Story of missing hiker in Joshua Tree NP

[OtherHand]

I see that some people continue to search, even into summer.

HJ

Insanely stupid things can be accomplished when followed by a stop at Pappy's and Harriet's.

[Hikin_Jim]

Insanely stupid things can be accomplished when followed by a stop at Pappy's and Harriet's.

lol.

I never did make it out to Pappy and Harriet's. Went to the 29 Palms Inn which is a really neat place in its own right. Had a great breakfast. Their website could use a little photographic help though. I think it's a much more interesting place than their rather bland website.

So, any new theories on Bill? Or just trying to clear some previously conceived ones?

HJ

[Hikin_Jim]

Weather's getting conducive to searching in Joshua Tree. Wonder when the next search is... ...haven't seen anything lately on the search page.

HJ

[OtherHand]

Weather's getting conducive to searching in Joshua Tree. Wonder when the next search is... ...haven't seen anything lately on the search page.

HJ

That don't mean it ain't happening, it's just not getting written up yet. Priorities and whatnot. Yes, wunnerful weather.

[Hikin_Jim]

Well, good luck. Please let me know if I can provide you with any of my misleading theories or other red herrings. Always happy to obfuscate.

Where the heck are you, Bill Ewasko?

HJ

[OtherHand]

Weather's getting conducive to searching in Joshua Tree. Wonder when the next search is... ...haven't seen anything lately on the search page.

HJ

And here youse goes.....

[Hikin_Jim]

Comparing his GPS positions to the tower’s distance measurements showed them to be fairly close, on the order of 10%. This suggests Verizon’s distance measuring arrangement for the Serin tower is accurate, does work and thus may serve as validation for Bill’s 10.6 miles measured ping. [emphasis added]

Actually, that's fairly significant. I'll have to re-read through everything with that in mind.

HJ

[avid]

I am a newb to this situation. I have just begun to read through all the info. Before I bury myself any further in this investigation I have one question. In all missing hiker SAR situations are there State or County detectives involved at some point? Having worked in wildland firefighting I understand how the incident reporting structure would be constructed. My concern is that the Incident commander on any given SAR intervention may have no training in criminal investigations. At what point does the incident commander say we have no body after an incredible effort are we sure there is no foul play involved? The world is full of stories about people wanting to disappear for one reason or another. Then of course you have possibly all kinds of people with motive to want someone dead. What better way than to catch them unexpectedly in some wild place to settle the score. Or make it look like they got lost hiking in the desert and never returned.

So far, the one thing that jumped out at me is that Bill's Senior pass wasn't scanned upon entering. He certainly didn't pay $15 bucks to get in when his Senior pass was in the vehicle. My experience is that the Ranger takes our pass and runs it through the machine. They seem to love running the card because it saves them making change. Also they know that anyone with a pass isn't a newb needing all kinds of assistance. The fact that his Senior pass wasn't scanned in itself would cause me to call for investigative help. If someone else drove his vehicle through the gate they probably wouldn't know anything about a Senior Pass.

Nevertheless, the effort that Tom has put into this investigation is worthy of a book or at least a multipage story in the the LA Times or SF Chronicle. Simply incredible!

David

[OtherHand]

..... At what point does the incident commander say we have no body after an incredible effort are we sure there is no foul play involved? .....

So far, the one thing that jumped out at me is that Bill's Senior pass wasn't scanned upon entering. He certainly didn't pay $15 bucks to get in when his Senior pass was in the vehicle. My experience is that the Ranger takes our pass and runs it through the machine. They seem to love running the card because it saves them making change. Also they know that anyone with a pass isn't a newb needing all kinds of assistance. The fact that his Senior pass wasn't scanned in itself would cause me to call for investigative help. If someone else drove his vehicle through the gate they probably wouldn't know anything about a Senior Pass.

David

As far as I know, an incident commander would never say we have no body. All they can do is say that they've used all reasonable means and failed to find the individual. It happens sometimes. It's up to law enforcement to make a call as to foul play. And while we all like to pick on bureaucracies (especially me) it's been my experience they generally ain't idiots, that they really care about finding lost folks as soon as possible.

In regards to Bill's pass not having a record of being scanned, well....that's peculiar. But it's not out of the realm of possibility. If he had arrived at the west entrance station before 8 AM, it would have been unmanned. I've passed through there on Summer weekdays later than 8 and sometimes there was no one there. Another possibility is if there had been multiple vehicles lined up, Bill may have been just waved through after showing his pass. That's happened to me also. Although you wouldn't expect a vehicle line up on a Summer weekday. Finally the ranger could have just not scanned the pass for unknown reasons (maybe need for a potty break??!). That's happened to me too. The ranger not scanning part, not the potty break.

Given these possibilities, it was probably discussed by the park management with law enforcement and a determination made that this in itself wasn't suspicious. But that's just speculation on my part.

[Florian]

Story in the news yesterday about a human skull being found in the area north of 1000 Palms Canyon and Dillon roads ..

http://www.kesq.com/news/Hiker-Discover ... index.html

The area is roughly 5 miles SE of Key's View. No ID yet. Could conceivably be our lost hiker.

-Florian