 at 1PM (2.5 hours later). She was found long dead after 4PM.
Vs.
Boston, MA in July where Angela would be acclimated to 76F at 10AM not the 93F of Phx:
It was 98F in Phoenix by the time he called 911 at 1PM and it would have been 79F in her home climate.
Think about how Olympians prepare for games in warmer climates.
Angela’s body would not have been as adequately prepared for the AZ heat as any local. Especially a local who spent a lot of time (exercising) outdoors.
Gist of the Story:
There was an online relationship prior to them meeting in person. Angela’s mom also said the pair allegedly shared a concerning online exchange before they even met. Dizdar allegedly sent her a meme that read, “Every girl wants to be swept off her feet. It’s when you put her in the trunk she starts to freak out.” Angela replied: “Stop, I’m so scared lmao. You could be a killer lol. Promise me you are normal.”
Angela went to AZ for the first time to meet Dario Dizdar two months after they began chatting online — over her mother’s objections. “Her mother said, ‘I don’t want you to go,'” Tramonte’s aunt Jeanette Comeau said on Thursday. But Tramonte was fiercely independent and an experienced traveler. And she was eager to meet Dizdar, who she believed she may have had a future with. “Angela was a young, beautiful, 31-year-old woman looking for love. She wanted to get married and to have children,” Comeau said. “Unfortunately this guy lured her to Phoenix.” Another friend said Dizdar’s job as a police officer was reassuring to Tramonte, and her friends. “‘I feel safe because he’s a cop,'” Angela said, according to Sarina Viola.
July 30, 2021:
Multiple sources who knew Tramonte say they don’t believe the apartment where Tramonte spent Thursday night with Dizdar is where he actually lives — though Tramonte believed he did, they said.
They started their hike on Echo Canyon Trail in Camelback Mountain around 10AM, according to Dizdar.
Matthew Orr, Hunter Robinson, and Matt Brubaker were among a group of about seven men who traveled to the Phoenix area for a bachelor party the weekend Tramonte died. On the morning of July 30, a Friday, the men hiked Echo Canyon Trail, around the same time Tramonte and Dizdar were there. All three men report having seen Dizdar and/or Tramonte, and one believes he spoke to Tramonte after she and Dizdar split up on the trail. Orr said he remembers seeing the pair behind them before later seeing Dizdar climing alone, and Robinson took a photograph that he would later realize captured Tramonte and Dizdar in the background. Hunter Robinson, a hiker who crossed paths with the pair, took a photo that happened to capture Tramonte and Dizdar. He says he spoke briefly with the off-duty officer. Orr said he believes the above photograph was taken at the moment Tramonte decided to turn back, while Dizdar continued toward the summit. Although Orr was too far from the pair to hear their conversation, he said, “It did not appear to be amicable .. It appeared to be some sort of dispute.”
The visiting hiker said he believes he saw Dizdar after he split with Tramonte, and that the more experienced hiker passed him on the trail going toward the summit. Orr said he tried to make small talk with Dizdar, who was hiking faster than him. “Everyone was friendly, but he ignored me. That’s why I remembered him,” Orr said. Brubaker said he was struggling with the hike and fell behind his group as they were climbing, though his friends routinely checked on him. Based on the witness accounts, Brubaker may have been behind Tramonte and Dizdar when they split up. He said he remembers seeing the pair walk past him — “they were going pretty quick” — and later seeing Tramonte hiking back down alone. Brubaker said he remembered seeing Tramonte earlier, and asked how she was doing when they passed on the trail. Tramonte responded, “‘It’s too freaking hot, I’m turning around … We didn’t bring any water today,'” Brubaker said. He also said Tramonte did not appear to be in serious trouble and was in relatively good spirits. She did not ask for any water or help, he said.
“If we had any way of knowing then of course we would have helped her … at the time she just didn’t seem like she was in distress. She didn’t seem panicked. She just seemed hot and tired and like she didn’t want to hike anymore … Which I totally get. It was hot, and it kind of sucked.”
Dizdar told authorities that she had become “overheated” around halfway up the mountain and decided to turn around while he carried on walking up the mountain. It was reported in the park ranger’s incident report that the two separated on the hike around 10:30 a.m. (30 minutes after they began).
