Sadly - I think we now have our answer.
Given the amount of time that has past - I just hope he is still out there somewhere - and just decided to take a break for his own reasons and that having to leave the BMR family was part of that break.
We will likely never know - I know it was mentioned he drank (a lot) - maybe that’s what caused the need to suddenly break away from BMR - obviously getting sober and continuing to gamble (or be around it) would not generally be advisable.
Plenty of things can happen aside worst case - so we can just hope it’s one of those. The phone no longer in service I think is ultimately the “best” sign possible - if you pass - generally people don’t turn off your phone that fast for a variety of reasons. Shutting down contact generally is a sign you don’t want to be contacted so I guess we leave it at that.