Greece American tourist a retired cop, 59, not returned from a solo hike, Amorgos Island, 11 June 24

[Herat]

There might not be an auto road between the two points? The usual route might be by boat?

The main and essentially only road goes from Aegaili / Lagada on the north end to Katapola, Chora, and the more southern villages on the island.

My impression is that no one relies on a boat for transportation on the island.

 

[RickshawFan]

Best clothing colors to help stay cool during a heat wave

As Southern California prepares for an end of August heat wave for the next couple of days, it’s important to be dressed according to the weather.

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National weather service says white is a lot cooler. Dark colors provide more SPF but are MANY degrees warmer than white/ light colors per numerous studies.
Obviously a t-shirt and shorts don’t have the same properties of circulation and drawing heat away from the body as long, loose robes that Bedouins wear

https://www.wkrg.com/weather-education/truth-or-myth-wearing-light-colored-clothing-in-the-heat-is-safer/

Glad you brought that up. You'd want a loose long-sleeved safari shirt, wide-brimmed hat (full circumference), long pants, all high UPF, and serious shoes (not trail runners, which would be high risk in that terrain; definitely not sandals) with good socks. Women wear a tank under the safari shirt, which is left unbuttoned (button up to go in a church or when passing staring old men at a taverna). Light colors. A pack big enough to carry enough water for 4 hours, would likely kill you in that temperature.

If you got a blister on your foot in those conditions (high likelihood with gritty path and heat), you'd be in a very dangerous situation.

 

[RickshawFan]

Fair enough. I just posted the link. Didn't mention he was a tourist in that post but will take your suggestion to heart.

Dual citizenship might still mean he's a tourist in Greece. Many people have dual citizenship just because they can. And he does have Greek heritage. A Greek passport would make him an EU citizen, which would be very beneficial for travel.

 

[RickshawFan]

The main and essentially only road goes from Aegaili / Lagada on the north end to Katapola, Chora, and the more southern villages on the island.

My impression is that no one relies on a boat for transportation on the island.

Water taxi is apt to be a local amenity, maybe not advertised. But yes, there seems to be a good bus service, and that would require a road.

 

[RickshawFan]

Yes. We don't really have any verifiable information:

How long was he going to be staying on Amargos?
Where was he staying ?
Was he checking out of his lodgings in Aegaili or returning after visiting his friend?
What were his plans after her returned from Katapola?
Did he store his bags in his car for safekeeping for the day or take them with him?
Did he have a laptop in there?
Did he leave any money in there, passport (s), travel documents ?
Are there any Find My features available to others on his US based phone, laptop, smartwatch, other?
Has LE been able to search his room in Aegaili?
Has LE been able to search his vehicle in Aegali?
Who is the friend in Katapola? How well does he know this person?
Did he have medications?
How much water did he take?
Had he gone through his water when he got to Steki restaurant?
What did he tell Sophia about the rest of his hike?
Was she concerned about his condition at all?
Were there other people there?
Did anyone else on the trail from Aegaili see him?
Did any other hiker end up at Steki also?

It's possible he knew of a well en route, and was anticipating that as a water source. But perhaps it had become dry over the years. See how there is at least one abandoned village? Maybe on this route? In order to build a village, you'd have to have a water supply (except Santorini in antiquity would trade their wine for water), but the village perhaps had to be abandoned because they got too short on water to be sustainable.

 

[Artis]

But there are rocks and rubble, ridges and canyon areas. Very hard to scan the terrain. It would take searchers within a few feet of each other.

Every place these days needs drones. They're not expensive and towns and cities could purchase them, train the locals how to operate them and then there would be drone militias for SAR ready to go.

 

[RickshawFan]

Every place these days needs drones. They're not expensive and towns and cities could purchase them, train the locals how to operate them and then there would be drone militias for SAR ready to go.

They may be using drones, but, as with Mosely, they might not be fruitful. IIRC it took a private individual to spot Moseley’s body, and the person was at sea or in the harbor.

 

[Herat]

It's possible he knew of a well en route, and was anticipating that as a water source. But perhaps it had become dry over the years. See how there is at least one abandoned village? Maybe on this route? In order to build a village, you'd have to have a water supply (except Santorini in antiquity would trade their wine for water), but the village perhaps had to be abandoned because they got too short on water to be sustainable.

The “abandoned village” along the way is Asphodilatus, the place that has the Steki cafe where he bought the soda and bolted of water. I would think that restaurant has a well or maybe a water tank, although no water tank is evident on the admittedly fuzzy google images.

 

[Herat]

CBC News has another story about how unhappy his family is about the lack of search support.

The 2 US LEO that came to Greece to search for him will have to leave soon, and the brother insists he will stay as long as necessary. He seems to need a lawyer to be able to get tracking dogs sent to the island.

He says local police are not being very helpful, suggesting his brother committed suicide by jumping off a cliff with his phone.

Family of retired LASD deputy missing in Greece frustrated by lack of search resources

Family members are still desperately searching for Albert Calibet, the retired Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy who went missing while hiking in Greece nearly a week ago, and they say search efforts are getting increasingly frustrating.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[angelina1]

I was sure I had read on a link upthread 20 times but as you have previously said the info seems to be conflicting. You might well have read a link stating 60 times.

Was his visit to the island due to his part-time work? I don't know is the honest answer but from my point of view I think visiting a place 3 or 4 times is well enough no matter how beautiful it is, but that's just me.

The island is tiny and undoubtedly very beautiful but there are others islands in the area that are just as beautiful.

To go there dozens of times over the years tends to suggest to me other deeper reasons than the beauty of the island in question.

