Story of missing hiker in Joshua Tree NP

[halhiker]

No, you are right. As I was going between my looking at Topos and Google Earth I wrote the wrong name. I was trying to figure out if someone could've possibly gotten into that canyon from up top and what it would entail. I also think they meant Virgo but I don't think the body was found near that intersection. If it were, it would not require CHP helicopters to transport people to it. Seems unlikely but considering how many other options have been pursued it's not beyond possibility. I also think Wide Canyon would be more probable for someone to go down because it starts further north than Deception Canyon.

[Ric Capucho]

Hikers discovered a human body while trekking through the hills of Sky Valley on Sunday morning.

The hikers reported the find, in the hills north of Vertigo Road and 16th Avenue, to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department at 10:24 a.m., sheriff's spokesman Deputy Armando Munoz said.

Agree that they probably meant intersection of Virgo Road and 16th Avenue, (search on Google Maps under Desert Hot Springs) which is just south of the wash exit from West Wide Canyon. Just a few miles north of the intersection places you in the deep badlands west of Upper Covington. I'll leave to others whether it's feasible for someone to have exited the ping zone west of Upper Covington after three days in the wilderness and then made it so very far after a run down the canyons...

Ric

[Ric Capucho]

http://www.kesq.com/news/hikers-find-body-near-desert-hot-springs/29494230


"Virgo Road" stated on kesq.com. Mind you, they spell everything else wrongly!

Ric

[Myth]

It appears that the man found was Gavin Smith, a Fox entertainment executive who went missing in 2012.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/06/us/fox-executive-body-found/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

[Ric Capucho]

A coincidence, it seems. a different body was also found on Sunday morning, this time in Palmdale.

Or perhaps the press confused Palmdale with Sky Valley?

Ric

[Myth]

Indeed. The geographical details in reporting this seems kind of - well, sloppy.

Figured the combination of "hikers" finding two bodies in such a short time span, and general vicinity would be a stretch ...

This article gave me the impression of being written for a generic audience, so I wouldn't be surprised if the intent was just "name some place close enough that most people in LA would at least recognize."

[Ric Capucho]

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the day Smith's remains were found. They were discovered Oct. 26, 2014.

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Fox-Executive-Gavin-Smith-281730071.html

Now more confident that the Gavin Smith body was discovered a couple of weeks ago in a different part of California.

No further news to be found on the Sky Valley remains, found last Sunday.

Ric

[halhiker]

Body was identified as an Oceanside man.

http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/crime_courts/2014/11/17/skeletal-remains-found-desert-hot-springs/19199363

[Ric Capucho]

I don't think these (discovered 12th November) are the same human remains as the one found north of Sky Valley discovered 2nd November. The Riverside Coroner still hasn't given a press release on that find.

Seems there's a skeleton around every second corner in SoCal.

Ric

[Ric Capucho]

http://www.otherhand.org/home-page/search-and-rescue/searching-for-bill-ewasko/jt74-12262014/

Another trip report for the search for Bill posted up. This time it's a trip around the ridge between Upper and Lower Covington. Worth a read in case it resonates with any other ideas.

Ric