Searchers Find SF Man In Oregon Wilderness (update, found dead. RIP)

[uppityperson]

http://www.ktvu.com/news/10436601/detail.html

Airborne rescuers spotted a flash in a heavily wooded area and then caught a glimpse of a man laying face down they believe may be missing San Francisco resident James Kim in the Oregon wilderness Wednesday.

Searchers were being lowered from the helicopter to assist the man.

There was no immediate word on his condition....(more)

http://www.kgw.com/
Found dead. RIP and my sincere condolences to his family, friends, all those who have been helping search for him.

[myrna minx]

1. Please let him be alive.

:cry: This has been such a harrowing ordeal.

[hlthe2b]

3. Yes, yes, yes.. please let him survive...

I've been watching this story for updates. I so hope he is ok...

[jobycom]

2. If hopes and well-wishes help, I'm sending them.

They spotted a flash in a heavily wooded area, which sounds like maybe he signaled them. Let's hope.

[Caoimhe]

4. PLEASE BE ALIVE JAMES!

Your girls need you! I've been on the edge of my chair for 9 days over this. When I first heard they were missing and were headed for Gold Beach.. I just knew they'd tried that pass. Ugh.

[Scairp]

5. MSNBC Saying "Body Found"

That would mean he did not survive. Really a shame.

[jobycom]

6. "may have been found" the website says. No story. nt

[Caoimhe]

7. Medivac Helicopter has lifted off

this is a good sign! Cross your fingers!

I'm watching KGW News from Portland

[myrna minx]

8. Thank you for keeping us posted.

Please let him be alive.

[LSparkle]

9. You're right -- if it were just a body, they might not have sent a helicopter

After all he and his family has been through, please, please, God let him be alive.

[uppityperson]

10. damn, says "found dead"

[Marie26]

13. Oh no.

I was so hoping he could have found a way to survive. Is this confirmed?

[LSparkle]

11. Rest in peace, James ... even the sheriff in charge was in tears

Just absolutely awful ... my heart and prayers go out to them.

[Caoimhe]

12. SHIT

They just said his body was found. That must not be good news.

The Sheriff guy looks very visibly upset.

[Radio_Lady]

17. Terrible news. He should have stayed with his wife and the car.

I'm so upset. The good news, my husband has finally agreed he needs an emergency kit in our car in winter. We almost got stuck on a mountain road in June near Baker, Oregon -- going to Anthony Lake. We encountered DEEP SNOW --car phone didn't work.

Luckily, we were able to turn around and get out of that situation.

[Sapphocrat]

20. What I've never understood...

...is why, if he was going to try to hike out anyway, he didn't just hike back up to the road?

I'm sure I'm missing something in all this, but I just don't get that part of the story.

[Radio_Lady]

23. He didn't know the territory or the terrain, and thought he'd be better following a stream.

That was the summary of one of the rescue people. He might have done better if he had had a hat, or a compass -- and more clothing. But without the deceased's input, who knows? I don't think he expected to die -- he was doing the best he could.

Have you looked at the map of that area? I'm an Oregonian and I've been confused on that stretch of road, too.

[Sapphocrat]

27. Oh, I'm sure he did the best he could.

Not the smartest thing, but the best he thought.

Yes, I've been in the area -- which is why I keep wondering why he didn't go back up to the very road they came off of (pardon the grammar). Horrible to think he might have been that disoriented from the very beginning, not to know where the road was.

Hat, compass, yes... And I also keep thinking: People laugh at me for packing my 30-year-old portable CB radio on trips. Cell phones are iffy; CB's stand a better chance of at least getting a skip signal. (And it's gotten me out of a few jams -- and led me to other stranded motorists over the years.)

Anyway... It's a crying shame, all around. So unnecessary.

[depakid]

36. Bottom line is that you don't go up there unprepared

People get lost or breakdown on our back roads or in the forests ever year. Some survive and some don't.

A lot depends on experience. What we consider commmon sense other people- especially those who live in major cites often don't consider.

[uppityperson]

22. Indeed, car emergency kit in the winter is necessary.

[AnneD]

33. I lived in New Mexico

for 4 years up in the mountains and learned some valuable lessons. But it makes no difference-desert or mountain....ALWAYS CARRY EMERGENCY SUPPLIES. It can be as little as a gallon of water, first aid kit, heavy duty flash light, blanket, and power bars, or something more elaborate. I never take those out of the car and was able to help more than one stranded person. Out in the desert or in the mountains-folks can die-we never left a stranded motorist without assist. And I never went off road without more supplies in the trunk.

When I heard that he had taken off his pants for a marker-I knew that wasn't good. Exposure will take you quicker than anything and one judgement becomes impared. So sad for the mom and girls...

