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

[FoxxTraxx]

The only new information I can find is on the Amorgos Facebook page. There are quite a few comments by Greeks about the SAR efforts for Albert. Nothing groundbreaking but you can get their different perspectives. Comments can be translated into English, although not perfectly.

 

[Herat]

The only new information I can find is on the Amorgos Facebook page. There are quite a few comments by Greeks about the SAR efforts for Albert. Nothing groundbreaking but you can get their different perspectives. Comments can be translated into English, although not perfectly.

Don't do FB, can you give us an idea of what is being said?

 

[Artis]

In most situations, SAR does not solicit help from the public, and discourages them from involving themselves. This is a safety thing for everyone concerned.

Understandable but if 25 people on that island had and knew how to operate drones they wouldn't endanger anyone and a lot of ground could be covered in coordinated grid searches.

 

[RickshawFan]

I think there are a lot of things the GF knows that just haven't been stated or explained in the news. We are just used to so much more information about a missing person investigation. Such as where they stayed, whether his car has been found and the contents examined, who he was meeting, etc. I truly hope they help to find him.

Maybe they were sleeping on the beach?
Didn't he have his pack full of all his stuff? This strikes me as odd unless he was couch surfing or stealth camping.

 

[FoxxTraxx]

Don't do FB, can you give us an idea of what is being said?

Some say they have seen search & rescue personnel working all day - including 2 dogs. They found nothing. Others simply say he should have been found by now. There seems to be a general consensus that Greece does not have the resources for all these rescue efforts.

 

[whinewiththegravy]

Understandable but if 25 people on that island had and knew how to operate drones they wouldn't endanger anyone and a lot of ground could be covered in coordinated grid searches.

RBM

Devil is in the details, there. Not all drones come pre-calibrated for accurate GPS and most SAR-friendly gridding depends on highly attuned training of and real-time cooperation between operators and then what software (must be compatible with all makes and models) you have to map with. This can cause delays comparable to what we’re seeing here. Still needs human eyes to observe at high resolution, and observation is still hampered by ground and tree cover. IMO.

 

[LadyL]

The Daily Telegraph has an article about the missing French women on Sikinos.

Several comments remind me that there is a rather amazing app available for phones to use for location:

what3words

Basically the entire earth is divided up into 3 m x 3m squares and a unique combination of 3 words is used to describe the location. This means that one does not have to deal with Google coordinates or such and if help is needed, sending a mail with the 3 words gives a hugely precise location.

I've got it on my phone and my house actually has 10 different 3 word descriptions.

In the case of the missing French woman, the phone info can only give searchers an idea of the south end of the island, whereas what3words would have pinpointed exactly where to look for her.

As with EAC, this would be invaluable if he was connected to his phone when he first disappeared.

How to use the what3words app | what3words

Discover all of the key features in the what3words app including how to find, save and share any precise what3words address. Get started here today!

what3words.com

that app helped first responders rescue a couple here

 

[Artis]

RBM

Devil is in the details, there. Not all drones come pre-calibrated for accurate GPS and most SAR-friendly gridding depends on highly attuned training of and real-time cooperation between operators and then what software (must be compatible with all makes and models) you have to map with. This can cause delays comparable to what we’re seeing here. Still needs human eyes to observe at high resolution, and observation is still hampered by ground and tree cover. IMO.

Yeah, I hear ya. I was speaking hypothetically, expanding on my previous post about how local govs should purchase (hi tech) drones and provide a training course for the locals one how to use them for SAR. That way every locale would have a trained crew to spring into action. It would be an excellent use of tax money and I guarantee that lots of people would volunteer because drones are cool and getting free training would be awesome.

 

[Officer Dibble]

Thank you for that. So, it might explain it. Still, leaning towards heatstroke but you never know.

heatstroke especially wearing black, I can agree upon.

 

[RickshawFan]

The Daily Telegraph has an article about the missing French women on Sikinos.

Several comments remind me that there is a rather amazing app available for phones to use for location:

what3words

Basically the entire earth is divided up into 3 m x 3m squares and a unique combination of 3 words is used to describe the location. This means that one does not have to deal with Google coordinates or such and if help is needed, sending a mail with the 3 words gives a hugely precise location.

