Category Archives: california

Kim Family Search summary

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Family help website is here:
http://jamesandkati.com
Tip Line – (800) 452-7888
Outside of Oregon
503-375-3555 and 503-731-3030

[MOM and Kids are SAFE.   Looking for James in Bear Camp area as of 3pm Monday]

1:12 pm Monday, December 4, 2006.
Even here in Southern Oregon the news has been spotty on the search for the Kim family, which based on noon report at the family website now appears to be focusing on the area around Galice and Glendale in the mountains just east of Interstate 5. A news conference is scheduled for 3pm today in Merlin, Oregon.

A treacherous route through that area appears on many maps as a “shortcut” to the Kim’s Saturday night destination of TuTuTun lodge on the North Bank Road of Gold Beach, Oregon. Google map of the area here.

At 1:30 am on Saturday a cell phone tower with a range of 26 miles, in Glendale Oregon, recorded a “ping” from the Kim’s phone. This is very consistent with them being lost in between the Galice and Glendale area. Also consistent with the notion that the Kim’s tried to take the Merlin to Galice to Agness to Gold Beach route but were lost in logging roads.

The area is large and very remote, and even the main route through (Galice to Agness to Gold Beach) gets very little traffic and is NOT clear much of the winter. This main route was searched last week but my understanding is that now they are focusing on the areas north and West of Galice over to Glendale. The Stivers family was lost in this same area in March of 2006. They were rescued but only after walking part of the way out since searchers had underestimated how far they’d gone down a logging road.

Volunteering: Keep checking the family website for news but it appears to me at this time that authorities are not encouraging people to go to the Galice area to help search, worried that there could be more people lost.

An FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) has been set up at the Kim Family Site, though they say they may not be able to keep it updated too often. I heard from them that they are trying to coordinate a lot of activity over there.

The family site also has a Guest Book section to offer support to the family.

Oregon State Police News Bulletins

I’ll continue to post news here as I get it.

Kim Family update as of 11pm Sunday

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[Kati and Kids are safe, James still missing as of 11pm Monday] Updates here.

Updates Monday Morning:

Kim Family Search continues with about 20 (CNET report says 40) searchers and helicopters covering all possible routes to the Coast from Roseburg.

I’m confused about this but assuming the police have rejected as false the report of a Carene Williams of Bandon that she saw the family Nov 27 at Port Orford Price and Pride at 5:12pm. She posted a detailed note at the family site Jamesandkati.com I found a phone for her as part of a house for sale listing in Bandon, Oregon but it’s disconnected and no reply to my emails to her.

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Tonight KOBI Channel Five out of Medford reported several new items in a confusing way. I’ll hope to have better detail tomorrow.

3 choppers out of Merlin, hired by Kim’s (father?) continued to search over at the coast. The pilot referenced a report of the family asking for directions in Port Orford (about 30 miles N. of Gold Beach on Highway 101) but it sounded like this report was not clearly about the Kim family. The reporter went on to say Roseburg was the last sighting.

A cell phone “hit” on a tower near Glendale. Authorities appeared to believe this was not enough reason to have them refocus the search in that area.

This was posted by a guest on the www.jamesandkati.com site:

I saw the Kim family at Price and Pride Market on Monday Evening the 27th Of November at 5.12p.m.. I have reported this to the Hotline No. and man y police station s, there were two other sightings at Langlois and The Shell Gas Station in Port Orford. I am so sad and frustrated because I had contact with them and thought what A Wonderful, gracious family. Please God let them be found safe and sound. Carene Williams. cloudsntrees@msn.com

This note explains the reference on tonight’s news to a Port Orford sighting. If true they made it to the coast and spent nights there before going missing, though this seems odd with no cell phone or credit card use. I’m asking Carene via email for more details.

Update: no reply on the email to Carene. I found a number for her via Google search for a house she was selling in Bandon but phone disconnected.

New SF Chronicle Article

Kim Family search backing off Merlin Galice Bear Camp route ?

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Update:   This report suggests Curry county authorities feel they’ve covered that county well and I’m hoping the quote in the CNET story just means they are focusing on the east rather than west side of the mountains rahter than assuming they took 42.   It’s possible but I think 42 is the wrong approach, rather they should comb the logging spurs off of the Merlin to Gold Beach route.   On the East side of the mountains this  would be mostly Josephine and Douglas county land.