[FreeState]

40. Anthony Lakes OT

Wow I didn't know anyone knew about that place but me:) My family goes camping there every summer for 1 week. This coming year will be the 58th year we have camped there (before the ski resort - and we use to be able to camp right on the lake).

Anthony Lakes is one of the most beautiful places in the world...

[Radio_Lady]

54. Free State, regarding Anthony Lake. We were NOT told that the road is frequently impassable

until July 4th or later. Thanks for the beautiful photo -- we never got there. Maybe we'll try again in full summer, like you! Never again in the spring.

We attempted the road on June 1st, the day after my birthday, May 31st. It was a clear, warm and beautiful day. My husband had read about the route to Anthony Lake, and we did ask some people about it. It's supposed to be a beautiful loop road, and the first part was fine. But, as we began to climb, we saw scattered snow on the sides of the road. We kept on going, only to find snow completely across the road, about 10 inches deep. No signs of plowing or other modifications of the road. No cars coming in the other direction, and miles from the turn-off road, past a little "ghost" town with just a few residences.

I was driving and started to spin and slide. My husband (Boston born and bred) said, "GIVE ME THE KEYS -- I'LL GET US UP THE ROAD!" Reluctantly, I gave him the keys, picked up my cell phone and it was dead. Then I screamed, "WE HAVE NO SUPPLIES... IT'S CLEAR NO ONE USES THIS ROAD THIS EARLY IN THE SEASON -- WE'VE BEEN NO ONE ALONG THE ROAD AT ALL. WE'LL GET STUCK HERE FOR SURE. BACK UP AND TURN AROUND BEFORE WE GET STUCK!" I screamed so much he finally agreed.

That road should be MARKED and CLOSED! It was a terrible experience and no one should have to deal with it. So, we're stupid CITY MICE... when we got back to Baker City, a couple of people laughed at us. "The road to Anthony Lake...? Oh, it's terrible until the middle of the summer. People around here never go up there until it's really warm."

Scared the shit out of me. (Of course, it was June, we might have been able to hike out along the road, and the weather was completely clear, and nightfall in early June is much later than in December. However, nobody would have missed us until the end of our Oregon trip, which was many days later.)

[leftyclimber]

14. What a shame. That poor family. nt

[shanti]

15. oh nooooooo!

that is soooo sad :cry: rip james...:(

[superconnected]

16. So very sad. RIP.

Very sad for the family.

[RamboLiberal]

18. What a shame - was hoping this story would have happy ending

RIP and condolences to his family and friends and all who kept him in their thoughts.

[bobbie]

19. Fuck! This is horrible.

Damn.

[Radio_Lady]

21. God! Another young widow has to go through Christmas... I don't get it.

Why did this have to happen?

Please don't tell me that he's now an angel in heaven. (That's what the young black woman whose fiance was shot by policemen in Queens, New York -- told her daughter.)

I just don't believe it.

[hayu_lol]

25. People don't realize it but much of Oregon is still wilderness...

there may be roads through the area, but no one lives in much of the state. You are really on your own. Cell phones frequently are worthless in many areas.

To cap it off, so many people being non-smokers, now enter these areas without lighters or matches. Many people could have been saved if they had just built a fire.

I know the family had been burning tires for warmth...but in his case, he could have built a fire before he passed out.

We have lost people near Klamath Falls because they had no way to make fire(and maybe were never boy scouts)and smoke to get attention.

What a shame.

[LSparkle]

31. They were looking for the Oregon 42 turnoff -- just as I was weeks ago

and my mom and I MISSED IT, TOO! Fortunately for us, this was before the snow that came around Thanksgiving and we found an intersection with 42 that led us to the coast but ... there but for the grace of God go I ... Mom and I even "joked" that the state ought to mark their highways better (chilling to me now).

I pray that God gives peace to him, his wife and girls and his entire family. What a tragedy ...

[depakid]

51. After they missed the turn off, they tried to take a shortcut

Saturday, Nov. 25

After visits in Seattle and Portland, the Kims were headed to Gold Beach, but they missed the turnoff to Highway 42 south of Roseburg and decided to take a shortcut north of Grants Pass, heading west.

They drove up Bear Camp Road, which becomes a single-lane road. Although fine during summer, the road often is impassable in winter because of snow. Rescuers have to go up every year to bring back travelers who get stuck in the snow.

At one point, they had to get out of their car and remove rocks from the road. It was snowing hard, and the Kims apparently could not continue on Bear Camp Road in their all-wheel drive Saab station wagon. They tried to back up, but turned down a Bureau of Land Management road. The agency closes it off with a locked gate in the winder, but somebody had vandalized the gate, leaving it open.

They drove the side road about 15 miles to get below the snow line. They stopped for the night at a fork in the road at about the 3,000-foot elevation.

