CNET Editor's body found by Searchers (Update #941)

CNET TV ^ | 12-04-06 | From CNET TV

[sockmonkey]

Wife and two daughters of senior editor James Kim found in Oregon; search is still on for James Kim, who left the car on foot two days ago.

The wife and daughters of missing CNET senior editor James Kim have been found alive and airlifted to a local hospital, authorities announced at a press conference in Merlin, Ore., Monday afternoon.

James Kim left the car on snowshoes two days ago to seek help and has not been found, the official said. The search for him continues.

According to the official speaking at the news conference, the conditions of Kati, Penelope and Sabine are not yet known. More details are expected at a press conference at 5 p.m. PST, which CNET will stream live.

Kati Kim reportedly flagged down a helicopter rented by families of the missing persons.

After searches in Oregon's Curry and Douglas counties, new information on missing CNET senior editor James Kim and his family narrowed the search back to the Bear Camp area in Josephine County, according to reports Monday.

A cell phone tower received a signal from one of the family's cell phones at about 1:30 a.m. on Sunday near Glendale, but officials say the signal is only an indicator the family could have been within 26 miles of Glendale at that time, according to a report in The Oregonian.

[raygun]

O.k.

[raygun]

Just who is that man to you?

[raygun]

Can you explain why it is that there is so much concern on your part?

[Terriergal]

Boy, that's too bad. When they started finding clothing I thought hypothermia had set in, as you ironically start to feel really warm and you reasoning faculties deteriorate, but sounds like he had some extra layers. That's really sad.

[Terriergal]

Can you explain why it is that there is so much concern on your part?

Generally one human being has concern for another.

I'm sure they don't really care if you don't care, but just do your not caring on another thread. This one is to talk about the sad event in a respectful manner.

[raygun]

O.k. Umderstood. It is clear that i've been set in my place, eh?

[tubebender]

I'm sorry. I tuned out and did some reading and eating. or was it eating and reading...

[oldenuff2no]

I have trouble with the notion that Mr Kim is some kind of hero. I'm sure he was a nice guy and a good husband and father but it was a string of terrible decisions on his part that put his family at great risk and ended in his death.
I'm a born and raised mountain boy. I would never even think about driving my family through south central LA because I don't know enough about the area to make sound judgments about the pertinent safety issues. If I took my family into a bad area and got killed they would ask what that stupid white man was doing down there to begin with. Mr Kim drove his family into snow country on unused dirt roads in tennis shoes. He had no business there. It is obvious to me that he was completely unprepared and ignorant of the area and it's wintertime challenges. When he departed his vehicle, which was a huge mistake, he walked in circles, he left the road and went into deeper snow, he made every mistake I can think of. To put it bluntly, my 11 year old son knows a lot more about winter survival than he did. I'm very sorry Mr Kim is dead and that so many around him are suffering but he is not a hero. He's the one who got them there in the first place.

[raygun]

Roger that.

No doubt.

Yeah, until the cops come calling that day.

Does anybody recall the event when it was stated that this was no longer a criminal investigation?

[raygun]

that's fascinating.

Are you on record at all having said anything?

Let suppose (as we're all want to do), CSI shows up at your door. Wouldn't that be cool based on your past posting?

[tubebender]

There was strange dog in my yard today and I told him someone has been using my screen name...

[raygun]

I talked to a "strange" person on a forum today. They said some "odd" things. Do you want to talk 'bout that some more? If not, why not?

[raygun]

Do you talk to strange dogs in your yard often?

[Mjaye]

Those photos were indeed heartbreaking. Looks like one more bend and have been at the bottom of the drainage area, if I understood what I was looking at. The lodge seemed so near. These situations always make you wish you could rewind and change the ending, just tweak something here or there and make it come out OK. This is so sad.

[Mjaye]

I would never even think about driving my family through south central LA because I don't know enough about the area to make sound judgments about the pertinent safety issues. If I took my family into a bad area and got killed they would ask what that stupid white man was doing down there to begin with.<<<<<

So let's just say you were in So Cal, driving S/B on the 710 Freeway. You plan to take a cross town freeway from the 710 over toward Redondo Beach. Oh, gee, the signs are confusing, and you end up on a different freeway than you anticipated. You get off to turn around, trying to follow the map, and end up cruising the neighborhood where the Watts towers are (I know locals that have done this several times). Then your car, which was in fine shape, stalls out. What to do, what to do. You're deep into gang territory, your car is stalled, and your cell phones don't catch a tower, for what ever reason.

Does this make you an idiot, or did you make a navigation mistake and catch some bad luck? If you did everything in your power to protect your family but ended up in trouble, in this scenario, isn't it different than somebody knowingly heading into a gang area on a lark in a rickety car just to check it out?

I mean, you should have anticipated that the signs might be confusing for a country boy, and been better prepared (two way radio on police frequency, flak vest, weapon with CCW, etc.) Naturally I'm being facetious, but you can see what I'm getting at.

