Posted on 11/30/2006 7:34:44 PM PST by rit
NET senior editor James Kim and his family are missing.
The 36-year-old Kim, his wife Kati, and daughters Penelope (4 years) and Sabine (7 months) left their home in San Francisco last week on a road trip to the Pacific Northwest. They were last seen on Saturday, November 25, in Seattle, according to the San Francisco Police Department, which has opened a missing persons' investigation. They were driving a 2005 silver Saab station wagon with California personalized plates of "DOESF."
Those with information about the Kim family's whereabouts are asked to contact the SFPD immediately--at 415-558-5508 during normal business hours and at 415-553-1071 after-hours. The Portland Police Department can be reached at 503-823-4000.
We're feeding Orbus.
http://joeduck.wordpress.com/
This guy is up in that area and thinks they might have taken the Merlin/Galice/Bear Camp road.
Here's a website that their friends and family have set up for updates - also, there is a guestbook at the 2nd link:
http://www.jamesandkati.com/
http://www.jamesandkati.com/guestbook/
More:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/12/04/SEARCH.TMP
12-03) 22:17 PST -- The last known person to interact with the missing Kim family of San Francisco said Sunday night that she remembers seeing four happy travelers finishing their dinner in an Oregon highway restaurant and departing for a late night drive in the rain.
"They were sitting in the booth, and they looked very happy,'' said Karen Smith, who on the evening of Nov. 25 dined in the Denny's restaurant in Roseburg, in southwest Oregon. "Their child was cute. They got up to leave, the dad paid the bill and I told the mom how cute their child was.''
On Sunday night, Smith was back in the same restaurant, where she recalled meeting the family exactly eight days earlier.
.....
Smith said the family left the restaurant about 9 p.m.
"I didn't ask them where they were going,'' Smith said. "I didn't want to pry into their business. But it was very late to start a long drive.''
According to authorities, the Kims were heading for Gold Beach, a town on the coast on the other side of the Coast Range, where they had a hotel reservation. The family was apparently setting off on a drive of 135 miles on winding two-lane roads in cold and rainy weather, over roads that might have received a dusting of snow. They had called the hotel to tell them they were running late, and to request that a key be left for them. They never arrived.
Smith said she has often driven over Highway 42, the road that connects Roseburg with Coos Bay on the coast, and that it's hazardous.
"It's tricky to drive, even during daylight,'' she said. "But that night it was cold, black and rainy."
A waitress at the restaurant also recalled seeing the family, and told a colleague that she "kind of feels responsible'' for not questioning the family about its travel plans or advising them about the long, remote drive that they apparently intended to make.
About 40 personnel from various law enforcement agencies in Oregon searched for any trace of the family Sunday from the ground and air in southwest Oregon. The air search was to be suspended at darkness but ground crews expected to continue the search into the evening, according to Oregon state police.
Police in Oregon also said family members have hired private resources, including helicopters, to assist in the search.
All possible routes -- and remote area roads are being checked, according to Oregon state police, who describe some of the roads as narrow and curvy with steep bordering embankments. Some roads are near 4,000 feet in elevation and some sections have about 6 inches of frozen snow. Sno-Cats are being used in those areas.
Let's hope it was in Roseburg when they also stopped to eat dinner.
Here is the most active thread on the missing family...
Cross linking... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1748286/posts?page=1
Thanks for the ping. Here's a possible bright spot from a brief article on one of the NoCal TV websites:
" ... The Josephine County Sheriff's Office says the area is heavily used for cutting Christmas trees. ..."
Maybe, then, there will be more "traffic" around than usual - i.e., more eyes and ears in the backcountry and up those various logging roads. Let's hope!
BTTT
We drove the Bear Camp Road in summer once and vowed we would never drive it again. And we have a 4WD vehicle. It is one scarey road.
Maybe I missed it if this has been covered, but if Oregon has an association of 4WD clubs, they would be invaluable in covering those logging roads. In CA, back in the days that our family was involved in 4-wheeling, we'd have gladly gone out as a group and fanned out over those roads, since everyone was experienced in poor road conditions (or no roads, as happened often).
http://www.jamesandkati.com/guestbook/
There is a current post (#357) on the guestbook that says the police scanner in Grant's Pass picked up talk that the mother and children were found and being airlifted, and that the dad had gone out on showshoes 2 days ago for help. Can anyone from OR verify if they heard anything like this? Hope it's not some sick joke.
Assuming, and I believe we can, that they both have cell phones, and various connected wireless devices, the police should have a pretty good idea of where they are. Sounds like a piece of the puzzle has not been made public.
Live coverage on CNET at 6PM EST (4 minutes from now) at
http://www.cnettv.com/?live=111991
Hi! I haven't driven that specific road but it is typical of northwest Forest Service or similar roads that I would drive in the summer with a 4WD and plenty of emergency supplies -- preparing for an unanticipated overnight due to road conditions or mechanical problems. And would always leave a "flight plan" with family. Wouldn't dream of heading out this time of year. Many of those roads are impassable right now to untracked vehicles anyway.
Multiple sources now reporting mother and two children being airlifted to hospital.
It's her and the children! How wonderful!
News conference states mother and two children airlifted to safety and transported to hospital by ambulance. Mr. Kim is still missing. Left two days ago on snowshoes to look for help. Mrs. Kim waved down helicopter with umbrella.
1:45pm PST today. Snowcat was close to area so they were closing into their location at the same time.
Another update at 5pm PST.
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