Sunday, Nov. 26

When they woke up, it had snowed so much overnight that they were trapped....

More: http://www.oregonlive.com/newslogs/oregonian/index.ssf?/mtlogs/olive_oregonian_news/archives/2006_12.html#212658

[jbonkowski]

37. He had two lighters on him

They had lighters with them. They even burned tires to try to attract attention. I find it sad and almost unbelievable that they weren't found from the smoke from burning tires. They should have collected wood and kept that fire going 24 hours a day, even if they were staying in the car the whole time.

He shouldn't have succumbed to the temptation to head out for help. They had lots of water from the snow. It would have taken a long time to starve to death. The mom was nursing the baby, who was most at risk. Its always easier to spot a missing car, especially one that hasn't gone off the road, than to find a wandering person.

Very sad.

jim

[Xithras]

41. That area is huge.

I'm not surpised that the burning tires weren't spotted...the original search area covered hundreds of square miles and there were only a couple of helicopters searching. They'd missed a turn and weren't on the main road anymore, so searchers weren't even looking in their direction at first.

As for starting a fire with downed wood...that part of Oregon is fairly damp all year, and especially this time of year. They would be extremely lucky to find wood dry enough to burn, and keeping it going for 9 days would have been nearly impossible.

Had I been them, I would have only done two things differently. I would have set out AS A GROUP back in the direction I came, and I would have set the car on fire as I was leaving (the amount of smoke released from an uncontrolled car fire is incredible).

[uppityperson]

26. another family for whom the Holidays will really suck this yr.

I remember back to my childhood, a couple yrs when christmas wasn't as fun overall as it usually was. Looking back, 1 of my parents parents died in early Dec 1 yr apart. I don't remember details, but just that those 2 yrs were not as happy. Good parents to keep on going through it all, rip mom

[superconnected]

24. Can anyone tell me what happend here, why he was out in the

wilderness? I thought he was driving through there so I don't understand why he left the road. I can see pulling over but then I would expect if he took off walking he would stay along the road and eventually see other cars.

I also don't understand why these people didn't have a cell phone.

[uppityperson]

28. they did have a cell phone which didn't work to call out.

they narrowed down the position of the family by their cell phone contacting tower.

[Duer 157099]

29. As for leaving the road

I wonder if the road was covered in snow and he lost track of it.

I also have a strong feeling that after a couple of days, he would have lost hope, thinking that his wife and kids were alone and that they may have already frozen to death, or something horrible, and perhaps he gave up.

This is soooo damn sad.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

61. Not a chance.

It's either the roads, or thick forest. For some reason he made the conscious decision to leave the road.

[Xithras]

38. He probably left the road to escape the snow.

That particular road winds along the top of the ridges and therefore gets quite a bit of snow. By leaving the road and moving downhill, he was able to get beneath the snow line and out of the ice. Unfortunately for him, that's some of the most treacherous land in the country. I've been hiking for over twenty years now, and I've hiked the Rogue River area in the past. That is NOT a place you want to be off-trail. Steep hillsides and cliffs, dense undergrowth, little cover from the weather...if you're not properly equipped and don't have accurate topo's, it's a place that offers a thousand ways to kill you.

[uppityperson]

53. Roads were covered, woods pretty open here during big snow storms

Snow sticks on the trees on the way down, making the woods more passable than roads often.

[NVMojo]

30. this is truly tragic for the family and CNet too.

:cry:

[bunny planet]

32. oh no, I was so hoping he'd be found alive

very sad news
:cry:

[Daphne08]

34. RIP

This is so sad.

[maddezmom]

35. What a sad story

Prayers to the family :(

[0rganism]

39. The final tragedy: he died not knowing his family had been rescued

If only he'd made the turnoff for the highway, he wouldn't have been on that damned USFS road.

If only the road had been marked more clearly as a closed, seasonal road, perhaps he would have turned back before disaster.

If only he'd stayed with his family, and his car, he would have been rescued along with the rest of them on Monday.

If only he'd stayed on the road, he would have been located shortly after his family -- or maybe even rescued before them!

If only he'd headed due east, he would have found the Black Bar Lodge about a mile away, next to the Rogue River.

There's so much that went wrong. :cry:

[Xithras]

42. That road isn't closed in the winter.

The road stays open all year because it's used by hikers, campers, snowmobilers, and hunters all year long. This couple got stuck because they were in a car and weren't equipped for snow driving. Much of my family lives in Oregon and several of them have driven this road before. I've personally been on part of it. The road is clearly marked as being unmaintained in the winter time, and the signs clearly indicate that 4WD and snow tires or chains are required to pass during bad weather. This family tried to drive it in a station wagon without snow tires or 4WD, and were unlucky enough to get caught by a storm while trying it.