This in from CNET suggests that Curry County authorities may stop searching the Bear Camp Route for the Kim Family. I don’t understand the logic here but I’m not privy to special info. The fact they were spotted in Roseburg suggests to me that the Bear Camp route is *very likely*, appearing on many maps and many online services as the shortest route to the TuTuTun lodge, the final destination of the Kims. Why would he have passed by Highway 38 and then taken 42? Also, 42 is much more travelled than Bear Camp and is not easy to get lost on.

I sure hope they search the Bear Camp area very thoroughly before giving up on that angle.

Earlier this year a family appeared to take that same route and wound up near Glendale via logging roads. They were stranded for 2 weeks under snow in an RV but survived thanks to provisions on board the RV.

Kim Family search update as of 1:30pm Saturday

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Northwest news report as of Saturday afternoon.

A 1:27 report from local KTVL TV indicates the leads have not been of much help to the authorities, and searching continues in Bear Camp area.

Details from Oregonian

Here’s another item indicating the family was seen at a Roseburg, Oregon Denny’s restaurant. I’m not clear why this would suggest to the police a Highway 42 route more than strengthening the Bear Camp route likelihood. I’m not sure, but think it would not make sense for Kim to have passed by highway 38 and then take 42. If Kim was looking for a shortcut I think he would have (wrongly) tried Bear Camp road. I can’t see disappearing on 42 unless you went into the river where you can easily disappear up on Bear Camp road spurs without even making a serious miscalculation. [Sunday: I just ran several routes through Mapquest and it looks like they show the shortest distance as Roseburg to Powers to Agness to TuTuTun in Gold Beach.  It appears to be about 7 miles less than the Merlin route.   I’m not familiar with Powers route so I may be underestimating it, but my gut says if they reviewed a regular map they’d take the Merlin route].

Here’s a link to a Google map of the Merlin, Oregon to Gold Beach area. A hopeful scenario is that the Kim Family took the Merlin to Gold Beach route (aka Merlin Galice or Bear Camp Road) and got lost on a logging spur road and then stuck in snow and are surviving on meltwater and any food they had on board. They could be OK since temperatures have not dropped too low up there this past week. Several people are lost in thata area each year but most are found safe or find their way out. A worse possibility is that the car went over one of the steep dropoffs along this route and was then buried in the snow that has fallen in that region since last Saturday. This area is one of the most remote areas in the state and it’s full of steep slopes.

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Our local Medford, Oregon newspaper websites are starting to have the most detailed updates I can find this Saturday morning about the Kim Family search here in Southern Oregon. Here’s a similar report from Gold Beach. They report that the search continues along major roads and the Bear Camp Road and in the remote and dangerous “shortcut” to the coast from Interstate five:

From the Medford Mail Tribune Website:

Search-and-rescue teams from Coos, Curry and Josephine counties combed remote roads known for their winter impassability. Jackson County searchers joined in with a private helicopter and could send a Sno-Cat to travel snow-covered forest roads, Sheriff Mike Winters said.

Curry County sheriff’s deputies used 4×4 vehicles and were able to reach about milepost 18 on Bear Camp Road where the snow and ice stopped their advance, OSP reported Friday night. Josephine County authorities called for their Sno-Cat to respond to search the remaining 20 miles of road.

The Coos County Sheriff’s Office sent 4×4 vehicles to the Agness Pass area, and also sent 4×4 vehicles into the Eden Valley as far as they could get past Mount

Bolivar. The U.S. Forest Service roads through the remote area intersect with each other.

The Oregon Army National Guard sent a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter from Salem to assist in the aerial search. California Highway Patrol and Coast Guard reportedly were assisting in the search, as well.

OSP, the agency coordinating Oregon search efforts and news releases, reported that relatives of the Kims have hired helicopter companies to fly the major roads from Interstate 5 to Highway 101, specifically Highway 42, Highway 38 and Highway 126.

Also note this new website supporting the Kim family. I don’t know who has created it but it appears to be legitimate and helpful.