I've got it on my phone and my house actually has 10 different 3 word descriptions.

In the case of the missing French woman, the phone info can only give searchers an idea of the south end of the island, whereas what3words would have pinpointed exactly where to look for her.

As with EAC, this would be invaluable if he was connected to his phone when he first disappeared.

How to use the what3words app | what3words

Discover all of the key features in the what3words app including how to find, save and share any precise what3words address. Get started here today!

what3words.com

Thanks for bringing this up, @Herat ! What3Words has saved many lives. And even if local LE doesn't have the app loaded, it takes just a few seconds to install, and they'd have the location in a very small window.

I never thought to wonder how many 3-word segments I have in my house, but since I can't go out because of the heat wave, I could work it out!

 

[RickshawFan]

I'm leaning towards him starting the hike around 7, and sending the photo of the trailhead at the same time as buying water at 9:20. That would place him at Katapola at noon for his lunch appointment. If he started the trail at 9:20, he would be too late for lunch.

The problem is, Greeks have a different idea about lunch times. 2pm would not be at all too late for lunch.

Greeks make lunch their big meal of the day, and eat it between 2 and 3pm. Especially in summer, Greeks often head to a cafe for some ice cream around 8pm. Dinner is often a light meal, seldom eaten earlier than 9pm, but when Greeks do go out to dinner, they usually don't think of eating before 10pm.

Food and Drink in Greece | Frommer's

Here's a guide to food & drink in Greece - everything you need to know.

www.frommers.com

 

[RickshawFan]

I assume the Coke would be chilled otherwise it would be undrinkable at 100F. It has sugar and caffeine. A quick cold pick-me-up for a hot hike. I also assume he ate something for breakfast and had some coffee, too, so it wasn't as though this was all on an empty stomach.

Whatever happened, was after he left that place and was so sudden he didn't have time to make a phone call, hit an emergency button, run or walk back to the Steki place, and didn't cause him to drop anything or leave any sign of a struggle, a fall, a note, drop his pack, make a signal cairn or use a rescue whistle, mirror, or a fire. The very short comment about the interaction with Sophia does not sound as though she thought he was in distress, looked ill, or was not making any sense. The mention does not indicate she thought there was anything wrong with him.

It is, indeed, as if he tumbled off a cliff or wandered deliriously into a ravine.

Heart problem IMO. And heat stroke can come on VERY fast, moment to moment.

 

[Tintenbar]

The identity of the 2 missing French women is revealed here. Their relatives arrived in Sikinos to participate in the search.
Εξαφάνιση 64χρονης Γαλλίδας στη Σίκινο: Συγγενείς της έρχονται στην Ελλάδα για να βοηθήσουν στις έρευνες | LiFO

 

[Herat]

The problem is, Greeks have a different idea about lunch times. 2pm would not be at all too late for lunch.

Greeks make lunch their big meal of the day, and eat it between 2 and 3pm. Especially in summer, Greeks often head to a cafe for some ice cream around 8pm. Dinner is often a light meal, seldom eaten earlier than 9pm, but when Greeks do go out to dinner, they usually don't think of eating before 10pm.

Food and Drink in Greece | Frommer's

Here's a guide to food & drink in Greece - everything you need to know.

www.frommers.com

That's a good point. The friend called LE at 3:30pm, clearly after getting no response by cell phone.

I wonder if the friend was American/UK or Greek. The former might be more likely to do lunch at noon or 1pm, as is more traditional in USA or UK.

This whole thing has got me rethinking what I wear when hiking, normally neutral colors. I've decided to buy a bright yellow hat and bring a bright colored shirt or bandana in case I needed to be found. I also am putting some reflective tape on the hat so as to be more visible by flashlight. I always use hiking poles, so if in trouble, I could tie a bandana around one like a signal flag. I'll just have to get my hiking geek on. My neutral gear would be impossible to see in that landscape.

Anyway, no news today.

It's about 8:30 pm there. I truly hope there is news and he is found tonight or tomorrow.

 

[Herat]

This was in today's Greek news, posted 5 hours ago, but it has very little new information.

