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Kati Kim holds her daughter, seven-month old, Sabine Kim, in the back of a helicopter after they and her other daughter, Penelope, 4, were rescued from a remote area of southern Oregon, Monday, Dec. 4, 2006. They were airlifted to Three Rivers Community Hospital in Grants Pass. James Kim, 35, Kati's husband is still missing.

Kati Kim, right, talks to rescue personnel Monday, Dec. 4, 2006, after she and her two daughters, Sabine, 7 months, in yellow, and Penelope, 4, were rescued in the mountains of southwest Oregon about 35 miles west of Grants Pass, Ore.

Kati Kim, center, of San Francisco, talks with her father-in-law, Monday, Dec. 4, 2006, in Merlin, Ore., after she and her daughters, Penelope, 4, and Sabine, 7 months, were rescued in the mountains of southwest Oregon about 35 miles west of Grants Pass. Four members of the San Francisco family had last been seen Nov. 25. A search continues for the woman's husband, James Kim, police said. Sabine Kim is in a yellow blanket and being carried by a rescuer at right.

As has been stated earlier in the thread, that road requires adequate preparation even in summer conditions (when you can have a flash flood cutting off access, etc). At least the mother had the good sense to take winter clothes and some preps. Bless her for saving the kids!

Three members of missing family found alive

Monday, December 04, 2006

Three members of missing family found alive Three members of a family missing on vacation in Oregon were found alive today in Southern Oregon.

Kati Kim and her two young children, missing since Nov. 25, were spotted by a helicopter crew as Kim and her children were waalking along Bear Camp Road west of Grants Pass at about 1:45 p.m. today.

The helicopter was able to land and lifted them to a Grants Pass hospital. Authorities said they are in good condition at Three Rivers Community Hospital, although one child would be admitted to the hospital.

James Kim, Kati Kim's husband, is still missing. Police say he left the family in their car at 7:45 a.m. Saturday to go for help and had said he would return by 1 p.m.

Additional search crews and resources are being diverted to the area to help try to locate the father. Authorities said they were tracking what they believed to be the footprints of James Kim.

Josephine County Undersheriff Brian Anderson said crews will continue the search through the night, if necessary. Searchers planned to add dog and horse teams Wednesday morning, if necessary, and might deploy searchers on the river.

Authorities said the family apparently got stuck in snow. They had some provisions in the car and managed to keep the heat going until the car ran out of gas. When the gas ran out, the family burned tires to stay warm.

"The three “are in good condition, Kim and the kids” Linda Rankin, vice president for patient care at the hospital, told The Associated Press.
“Mom arrived in an ambulance smiling and waving.”

Nursing supervisor Cynthia Russell told the Associated Press that the mother nursed Penelope, 4, and Sabine, 7 months, while they were lost and that there was no food or water in the car. “They spoke of dad trying berries in the area, but they were not sure if they were poisonous,” she said. The baby will be admitted and the other two will stay overnight in the same room, she said.

The mother had chicken and mashed potatoes and a vegetable, the regular hospital diet, and Penelope had a hamburger and pickles, Russell said.

She said the mother asked for McDonald’s fish filet, “and we’re going to get it for her.”

Oregon State Police Lt. Doug Ladd told the Associated Press that the family was seeking a scenic route to Gold Beach. Roads in the area are commonly used by whitewater rafters on the Rogue River in the summer but are not plowed in winter.

Ladd said there is “a very reasonable chance” that he is still alive and that the family said he had some outdoor experience.

Searchers this morning had focused on an area west of Glendale and north of the Rogue River after determining that the family’s cell phone had triggered a ping on a cell tower near Glendale.

The cell tower on Wolf Peak recorded two pings about 1:30 a.m. on Nov. 26, the morning after James amd Kati Kim and their two young children were last seen in Roseburg, according to Josephine County Undersheriff Brian Anderson.

The Kims' cell phone went through an area covered by the cell tower and received a text or voice message. The tower recorded two pings; each was one second in length separated by four seconds, Anderson said. The area covered by the cell tower extends west from Glendale about 26 miles.

More than two weeks ago James and Kati Kim had loaded their two children in to the car and drove to the Northwest for Thanksgiving. They spent the holiday with family in Seattle, visited friends in Portland, and were scheduled to stop in Gold Beach before returning home.

The Kims own this shop in San Francisco. The couple's worried friends are filling up this guestbook with their thoughts and concerns about the family. And here's a link with more information about the family.

- David Anderson and Noelle Crombie

This is very close to the area a salesman, new to Oregon, had decided to take a scenic route from the coast to Grants Pass via the logging roads. He got stuck in a snowstorm, waited a couple of days and then died hiking the 19 miles to safety. They found him 3 miles from town.