Posted on 12/04/2006 3:18:35 PM PST by 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.
There was a time if you did that in Bridgeport CT - wrong exit off of I-95 - you probably would not have made it back on the highway. People were shot at the end of the exit because they took the wrong exit.
From what I understand Bridgeport has cleaned up the area quite well...but the point is you never know and a simple mistake off the freeway doesn't always end up funny like in Summer Vacation.
Remember only a few years ago, air travelers who rented cars in Miami were hijacked, some killed, because the gangs sat near the airport exit and tailed cars with rental car tags.
It forced Hertz and others to stop putting that RXXXX plate on their cars.
I don't know what the situation is there now. I have not seen anything recently.
As for my story, I knew that area of NY was tough but I thought the plant I was to visit was in a better place than it was.
Had I known how bad that area was, I would have had them pick me up at the airport. No way I would have used a cab.
Yes I remember...from what I understand now that problem is not as bad as it used to be.
The gangs also used to target international tourists because they would be flush with cash upon arriving here.
It really gave Florida a bad rap for a while.
It now looks as though James Kim died within two days of leaving the car.
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/116555193774760.xml&coll=7&thispage=1
The details are in the article. It is even more amazing that he covered that much ground in that terrain in just two days.
What a shame - he never had a chance.
To show you how easy that can happen, back in the '50's before I-95, I think it was US-1, I was in the wrong lane at Philly.
Two lane exit. I am in the right lane.
Left lane bumber to bumber and all peeling off at that exit.
I could not change lanes, so off I go with them. No choice.
But that was early in the '50's. Either '50 or '51 and all of the madness of Watts, Cleveland, etc., had not happended. So although I was lost and not happy and took a lot of wandering around to get back on the highway, it ended OK.
But it illustrates that a very simple wrong turn can have consequences that are no fault of the victim's.
That's an excellent article! A couple of things I find puzzling:
1. They got stuck on Saturday, Nov. 25, but weren't reported missing until Wednesday, Nov. 29.
2. The search didn't start until Friday, December 1.
I guess it's very unfortunate that no one "missed" them for so many days, or that they seemingly hadn't relayed their itinerary to someone. I still think it would have been prudent of the lodge owner to let someone know they didn't show up. Or if the owner had tried to contact the Kims about it, and not being able to get through, maybe the owner would have called police.
One lesson we can learn from this is, if we are stuck somewhere, make very small treks to scout out the area, like walking 30 minutes in one direction one day, then another direction another day. They might have found that closed lodge a mile away if they had done this. So sad!
I don't know if it is true, but I heard a report on a San Francisco radio station, that said they think the reason he left the road is that he encountered a bear. They found bear tracks on the road near where Kim left it.
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...<<<<<<<<<<<<
Yikes, that whole experience sounds awful, and you were lucky! We used to have lots of independent cabs lurking around in the airport areas, and who knows about those drivers. Wasn't there a movie (several versions) about a couple arriving in NYC, only to get robbed/mugged/lost etc.? I'm thinking Jack Lemmon and Steve Martin played the guy in the different versions.
I know everyone can pull out these experiences where we made rational decisions, given the facts, that went bad, as compared to dumb stuff we did that may or may not have turned out bad.
Many years ago, before I had reason to pay closer attention, some of us at a conference (3 women) in Oakland drove a rental car to a restaurant we'd heard of and kept getting deeper and deeper into an unsavory neighborhood. We didn't turn around, and spent the meal and return trip sure we would be carjacked and/or murdered (we were sure we were being followed at one point). We had no business there, didn't follow our instinct and try to go someplace else, and if something would have happened, everyone would have been shaking their heads saying "What were they thinking"?
We will never know exactly what happend.
One thing for sure...James did everything he could to save his family and his footprints on the road eventually led to their rescue.
One of the reasons they didn't venture out of their car on short recons because of the fear of bears - especially with the children.
I guess it's very unfortunate that no one "missed" them for so many days, or that they seemingly hadn't relayed their itinerary to someone.<<<<<<<
I think people were concerned early on because the Kims usually kept in close contact with family and friends daily. I'm not sure the inn owner would have had an emergency contact number just from taking reservations. It appears from the story that they indeed burned tires during the day, that was something we all wondered about.
