Posted on 12/17/2006 6:23:57 AM PST by surfer
Searchers failed to exploit vital clues in the hunt for the family of James Kim, including several crucial pieces of evidence that surfaced in the final hours of his life, when he was freezing, alone and lost in the woods.
An examination by The Oregonian found a search plagued by confusion, gaps in communication, and failures of leadership in Josephine County, where the Kim family was found.
Lt. Brian Powers, the Oregon State Police commander in the region, said the lack of a central command prompted him to take control Sunday, Dec. 3, the day before Kati Kim and her two daughters were found alive. At the time, the search was sprawling over four counties, each with legal authority to conduct its own operations.
"I knew we had information gaps that weren't being filled, and I just felt like the Oregon State Police could provide something to that effort to make sure that family gets found," Powers said. "If that effort meant knocking down some jurisdictional lines . . . I guess that is what it was."
In the end, the family was found by a volunteer pilot, one of several key breakthroughs achieved by people not connected to the official search. The confirmation that the family was south of Roseburg came from a citizen tipster; and the cell phone evidence narrowing the search was provided by amateur detectives at an Oregon wireless carrier.
Many of the key missteps came in Josephine County. The search-and-rescue coordinator now acknowledges she was overwhelmed by the demands of the search. She failed to call for help from the National Guard, which meant that heat-detecting helicopters stayed on the ground in the crucial two nights James Kim slept in the forest. ...
(Excerpt) Read more at oregonlive.com ...
Yeah, like taking some backwoods " shortcut " to begin with.
Brilliant !
Actually that was reported but now the agency that was supposed to lock the gate are now saying they left it open and meant to go back to lock it.
They were concerned someone might still be on it at the time and forgot to go back and lock it.
The story says the Kims actually got out of the car to remove rocks/boulders that were blocking the Forest Service road. It also says the gated section was never closed due to an oversight, not that the lock had been cut.
General David M. Shoup, 23rd Commandant, USMC
Been said before:
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - Theodore Roosevelt
Actually the Undersheriff had just lost a bitter election. Bottom line he was not happy about the election. He lost to a rival and the election was pretty dirty from what I understand.
He was demoralized and now all of sudden the county needed him but the county didn't vote for him.
I can understand how he felt but man this was no time to playing the crap.
Yes making the mistakes were the Kim's fault...Don't you think they have paid enough already?
You should spend some time reading about SAR - part of their creed is they never put blame on the person in trouble - it could happen to anyone at any time.
I suggest you start here:
http://www.pnwsar.org/faq.htm
The whole situation was initiated because Kim didn't know where he was going, what the weather would be like when he got there, and what the environment can do to you.
This does not happen all the time.
I'm sure everyone--after spending loads of taxpayer money on training--- will be ready next time.
The rocks in the road should have been a big clue.
The rugged beauty of our State of Oregon is it's natural state.
Have to respect the dangers of it's naturally rugged beauty.
I can see being an ex SF bay area resident how easy it would be to be ignorant of the wilds of Oregon.
Hopefully the news stories getting out about these errors in judgement when traveling around Oregon will save lives in the future.
Our breaking news this morning is about 7 school buses burning in Salem. They were in the bus yard.
We have alot of fires here it seems related to winter and folks trying to keep warm, space heaters ect....
Many mistakes here on the part of the Kims and the SAR organizers.
I've spent a lot of time in the outdoors, and I'd never go down an unknown Forest Service road at night, in bad weather, and without survival gear in the car. Especially with kids in the back seat.
The SAR problems begin with the lack of a central authority to collect and process all tips and information.
Any money spent on training in these situations is well worth it. I have been there and done that.
Everyone should also know that the military when involved with civilian rescue gain a ton of knowledge that has helped our soldiers in the field.
We all know the Kim's made terrible mistakes and quite frankly that whole family paid an enormous price and they will keep paying that price for the rest of their lives.
This is not an isolated incident in this area...it is a well known problem and other people have died up there because of similar circumstances.
It needs to be fixed.
Well, I'm glad that he had his priorities straight....
The rocks in the road should have been a big clue.
In a near complete white-out situation.
That is one of the most confusing scenarios you will ever find yourself in.
The only thing worse that I have experienced is a silt-out while diving...you can't see anything. You don't even know what is up or down - you watch your air bubbles to figure that out.
Evidently Gil Gilbertson, who won a close election over Brian Anderson, had not taken office since winning the election in November? What about Dave Daniels the outgoing sheriff? Where was he when all this happened?
Sounds like the transition to the new sheriff could have been a factor.
From the first page of the story, looks more like they were blind as a bat.
The election was very dirty and he was a lot to blame for it being that way... the same is true for the county commissioner's race the incumbent sheriff pulled out of, leaving only one leftist candidate on the ballot...
I am very suspicious of the whole dynamic involved and the local nepotism of it.
Bookmarking for later read.
I have a niggling feeling this could have turned out better. Hindsight, you know.
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