Young Hikers Missing in Joshua Tree Since Thursday [7/27/17]

[Ed]

Richard,

I am familiar with Occam's Razor. I stand by what I said. Neither Cynthia nor I are arguing that foul play is 'the' explanation, or even a likely one. Merely a possible one that explains some facts. If you want to rule it out, that is fine with me. I hope you are correct, though this is a tragedy, whatever the true explanation.

[cynthia23]

The board has so many experts on the Ewasko case, and I'm not one. But it does seem to me that the cases are not precisely comparable, as Ewasko's disappearance takes place in a different area of the park and in different circumstances. But if you scroll up in this thread and read OtherHand's posts, he delineates why it's so puzzling these two have not been found, in particular relating to the location of their car and their position in the park. Perhaps in this matter, Occam's Razor suggests that the simplest explanation might be a crime. Sadly, domestic violence homicide is rather common. However, I'm certainly not arguing that a hypothermia death is impossible--just that if so, it's very odd they haven't yet been found.

Whatever the explanation, I sure hope the search team discovers it soon.

[cynthia23]

addendum to Ed's point--how horrifying this misinformation is, but alas, it's not uncommon for these guides to give dangerously wrong information, especially when it comes to desert heat. I found an online site with similar misinformation about Skyline, stating it was best 'May through November' (!!!). I contacted them and urged them to correct it, not sure if they did.

[zippetydude]

I admit, Occam's Razor had crossed my mind as well. Still, unexplained occurrences are just out there begging for an explanation.

One of the prime motives for us to be altruistically inquisitive is that we hope others will be equally inquisitive if we disappear so that either we are found or others related to us benefit from the experience which we were not able to pass on to them directly. (This is spoken from a genetically driven point of view. In truth, I think we all are highly motivated to help each other with no benefit, genetic or otherwise, as our driver. But biologists tell me otherwise, so I always hope I am able to buck the trend and do just a little better!)

I find myself clinging to the smallest hope, the barest shred of evidence that it will turn out a win.

I wish we, as regular citizens, were able to have a more dramatic and valuable impact on bringing about a positive outcome. That is why I brought up the army of drones idea at the beginning of the thread. I would be willing to buy a dedicated search-enabled drone to work with a fleet of several hundred others and then celebrate when "thirsty but fine" was the expected outcome instead of a "Bill Ewasko" sort of hopeless search for explanation rather than an exuberant team search filled with near certainty of joyful victory.

That said, still hoping.

z

[cynthia23]

Thank you for that thoughtful comment, Zip. Perhaps, in troubling situations like this, we can focus on how uplifting it is that so many people are out there searching--many of them volunteers. There is something in people--whether it be genetic or otherwise--that wants to help those in need, and that's a precious thing, even a kind of miracle. And you're right, hope is something worth hanging on to, no matter what.

[Wildhorse]

In Ockam's day, reason led to truth, words corresponded to things in the world, and faith was met by God above.

Everything has changed. One can no longer make ultimate or meaningful sense of anything, words correspond to words and nothing more, and faith has given way to suspicion.

We can yet hope that the couple will be found. It is a decent thing to hope, even without Reason.

I read recently about the discovery of a couple who disappeared into a cold cravass 75 years ago. They did not survive, but finally their survivors have the peace of having an answer to a mystery, and their bodies were found lying next to each other for all of those years.

[cynthia23]

That's very touching, Wildhorse. Thank you for that story.

[RichardK]

Our young hikers remain unfound. Sadly, another parallel tragedy just happened in the Grand Canyon. From the Fort Worth Star Telegram:

A Fort Worth doctor reported missing in the Grand Canyon has died, her husband wrote in a Facebook post.

Dr. Sarah Beadle, 38, a doctor at Baylor Emergency Medical Center in Keller, was found by a search team Wednesday afternoon, her husband wrote.

She was hiking down the South Kaibab Trail with two children, ages 10 and 11, when one of the children started feeling dizzy from heat exhaustion and they’d run out of water, he said in the post.

His wife left the children in a safe spot and went ahead to get help and water, he wrote.

“Somewhere along the trail, she made a wrong turn and got lost. The park rangers suspect she died of heat exhaustion.”

[Ed]

Yes, another sad story. I don't know what the temperature on the rim was, but descending into heat is always questionable for inexperienced hikers, and particularly with children. I've only been on the South Kaibab Trail once or twice, and it was ages ago, so I don't remember it very well. I don't think it was the highway the Bright Angel Trail was, but still losing your way on it sounds strange. You would think a medical doctor would have a better sense of the limitations of the human body.

[RichardK]

From WFAA-TV, it was 105. You would think a doctor, of all people, would know better.

Dr. Sarah Beadle was said to be an experienced hiker who'd traversed the Grand Canyon before. But it was on one of the canyon's popular trails Tuesday that the Fort Worth mother and physician was last seen. The temperature that day was 105 degrees.