James Kim and family missing

[Gary Whitta]

Seems like it can't hurt to circulate this as much as possible...

http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/30/c...them/#comments

[MattKeil]

Link to SFPD report:

http://www.sfgov.org/site/police_index.asp?id=50539

CNET editor and former Fresh Gear contributor and TechTV Lab analyst James Kim has been missing since Saturday. ANY word, especially from people in the Oregon area is appreciated. The information is all below from the official investigation by the SFPD.


Missing Family Includes: James, Kati, Penelope (age 4.5) and Sabine (6 months). Last name is Kim



Overview: The Kim Family left San Francisco on November 17th on a road trip to the Pacific Northwest. They had thanksgiving in Seattle with family and then drove to Portland. They were last seen by their friends in Portland who they had brunch with on Saturday, November 25. According to their friends, their plans were to drive out to the town of Gold Beach on the Oregon Coast and then make their way back to San Francisco. James was expected back at work on Tuesday, November 28th. When no one had heard from him by Wednesday morning employees at the Kims' two stores and his colleagues at CNET began to make phone calls to his family and friends to inquire of his whereabouts. Presently, the SFPD is investigating the case.

[Ryan A]

Hopefully they just holed up in a hotel/motel due to the snowstorms the area had or something and have been out of cell phone coverage or the hotel lost power or something...

[Joel]

Awful.

[Rob_Merritt]

This doesn't sound too hopeful.

[Athryn]

It's made it to the front page of The Chronicle now.

Kinda sad, and a weird place to disappear, My family's been through that area plenty of times, never any problems. It's kindofa lonely place though.

[walTer]

I drove thru there this summer with my family.

[MattKeil]

It's made it to the front page of The Chronicle now.

Kinda sad, and a weird place to disappear, My family's been through that area plenty of times, never any problems. It's kindofa lonely place though.

The weather wasn't very nice during the time they were traveling.

[Ergo]

Rainfall in the month of November for Oregon (almost 12 inches) and Washington (almost 16 inches) was record-breaking. We're still recovering.

[Leah C]

They started an aerial search today, and it looks like the search area has narrowed a bit. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...AGJDMNNC76.DTL

[Alan Dunkin]

Yeah, as Ergo said, the entire area saw a lot of rain around that time; entire highways were washed away and towns practically cut off. Some of the roads to the beaches in Oregon can be narrow, winding, dark, and prone to all sorts of environmental problems if the right conditions persist. The road I took to Ecola State Park, which as the crow flies is short, was one of the most winding, twisting, up and down roads in a seeming rain forest I've ever taken. And a little narrow.

--- Alan

[Rimbo]

My God... :(

[Woolen Horde]

This is really scaring me now. They still haven't found them, and not a word from them since Saturday. I've met James once or twice, but his wife, Kati, used to be the receptionist on my floor way back during the dot.com heydey. I haven't seen or spoken to her in half of forever, but if anyone doesn't deserve this, it's them. They're such a happy and perfect couple.

[Brad Grenz]

Rainfall in the month of November for Oregon (almost 12 inches) and Washington (almost 16 inches) was record-breaking. We're still recovering.

Add in the snow and freezing rain we had at the beginning of the week... Not a good combination.

[Desslock]

this is so awful

[Leah C]

Someone put a website together: http://www.jamesandkati.com/

[Jasper Phillips]

November, December, and January are often very crappy times to drive in Oregon and I avoid it whenever possible. It doesn't snow as much as a lot of places, but it often seems to hover around freezing resulting in black ice, and most people don't adjust their driving habits for the increased danger. Add in winding roads that occasionally wash out or have rock slides...

That said, people who get in car accidents on highways don't generally go missing...

[Backov]

I drove through Oregon (and Utah and Washington) around New Years last year. It was horrendous. We went through some passes and even though I've driven in some awful weather, this was the worst I've ever seen as far as driving.

Hopefully this fellow and his family are ok.

