Posted on 12/05/2006 9:18:33 AM PST by george76
Searchers intensified their efforts Tuesday to find a San Francisco man missing for more than a week in a rugged, remote area of the snow-covered Oregon Coast Range as his wife and two young children, rescued just the day before, recovered in a hospital.
Trained dogs, horse patrols and a helicopter with heat-sensitive sensors were sent to join other helicopters, snowmobiles and foot patrols Tuesday for 35-year-old James Kim.
Trackers had followed his footprints until dark Monday night.
"They determined that he went over the side of the road into the Big Windy Creek drainage area and that's when the two deputies from Jackson County went over the edge and they are tracking his footprints right now," ...Tuesday morning.
"There are some cliffs they may have to go down to get down to the creek.
And there's still snow and ice, cold temperature, but they've been out all night and they plan to be out all day. And their hope is to find him today," ...
Kim...had left his wife and two young children in their frozen, snowbound car and set off into the wilderness to seek help, wearing only tennis shoes, a sweater and a jacket.
State Police Lt. Gregg Hastings said Kati Kim told a detective the family intended to take Oregon 42, the usual route from Interstate 5 to the south Oregon coast, but they missed the turnoff, found Bear Camp Road on the map and decided to take it instead of turning back.
Their car was 15 miles from Bear Camp Road when found.
The complicated network of roads in the area is commonly used by whitewater rafters on the Rogue River or as shortcuts to Gold Beach in the summer, but the roads are not plowed in winter and can be impassable.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedenverchannel.com ...
Rogue River. Trust me on this one.
Ouch!!!! That can hurt. Is everybody OK?
:-D
The searchers apparently stopped before the 100 foot cliff last night, camped out right there, and then resumed this morning.
BTW...if you like SurvivorMan...you should email Les Stroud he is really a nice guy. I have written to him about a few survival topics and he is quite responsive.
His new series starts early next year...he is off pretty soon to start filming and he will be in far more remote situations but they are equipping him with SAT technology so he can blog, etc...while doing it.
All in all I think these survival shows are very important everyone should know survival basics...you never know when you will need them.
They are now reporting the trackers found a pair of pants that belonged to James Kim.
"They are now reporting the trackers found a pair of pants that belonged to James Kim."
That doesn't sound good, if true. Where did you hear that report?
I think they're watching it on FOX, I just turned it on.
It should be pretty evident if he was wearing the pants when they were lost.
Perhaps he took extra clothing with him (they were on a trip) and starting leaving pieces behind so that either a)he could find his way back to the car or b)if the car is found he's left a trail behind him. Or he wore one pair of pants, they got wet, and then he switched to another pair he'd kept dry.
As a fellow thirty something nerd with a family I'm pulling for this guy. By all accounts he's a smart fellow so I'm going to remain cautiously optimistic as long as possible.
Knowing that, he had the family stay with the car. And then went in search of help in case he could find help first. Rather than considering him stupid, consider that he sacrificed himself to give his family slightly better odds of survival
That doesn't sound good, if true. Where did you hear that report?
from CNET:
Oregon State Lieutenant Gregg Hastings has confirmed that searchers found a pair of pants they believe James Kim left as a marker at the bottom of a ravine, where he is believed to have traveled on foot. Unconfirmed reports from local news stations say rescuers may also have found another of his personal items near the pants.
Rescue teams are currently searching for James in a 5-mile stretch of a narrow canyon a few miles from where the car was found, Josephine County Undersheriff Brian Anderson said at a press conference Tuesday, adding that "it is a very rugged, remote area; the teams are having some difficulty because of the terrain and conditions."
when we see men frantically trying to protect their wives and children, what is there to criticize?.......
God bless him and the whole family.....
I would hang onto hope until he is found....one way or the other.
However, finding his pants is not necessarily a good sign.
Some folks, when suffering from hypothermia, and all that comes from being lost, commonly begin to strip off their clothing. They become delirious and their body is shutting down, but they feel warm.
Panic also causes people to do strange things, such as a SCUBA diver that gets hung up in kelp and instead of thinking and cutting his way out, he rips off his mask, gets hung up even worse and dies with lots of air in his tank.
I do want you to be right. I hope he had extra pants and is found very soon.
A few cans of sardine, a few high nutrition bars and a few bottles of water can go a long way to helping you survive in a harsh situation. Those space blankets are good to throw in as well. Flashlight & extra batteries kept current. The other stuff you mention is also a good idea.
I believe they will find him alive unless he had an unfortunate accident.
He left the pants as a marker and they have reported they have found some other items in a manner that would suggest he was leaving a trail to follow.
He probably saw a marker or sign for the bear lake lodge and try to get to it. Unfortunately the lodge is across the river and there is no bridge.
However he may have found a boat or made a makeshift raft or something to try to cross. The big problem is there are dangerous rapids down river from his position.
Also from what I understand there is no "trail" on the southbend of the river so I am sure it is a tough hike.
I may be wrong but I don't think he ditched his pants because of hypothermia. He also has two lighters and I am sure he would be able to light a fire as long as he wasn't injured.
Keep praying!
You are right about the signs of hypothermia. A young hunter was lost overnight just this weekend in frigid temps here in Wisconsin and he had started to discard clothing before he was rescued.<>Praise the Lord the young man is recovering.
I saw it mentioned on digg that he took a bag of extra clothing with him, and also that there's been a trail of personal effects that led to finding the jeans as a marker.
Someone on there did have a good point that it would have been more efficient to rip the jeans into pieces, creating more markers.
That's what I was thinking...But, if he did take extra clothes, he may have a fighting chance.
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