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

[Perry]

https://www.napsgfoundation.org/wp-cont ... 142015.pdf

Page 26/18 is interesting. Doppler Derived Beacon Locations. I wonder if the double locations sometimes happens with the A-GPS of cell phones if a hill is blocking satellites. That might explain the Maze parking lot + Smith Water ping.

Edit: I thought about this some more. Boulders could block multiple satellites, probably more likely than a hill. The simplest explanation might be the steel frame of the car blocking satellites. Does anybody notice a GPS device having issues inside a car?

[mattytreks]

Perry (or some other Admin), can you please update the subject of this thread to read "Young Hikers Missing in Joshua Tree Since 7/27", instead of "Young Hikers Missing in Joshua Tree Since Thursday"?

I think that will give folks a bit more context, at-a-glance.

Thanks!

[Perry]

Done. I see where you're coming from on that. The date of the original post is very small print. I even added the year so that next year after July 27 someone doesn't go OMG we gotta go find them now! Wait, I'm thinking of the web sleuths thread. I haven't made it through the whole thing yet, but my favorite post so far is #151 on page 11:
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showth ... 017/page11

[cynthia23]

Good thinking on the title change. Perry, I assume you're referring to the 'attack tortoise' theory?

Seriously, though, I wonder where the NPS is at in their investigation?? I wonder if the out of town 'overhead' team is still here?

[neverwashasbeen]

As I drove past the parking area today, I glanced a sign that says "ACTIVE SEARCH AREA". I didn't stop to read the fine print.

[zippetydude]

With it cooling down I may head out there and take a look this weekend. By the way, since we were speaking of confusing reporting, this is from an article today by CBS about the Mexico City earthquake:

Rescuers spotted the girl and shouted to her to move her hand if she could hear them, and she did, according to Foro TV. A search dog was then sent into the wreckage to confirm she was alive.

If she moved her hand, she's alive...

z

[cynthia23]

Talk about confusing. There is a new article in the Desert Sun, stating that the US Marshals have taken over the investigation-- and that, apparently, there are 'reports' that one of the two was seen at another AirBnB in Joshua Tree post July 28, but that this is 'not confirmed', although apparently they DO know that Orbeso stayed at another JT AirbNb earlier in July, on July 12-14. Perhaps that was on the trip with the Japanese friend, but if not, somewhat strange and, perhaps, suspicious, to go on a trip to Joshua Tree by yourself 2 weeks before you go on a trip with your ex-girlfriend. This tragic story just gets ever odder. And sadder--the article referenced Orbeso's poor dad, who is still out every weekend at JTNP, faithfully searching for his son.

http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/loc ... 687013001/

[Perry]

More info here:
http://www.kesq.com/news/missing-hikers ... /623782662
http://www.kesq.com/news/investigative/ ... /624709907
Interesting. Just when it looked like things were going cold.

The Web Sleuths thread does have some decent discussion in places, but the board as a whole gives me a bad vibe. You have to register to view any of the uploaded images, and one of the posting rules is that people can't link to similar discussions (like our thread here).

[zippetydude]

Wow, interesting links Perry! The guy who says he saw them at the other Air B n B after their disappearance sounded very sure that he had actually seen them, so sure that he went and filed a report. That is fairly convincing all by itself. Add in all the other suspicious details and...who knows?

z

[cynthia23]

OMG! Perry, those links are boggling, especially the first one. I would not necessarily put credence in a witness saying he had seen the couple at another AirBnB post-disappearance--there are many instances of people (honestly, but mistakenly) thinking they've seen missing people--but the fact that it was THE SAME AirBnB Orbeso had actually, provably stayed at earlier in July is incredibly suggestive.

However, playing devil's advocate here--the neighbor witness could have, indeed likely did, see Orbeso earlier in July at the AirBnB, when he was definitely there--and then, post-disappearance (when the couple were very much in the local news), when he saw (perhaps) a vaguely similar couple, it might have triggered the earlier memory and he conflated the two images/memories.

If we reject the staged disappearance theory, the fact that investigators found four different hallucinogenic drugs in the couple's belongings certainly buttresses the theory that perhaps they were under the influence of something while hiking, and that caused poor or erratic decisions that ended in death.

Meanwhile, Orbeso's poor father keeps faithfully hiking and searching.