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Body of missing dad, James Kim, found in Oregon wilderness

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KristyDarling

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I don''t know how many of you have been following this story, but they just found the body of the missing dad -- James Kim -- in the Oregon wilderness about 30 minutes ago. He''s from San Francisco and a few of my colleagues knew him, so it''s hitting close to home. There are lots of tears here right now. The man was a hero, risking his life to seek help for his family. Thoughts and best wishes to his family, and may he rest in peace.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/12/06/BAKIM06.DTL
 
KD, I was just reading about this too. My heart just dropped when I read they found his body. It''s so sad! My heart goes out to his family and friends.
 
I was really hoping that he''d made it. That''s so sad.

*M*
 
It''s so, so awful. If he HADN''T gone for help - they ALL might be alive. But he did what he had to do to try to save his family. He def. died a hero. Very sad.

Very scary too ... their map led them onto a route that isn''t plowed in the winter. One version of the map says so ... the one they bought at a gas station DID NOT! They''re a smart, savvy couple - shows it could happen to anyone!
 
The map that didn''t have the road closure info is going to get majorly sued.
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Maps in general are horrible. They''re inconsistent and incomplete. I can''t even tell you how many times I''ve printed out a Google or Yahoo map, only to get utterly lost because the info is totally wrong or incomplete!
 
Oh that is so sad, I was hoping he would be found alive.
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I was really holding out hope that they would find him alive too! The people searching for him have been so optimistic.

In the last couple of days, my hubby and I have talked about what we'd do in that situation. Yes, he could have stayed in the car with his family. But he DID do that for a whole WEEK! After a week, you'd lose out hope that anyone will find you. I believe he did what any loving parent would do in that situation. He certainly died a hero trying to save his family.

May he rest in peace.
 
Such sad news and certainly not what any of us was hoping to hear.
 
It is so sad and just shows you how you have to be prepared for any situation when you are going out in the wintertime with children especially...this did not have to have happen, and it makes me so sad for the kids and the family......
 
Totally heartbreaking. My heart just sank when I saw the link on yahoo.
 
I''ve been following this story from the beginning.....
it''s so tragic.
I was so happy when they found the mother and two daughters.
I really hoped James would have also been found alive.
 
This story just left me speechless. I followed it on tv. How terrible.
 
This is sort of a local story here (Portland), so I''ve been following it, too. I was amazed that any of them were alive after 9 days, but then I was praying and hoping that somehow the dad was holed up out there alive. I can''t even imagine the helpless feeling of being stuck out there with two babies!
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There have been at least 3 other people who have been stuck on this same road in the last couple of years--just last March a family was stranded there for a couple of weeks, I think, but they were in a well-stocked motor home and made it. Apparently the story is that the road is supposed to be gated off but it gets vandalized and left open sometimes.
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My condolences to that family...
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so sorry to hear such bad news.
 
I must admit, this really made me cry. Sad news stories don''t typically "hit" me, this one did. He really was an amazing guy to do that for his family....
 
Date: 12/9/2006 10:19:20 PM
Author: UCLABelle
I must admit, this really made me cry. Sad news stories don''t typically ''hit'' me, this one did. He really was an amazing guy to do that for his family....
same here! you hear sad stories on the news all the time... but I''m not much of a cryer and can''t remember ever crying over one. I don''t think I even cried during 9/11. But when I read this story while at work, and thought about him dying never knowing whether his wife and two tiny daughters would make it or not, it was all I could do to hold back the tears. And when I got home and thought about the story again, I was in tears. So very sad.
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Did anyone read today that the logging road they had been driving on is usually locked with a gate this time of year? But that vandals had cut open the lock and the gate, allowing access to the road?
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Very, very sad story. That man walked 16 miles in horrible conditions to find help for his family. What a tragedy.
 
FG..christa mentioned up above that the gate gets vandalized sometimes...random but i heard that too on the news the other day and thought 'i heard that on PS first'.

this story is the ultimate in sadness for me. i'm really not a very emotional person but every time i think about this family making it through days stuck in the snow, waiting for help, probably losing a bit of hope...day after day with small children, then the husband making the mental decision to go and try to find help..weakened from no food, with nothing to assist him....and maybe even knowing that he might not see his family again...who knows what he was thinking when he sat down to rest and never got up...it's just so beyond sad. i can't even think about it. i try not to watch the coverage because it's just so friggin depressing.

the absolute worst part is that it was just senseless....how horrible would you feel if you were the vandals (kids? teenagers?) who opened the gate that led to this horrible tradegy. i would find it hard to live with that secret knowing the result.

weird story, but last year we were in tahoe and it was very late, we had been driving for 12 hours and were with friends in an SUV...stuck in traffic for 8 hours...finally we get into tahoe and are trying to make our way around the lake. everyone was very tired...it was about 1am. we ended up going down the wrong road which had been closed due to avalanches (which we didnt know)...and we followed this snow plow like 10 miles into what felt like nowhere. finally the guy got out and came to us and said, what are you guys doing, this road is closed. we had not AT ALL seen the 'flashing bright neon sign' that we passed...he was peeved at us and he was like 'what if i had not been here plowing? you could have gotten stuck'. so we turned around and went out, the 'big flashing sign' was tiny and hardly visible in the snowstorm. it can be scary out in the wilderness with the elements working against you.

such a sad story.
 
