Condolences go to the family of CNET editor James Kim, whose body was discovered today in the remote southwestern Oregon wilderness. He’d been missing for 11 days after he left his family’s stranded car looking for help.
Condolences
Previous post: Spotlight on Megastudy business model
Next post: Pearl Harbor remembered
{ 2 trackbacks }
{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }
It’s a tragic reminder that in real life the hero doesn’t always survive unscathed.
One thing that I just can’t understand is why the guy didn’t walk back on the road he drove in on? Seems odd that he could get lost if he had managed to drive in.
I actually live not too far from the region and it’s well known to locals that sudden climate change can trap you without leaving many options. In 1995, a man was stranded on the same road for nine weeks. He wrote journals but at the end starved to death in his truck.
To me his bravery and tenacity are exceed only by the love for his family. It’s no wonder the rescuers called his actions ’superhuman’.
Being from the Pacific Northwest, I too understand how unpredictable the weather can be. My young son and I were almost the victims of a rogue springtime snow while hiking in the mountains. Luckily we left word with the National Forestry Service and they found us right away.
I can only feel sorry for the families of Mr. Kim. I understand his love for his family, and feel their loss.
Goodbye Mr. Kim, you will be missed by your family and friends.
Estebanko,
Where are you from? I’m from Coquille.
Corpy Carly, it’s easier said than done. You must have been in Korea too long to forget that roads quickly disappear in a blizzard.
From aerial TV footage the relief of the terrain is extreme, and there’s very tall fir trees; much of the ground appears bare & without snow cover currently, so I don’t think there’s any question of losing the road.
Reports say he had an Oregon state road map with him, so I think he was a smart guy without much outdoor survival experience, looks like he had a general idea of where he was. So I think he thought he could take a short cut cross-country through the extreme terrain (looks like it was very steep where his body was found, so certainly very bad footing). He went offroad without thinking about how drained his energy reserves were, probably committed to it hurriedly knowing how far he had driven down the wrong road so he plunged ahead hurriedly on a “short-cut” worried about his family.
When he couldn’t get back and had to spend the night in the woods, his mental condition must have deteriorated; he took off clothes and left them behind, the doctors say this is a symptom of advanced hypothermia, an illusion of warmth that comes near the end.
I think that had he stuck to the road and marked his trail/ road junctions to ensure he wasn’t going back on it, he probably would have come to traffic or a habitation eventually. Slow and steady with frequent rests, knowing he would eventually get back to the main road, so he wouldn’t have lost hope.
I was wondering why the family didn’t use cellphones to dial 911.
One report clearly said no cellphone reception in this remote area, though it wasn’t clear to me if they meant the auto’s location, or the steep valley where the husband’s body was eventually found, or both. I’m not sure they had one anyway.
I am perfectly aware of the unpredictability of Pacific Northwest weather – I’m originally from the Chelan/Sawtooth Wilderness area just south of the Canadian border. I think Paul H. is probably dead on surmising that the guy knew how to read a map and made a go at going cross country to get to help more quickly. I also agree that just a few precautions and a basic knowledge of outdoorsmanship would have seen him through all but the most extreme (-20 F, several feet of new snow) weather. Far too many people seem to believe that without lighter fluid or gasoline a fire can’t be built, but with a few low hanging dead branches, some duff and a lighter/matches/magnesium survival sparker, even sopping wet wood can be made to smolder – which might be the difference between life and death. If this guy had marked his path, kept a good slow and steady pace, and stopped to rest with a fire, I don’t doubt he would have made it.
Here’s a link to the approximate location where the family was stranded. It’s hard to see where he might have felt striking overland would get him, as the nearest town is about 20 miles by road and no dwellings seem to be in the area. On the issue of cell phones I found something interesting on Wikipedia’s entry. Apparently the family’s location was triangulated by a cell phone company after their phone received a text message. If they could receive why would they have not sent anything?
By keeping herself and her two kids alive the wife is the hero. Even jacked up the car and removed the tires to burn them. Unless you’re in imminent danger you stay put. And you have several blankets and candles in the trunk.