For those that have them, do the hand-held GPS systems (or onboard types) show roads like these? If they'd had one when they first knew they were lost, could they have navigated back to the main road? I know the weather was bad by then, but just curious about these systems.
I do know in the area they were in, lived there until 2004, and my car does show that route to the coast but most likely the unverified warning would pop up on the screen when you turn off the Merlin-Galice Rd.
With the navigation system in my vehicle it also has the ability to leave "breadcrumbs" to help you navigate your way back if on roads not on the system.
Up until an upgrade in 2004 the only roads around the area they were lost that were on the system were the main roads. With the upgrade most roads are on it. Prior to 2004 I used the breadcrumb feature often when in rural areas of Josephine County.
With the upgrade most roads are on it. Prior to 2004 I used the breadcrumb feature often when in rural areas of Josephine County.<<<<<<<<
Excellent, that is exactly what I was wondering. I have OnStar, but I want something I can see. I like the breadcrumbs feature you mentioned, that would be perfect.
It is surprising that Mr. Kim wouldn't have been testing out this or that system on his trip, given his job, but I'm sure he never thought of being anywhere much but on the 5 or the coast, with one hop in between.
As long as one has a clear path to the sky, is there any reason one would lose the signal in the area of the incident? Do these systems work in remote areas as long as there is no tree canopy? Thanks for the info, and I'll bet there will be a lot of these given as Christmas gifts this year.
Have been on more than a few of those logging routes in the area the Kims were in (Josepine County) and it worked great.
That has happened a few time, lost satellite signal because of trees, but that is rare. The only route I can recall in that area where I consistantly lose the signal is just north of Prospect before coming to Diamond Lake. Tall trees line both sides of a two lane highway for about 7 or 8 miles.
It's my guess that where the Kims were if the signal was lost it would be only temporary.
more info emerging...
He died from the elements in a shallow, frozen creek just a half a mile from where he started amid signs he may have been chased into the creek by a bear.
http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/dad-who-sought-help-died-of-hypothermia/20061208102509990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001
What if James encountered the bear on the road and he headed into the creek area to give himself a chance. Open road the bear would run him down in no time.
What if his main reason for doing what he did was to escape a bear and the last thing he would have wanted was to bring the bear back to where his family was?
This is from a post on Joe Duck...thought some of you would like to see it.
for those who questioned him leaving the car, I saw this:
Link to full story below.
“It is easy to say now that Kim should have stayed with the car. But back in 1995, a salesman named DeWitt Finley was trapped on Bear Camp Road. He got his truck into a snowdrift and realized he wasn’t going to get it out. The locals say Finley, a healthy man of 56, probably could have walked out on the road pretty easily.
But Finley was a believer. He was convinced that God would save him. For nine weeks he sat in his truck, meticulously marking off the days and writing in his diary.
In the spring, a couple of teenagers found his body. He’d starved to death in his truck.
Up in the mountains, they still say Finley was foolish for what he did. He could have made other choices, they say, better ones, and he might have saved himself.
In a way, that is true of James Kim. And if it makes you feel better about yourself to criticize him, go ahead. But don’t be surprised if no one wants to hear it.
He tried to do the best he could for his family. Trapped, cold and desperate, he had no way of knowing that help was on the way. He didn’t know that satellite technology was “pinging” the sound of their cell phone and that someone was still working on pinpointing the signal. He didn’t know that turning off the road would be a dead end.
He pulled on his jacket, kissed his wife and children (does anyone doubt that?), and struck out toward hope. That’s what dads do. ”
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/12/08/MNG75MRTTA1.DTL
Thanks, Surfer, we should just direct the naysayers to that story and save ourselves the debate. If he encountered a bear going toward his family, I think he could have gone off course to divert it. There are so many ifs and maybes, and none of them in my mind point to him doing anything remotely wrong.
See my post #1359 proving conclusively that if he had used the higher ground next to the car, the added 1270 feet (over about a mile or so) would have put him within 10 feet (maybe better) of being in line-of-sight of the Wolf Peak cell tower 20 miles away near Glendale and the call would have clearly gone through. Mr. Kim did not do that.
In 1995, I climbed just a couple hundred feet from a river valley to increase a cell signal from barely detectable to useable and call for help. If you have a cellphone, use the highest available ground to try it. A tech guy should have thought of that. (I'm a tech guy too.)
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