Kim Family search moves to Bear Camp Road (aka Merlin Galice Road) area

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Most recent news here Kati and kids are safe, James missing but trackers on his trail as of 11pm Monday.

Our 6pm local news just reported that the search for the Kim family is now focusing on the Bear Camp Road (aka Merlin Galice Road). It appears the family hired some choppers to fly the area today but the search is on hold now due to darkness.

I’m glad this area is the new focus for the search because it would seem to be a more likely area than any other route from I-5 to the coast. Family members are heading up from the San Francisco area as well. The logical approach will be to have cars drive each of the many spurs along that route to look for signs of the family car and continue with flights over the area. Some in SF have wondered how you could get “lost” in the modern age but you need to realize this is a huge and remote area. Hundreds of square miles of forest and steep mountains with virtually no traffic and hundreds of miles of logging roads.

Mapquest *right now* gives a “looks easy” set of directions along Bear Camp Road when you search for the shortest time route from Merlin to Gold Beach, but this route is not advisable in winter. Google Maps shows this route as well.

Update: The map they showed on local news indicated they are searching to the west side of the mountains just north of Gold Beach.

Tomorrow (Saturday) they’ll hopefully have good weather to fly over the logging roads that wind all through that area.

James Kim family missing. Could they have taken the infamous Merlin / Galice road ?

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Most recent updates from this blog are HERE 

Update 6 is here and is later info than below

I heard about the missing Kim family [ more recent Kim family missing] over at Techmeme [police information is here], thinking it’s unlikely I could offer any reasonable insight but it appears they were heading from Portland to Gold Beach on the Southern Oregon coast, an area with which I’m very familiar.

Online and printed mapping is sometimes problematic here in Southern Oregon and there’s a road that appears on many maps as a “shortcut” to Gold Beach. But in fact in winter it can be treacherous and often closes with snow. It’s the Merlin to Galice to Gold Beach route. Cell phones don’t work in this mountainous remote area along the Rogue River valley and the coast. A few folks have been lost (many more just scared out of their wits in bad weather) along this tricky route through the Siskiyou National Forest.

The troopers are probably examining this possibility (I’d say likelihood), and hopefully they’ll find the Kim family soon safe and sound.

Update: I called the Galice USFS District Ranger office and it appears the news had not reached there yet. They are advising against that route due to snow drifts that may not be cleared and confirmed that the route is not regularly patrolled. I’m going to follow up more on this angle shortly.

Update II: I just called the Northern Police dispatch number listed below and they did not seem well informed about local road situation, but indicated that the (Southern?) dispatch is following up. I’m going to call the Gold Beach ranger district to make sure they are aware of the situation. TuTuTun lodge, where the Kim’s were staying, is along the route I’m talking about (Via Lobster Creek bridge to North Bank Road) making it even more likely they may have taken the dangerous Bear Camp Road “shortcut” which has many logging road turn offs.

Update III: Gold Beach district said they’d heard of this on the news but I could not reach the road engineer or District Ranger to find out if people had checked extensively up there.

I fear this is a case where spreading the word won’t help much – rather a search of the many logging roads off of the Merlin to Gold Beach route is called for here.

Update 4: Update: As of 9 a.m. PST Friday, investigators said they were narrowing their search to Oregon’s Highway 38 as the family’s most probable route to their destination of Gold Beach. The Kims last spoke to an innkeeper there by phone about five hours before they planned to arrive.

Highway 38 seems less likely to me than Merlin Galice road, but I don’t have enough info to know if the police are using more than just intuition about the route. 38 is not nearly as hazardous as Merlin Galice / Bear Camp route, is travelled regularly, and unless they drove into the river there’d be signs of a crash. Without local info Kim could have correctly concluded that I-5 to Merlin would be faster than going via 101, and could also have (wrongly) concluded that the Merlin Galice route was short and safe.

Update 5: Leslie at CNET tells me that the SF Police are aware of Bear Camp as a possible location and appear to be searching in that area as well, which is good. I’ve contacted a friend in Gold Beach who will help spread the word as well.

Update 6

From the news report:

James Kim is a senior editor at CNET and hosts the web site’s popular Crave blog.

Police said friends and family knew them to usually keep in daily contact.