It does clarify that a total of 4 people flew over from the US to assist in the search and there are a total of 7 people currently trying to search

Girlfriend Debbie LesChain
Brother Oliver Calibet
2 Members of LA County SAR
3 Local friends or family members

Αμοργός: Βαρύ «κατηγορώ» στις ελληνικές αρχές από τη σύντροφο του Αμερικανού που αγνοείται 8 ημέρες | LiFO

Εντελώς αηδιασμένη με τον τρόπο που λειτουργούν οι αρχές στην Αμοργό η Ντέμπι Λεσέιν, σύντροφος του «σερίφη» που αγνοείται - Δημιούργησαν δική τους ομάδα αναζήτησης με τον αδελφό του Κάλιμπετ και φίλους τους

www.lifo.gr

 

[Herat]

Maybe they were sleeping on the beach?
Didn't he have his pack full of all his stuff? This strikes me as odd unless he was couch surfing or stealth camping.

He was staying at an unspecified place in Aegiali. There are several lovely hotels and numerous apts and rooms. As he has been to the island 20 times, he certainly would have made a choice comfortable for him.

I could deal with this:


The limited CCTV video from Aegiali shows a man that appears to be him putting a larger pack into a vehicle the morning of the hike. There are car rental agencies in Aegiali. There is no indication he was stealth camping. We also don't have any idea how long he had been on Amargos or how long he was staying. It could be days or it could be weeks, most likely weeks, given his prior travels.

Here is an on-line travel guide to Amargos. It's very interesting and paints a picture of the island as a wonderful vacation spot that is used to tourism, but not overwhelmed by it. Lots of accommodations, restaurants and taverns.

Amorgos

The Greek Island of Amorgos has clear blue seas, great restaurants, a terrific system of hiking trails, a world famous monastery and a lot fewer tourists than most of the other Crclades Islands

www.greektravel.com

 

[Artis]

The problem is, Greeks have a different idea about lunch times. 2pm would not be at all too late for lunch.

Greeks make lunch their big meal of the day, and eat it between 2 and 3pm. Especially in summer, Greeks often head to a cafe for some ice cream around 8pm. Dinner is often a light meal, seldom eaten earlier than 9pm, but when Greeks do go out to dinner, they usually don't think of eating before 10pm.

Food and Drink in Greece | Frommer's

Here's a guide to food & drink in Greece - everything you need to know.

www.frommers.com

My kind of people!

 

[Ladyotm]

Article on Greece's extreme heat. I'm not sure if this has been shared

https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/19/climate/extreme-heat-brain-greece-tourists/index.html

 

[Herat]

Article on Greece's extreme heat. I'm not sure if this has been shared

https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/19/climate/extreme-heat-brain-greece-tourists/index.html

That's a very good article with some very interesting science about the brain function in high temperatures. Really wise information to know when making a decision about doing any activity in higher temperatures, even if you are in a place that is normally hot. Good cautions if you are over 50 or have other health conditions, pregnancy, or are associated with children or infants.

These missing people are all in places that are normally considered hot, but some times it is just too hot for your health and you need to pay attention and not make assumptions that will lead you into disaster.

Thank you Ladyotm for posting it

 

[RickshawFan]

That's a good point. The friend called LE at 3:30pm, clearly after getting no response by cell phone.

I wonder if the friend was American/UK or Greek. The former might be more likely to do lunch at noon or 1pm, as is more traditional in USA or UK.

This whole thing has got me rethinking what I wear when hiking, normally neutral colors. I've decided to buy a bright yellow hat and bring a bright colored shirt or bandana in case I needed to be found. I also am putting some reflective tape on the hat so as to be more visible by flashlight. I always use hiking poles, so if in trouble, I could tie a bandana around one like a signal flag. I'll just have to get my hiking geek on. My neutral gear would be impossible to see in that landscape.

Anyway, no news today.

It's about 8:30 pm there. I truly hope there is news and he is found tonight or tomorrow.

So glad you brought up the dilemma of what to wear to stay safe in this context! I've had to re-think that, too. So many companies decided hikers have to blend into the woods, when the opposite is more helpful for SOS. More companies are now offering brighter colors.
It doesn't seem as though the Amorgos hiker was wearing hiking-specific apparel, But, yes, too bad SAR isn't out there looking for something in red or fluorescent orange. Or even reflectors (a pack with reflectors on it would even do). Or one of those silver emergency blankets.