California couple missing at Joshua Tree

[highdesertranger]

just like with all deserts there is water you just got to know where to look. if you want to find water don't rely on those maps they hand out, get some USGS maps. highdesertranger

 

[Dgorila1]

Was in the news today, they found the bodies of both people.

 

[PattySprinter]

it's not just kids.  I find it amazing that people can't tell which way they are walking.
highdesertranger

I think this would be an awesome - potentially life saving - class at the RTR - is something like that offered?

 

[Duke]

There are over 1600 that went missing or vanished in national parks.

http://thenightsky.org/parks.html

 

[highdesertranger]

what's the point of the above article? seems to me they are trying to make some X-File story out of this. highdesertranger

 

[HumbleBeginnings]

Holy crap I could only tolerate the first few paragraphs of that "article."

First of all, more people go to national parks than more remote, truly wild areas.
Secondly, the demographic in national parks is predominately people with little common sense as it relates to forests and wilderness.

Therefore, more people get lost around national parks.

I was in Yosemite last week and it reminded me why I prefer to backpack and boondock.

 

[mr_elijah_gardner]

Don't get the above article. In the high desert region several people have gone missing not to be found. I have relation with Krysite Stuart. I get alot of information about missing people out there. I do believe there is sinister stuff to go along with legitimate accidents. People should definitely follow some of the advice mentioned in previous responses.

 

[jacqueg]

There are over 1600 that went missing or vanished in national parks.

http://thenightsky.org/parks.html

Why do I seem to be hearing the Twilight Zone theme? Maybe an alien put it into my head...

 

[TrainChaser]

When a country has a high percentage of people who are unable to think, things are going to happen to them.

 

[HumbleBeginnings]

An unexpected conclusion to the story of the missing couple... murder/suicide: http://beta.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-joshua-tree-murder-suicide-20171020-story.html

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

1600 people missing when hundreds of millions (330 million in 2016) visit national parks every year over the last hundred years, the only surprising statistic here is that more haven't gone missing. Few people know how to read a map and compass and critical thinking skills are going extinct.

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

An unexpected conclusion to the story of the missing couple... murder/suicide: http://beta.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-joshua-tree-murder-suicide-20171020-story.html

This is sad,  when I first heard they were missing I thought that maybe they did a double suicide pact.  May they rest in peace.

 

[casper]

Forgive my ignorance but how the h-ll do you get lost AND un-locatable in a desert? A National Park no less.  Use the sun to walk in roughly the same direction, eventually you'll hit a road?  If they're injured and in the shade of a rock, at least make a big circle in the dirt nearby for the helicopter?  Maybe I'm being harsh but I've never found myself in a position where I went off a trail and lost track of where I was, and I'm usually in the forests.  Nobody really taught me to keep track of what direction I'm going... I thought it was second nature to all mammals? I guess it's different for city folk.

I know it's hard for some to comprehend, but there are many evil forces at work in this world and one should not overlook the possibility of foul play.
casper

 

[TrainChaser]

Svenn: "Forgive my ignorance but how the h-ll do you get lost AND un-locatable in a desert?"

Have you ever been to Joshua Tree, or any place like it?  Or has all of  your knowledge of deserts come from movies?  I suspect it's the latter, because it's EASY to get lost in a place like Joshua Tree.  When Easterners (etc) think of deserts they often think of flat, dry, sandy land with a few bushes.  HERE is what Joshua Tree looks like:

https://www.nps.gov/common/uploads/...27A0FAC760.jpg?width=465&quality=90&mode=crop

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Joshua_tree_keys_view_pano_more_vertical.jpg

https://jameskaiser.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/jumbo-rocks-campground-joshua-tree.jpg

http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/joshua-tree-search-rescue-ht-mem-170801_16x9_992.jpg

http://d1cbvjv2ehcoux.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Scenic-Jumbo-rock.jpg

Add to that the fact that many people who go there have never been to real desert before.  And that they almost never take enough water.  And they don't know how to use a compass.  Many of them don't know how to tell north from south.  Most of them think they can use their cell phone to call for help in a place w/o towers.  Dehydrated, their thinking deteriorates.  Instead of just stopping, they figure they can find their way back, but every step they take multiples the area the searchers have to cover.  Joshua Tree covers 1,235 square miles (if it were square, that would be 35 miles by 35 miles.

This couple was under a tree and not moving, so aerial SAR wouldn't be likely to see them.

 

[Ballenxj]

Might have had something to do with the four types of hallucinogens found in their room as in the linked article (not judging but it could explain becoming lost).

I think this most likely had everything to do with what happened to them.

 

[Ballenxj]

I think this most likely had everything to do with what happened to them.

As it turns out, this was a murder suicide, although the drugs may still have had something to do with it.  
Link to article. ---> https://www.yahoo.com/news/missing-...-011247930.html?.tsrc=daily_mail&uh_test=1_12

 

[casper]

Svenn: "Forgive my ignorance but how the h-ll do you get lost AND un-locatable in a desert?"

Have you ever been to Joshua Tree, or any place like it?  Or has all of  your knowledge of deserts come from movies?  I suspect it's the latter, because it's EASY to get lost in a place like Joshua Tree.  When Easterners (etc) think of deserts they often think of flat, dry, sandy land with a few bushes.  HERE is what Joshua Tree looks like:

https://www.nps.gov/common/uploads/...27A0FAC760.jpg?width=465&quality=90&mode=crop

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Joshua_tree_keys_view_pano_more_vertical.jpg

https://jameskaiser.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/jumbo-rocks-campground-joshua-tree.jpg

http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/joshua-tree-search-rescue-ht-mem-170801_16x9_992.jpg

http://d1cbvjv2ehcoux.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Scenic-Jumbo-rock.jpg

TrainChaser, awesome pics will definitely have to make that one of our stops, There seems to be a rash of unexplained missing persons in National Parks, could be ignorance, could be foul play. We will probably never know. I would not put much faith in authority's say hallucinogens found in room.
casper.

 

[wasanah2]

As it turns out, this was a murder suicide, although the drugs may still have had something to do with it.  
Link to article. ---> https://www.yahoo.com/news/missing-...-011247930.html?.tsrc=daily_mail&uh_test=1_12

So sad.

 

[TrainChaser]

"As it turns out, this was a murder-suicide." Yes, but..... it may have started out as a hike, and when they realized they were dying, he didn't want her to suffer, and shot her, and then himself.

It's like when a couple is old and one is dying in pain, gradually. The law says it's murder, but politicians aren't living with the day-to day situation nightmare.

 

[casper]

So sad.

Unfortunately when people feel there is no hope, and all has gone wrong, there is only one choice. I've been there many times and is now the driver in my quest to remove myself from this sick evil society. It has awakened me to see the truth about this f-ed up world and it's not pretty, I feel I'm on the right tract with this community but if it don't work out, I don't won't to be here either.
casper.