CNET Editor's body found by Searchers (Update #941)

CNET TV ^ | 12-04-06 | From CNET TV

[sockmonkey]

Wife and two daughters of senior editor James Kim found in Oregon; search is still on for James Kim, who left the car on foot two days ago.

The wife and daughters of missing CNET senior editor James Kim have been found alive and airlifted to a local hospital, authorities announced at a press conference in Merlin, Ore., Monday afternoon.

James Kim left the car on snowshoes two days ago to seek help and has not been found, the official said. The search for him continues.

According to the official speaking at the news conference, the conditions of Kati, Penelope and Sabine are not yet known. More details are expected at a press conference at 5 p.m. PST, which CNET will stream live.

Kati Kim reportedly flagged down a helicopter rented by families of the missing persons.

After searches in Oregon's Curry and Douglas counties, new information on missing CNET senior editor James Kim and his family narrowed the search back to the Bear Camp area in Josephine County, according to reports Monday.

A cell phone tower received a signal from one of the family's cell phones at about 1:30 a.m. on Sunday near Glendale, but officials say the signal is only an indicator the family could have been within 26 miles of Glendale at that time, according to a report in The Oregonian.

[Mjaye]

I wish they'd saved one tire for a daytime fire, but they needed to keep the kids warm, and that was their first priority, I'm sure. They made the best decisions they could at the time, given what they knew to be the circumstances. It's just so frustrating to be watching this unfold while sitting in a warm house knowing what miserable conditions Mr. Kim ventured into with the best of intentions.

[BunnySlippers]

Any ideas on why they didn't burn wood at night? Trees everywhere.

[steve86]

It is 35.5 in Grants Pass right now so I don't know if you can depend on the higher temps tonight in the coastal range. However, Ashland is quite a bit warmer at 44 so maybe there is some warmer air working its way around.

[sockmonkey]

Any ideas on why they didn't burn wood at night? Trees everywhere.

I'm supposing it's that wet wood doesn't burn.

[vikingchick]

http://joeduck.wordpress.com (a blogger in Oregon)

James Kim search continues. Tuesday 6:30 pm update Darkness has fallen here in Southern Oregon and James Kim is still missing in the Rogue River Wilderness west of Merlin and Galice, Oregon. Approximately 100 searchers combed the drainage of Big Windy Creek Area today. A pair of pants was found near the creek. Reports say he had taken an extra pair of pants and may have left these as a sign.

A helicopter with heat sensors is flying the area tonight ( or coming down tomorrow?)

Crews are camped out waiting for daybreak.

My current thinking is that it’s very important to search the south bank of the river all the way down to Half Moon Bar Lodge. It seems logical to me that he would have followed the river downriver, knowing it would eventually lead to safety. In fact the original Gold Beach destination of the Kims was TuTuTun Lodge which is right on the Rogue river (though many days from Windy Creek, but James would not have known how far upriver he was).

I called the Half Moon Bar Lodge folks a few hours ago and learned that they are closed but there are caretakers there, so if James made it that far we’d have heard. Paradise lodge is on the other side of the river. A bad scenario is that he saw that lodge and tried to cross over the river which would be very dangerous. This is a wilderness area and there are no residences or even shelters that I know of between Black Bar Lodge (near Windy Creek but which presumably he missed) and Half Moon Bar, a distance of about 20 miles by river.

http://joeduck.wordpress.com/

[Diddle E. Squat]

Click the map at various places and you'll get different forecasts. Click on Grants Pass and their forecast is for a low of 30 and fog. Seems that the valley area that Grants Pass and Merlin are in is forecast to have lower temps than west in the mountains, perhaps because cold gathers at the bottom? Forecast mostly clear in the range to partly cloudy at the coast, so perhaps earlier daytime temps weren't as high in Grants Pass if they had more clouds?

[BunnySlippers]

Oh. Good point.

[publana]

State Policeman saying on Greta that they don't think he was disoriented.

[Diddle E. Squat]

This is where Greta runs rings around that nut Nancy Grace, with Grace's show running a goofy "MISSING DAD: PANTS FOUND!" title across the bottom of the screen.

[Diddle E. Squat]

The pictures from the helicopter really show how amazingly difficult it is to pick out someone in the thick woods of those mountains from above.

[publana]

I can't abide Nancy Grace.

I feel somewhat better after listening to the "lieutenant" on Greta. I have to admit that I was despaired thinking the article at the bottom of the ravine was James Kim and they just weren't saying yet. This guy sounded much more upbeat than if they knew he was already gone.

[publana]

Wow. Lok at the low visibility from the helicopter. They're having such a hard time finding him. :/

[BunnySlippers]

I am watching Greta and getting my hopes back up again. Also, updates here are great!

http://joeduck.wordpress.com/

[publana]

Thanks for the link! This one I haven't seen. :)

[woodbutcher]

Seems that the valley area that Grants Pass and Merlin are in is forecast to have lower temps than west in the mountains, perhaps because cold gathers at the bottom? Forecast mostly clear in the range to partly cloudy at the coast, so perhaps earlier daytime temps weren't as high in Grants Pass if they had more clouds?

---

Wind direction aloft can cause that. I know nothing about OR weather, but here on the East Coast we frequently have a weather condition some refer to as over running.

But what it is is a northeaster at lower levels, usually about 1,500 ft. above ground level the wind is strong from the SW. This gives us low ceilings, drizzle, fog, etc., because the lower layer of cold air is wedge shaped and the farther north you go, the thicker it is.

So as the warm air rises, it condenses in the form of rain. In the dead of winter it makes for ice storms and snow if it is really cold.

The point is that the difference can be considerable, much more than you would expect.

So if you look at the winds aloft in your area, you may see the solution to the difference in temp.

[null and void]

Any ideas on why they didn't burn wood at night? Trees everywhere.

They are from tree hugging San Fransisco...

[gura]

I'm thinking he told his wife "he'd be right back" so she'd let him go. He obviously had other plans in mind.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Interesting that the temps warmed up the last 3 days from highs of upper 20's-40 to mid-50's-60 and mostly sunny. The ditching of the extra pair of pants might make more sense, perhaps he wanted to leave a sign that he had gone toward the river and felt that he could spare that extra pair of pants? I used to work outdoors for 8+ hours at a time and did a lot of walking and some climbing, and even on cloudy days I would strip down to just a short-sleeve shirt after a few minutes when it was in the 50's. Of course I hadn't gone a week without much nourishment, which can make a huge difference, and it still gets cold at night, and the sweat of exertion can soak clothes and chill you.

[publana]

I think you're right. It sounds exactly like something I'd say to my husband if I thought I needed to do something for our survival and he would obstruct.

[publana]

I'm an avid winter cyclist. AFter just a few miles, I'm stripping down to my bike shorts and vented bike shirt. But when it gets close to dusk, I'm re-layering.

I'm wondering if he heard the helicopters and thought he'd be found; thus ditched the pants? But if so, why would he go down into the ravine? I can't imagine why he would have ditched those pants knowing he was going to need them tonight if not found during the day. Possibly he had more than two pairs of pants? I'm getting the idea that Kati doesn't really know exactly what he had with him from reports.