According to Det. Angela Martin of the San Francisco Police Dept., the family had lunch with a friend in Portland on Saturday between 2-3 p.m., then left to travel to Gold Beach on the southern Oregon Coast.

According to San Francisco Police, the family made two phone calls to a Gold Beath hotel that afternoon, the second call at 5:45 p.m. On that second call, the family reportedly asked the hotel clerk to leave a key outside since they would be arriving late that night.

That phone call was the last reported contact with the family. The Gold Beach hotel did leave keys out for the Kim Family but the keys were still there the next morning.

According to the Kim’s cellular phone provider, the phone was last used after the lunch in Portland. Calls to the Kim’s cell phone later Saturday went straight to voice mail.

The Kims were driving a 2005 silver Saab station wagon with California personalized plates of DOESF.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Oregon State Police Northern Command Center Dispatch at 800-452-7888, or the San Francisco Police Department Missing Persons Unit at (415) 558-5508.

Let Freedom, and our precious Advertocracy, Ring! Cha-CHING!

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As a general rule I’m optimistic about the intentions of those who govern because I think in general good people go into politics with the sincere intention of making things better. That said, I favor the type of small government intended by the founders, who roll over in their graves which each election, staggered by the scale and sweep of modern governments here and in other “democracies” around the world.

Power was supposed to rest in the hearts and minds of an informed populace, yet we the people have chosen to distance ourselves from government to the degree it’s become an abstraction for most of us at the local, state, and national levels.

The outcome of this election clearly “proves” our system really does allow for significant and peaceful change. Yet it also suggests that our choices are confined to only two — and to my mind somewhat equally inadequate — visions of how we should step into our uncertain American future. Why can’t the pendulum swing sideways for a change rather than back and forth between these two inadequate visions of the right path for America?

Is “democracy” the best word to describe the American political experience? I thought I’d coined the term “Advertocracy” but found a nice Canadian article here about the concept back in 2004.

Clearly our elections, the outcomes of which seem increasingly to depend on razor thin margins, are best described as marketing productions rather than the product of a well-informed citizenry acting on democratic principles.  I’m not as alarmed by this as many “anti-advertising” people who fail to see that we all practice forms of advertising in one way or another whether we are telling a fish story about a life experience, beefing up a resume, talking up our favorite movie, or buying time on TV to say “Vote for Me!”. If you blog for your favorite candidate is that advertising? Of course it is.

Communication categories are breaking down quickly, I hope in favor of transparency. Transparent, full disclosure is a better way to measure integrity than “commercialization”, which we all practice to varying degrees of success.

Yet the fact remains that our election results are largely the product of last minute activity by those least concerned about the outcome based on their perceptions of last minute “sound bites” and largely negative ads. There has GOT to be a better way but in the meantime …

God Bless America, and God Bless Advertising.

Election Math 101

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CNN’s election coverage was, in my opinion, a technological masterpiece combining superb graphics and charts with excellent TV journalism. As I flipped channels last night it was clear that those in charge of the CNN information environment had done an exceptional job of providing lots of information in a good format. Nonetheless it was the quick insights of Democratic strategist Carville who alerted us to importance of the six close senate races and certain congressional districts as key metrics.

One disappointing aspect of CNN TV coverage was the CNN “blog party”. To me it seemed like a good idea gone stupid. The blogger comments were, for the most part, uninspired. TV and blogging don’t really mix which is one reason why blogs are taking over the news space. An active reader can scan many opinions very quickly rather than “waiting” for the TV camera or venue to switch to their items of interest.

I’m not much of a partisan, believing that those in high office are generally sincere and hard working people who differ in ideology rather than virtue. One can only hope that the new composition of American government will bring more innovation to the table while seeking solutions to the pressing problems in Iraq, Sudan, and the world at large.

Zooomr wins Startup Camp

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Kris Taylor’s Zooomr won the Startup Camp honors and a great high end Sun Microsystems Computer setup.    I learned that commuting in the Bay Area is simply insane, but had a fine time enjoying the great hospitality of my good pals Linda and John.    John’s going to start a blog about health insurance very soon which is great because he’s one of the most knowlegeable and experienced health insurance people in California.