Robots.
A lot of the profiles on dating sites are robots. They are getting very good at talking to you and keeping you interested, not in dating, but in being on that site and paying them money because it seems to be working. The last one I spoke to seemed to be making all the right noises until I asked a random question about Daleks, which ironically wasnt in the robots database.
Additionally the 'location' function can be fudged. You think that you are talking to someone down the road and in fact they are in a call centre in timbucktoo. They are there to pretend to be datable subjects to again keep you spending money on the site.
Incidentally I'm looking to date and I'm not a robot.
Which is exactly what a robot would say.

Error code 42.

The whole online dating thing is a strange thing. As a society were still making up the rules about it. Good luck

Did it myself quite recently.
I got really down and the constant stream of money grubbing emails really started to shit me, so I canned every site that didn't offer me more than Tinder, IE this is the only "dating" site I'm now on.

I've never had this happen.

Same thing happened to me. We were chatting along fine, and we live in the same city, and exchanged work websites so we could verify we were who we said. Then she suggested we chat on the phone. I said OK, let me know a number to call, and POOF she vanished. Not another word. I don't chase, so I figured if she was going to explain her self, she eventually would. Nope. Nothing, and that was November. No idea what happened, but it could have been she was chatting with other men and someone else was either more aggressive or she fancied him more and dropped me. She didn't block me though.

I've seen this behavior before on dating sites. I have no rational explanation for it.

I can spot the fake profiles a mile away, because it's usually someone 20 years younger than me, with a sparsely written profile, and they look like they stepped off the pages of Glamour magazine.

But I've had a lot of experiences where an age appropriate, real live woman will like my dating profile, and reach out and make contact. I'll send a succinct reply if I like their profile and POOF! I never hear from them again.

I don't get it. I think there's just a lot of weird people in the world.

Has happened to me often, I assume they are chatting to a number of people and someone else was available first. People are too rude to tell you.
Good riddance.

In the meantime, here I am wishing you were closer.... ?????

That is bizarre behavior that only he can explain (or not).

Not guilty, honest!