Finding a body while solo hiking

General discussions on hiking in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest
200,000'
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Re: Finding a body while solo hiking

Post by 200,000' » October 24th, 2016, 8:50 pm

kepPNW wrote:
squidvicious wrote:If you're out there as long as overnight without being found, would the expectation be that animals would drag you off? And that there wouldn't be a clear trace of that for searchers to find?
For calibration... A deer died in our backyard a few years ago. The body was 100' away, down a ravine, two days later. A week later, all I could find were a handful of bones another 50' away. I suspect coyotes did most of the heavy lifting, though there are reports of cougars roaming our valley. (I also suspect that clothes would've left more longer-lasting clues.)
With people, scavengers can actually be an aid in finding the remains by scattering them across a broad area. Synthetic materials will last many decades. Some like spun gels may last hundreds of years if not longer, even when exposed to UV. In the Northwest these materials - evidential clues- will typically become covered; obscured by falling leaves/needles and hidden from sight, rather than vanishing by decomposing.

200,000'
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Re: Finding a body while solo hiking

Post by 200,000' » October 24th, 2016, 9:02 pm

squidvicious wrote: Of the three people I know of still missing there over the last year, news reports hinted that Thomas Branch McAdams might have been something other than just an accident. But Alissa McCrann and Annie Schmidt were apparently just on a short afternoon hike/run, and all left from/left their cars at major trailheads. ... But I honestly don't know what one should expect in this particular area of the cycle of life.
Here's another name from the north side of the river:

'Gail Wietrick, of Troutlake, Wash. was last seen when she got out of a vehicle and left Little Rock Creek road to check for mushrooms around 4:30 p.m.'

Here again, searchers gave up rather quickly. Despite this being a heavily roaded area, I've never found any followup or resolution.

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vibramhead
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Re: Finding a body while solo hiking

Post by vibramhead » October 25th, 2016, 6:25 am

squidvicious wrote:If one were to die hiking the trails in the gorge--where even the more remote trails see somewhat regular use, at least the day-use-accessible ones--how likely is it that your body actually would be found?
According to this 2013 article in the Oregonian:
While more than 89 percent of those sought by searchers are recovered alive, the consequences of getting lost can be dire. Eight percent die, and 2 percent are never found
The never-found in Oregon from 1997 to 2012 amounted to 150 people.
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pcg
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Re: Finding a body while solo hiking

Post by pcg » October 25th, 2016, 7:18 pm

vibramhead wrote:...
The never-found in Oregon from 1997 to 2012 amounted to 150 people.
From the article you referenced...
"A staggering 189 men and 51 women officially remain listed as missing since 1997 by the Oregon Office of Emergency Management after trekking into Oregon's wildest places"

That's 16 people per year in Oregon that are never found. Is this really correct?

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vibramhead
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Re: Finding a body while solo hiking

Post by vibramhead » October 26th, 2016, 6:06 am

pcg wrote:That's 16 people per year in Oregon that are never found. Is this really correct?
Yes, I had the number wrong for total missing for that period. It's not 150, it's 240. As for whether that means 16 people in Oregon are never found every year, here's the Oregon SAR report for 2014, which shows on p. 51 that 18 people were never found, 3% of the total. The report makes pretty interesting reading, actually, showing what a huge effort goes into SAR. So, hats off to all the SAR professionals and volunteers.
Time spent hiking will not be deducted from your life.

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laughingtotem
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Re: Finding a body while solo hiking

Post by laughingtotem » November 1st, 2016, 7:15 am

Hi, I'm the one who found the body and wrote the article. I was pleased to see that it made it this far west. I've spent a lot of time in the PNW with a particular love for the Wallowas and Eagle Cap Wilderness. If you have any feedback on what I wrote I'd be happy to hear it. I'm just getting my feet wet in the writing game and would love to hear form my fellow hikers.

If you would like, you can read about one of my stories about hiking solo up the Lostine towards the Eagle Cap here:

http://www.raptjournal.com/Sillywalk.html

Thanks again.

Edit: I just realized how spammy this sounded for a first post. Sorry about that. I can't say that I've completely wrapped my head around the thing yet, especially after becoming friends with the family. It's kind of taken on a life of its own. I've agreed to take the grandson of the man I found up Steel Creekwhen he gets old enough. It's something that I look forward to and am apprehensive about at the same time...


Mark Calcagni

squidvicious
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Re: Finding a body while solo hiking

Post by squidvicious » November 1st, 2016, 8:50 am

laughingtotem wrote:Edit: I just realized how spammy this sounded for a first post.
Nah, it's good to hear from the source. I'm glad you posted, and also glad you wrote the article. It's sparked some interesting discussion--if also some thoughts I'd probably rather not be thinking.

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K.Wagner
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Re: Finding a body while solo hiking

Post by K.Wagner » November 1st, 2016, 5:04 pm

laughingtotem,

Thanks for writing as you did. As one who has stumbled onto 2 bodies in years past, it was really interesting to read about your emotions as you dealt with the situation. My discoveries where somewhat different in that one was about 4 months old and all that was really left was the clothing and a few bones, while the other was a day old, very close to a drive in campground. But still, the emotional cycles were very much like you described, and I remember them well, even though the discoveries were about 20 years ago.
Kelly
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Peder
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Re: Finding a body while solo hiking

Post by Peder » November 1st, 2016, 7:59 pm

laughingtotem wrote: I'm just getting my feet wet in the writing game and would love to hear form my fellow hikers.
Well, I had kind of expected that this thread was based on a sensational article. Your appearance made me read the article and I thoroughly enjoyed the writing, the illustrations and the pictures (it sure is a beautiful creek). I brought up many memories in me. Thank you.
Some people are really fit at eighty; thankfully I still have many years to get into shape…

laughingtotem
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Thanks Peder.

Post by laughingtotem » November 2nd, 2016, 9:05 am

I'm primarily a graphic designer, so it's the writing that I'm most hesitant about. I generally hide behind dry humor, but there wasn't much to hide behind here.

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