Authorities seek help finding man missing in Yosemite

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Re: Authorities seek help finding man missing in Yosemite

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Re: Authorities seek help finding man missing in Yosemite

Post by maverick »

Yosemite NPS news:
Date: September 3, 2015

Yosemite National Park rangers found the body of James Michael Millett, Jr. on September 1, 2015, two days after discovering a car that had been left at a popular trailhead parking lot for an extended period of time.
Late in the evening on August 30, rangers noticed the car and began investigating to determine if the vehicle belonged to someone on an extended backpacking trip or was abandoned. After ruling out those possibilities, an aerial search for the missing man began on the morning of August 31. Authorities initially searched a large area of rugged terrain leading toward Yosemite Falls, a destination indicated in a note left in the car. Additional information narrowed the search area on the second day, which made it possible for rangers to locate the body of the missing man. The body was airlifted by helicopter from the North Dome area.

Millet, an experienced traveler, was currently living in the Bay Area. An investigation into his death is ongoing.
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Re: Authorities seek help finding man missing in Yosemite

Post by rlown »

Bummer. 3 weeks is a long time to be missing.
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Re: Authorities seek help finding man missing in Yosemite

Post by SSSdave »

The park police should be allowed to track overnight vehicles at trailheads and roadside. If so they could have looked for that person earlier.

For decades I've been advocating that backpackers should provide car license numbers when picking up permits including multiple numbers if there are multiple cars with a group. Currently the park police have no way of knowing whether or not a car parked at trailheads or elsewhere roadside is that of a backpacker, thru-hiker, or an illegal near road camper.

I would bet every night there are more vehicles parked along SR120 that are not those of backpackers but instead are people without a legal public campground spot or those who have a habit of doing so on the cheap. It's a decades old issue. Not a few are climbers. The most ridiculous abuse is always at the Cathedral Lakes Trailhead at Tuolumne Meadows where one often sees long lines of vehicles on each side of the road parked overnight. More vehicles than there are quotas and more are there on Saturday nights even though the quota mid-summer fills up most every night such that it should not vary. Whether in the NPs or NF I always volunteer my car license number onto permits and if I am going to park outside trailheads indicate such.
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Re: Authorities seek help finding man missing in Yosemite

Post by maverick »

The park police should be allowed to track overnight vehicles at trailheads and roadside. If so they could have looked for that person earlier.

Or maybe someone after 3 weeks, family, friends, or work, should have inquired about his well being or whereabouts. If the rangers had not checked his car, no one would still have known what happened to James. He did the right thing by leaving a note in the car, which eventually lead to his recovery, but was there an itinerary left with anyone back home? When was he supposed to be back in the Bay Area? How long was he out for? Was he doing several day hikes or short trips too? To many unanswered questions still, to make any sense of this tragedy.
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I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.

Have a safer backcountry experience by using the HST ReConn Form 2.0, named after Larry Conn, a HST member: http://reconn.org
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Re: Authorities seek help finding man missing in Yosemite

Post by rlown »

2 weeks of dust on the car wasn't a dead giveaway? Pardon my wording of that sentence. Even at the Wildlife refuges, they take down all the license numbers at checki-in and names even for the non-hunters. Seems apropos to do that in the NPS.
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Re: Authorities seek help finding man missing in Yosemite

Post by zacjust32 »

At Road's End when doing the Rae Lakes loop this summer we were required to give our license plate and vehicle make and model on our permit. It may have just been the ranger there but I appreciate his concern and thoroughness.
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