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James Kim

2011-02-04 10:20:49

James Kim (August 9, 1971 December 3 4, 2006) was an American television

personality and technology analyst for the former TechTV international cable

television network, reviewing products for shows including The Screen Savers,

Call for Help, and Fresh Gear. He most recently worked as a senior editor of

MP3 and Digital Audio for CNET, writing more than 400 product reviews. He also

co-hosted a weekly video podcast for CNET's gadget blog, Crave, and a weekly

audio podcast, The MP3 Insider (both podcasts were co-hosted with Veronica

Belmont).

His disappearance and death, and his family's ordeal, made them the subject of

a brief but intense period of news coverage in December 2006.

Snowbound

After spending the 2006 Thanksgiving holiday in Seattle, Washington, the Kims

(James, Kati, and their two daughters, Penelope and Sabine) set out for their

home in San Francisco, California. On Saturday, November 25, 2006, having left

Portland, Oregon on their way to Tu Tu Tun Lodge, a resort located near Gold

Beach, Oregon, the Kims missed a turnoff from Interstate 5 to Oregon Route 42,

a main route to the Oregon Coast. Instead of returning to the exit, they

consulted a highway map and picked a secondary route that skirted the Wild

Rogue Wilderness, a remote area of southwestern Oregon.

After encountering heavy snow at high elevation on Bear Camp Road, they turned,

by mistake, onto one of hundreds of unpaved logging roads loosely supervised by

the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). A road gate which was supposed to prevent

such mistakes was open in spite of BLM rules requiring that it be closed. Media

outlets reported that vandals had cut a lock on the gate, but a subsequent

investigation showed that BLM employees had left it open to avoid trapping

local hunters and others who might have ventured past it.[5]

Early on the morning of November 26, the family stopped due to fatigue and bad

weather. As more snow fell around their immobilized Saab 9-2X station wagon,

the Kims kept warm by running its engine. When the vehicle ran out of fuel,

they made a campfire of dried wood and magazines. Later, they burned their

car's tires to signal rescuers. Search efforts began shortly after November 30,

when coworkers of Kim filed a missing persons report with the San Francisco

Police Department.[6] After investigators learned that the Kims used their

credit card at a local restaurant, search and rescue teams, including local and

state police, more than 80 civilian volunteers, the Oregon Army National Guard

and several helicopters hired by Mr. Kim's father Spencer Kim spent several

days looking for the family along area highways and roads, to no avail.

On December 2, James Kim left his family to look for help, wearing tennis

shoes, a jacket, and light clothing. He believed the nearest town (Galice) was

located four miles away after studying a map with his wife.[7] He promised his

wife he would turn back the same day if he failed to find anyone, but he did

not return.[8]

Although the Kims had a cellular phone with them, their remote location in the

mountains was out of range of the cellular network, rendering the phone

unusable for voice calls. Little did they know that, despite being unusable for

voice calls, their cell phone would play a key role in their rescue. Cell phone

text messages may go through even when there appears to be no signal, in part

because text messaging is a store-and-forward service. Two Edge Wireless

engineers, Eric Fuqua and Noah Pugsley, contacted search and rescue authorities

offering their help in the search. On Saturday, December 2, they began

searching through the data logs of cell sites, trying to find records of

repeaters to which the Kims' cellphone may have connected. They discovered that

on November 26, 2006 at around 1:30 a.m., the Kim's cellphone made a brief

automatic connection to a cell site near Glendale, Oregon, and retrieved two

text messages. Through the data logs, the engineers determined that the cell

phone was in a specific area west of the cellular tower. They then used a

computer program to determine which areas in the mountains were within a

line-of-sight to the cellular tower. This narrowed the search area

tremendously, and finally focused rescue efforts on Bear Camp Road.[9]

On the afternoon of December 4, John Rachor, a local helicopter pilot

unaffiliated with any formal search effort, spotted Mrs. Kim and her two

daughters walking on a remote road. After he radioed the family's position to

authorities, the three were airlifted out of the area and transferred to a

nearby hospital.[10]

Law enforcement officials said that the discovery of the cellphone connection,

and the subsequent analysis of the log data, was the critical breakthrough that

ultimately resulted in the rescue of Kim's wife and daughters by helicopter.[9]

Death

Officials continued to search for Mr. Kim, at one point finding clothing that

he had discarded along the way in the likely belief that he was too hot;

paradoxical undressing being one of the symptoms of hypothermia. Optimistic

Oregon officials stated, "These were placed with our belief that little signs

are being left by James for anyone that may be trying to find him so that they

can continue into the area that he's continuing to move in."[11]

On Wednesday, December 6 at 12:03 p.m., Mr. Kim's body was found in Big Windy

Creek.[12][13] (42 38′44″N 123 43′25″W / 42.645575 N 123.723575 W / 42.645575;

-123.723575 (Location of Kim's Body)) Lying on his back in one to two feet of

icy water, he was fully clothed and had been carrying a backpack which

contained his identification documents, among other miscellaneous items.[14] He

had walked about 16.2 miles (26 km) from the car to that point, and was only a

mile from Black Bar Lodge, which, although closed for the winter, was

fully-stocked at the time. An autopsy revealed that Kim had died due to

hypothermia and that his body had suffered no incapacitating physical injuries.

The medical examiner who performed the autopsy guessed that Kim had died

roughly two days after leaving the vehicle.[14][15]

Route

Because of Mr. Kim's background as a technology analyst, observers speculated

that the family had used online mapping to find their route.[16] However, Mrs.

Kim told state police that they had used a paper road map,[17] an account

supported by the Oregon State Police, which reported that the Kims had used an

official State of Oregon highway map.[18] Mrs. Kim later recounted that, after

they had been stuck for four days and were studying the map for help, both she

and Mr. Kim noticed that a box in the corner of the map bore the message: "Not

all Roads Advisable, Check Weather Conditions."[19]

Bear Camp Road is lightly used between October and April, even by local

residents, due to its difficult terrain, spotty maintenance, steep drop offs

and often inclement weather.[20] As they drove along the road, the Kims passed

three prominent warning signs that state: "Bear Camp Rd. May Be Blocked By

Snowdrifts."[21] Mrs. Kim later told police that they had noticed only one

warning sign.