Posted on 11/30/2006 7:34:44 PM PST by rit
NET senior editor James Kim and his family are missing.
The 36-year-old Kim, his wife Kati, and daughters Penelope (4 years) and Sabine (7 months) left their home in San Francisco last week on a road trip to the Pacific Northwest. They were last seen on Saturday, November 25, in Seattle, according to the San Francisco Police Department, which has opened a missing persons' investigation. They were driving a 2005 silver Saab station wagon with California personalized plates of "DOESF."
Those with information about the Kim family's whereabouts are asked to contact the SFPD immediately--at 415-558-5508 during normal business hours and at 415-553-1071 after-hours. The Portland Police Department can be reached at 503-823-4000.
PS ... Also learned that Penelope's middle name is Firefly - how cute! Sabine's is Phyllis.
Prayers continuing ...
Jackson County crews search; family was expected in Gold Beach Nov. 25
Staff and wire reports
Jackson County searchers joined a widespread effort to look for a San Francisco family reported missing while driving through Oregon.
James Kim, 35, a senior editor for CNET Networks Inc.; his wife, Kati, 30, the operator of two Bay Area retail businesses; and daughters, Penelope, 4, and Sabine, 7 months, disappeared en route from Portland to the Tu Tu' Tun Lodge in Gold Beach Nov. 25 on their way home to San Francisco, Oregon State Police reported.
Troopers surveyed highways that run from Interstate 5 to the Oregon coast, as well as Highway 101 Friday, looking for any sign of the family, their silver 2005 Saab 92X with California
personalized license plate DOESF, or any indication that the vehicle had crashed off the highways.
Search-and-rescue teams from Coos, Curry and Josephine counties combed remote roads known for their winter impassability. Jackson County searchers joined in with a private helicopter and could send a Sno-Cat to travel snow-covered forest roads, Sheriff Mike Winters said.
Curry County sheriff's deputies used 4x4 vehicles and were able to reach about milepost 18 on Bear Camp Road where the snow and ice stopped their advance, OSP reported Friday night. Josephine County authorities called for their Sno-Cat to respond to search the remaining 20 miles of road.
The Coos County Sheriff's Office sent 4x4 vehicles to the Agness Pass area, and also sent 4x4 vehicles into the Eden Valley as far as they could get past Mount Bolivar. The U.S. Forest Service roads through the remote area intersect with each other.
The Oregon Army National Guard sent a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter from Salem to assist in the aerial search. California Highway Patrol and Coast Guard reportedly were assisting in the search, as well.
OSP, the agency coordinating Oregon search efforts and news releases, reported that relatives of the Kims have hired helicopter companies to fly the major roads from Interstate 5 to Highway 101, specifically Highway 42, Highway 38 and Highway 126.
Friends and co-workers reported the family missing to San Francisco police early this week when they didn't return from a Thanksgiving trip to Seattle. The family and their car were entered into a national law enforcement computer database as missing. Police agencies across Oregon have kept an eye out for the family and OSP has appealed to the public for tips.
The Kims were last seen in Portland Nov. 25, OSP said. The Tu Tu Tun Lodge in Gold Beach reported they had called to have a key left for them because they were going to arrive late. But, San Francisco police said, the family never picked up the key nor did they check in.
The Kims reportedly own two stores in San Francisco — Doe, a clothing store in the city's Lower Haight area, and the Church Street Apothecary, bath and beauty shop in the Noe Valley neighborhood — where they live.
The Kims are known for keeping in touch daily with their friends and co-workers, either by phone or e-mail, but haven't been heard from since Saturday, according to information posted on CNET.com, a technology news site.
Thanks for that information VF...
Unfortunately, if they took this mountain pass route to the coast -- not realizing the dangers -- the outcome could prove to be fatal. Especially so, given the winter storm and road conditions on those particular days... While I'm prayerfully hopeful that they will be found safe, this is a bad situation.
Penelope Firefly? Couldn't ask for a more hippie name. That tops Moonbeam, even.
Thanks.
Really! Cute, though!
Here's some new info:
~~~~
" ... Following confirmed sightings last Saturday night of missing CNET editor James Kim and his family at a Denny's restaurant in Roseburg, Ore., search efforts are shifting north to Douglas County, Oregon police said Saturday morning.
....
Search efforts had been busy in Curry County, where Gold Beach, the family's reported destination for last Saturday evening, is located. But after a multiagency search involving snowmobiles, a Sno-Cat and helicopters including a UH-60 Blackhawk, there's still no sign of the Kims' 2005 silver Saab station wagon with California personalized plates of "DOESF."
Those fruitless efforts, combined with news of the Denny's sighting in Roseberg at about 8 p.m. on November 25 gives Lt. Dennis Dinsmore, of the Curry County Sheriffs' Department, "no indication in any way that they every reached" his county.
"We're going to start backing away from the investigation," he said, adding that the hunt will shift to roads off state Highway 42 instead of Highway 38. Both are common routes taken to get from Interstate 5 to the Oregon coast.
Officials from Douglas County, where Roseburg is located, could not be immediately reached for comment, but are expected to release a statement later today. Dinsmore said the family's stop at Denny's had been corroborated by employees and a credit card receipt.
The National Guard, California Highway Patrol, Oregon State Police and Coast Guard have are all participating in the search. In addition to patrolling highways running from Interstate 5 to the Oregon coast and along Highway 101, Oregon State Police troopers say they are checking hotels and resorts on the south coast. ..."
[snip]
~~~~~~~
Also, this:
" ... While some Saab models come equipped with the OnStar vehicle security and communications system, the model the Kims were driving did not offer OnStar as an option, said Mike Weinstein, a detective with the Portland Police Bureau's Missing Persons Unit, who said he also confirmed that information with OnStar using the Kims' vehicle identification number. The car did not have a LoJack car security system either, Weinstein said.
On Saturday, the day the Kims were last seen, weather conditions in Southern Oregon were very hazardous, according to a spokesman for the Curry County Sheriff's Department. ..."
A little more from Roseburg, added to Cnet story a half-hour ago ...
" ... Douglas County sheriffs have already done an extensive search of area roads, including Highway 42 from the Winston area to Myrtle Point in neighboring Coos County, according to the statement. Further search options are being explored. ..."
should be THE mountain ROADS of the NW
If the Mom was nursing and can eat snow, the baby will be okay. You know it makes me teary to think about them.
I think maybe we need a GPS device in our cars sort of like the one backcountry skiers and hikers carry,,Like the Lojack thingy. Then they could zoom in and know where they are.
Is there such a thing?
Wish you could! I'm intuitive about things like this, too. Right now, I wish I were psychic.
Well, cell phones have them. "Persons of interest" being tracked by cops have them on their cars/trucks, unbeknownst to them.
Do wish the Kims had one, though. Prayers continuing.
If they veered off the major highways up there in Oregon, and hit the back roads, it could be pretty dicey, especially during stormy weather...
Wasn't there a family in a Motor Home stranded in this area within the last year? I think they were out of Medford and they were headed to Brookings. It seems they took a back road as you described and a couple of them finally walked out...
First of all, I know nothing of this area, but if I was looking at a map and I was leaving Roseburg for Gold Beach, I might take that road through Riddle, Glendale, to Galice,Agness, then to 101 and to Gold Beach. The link doesn't say what # road that is.
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