[Jasper Phillips]

The trick is to adjust your plans when the weather goes bad, and avoid having specific dates you need to be places. I'll happily postpone Christmass travel until there's a nice day in January for example, with the added bonus that there'll be alot less type-A drivers on the road who need to get somewhere, and damn the weather.

[MattKeil]

That said, people who get in car accidents on highways don't generally go missing...

They do if the accident is skidding off a 200-foot dropoff on a mountainous road. The route they were taking was one I'd be cautious on in perfect weather. Although I'd prefer to believe otherwise, I'm not particularly optimistic at this point. After a week, you'd expect someone on a schedule and as tech-savvy as James to find a way to communicate.

[dannimal]

There are 200 foot dropoffs that don't have any kind of guardrail? That seems like an unwise choice from the State DOT.

[MattKeil]

There are 200 foot dropoffs that don't have any kind of guardrail? That seems like an unwise choice from the State DOT.

I'm sure they do, but guardrails don't always hold. At least, I've seen several in my time I wouldn't want to throw a car against just for kicks.

[Bob Cherub]

Truly horrible. Their families are in my prayers.

[Steve Canyon]

This is awful. Lets hope for a miracle.

[Jack Black]

Here is to hope.

[Andrew Mayer]

I'm sure they do, but guardrails don't always hold. At least, I've seen several in my time I wouldn't want to throw a car against just for kicks.

But clearly you'd know what happened at that point.

[Guido Jones]

But clearly you'd know what happened at that point.

Not always - there was a case in Seattle about a year ago where somone went through a guard rail down an embankment and nobody noticed them for a day or two. Couldn't see the car from the road, and they just didn't see the guard rail being broken.

[RepoMan]

Every single list I'm on is teeming with James and Kati messages. (Being in the bay area and all....)

I grew up in Connecticut, which is the only reason I know what it's like to drive in snow or black ice. I totaled my parent's car one time taking a sharp exit to the Hartford airport in sleet/snow conditions (well, it was an old car, and I slid out on a right-hand turn and knocked the left front corner into the rail, neatly shifting the whole front grille four inches to the right).

But having been out here in California this whole time, I know two things:
- Roads out in the West are WAY steeper and windier than damn near anything in the East Coast.
- West Coast people DO NOT know how to drive in freezing conditions. (Hell, I'm proof that even East Coast drivers aren't too good at it.)

Since James and Kati were city people, it's definitely the likeliest (and saddest) hypothesis that they were driving in unbelievably inclement rainy conditions, hit black ice on a steep downhill section, went over an edge, and are now all dead.

I pray I'm wrong, but after a week, it's very unlikely there's not some kind of tragedy involved.

Last winter, there was a mass pile-up on 101 just north of the Golden Gate bridge. The road there goes sharply up and through a short tunnel, crests a ridge, then heads steeply downhill into Sausalito. A freak cold snap dumped 2 inches of snow on that section of freeway at 1:30 am on weekend. A cop drove through there at 1:15 am, no problem. 30 minutes later there were 20 cars piled up, crashing into each other one after another, sliding down the hill. I think two people died.

West coast drivers + freezing weather = tragedy.

[Ryan A]

Not always - there was a case in Seattle about a year ago where somone went through a guard rail down an embankment and nobody noticed them for a day or two. Couldn't see the car from the road, and they just didn't see the guard rail being broken.

Also, in the name of hope, everyone should know that young woman survived.

[dannimal]

I'm sure they do, but guardrails don't always hold. At least, I've seen several in my time I wouldn't want to throw a car against just for kicks.

My point was, if there was a guardrail, and it didn't hold, wouldn't that give a pretty good idea of where to search? It seems like it'd be pretty easy to tell when a rail had been hit/wrecked, so you could tell if it was "in the past 1-3 days".

I know guardrails aren't impenetrable, but you can pretty easily see when one's been wrecked.

Edit - This kind of got covered.