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James Kim's path courtesy of Google Earth

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Originally posted by: chowderhead
This man, DeWitt Finley got stuck on the same road back in 1995, waited 9 weeks for help and died of starvation.
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Wow. I remember seeing a 20/20 story about that. He wrote hundreds of letters to his kids and his girlfriend, drank melted snow and ate candy bars etc. until he died. There was a great broohaha about the fact that the park service had closed the road soon after the guy had gotten stuck, but had not checked the road before closing it, which, of course, would have saved his life.

Weird.

MotionMan
 
Originally posted by: rh71
Originally posted by: Fern
Re: Leaving the car - I'd like to hear what the wife has to say about why he decided (or she encouraged him) to do that. He otherwise seems smart enough to know better.
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He DID say he'd return a few hours later. If I were the one waiting behind, I'd let him go too. Still gotta get in James' head though... you find no help after a few hours - do you give up and return to the car showing no hope... [did he just get lost trying to return?] ... or do you keep going till your last breath trying to save your family ?
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Thats a great question. You've been walking for 2 hours and found nothing. For all you know you could be 100ft from a house or you could be 100 miles from anything.
 
Originally posted by: MotionMan
Originally posted by: chowderhead
This man, DeWitt Finley got stuck on the same road back in 1995, waited 9 weeks for help and died of starvation.
Click to expand...

Wow. I remember seeing a 20/20 story about that. He wrote hundreds of letters to his kids and his girlfriend, drank melted snow and ate candy bars etc. until he died. There was a great broohaha about the fact that the park service had closed the road soon after the guy had gotten stuck, but had not checked the road before closing it, which, of course, would have saved his life.

Weird.

MotionMan
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Not only that, but I vaguely recall reading that they reopened the road again in what appeared to be just a couple of days after he died! Sad.

 
Originally posted by: randay
he shoudl have stayed in the fvcking car 🙁
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i think they were in the car for WHILE and were running low on food.

i mean as the man of the family are you gonna sit there while ur kids starve and freeze b/c u have no more tires to burn? (thats what they were doing?)

No, you're going to risk your life in hopes to save your wife and kids.

I just dont get why he didnt follow the road back down instead.
 
I was reading a Microsoft Zune review on cnet this AM and noticed it was written by this fellow just a few days before they left on that vacation. I took a while and read every word, then contemplated how easily you can be here one day and have no idea you might not be here the next.

 
Is there one article (link please) that provides a summary of what happend to them (what kind of car they were driving, where they were coming from and going to, why they were on that road, how and why they got stuck, what, if anything, they did to try to get found at the car, when and why he left, etc.)? Or should I wait for the movie of the week about it? 🙁

BTW, were the pants and other clothes found what he was wearing or were they extras he was carrying?

MotionMan
 
My question is if he could really see the road. In bad weather conditions, he might have thought the road continued one way and tried to follow what he thought was the road. After being in the car for a week and with food running out, it's hard to fault him for the decision that he made. At least the rest of his family is safe, whether or not he died in "vain", the fact that his family is alive I'm sure is an answered prayer for him.
 
i've read a couple of articles....but i can't figure out why he waited 'til like the 9th day to venture out. that very same day i/we got stuck, i would've walked the same way i drove in, carrying the equipment i had (in this case, cell phones) and hope to gawd that i could get a signal.
 
Originally posted by: benchiu
My question is if he could really see the road. In bad weather conditions, he might have thought the road continued one way and tried to follow what he thought was the road. After being in the car for a week and with food running out, it's hard to fault him for the decision that he made. At least the rest of his family is safe, whether or not he died in "vain", the fact that his family is alive I'm sure is an answered prayer for him.
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http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/12/07/missing.family/index.html
 
Originally posted by: benchiu
Jones said Kim apparently walked along the road for four or five miles. Then, his tracks crossed paths with a big black bear headed downhill across the road. Jones speculated that Kim headed down the steep ravine to avoid the animal, which appears to have followed him.
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This is probably why he left the road. 🙁

Taken from http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2006/1207/local/stories/kim-rescueworkers.htm
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pretty crazy if that really happened
 
it's unfortunate that apparently he was still alive tuesday morning because those clothes weren't there on monday, and rescuers couldn't reach him in time. probably died tuesday evening/night. and also crazy a bear chased him. i feel so bad for the guy.
 
The rescuers came so close:

Searchers working their way down the drainage Tuesday discovered a spare pair of pants that Kim had left in what they hoped was a sign for them. From the air, teams spotted a collection of clothing and Jones helped coordinate lowering a Jackson County SWAT team deputy 200 feet down a rope to collect them.