I am going to a Greek Island with my mum for 20 years. Nothing wrong with us

 

[angelina1]

The hike to Kalapola was 4-5 hours in the hot sun. He was meeting someone for lunch. He would have to take the bus back because it was too hot to hike back. Why didn't he drive and take a shorter hike around the lunch date?

What time was lunch - 1 p.m?
3:30 p.m. he was reported missing?
That was fast! Helicopters in the air for 2 hours the next day.

There's something about Eric Albert's hike, lunch, and car that doesn't make sense. He's an experienced hiker who walks 4 hours in the hot sun to enjoy lunch in Kalapola before a sweltering bus ride back to the car in Ladaga, where he has a change of clothes in the trunk of the car. Why not hike in the early morning, air conditioning to lunch, air conditioning back to Lagada.

He started his hike at 7 a.m.

 

[angelina1]

Dual citizenship might still mean he's a tourist in Greece. Many people have dual citizenship just because they can. And he does have Greek heritage. A Greek passport would make him an EU citizen, which would be very beneficial for travel.

He is half French, not Greek

 

[SimplyCass]

You wouldn't need to be a dual citizen - Greece is part of the Visa Waiver Program which means U.S citizens can travel to a number of counties for up to 90 days without needing to get a visa.

Visa Waiver Program - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I am going to a Greek Island with my mum for 20 years. Nothing wrong with us

i don't think the previous poster is saying there's anything wrong with visiting a place so often, just trying to figure out the man's routine and patterns and shake out what might be "off" or "wrong" this time.

speculation will change depending on whether he is a regular visitor and how familiar he is with everything.

 

[MollyHarps]

The black thing being worse is actually a myth, what's important is looseness to allow for convection circulation of air, cooling the body.

The Bedouin wear black in the desert, and have done for centuries.

Strange but true: science's most improbable research

Science isn't always about the big questions. Marc Abrahams spends his time studying research that seeks the answers to more unlikely problems – little conundrums that others dare not tackle

www.theguardian.com

I think black (or dark) clothing is actually considered better for you if your sat in the sun for a long time as it can help block UV.

For walking though I’d say black is worse as it absorbs more heat which results in you sweating more.

 

[Tintenbar]

1.The missing Israeli couple in Vytina was found last weekend.
2. Unsuccessful searches to find the 2 French women who disappeared on the island of Sikinos.

"We were out all morning looking," said Mr. Marakis. "Volunteers have come from Santorini, firefighters, police, a specially trained dog, they are all searching, but the ground is rocky and full of ravines. The effort was huge, but the area where they disappeared is difficult and unfortunately we haven't found them yet."

Έξι θρίλερ σε ελληνικά νησιά μέσα σε 9 ημέρες: Τα τελευταία νέα για τις εξαφανίσεις σε Αμοργό και Σίκινο
3. Albert's partner complains about the lack of efficiency of the Greek search teams : Girlfriend of American ex-cop missing in Greece ‘totally disgusted’ with locals for doing almost nothing to find him

 

[Aluev]

He stopped to buy water - must have been extra thirsty, since it is believed that an experienced hiker would have lots of water for the 4 hour hike in 96°F weather.

Let's not forget that water in that kind of heat would turn warm after a while and water thermos bottles are heavy and bulky. Maybe he planned to buy cold water from that shop during his walk to last him longer.

 

[Officer Dibble]

w

Just been catching up on this thread - firstly, my thoughts go out to his family and friends at this horrendous time.

Walking in that sort of heat is asking for trouble - you’d need to be replacing so much fluid & salt in your body as you’d be constantly sweating it out (even more so if he was wearing black clothing).

The families video is heartbreaking im sure we’d all feel the same if this was our family member however, Greece finances have been in an awful mess over many years and I’m guessing they’ve had to scale back on public services such as Police - unfortunately, they probably have to make very hard decisions over which cases get their resources and this case seems like a recovery operation rather than a rescue so it probably isn’t high priority

Yes, I was a bit alarmed at the report of 'wearing black clothing'. It attracts the heat and burns your skin. Only wear light colours in the European heat. Just my opinion.

 

[Officer Dibble]

I too am surprised about him putting his stuff in the car, per the ABC news report. It must be his car, or was he putting stuff in someone else's car?

Did he not trust anyone so he kept his things locked in the trunk of a car when he was not where he was staying? Or was he planning another trip in his car?

Regarding his cell phone plan, perhaps he has a Greek SIM card. Still, his phone should have a personal ID number that his regular USA phone provider can trace. When I've travel internationally, I get a local SIM card. However, if I walked into a shop that was tracking traffic in and out of the store, my phone ID would show up, not my SIM card phone number. It's worth a shot for the family to contact Eric Albert's USA phone provider for location data.

If that photo is recent, maybe the friend in the photo has more information about Eric Albert's usual hiking route, and why he might have hiked 4 hours for a lunch appointment - rather than driven the car we see in CCTV footage. Was he Eric with some people, and Albert with others, or did everyone say Eric Albert?

I think it would be helpful to know more about his itinerary. We don't know when he planned to leave the Island, yet he is seen with extra luggage and a car on the morning of a day hike - same day? Is it confirmed that the CCTV of him with a car is from the morning of June 11?

All very good questions. Thanks.

 

[Officer Dibble]

Dr Michael Moseley's body (RIP) was only found by chance, spotted by a journalist in a boat from photos he had taken of the land. He was found meters behind a cafe but stuck behind a wire fence. This was very recent.

 

[Tintenbar]

1. The old strata : Aegiali-Chora
1. The Old Strata

Supplies​

Enough water, something to eat and proper shoes since it’s a hard mountain route far away from any settlement.

2. Fotodotis : Chora-Katapola
2. Fotodotis

Supplies​

Only a bottle of water since there are a lot of possibilities for provision during the walk.