True, I was also wondering how the vandals must have felt if they heard what had happened. If it''s true that people have gotten stuck on this road before, shouldn''t they not only have a locked gate, but maybe past the gate have some kind of large, heavy neon orange sign that says ROAD CLOSED FOR THE WINTER?? Vandals were opening the gate to get in but would have no reason to also bother taking down a sign. If vandals have broken the chain before, why wouldn''t they break it again? It seems like so many things could have been done to prevent this which is very sad. :-/
 
Question: How far up this road were they? How far were they from the main road?
 
i think i read they were like 12 miles from the broken gate or something like that. they went up a mountain then retreated back down a bit but at that point i think they were lost..it was raining but then the next morning when they woke up it was snowing and they were snowbound.
 
Date: 12/13/2006 9:13:01 PM
Author: MINE!!
Question: How far up this road were they? How far were they from the main road?
Iv heard 5 8 10 12 15 miles seems like its always changing.

It is sad because until he gave up hope of rescue he did the right things and they could have likely hung on for another few weeks.
But what do you do its been a week and no one has found you it might be time to try something else.
In this case it turned out to be the wrong choice.
 
I ask only because of this..... 15 miles max is a 1 long day hike... It is possible, especially when your family is in danger. I understand why he went down the river and the drainage, you always go DOWN and water when lost in the woods, but only when lost in the WODDS, being only 15 miles from the main road, that is the smarter way to go. I am not sure how much outdoor experience this man really had.

It was very sad, and I was really pulling for him. And I was defintely bummed and hindsight is 20/20. But I wish that he had followed that road back out....
 
Date: 12/14/2006 8:04:05 AM
Author: MINE!!
I ask only because of this..... 15 miles max is a 1 long day hike... It is possible, especially when your family is in danger. I understand why he went down the river and the drainage, you always go DOWN and water when lost in the woods, but only when lost in the WODDS, being only 15 miles from the main road, that is the smarter way to go. I am not sure how much outdoor experience this man really had.

It was very sad, and I was really pulling for him. And I was defintely bummed and hindsight is 20/20. But I wish that he had followed that road back out....
agree...

In most parts of the country going downriver is not the right thing to do.
There was no safety downriver it would just take him deeper in.
The land along a lot of rivers in the US is sparsely settled due to flooding and a lot of parks follow the rivers and streams.

The rest of the old wives tale goes like this:
follow water because water flows into larger water and eventually you will hit the ocean and river mouths are where settlements are and a ship may come along.

Your 1500 miles from the coast that don''t work too well.

Head in the direction of known safety or stay put.

The only time it might make sense is in the deep woods with no compass but then again its not a great choice but it may be the only one.
For example the rivers near here there may be 25-50 miles between any kind of road much less safety because it being parks following the river but 1 mile or less east or west will take you to a road and or houses.
 
Date: 12/14/2006 8:04:05 AM
Author: MINE!!
I ask only because of this..... 15 miles max is a 1 long day hike... It is possible, especially when your family is in danger. I understand why he went down the river and the drainage, you always go DOWN and water when lost in the woods, but only when lost in the WODDS, being only 15 miles from the main road, that is the smarter way to go. I am not sure how much outdoor experience this man really had.

It was very sad, and I was really pulling for him. And I was defintely bummed and hindsight is 20/20. But I wish that he had followed that road back out....
Well, it was in the snow, and they had been basically without food for a week when he headed out. Probably not in top physical condition, and not necessarily thinking clearly, either.
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Once again his family was in danger.. he walked through the woods 8 miles in about 2 days, 15 miles on a road, is not as bad, would have moved quicker...
 
I''m sure he did everything within his physical and mental power to save his family. I can''t comment on his outdoor experience and I won''t comment on his choice of direction, and whether that was the smartest choice at the time. I will say that I admire him immensely for trying to save his family, and I feel very sad that he did not survive his ordeal. My heart goes out to his family at this time.
 
I read the story only today, deeply touched and saddened by it. God bless the wife and the little on and may he rest in peace. Hope that he can see from heaven that his family is safe..
 
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