[0rganism]

43. It was sure as hell closed to the Kims

Perhaps, coming from the bay area, "unmaintained" meant something else to him.

[Arugula Latte]

45. I'd read that a gate meant to close the road had been sabotaged and left open.

This is so sad.

Dammit. :cry:

[flamingyouth]

44. What a tragic story

So many of us have been following this and have been praying and hoping for the best outcome here. My condolences to his family and to the rescuers, who are clearly devastated by this news. :(

[Dogfur]

46. where did this occur?

This is such horrible news...I drive that area alot - does anybody have more specifics about where they were lost?

[file83]

55. Watch this video at KATU - it's an unedited press conference complete with maps...

http://www.katu.com/news/local/4847371.html?video=pop&t=a

[Pachamama]

47. Lost Dad found Dead in Oregon Wilderness

I didn't see this posted anywhere, but my heart sank when I saw this... :cry: My heartfelt sympathy to his family and children...he died trying to help them out of his love for them... :grouphug:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/12/06/missing.family/index.html

MERLIN, Oregon (CNN) -- The body of a San Francisco man who had walked into the Oregon wilderness to summon help for his stranded family was found Wednesday in a steep ravine where he had left clues for searchers.

Officials confirmed that James Kim, 35, an editor at the Web site CNET, had been found dead.

Brian Anderson, Undersheriff of Josephine County, broke down and could not finish speaking as he announced that Kim's body was found at 3:03 p.m. ET. (Watch Anderson's emotional reaction Video)

Searchers were attempting to remove Kim's body, and his family members have requested that their privacy be respected, officials said.

Kim walked into the snowy Oregon mountains Saturday to find help for his wife and two young daughters. They were rescued by searchers on Monday.

Clothing and bits of an Oregon map turned up Tuesday in a steep canyon that drains into the Rogue River. Searchers said they believed he was marking his trail for them.

[jannyk]

48. Actually, there are about half a dozen threads - sorry.

[Pachamama]

49. Glad to hear that...I'm just so sad by this....

:cry:

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

50. Were They DU Members?

I seem to recall a post last week mentioning that there were members of a DU family missing. Anybody know if Mr. or Mrs. Kim are members of this community?

[FreeState]

52. Maybe you saw this post

Maybe Xultar knows more? (EDIT I think I am reading it wrong... the post is just asking for help form NW DUers...)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=2839901

xultar (1000+ posts) Fri Dec-01-06 07:15 AM
Original message
CNET's James Kim and family missing -- have you seen them? US NW DUers

We've received word that a respected member of our tech community, James Kim (whom many of you may know as CNET's senior editor of digital audio), and his family have gone missing.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

57. YES....I Think That's What I Saw

Anybody know if it's true?

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

58. On Further Review

It appears that post may have been taken from another site, possibly CNET's. I don't think the text originated from here, but was merely re-posted by xultar.

[Katzenjammer]

56. That's very sad indeed. But as others have said, ALWAYS keep an emergency kit in your car

such that you could survive for a minimum of 4 weeks by hunkering down in the car. Emergency flag on a long stick with a door-clamp mounting bracket, waterproof reflective and wool blankets to preserve body heat, nut bars to maintain energy, water, toilet paper, tampax if appropriate, shovel/trenching tool, saw, waterproof matches, firestarter, a non-breakable mirror, flare gun with *multiple* flares, a box of big trashbags for emergency clothing, and a hand-crank 2-way radio.

In Minnesota 40 years ago, nobody with good sense would ever go out of the city without a survival kit in the car.

[TriMetFan]

59. As a Oregonian I would like to say....

I'm sad this happen to the Kim Family. BUT and that is a big huge BUT. Oregon is one of the last frontiers in the U.S. Time after time we have seen people go out into the mountains without the right stuff. If you come to Oregon during the winter Please don't go off from the main roads (will travel roads). Just one more thing mountain snow last here in Oregon from Oct. to July. Again we here in Oregon feel really sorry for the Kim Family.

[shrike]

60. I've been in your gorgeous state

And think I know what you're talking about.

Although, hell, the America west of the Mississippi (and north and east) of L.A. I was in Kansas recently and couldn't believe how easily I got lost. I kept taking east west roads only to find they ended suddenly in the middle of a cow field. And I had a full tank of gas, no snow, and it was a bright, sunny day.

I can easily see how this happened to the Kims. Us city slickers just aren't prepared for mother nature.

[TriMetFan]

62. "Us city slickers just aren't prepared for mother nature."

That is why people should always have the right stuff with them when traveling. In both our cars we have blankets, water, food, candles, lighters, flashlights, first-aid kit and instant hand/body warmers. Like these: http://www.preparedness.com/inreushanbod.html. We also make sure that the cell phones are charged. But every time I read about some one that has lost their live like this, it just makes me sad.