→Mom story alert! [mom story is what you tell your mom to minimize your own involvement in trouble, I use it for times like these when I sense major holes or inconsistencies in stories] ← Ms Fortune said Mr Dizdar told police that neither of them brought water on the hike and that Ms Tramonte had asked him to continue up the mountain to take pictures that she could share on social media and that they agreed to meet at the car. Angela's friends Comeau and Gerardi who were later interviewed are skeptical of Dizdar’s reported claim that Tramonte asked him to take photos for her Instagram account. “Honestly, if she wasn’t in the picture, she wouldn’t have posted it,” Comeau said. Gerardi and Viola concurred: “We called her the selfie queen.”
→conflicting info alert←
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Dizdar is believed to have first told fire officials and a park ranger that he was familiar with Echo Canyon Trail and hiked it frequently.
But in follow-up interviews with police, Dizdar reportedly said it was his first time on the trail.
But during his subsequent interview with detectives, Dizdar reported it was his first time hiking the Echo Canyon Trail. He also said he got lost and needed to take an Uber back to the trail’s parking lot.
Following reports of the conflicting statements, the Phoenix Fire Department directed the media to discontinue using the department’s initial statement referring to Dizdar’s familiarity with the trail, because fire officials had misunderstood him.
During a preliminary examination of the phone, investigators did see photos from the top of Camelback Mountain taken that day, and proof of a rideshare trip used by the witness when he got lost.”
The off-duty officer also said that when he got back to the parking lot, back to the car, Ms Tramonte’s belongings were there but she wasn’t.
All three men from the bachelor party group spoke of an encounter with Dizdar at the bottom of the trail after their hike, and after Dizdar was not able to find Tramonte. The men were seated at a picnic table in a shaded area, they said, when Dizdar approached then and asked if they had seen the woman he was with. The three visiting hikers who spoke to CrimeOnline had somewhat varying recollections of this conversation, with Brubaker noting that he was pretty worn out by that time. But Brubaker believes he told Dizdar that he may have seen Tramonte and described their brief exchange. Dizdar did not ask any follow-up questions, Brubaker said. All three men said they felt Dizdar’s behavior was odd for someone who had lost his hiking companion.
Dizdar said called emergency services to report her missing when she wasn't at the car. McDade said the Pheonix Fire Department got a call from Mr Dizdar at around 1pm.
A 30-member rescue team along with a helicopter was dispatched to search the mountain. Fire crews and police officers tried pinging her cell phone. However, it did not narrow down the area enough. Fire crews were then able to have a friend of Tramonte use an iPhone application to get a more accurate ping. With the narrowed location showing an area far off the trail, police officers went door to door in a neighborhood and eventually found her in a backyard.
McDade told The Daily Beast that the trail up the mountain is “highly technical” and that even physically fit individuals can find it challenging. He also noted that the temperature on Friday was 105 degrees. "If you've never been on this trail, you don't probably know how much longer you have to the parking lot," said McDade. "You can't see the parking lot on the other side, so at that point in time, you might not know that it's that far from you. So, very tragic, and to what we were hoping was going to be a successful rescue." The spokesman said it’s possible that she could have lost sight of the trail and moved towards the homes seeking aid. “Once you get off the trail you’re in trouble,” he said. “Now you’re just walking through the Sonoran Desert.” “At that point in time, [she] could have conceivably been in the early stages of heat exhaustion and heatstroke, where you become delirious, and unfortunately, your faculties are not about you,” Mr McDade said at the scene on Friday.
The woman was found dead at around 4.40pm near a home at the base of the mountain. "Unfortunately, she had probably been deceased for a while before we could even intervene," said McDade. Her cell phone was on her when she was found. Her friends, who say Tramonte would always text back right away, are also questioning why they didn’t get any calls or messages after she got to the mountain. Gerardi said Tramonte’s last messages to friends were earlier Friday morning, around breakfast; before she arrived for the hike. And her friends say they have reason to believe Tramonte did have cell phone service while on the mountain. It is not yet known if car keys or other possessions were found with her body. No “traumatic injuries” were seen on the body of Ms Tramonte when she was found. There is no evidence to indicate foul play.
Angela Tramonte was found dead less than 24 hours after arriving in Arizona. “This could have been prevented,” Gerardi said. “As a first responder you don’t leave anyone behind, in distress.”