It sounds like they only one bar blipped for a brief moment. Apparently not enough to successfully connect a call, but enough to make contact with the tower. I drove through Southern Oregon last sumeer a little bit further south than where the Kims were lost. The terrain is mountainous, with lots of trees and valleys. Even on a major road, the reception on Cingular (which the EDGE network is part of) is spotty, with lots of places where you don’t get signal for miles.
I keep reading this and here’s my thought on this.
It’s 20/20 hindsight which the family didn’t have.
Ten years prior, in the same area, a guy got lost and got stranded. He stayed put for months and he died of starvation in his truck. If he had just walked around the corner, he could have found the road with traffic.
With the family stranded for over 7 days, with no help in sight, and with baby’s milk rapidly running out, Mr.Kim probably thought he had to do something before his kids, one by one, die of starvation.
As a father, knowing that my kids would die if we didn’t get any help soon, I probably would have done the same thing if I was in his position.
That road is one of only two over the mountains from just south of Roseburg to all the way to Highway 199 in California – the road is a terrible one – not much more than a dirt track in places and through very rough country. The Cascades are higher but these mountains are older and steeper, more like the Taebaek range. In Korean terms, it would be like having no paved roads across the mountains all the way from Yangyang to Uljin.
I’m looking at the AAA map of Oregon and it shows the road as No. 33 (the number in a trapezoidal box) – like it was a highway. That’s a US Forest Service designation and it says in the legend “Forest”, but someone not knowing that or reading the legend might think its a proper highway.
I’m native to Oregon but this tragedy has captured people’s interest all over – this national political blog has gotten 236 comments already
This is quite sad and I had been following it from the beginning. Of course it’s a little uncomfortable for us to judge what should have been done after the fact, but prevention is the best lesson.
Here’s what I have read t one should do in such a situation. Basically it is best to stay in the car because:
1. You can survive for three hours without shelter
2. You can survive for three days without water
3. You can survive for three weeks without food
Granted there were children involved which alters things quite a bit, but those seem to be the basic rules of thumb. Also, it’s best to pack a survival kit in the car including blankets and food like granola bars and stuff just in case.
So how long are you supposed to wait in the car for rescue before you try to do something? 10 days? 20 days? Until all your children die?
And where did this fast and hard rule to stay with the car, come from?
Another question, shouldn’t that road have been marked closed?
Stay out of the Coast Ranges. No reason to go up there unless you’re hunting or logging. I don’t even think the pot-growing communes stay out there this time of year.
Typically Forest Service roads that are not plowed will have a gate blocking access during the winter months. I’ll guarantee one will be installed after this if it hasn’t already. Of course locals who may use that road will simpy find a way around it negating its original purpose, but at least the Forest Service will be able to cover their ass next time this happens.
cm,
The ones who stayed in or near the car the longest are the ones who survived in this sad story. Search parties are probably going to look (and find) vehicles first. Obviously the choice to venture out into the elements is a personal one and I never said what he did was right or wrong but the rule of thumb is not to leave your car or shelter in freezing temps.
I wasn’t writing that to criticize but just in case anyone was wondering what to do in such a situation, that, I have read, is what will ensure the best chances of survival.
Go ahead and bite my head off again. I dare you.
CM is absolutely right, they should gate off those closed roads in Oregon during the winter. Too many out of towners get stranded in the mountains there.
Last year a family in an RV got lost nearby in that same forest. Two adults walked out, by the way, which is how they were rescued.
I also remember reading the diary left by that poor guy who wasted away for two months before dying in his truck, after getting stuck in snow in the same area in the mid 90s. He was a strong believer in the “let them find you” approach. Too bad it took until next spring to find him.
So, I don’t agree with the wisdom of always staying put, especially if noone has any idea which way you went – which seems to have been true in most cases in the mtns of SW Oregon. (it would have been true this time, too, if they hadn’t been lucky enough to pick up the cell phone signal).
