Lucky text messages led engineers to missing San Francisco family

[ljm2002]

I was searching for news about Mr. Kim and ran across this article, giving some insight into how the mom and children were located:

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061205/OUTDOORS/61205031

By Marcus Wohlsen
The Associated Press

December 5, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO — Technology, some lucky text messages and an outdoorsman’s intuition helped locate three members of a family stranded in the Oregon backcountry for nine days.

Searchers rescued Kati Kim, 30, of San Francisco and her daughters Penelope, 4, and Sabine, 7 months, along a remote forest road Monday afternoon. The key to finding them, police said, was a “ping” from one of the family’s cell phones that helped narrow down their location.

According to one of two cell phone engineers who honed in on the Kims, the chance of the split-second signal making it through the rugged mountains was “very slim.”

“It was just a hunch that we could help. And we followed up on the hunch,” said Eric Fuqua, 39, an engineer for Edge Wireless LLC who contacted authorities to offer his services in the search. Edge Wireless provides cell phone coverage in southern Oregon, and is a member of Cingular Wireless’ network.

(more at link)

[MnFats]

1. he is still missing ....though they found his pants...

..sometimes people suffering hypothermia have a false sense of being uncomfortably warm and start taking clothing off....so that's not a good sign at all.
sending a prayer for Mr. Kim

[ljm2002]

2. Apparently it was a spare pair of pants that he brought...

...so he may have dropped them to carry less weight, or even to help mark the path he took. According to stories I read, he also had two lighters with him -- so maybe, just maybe he has been able to find some makeshift shelter and start a fire to keep warm.

Here's hoping for his safe return; every night it looks less likely -- but then, hope seemed pretty dim for all of them yesterday!

[ClassWarrior]

3. I take hope from the report that he was carrying a spare pair...

I hope he changed and just decided to toss aside the first pair when they froze.

NGU.

[Selatius]

4. What were they doing so deep in the back country?

That's what I don't get.

[Selatius]

5. Nevermind. I found out: They missed a turnoff on a main road and decided to take back roads

That's what put them in the wilderness.