Phoenix Police Department spokesperson Mercedes Fortune said: “At this time there is no evidence to indicate foul play is suspected.” The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office said no charges have been filed against anyone in the case.
The Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner released the report on Sept. 9, ruling that the primary cause of death was "environmental heat exposure." The report states Tramonte's death was accidental and toxicology results revealed a significant level of amphetamine in her system at the time of her death.
"The Phoenix Police Department is saddened by the death of Angela Tramonte. The investigation into this case has been extensive, consisting of, but not limited to, interviews, reviews of physical evidence, and an examination into cellular phone related data. No criminal activity has been discovered, and all evidence points to this being a tragic accident. In addition to the investigation done by the Phoenix Police Department, the Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner has ruled this death as accidental as a result of environmental heat exposure. Our thoughts are with the friends and family of Angela Tramonte during this difficult time."
Witnesses say:
“It didn’t seem like he was that interested in finding her. I would be frantic,” Robinson said. Dizdar also “threw out the fact that the girl he was with wasn’t his girlfriend and that she was from out of town and he didn’t know her that well.”
The men left Camelback Mountain that day but continued to follow the news, and discussed the incident among themselves. After learning that Tramonte had died, two of the men contacted police to share their observations; and possibly, their concerns about Dizdar’s behavior after Tramonte disappeared. Early in the first week of August, Orr sent a detective the photo of Tramonte and Dizdar on the trail. And Robinson called Phoenix Police (at the direction of Scottsdale Police) but said he was not able to fully share his observations. Robinson said that a member of the department he reached on the phone directed him to submit his tips at Silent Witness, a website that fields anonymous tips. “I didn’t get to say everything I wanted to say,” Robinson said, noting that the online form does not ask for the tipster’s contact information. “The whole thing just didn’t make sense. It annoyed me that they didn’t care enough to get my name and number.” Brubaker is expected to be in contact with Phoenix police about encountering Tramonte on the trail after she separated from Dizdar.
Angela’s family and friends say:
“What man allows a woman to walk down a trail in 104-degree temperature?” Nancy Tramonte wondered.
Dizdar said they hiked without water, something Angela, a fitness enthusiast, would have never done, Nancy said. “For her to climb this trail without water does not make sense at all,” she said.
[I agree]
“We want answers, we want justice and we want an investigation to go further and we want to see what this guy was really all about,” Stacey Gerardi told CBS Boston.
“As a first responder you’re supposed to help people,” she added. “Why would you not walk her back down? Why would you continue to walk back up.”
Melissa Buttaro, who identified herself as a friend of Ms Tramonte, started a GoFundMe page to help with transport and funeral expenses. “Halfway up the mountain, Angela told this man, who is a police officer and first responder, that she was exhausted and couldn’t continue. She supposedly walked back down the mountain ALONE to the car while this man continued on by himself. He clearly has no regard for her safety,” she wrote on the page.
“Knowing she’d be down there, she’d be by herself, it makes no sense,” Sarina Viola said.
Take-Aways:
Adhere to hiking safety for the environment you're in, and take care of the ones you bring into a situation. Read the signs, be prepared, and don't be afraid or embarrassed to ask for help (early).
At the very least this case brings about the questions of how much responsibility do (off duty) first responders have toward public safety?
https://nationsecurity.com/off-duty-police-officers-responsibilities/
It’s Worth REiterating Do you have information?
Anyone with further information is urged to contact CrimeOnline reporter Ellen Killoran at ekilloran@crimeonline.com, or on Signal at 347-462-7208.
Here are links to all of the AZ elected officials:
https://az.gov/elected-officials
It wouldn’t hurt to send each a message
-That you care about this case and want to have more investigation.
-At the very least would like to see preventions put into place for tourists.
-Protections for hikers and outdoor activities in the harsh environment.
-And should first responders have a legal responsibility to help even if they’re off-duty?
Sources:
https://ca.style.yahoo.com/style/friends-woman-died-hike-demand-190555274.html
https://www.courttv.com/news/woman-found-dead-after-hike-with-phoenix-police-officer/
https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/usa/boston/historic?month=7&year=2021
https://destinations.rei.com/local-tips/5-rules-of-hiking-in-arizona
https://www.lexipol.com/resources/todays-tips/off-duty-intervention-for-first-responders/
https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/code-conduct-law-enforcement-officials