The key, I think, if you are some place where noone can find you, is to hike out when you still have some energy -not after 7 days without food, in which case you probably won’t make it too far. And, with proper clothing.
Also, I saw a case on the discovery channel, of a US colonel and son who were trapped in a cave while skiing in Turkey. They made it out by hiking out. And, remember that group of boyscouts who froze to death in that snow cave on Mt. Hood in the 80s? I wonder if they might have survived, had they gotten to lower elevation and more moderate weather.
So, maybe its not always the best advice to stay put at the top of Oregon peaks.
CM –
Well the link I provided above came from your gov’t. Google this a bit and you’ll see. Jodi cites facts in comment #16. There are no guarantees that you’ll be found, as seen in your example of the guy in his pickup truck, but it offers you the best chance of survival. Wandering around doesn’t. Hopefully you’ll never find yourself in such a situation, but being prepared for such an event is prudent. Your choice.
I saw the same Discovery channel series mentioned in comment #21. It makes for compelling TV. Far more interesting than a show about someone waiting it out. Keep in mind the series is called “I Shouldn’t be Alive”.
May he rest in Peace. My sympathies and thoughts go to his family.
According to this updated story, the road was closed, but vandals had broken the lock, apparently.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16107451/?GT1=8816
Cell 911?
This is not Seoul. Sometimes there are not enough repeaters to provide coverage.
I don’t want to sound uncharitable, but I don’t really get how a survival instinct can be treated as heroic self-sacrifice. He left the car in the assumption that he would find help quicker that way – and not just for the wife and kids either. Now we already have Daum etc talking of how the world is marvelling at the intensity of KOREAN fatherly love.
Montclaire,
You are sounding a bit uncharitable. The man’s feet were clad only in tennis shoes and his head was uncovered. With such winter un-ready attire, I wouldn’t have wanted to venture out from the shelter of the vehicle. After driving around lost for miles, he must have realized,if he was not delirious, that his chances of finding help were not great. It was a gamble to increase the chance that his family would be rescued.
I am rolling my eyes with you at the predictable Korean response to the story. A Korean elementary teacher once told her class, which included a biracial child of a friend of mine, “Korean mothers are the best mothers in the world. No other mothers in the world love their children like Korean mothers do.” Sheesh, even cats will run into burning barns to rescue their kittens. Parental devotion is universal and not limited to humans.
“It was a gamble to increase the chance that his family would be rescued.”
I see what you mean. After all, he could probably have given rescuers more precise info about the location of the car than his wife could have given rescuers in regard to his whereabouts. Still, one could conceive of someone venturing out on his own in such a situation for less than heroic reasons.
The myth of uniquely intense Korean parental love is tenacious indeed, though the statistics of children given up for adoption in this now-wealthy country – or abandoned in orphanages even as late as 11 or 12 years of age (see the so-called 이혼 고아 phenomenon) – certainly casts doubt on it. A fierce desire to see one’s children get ahead, thus elevating the social status of the entire clan, is often equated with parental love it seems, even if it means dooming the kids to a joyless childhood spent in hagwons.
Unfortuntely he grew up in San Francisco. I don’t think knew how easily you can get killed in a snow storm. People who grew up in temperate climate has a tendency to underestimate bad weather.
The small road that he ran into was vandalized. The lock had been cut off. I hate to blame the victim but he made series mistakes that added up to one big one.
Moral? Never underestimate bad weather. I still have a hard time understanding how humans survived during the Ice Age.
http://www.discovervancouver.c....._ID=124400
I like bOOb’s art work. Very classy.
CM: Classy indeed. He comes by the name “b00b” honestly. How anyone can find something like that funny is beyond me.
Sad story! It sounds like this guy was a good person and you hate to see this happen to the good guys. I noticed that the media did not harp on the fact his wife was white, racists!
In today’s WaPo, James Kim’s father writes about his son’s death in an opinion piece, The Lessons In My Son’s Death.
You must log in to post a comment.