"Those were not there Monday," Jones said. "He was still on the move Tuesday."
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from Mail Tribune. So he was still alive and moving on Tuesday... They found him Wednesday around noon, ugh so damn close man... I am sure James heard the helicopters flying above him... maybe not.
 
rose.gif
 
Originally posted by: dethman
...and also crazy a bear chased him.
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I also saw that in the article. How frightening that must've been, especially since the signs indicated the bear followed Kim. Poor guy.

:brokenheart:
 
Originally posted by: vi_edit
Originally posted by: Exterous
Why do you think his pants and other clothes were found at different locations?
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I'm trying to figure that out too. I would *assume* he was trying to leave marks. But why you would do that when it's snow covered, I have no idea.

I guess some things sound good in desperation.
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He probably started sweating due to hypothermia. He was probably already delirious and thought removing the clothes would help him stop sweating. This caused him to freeze to death even faster.
 
For all of you asking about GPS and cell phones -

He was in rugged undeveloped timber country. Maps are almost useless, and gps even more so. He was out of cell phone coverage area, so the cell phone did not work. It managed to ping a tower once or twice, and that is how they were able to find the car. Logging roads do not show up on a gps for the most part, and they are constantly changing. Once he started hiking, and left the road a handheld gps becomes USELESS in old growth timber. I firmly believe he was aready suffering hypothermia when he left the road. Anyone that's hiked thru the forest in Western Oregon/Washington can tell you, it's rough going. He was hiking through a rain forest covered in snow. I hunt every year in a similiar terrain, and when properly prepared it is dangerous, I can't even imagine trying under the circumstances poor James faced. It truly was a death sentence the minute he decided to leave that car......

 
Originally posted by: NL5
For all of you asking about GPS and cell phones -

He was in rugged undeveloped timber country. Maps are almost useless, and gps even more so. He was out of cell phone coverage area, so the cell phone did not work. It managed to ping a tower once or twice, and that is how they were able to find the car. Logging roads do not show up on a gps for the most part, and they are constantly changing. Once he started hiking, and left the road a handheld gps becomes USELESS in old growth timber. I firmly believe he was aready suffering hypothermia when he left the road. Anyone that's hiked thru the forest in Western Oregon/Washington can tell you, it's rough going. He was hiking through a rain forest covered in snow. I hunt every year in a similiar terrain, and when properly prepared it is dangerous, I can't even imagine trying under the circumstances poor James faced. It truly was a death sentence the minute he decided to leave that car......
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Thank you for pointing that out. I can't believe how many people think he would've been saved had he had a handheld GPS--obviously these people have never used a handheld GPS before or been in the boonies where roads aren't exactly well-documented to begin with, nevermind the environmental conditions described above.

As for sticking around the car, that sure didn't work so well for this guy in the same location.. From what I gather, we could have been reading about how the entire family was found dead if James hadn't left the car and managed to get a cell phone ping signaling his location.
 
It is 32 degree here. I can barely step outside. It is freezzzing. OMG 7 days + of this outside with snow all over the place and I think I would go crazy.

I would go crazy on the first couple hours.

poor guy :-\ I feel for his family I really do. They've been on my mind last couple days.
 
Originally posted by: Sheep
Thank you for pointing that out. I can't believe how many people think he would've been saved had he had a handheld GPS--obviously these people have never used a handheld GPS before or been in the boonies where roads aren't exactly well-documented to begin with, nevermind the environmental conditions described above.
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I'm not sure anything would have saved him given the terrain, weather and how far they were from civilization. But a GPS may have had black bear lodge on it and shown the direction and distance to travel to it. It may not have plotted a nice route out on roads, but it would show the distance and direction (which wasn't that far.) GPS info is much better than having no idea where you are or what direction you are headed.

I also agree he should have never ventured out alone in the winter in this terrain. Suffering from starvation and hypothermia he ultimately ended up in a situation where (in his condition) he had little choice but to enter the river, in the cold of winter... Of course nothing can change the the fact that he died, so it's trivial to argue these things. I remember James from TechTV and he seemed like such a nice guy, it's really a terrible loss.

 
🙁

Must have realized he went the wrong way then changed direction. If only he knew to backtrack and just how close the car was to his destination.

🙁
 
Have people even looked at pictures of the area they were stranded. It is some of the thickest woods i have seen. Imagine it is covered with snow. All you have is tennis shoes, some pants, and a jacket, and no food. After 7 days he was probably tired and mentally exhausted. Also GPS doesnt pick up those logging roads so get off the idea that a hand held GPS would have helped him. This is a tragedy.

Can someone discuss if a hand crank radio or if a GPS satellite phone would have helped?

 
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