Ain't hindsight grand?? We all wish the Kims had flipped a coin and stayed in Roseburg for the night so they could enjoy the scenery the next morning, but they thought they were taking what looked like a short route to where they were going, where people expected them. Cut the guy some slack, he gave his life after making sure he had done all he humanly could for his family; he felt he still had to do more, so he went for help. Had they all sat there and frozen to death in the car, you would have no doubt been saying "What kind of guy just sits there and lets his family freeze to death for that many days?"

[surfer]

What if your son (with all of his survival skills) was on a klondike camping trip with the boy scouts and something went terribly wrong - someone made a honest mistake and your son did everything he could to save other members on the camping trip but he was killed by a bear. Would you be calling him an idiot? Would you say well I am sorry he is dead but he made this mistake and everybody around here knows that you don't camp there? There is a bear's den not from their campsite. etc...etc...etc.

This family made an unfortunate mistake which the locals out there say happens to a lot of people - even locals. In fact that is how the local pilot found them. He knew they would be there - because that is where everybody makes that mistake. The Kim's just picked the wrong day to make the mistake.

The reason James is a hero is because after realizing the mistake he did everything humanly possible to save his family. Obviously he knew something about survival because his family survived and came out in excellent shape.

I believe it is wrong to judge a man by their mistake. The real man appears with his actions after he realizes his mistake. James Kim appeared as a hero after his mistakes and even though it can be argued he made more mistakes he still did everything he could to save his family - not his own skin - get it through your head - he gave it all for his kids - that makes him a hero. If he hadn't left for help that helicopter may not have found his family on Monday - he found them because he saw his footprints in the snow - the pilot even hovered in at 5 feet to verify they were human and fresh and he also directed SAR to verify the tracks which they did.

The real shame here is beside James Kim dying is how you are as a father. I feel sorry for your son knowing he has a dad that lacks compassion and understanding. I can't imagine his feeling when he makes a mistake and there is his "perfect" dad telling him...well you made this mistake you can lay there with your broken arm and think about what to do next time.

So I guess you are not oldenuff2no - you have a lot more learning to go.

I will add you and your family to my prayers as well. I hope your son never makes a mistake where he ends up scarred for life because of your knee-jerk monday morning quarterbacking.

[surfer]

Here is your chance for both of you to make amends...

You can vote for James Kim to be ABCNews person of the week. Here is the link:

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/PersonOfWeek/story?id=64509

May god give you the strength to do the right thing.

[woodbutcher]

So let's just say you were in So Cal, driving S/B on the 710 Freeway. You plan to take a cross town freeway from the 710 over toward Redondo Beach. Oh, gee, the signs are confusing, and you end up on a different freeway than you anticipated.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Exactly.

I came very close to that exact situation once in NY. During the period of the big race riots.

Flew to LaGuardia. Since you are from the left coast, you know how the cab deal works at a big airport. You must take the first cab in the line. The first cab was driven by a Chinese guy that must have just got off the boat. All he ever said on the whole trip, over and over and over again was "You know where you want to go? I take you". A real confidence builder.

Destination: Factory in the toughest part of Brooklyn.

I had specific directions carefully written down on paper as to every single turn to make to get there. About halfway, we came to a traffic accident partially blocking the intersection. Big Irish cops directing traffic. Literally hundreds of black people in a very bad humor.

If the cops had made the cab detour, I would have been in deep doo-doo.

I made it, but when my visit was over, the plant owner was so concerned about me that he put me in his personal limo and drove it himself to get me downtown to Macy's, where I was to meet my wife.

A few days before, one of his workers was robbed and stripped to the bare skin on the sidewalk in front of the plant. The even took his underwear. He wore someone's raincoat to get home. There was no way the owner was going to let me ride a cab.

Razor wire around the parking lot. Door between the entrance lobby and the office a steel door with a sliding peephole, like the old speakeasies in Chicago in the days of prohibition.

The posters that are so sure they would never ever get in a spot like that say so only because they have never spent any time outside of their own little corner of the world.

Of course, they will immediately post umpteen posts telling us how well traveled they are, but the cat is out of the bag already and they might as well forget it.

If you have really been around, you have been close to disaster more than once.

Of course, you could have been so ignorant of your surroundings that you did not know it, which is also quite likely.

I had another experience in Chicago that was really bad, but that is too long a story.

[publana]

Thank you!

Evidently there are some people on this board that are so stupid they don't know they're stupid. You guys handled the most recent poster suffering that malady splendidly.

[NittanyLion]

If you have really been around, you have been close to disaster more than once.

Yep. I missed an exit off I-95 in Philly once, and (already late) to avoid going over the bridge into NJ I thought I could just get off at the next exit and reenter on the southbound ramp. Unfortunately there was no southbound ramp, and I proceeded to blow every stop sign going past burned out houses and cars until I found the nearest on ramp. Scary stuff...and not that uncommon. I suspect most people who regularly head into cities have similar stories.