Found Deceased CA - Matthew Thoke, 43, hiking, separated from group, Sequoia National Park, 21 Jul 2021

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Sequoia Kings NPS has shared missing info in a post.
The post includes over 300 comments under it!

As I scanned the comments, I noticed it was asked over & over whether he is diabetic. Commenters who supposedly know him personally continue to share that he is not diabetic. Of course, this isn’t confirmation but if he isn’t then what are other possibilities to what is on his arm in the photo?
 
Sequoia & Kings Cyn
@SequoiaKingsNPS

MISSING HIKER: If you believe you may have seen Matthew Thoke, or if you hiked along the High Sierra Trail between Kaweah Gap and Crescent Meadow between 7/21/21 to today regardless of seeing him, please contact SEKI Dispatch at 888-677-2746 or SEKI_Dispatch@nps.gov.

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Sequoia Kings NPS

There’s comments under both of these links that caught my attention. Staying within TOS, I’ll just say, IMO there may be more info on the circumstances around him disappearing than what is being shared. When family & friends began stating “further updates will now be shared privately” or “for any other updates, we’ll PM you if you’re close friends or family” it makes me think there’s more going on than being shared. Again, IMO.
(Comments by JD, JV, BS, JK, SG, NT)
 
When I hike in high altitudes, I frequently have to leave the trail to go to the bathroom (altitude sickness.) I immediately assumed that’s what he was doing when he walked off trail and left his pack behind. I’m concerned about a fall after seeing the picture of the terrain.
 
A fundraising website has raised a substantial amount of money toward rescue efforts. There are lots of people who are missing him! I hope they can get search parties in there this weekend. There’s still time for a good outcome if he is lost but found a water source.
 
slowpoke said:
Another missing hiker! :(

In the photo of him, I notice on his upper arm is some kind of disc shaped thing. Anyone know what that is? It seems like he pushed up his t-shirt sleeve to show it for the picture.
Click to expand...

A while back I had a co-worker using a commercial 'weight loss/health building' program. The program included snack bars & shakes, and a series of patches that were supposed to accelerate one's metabolism and, IIRC, "train your body to turn fat into muscle!" At least one day a week the patch was a circle.

Now. Mr. Thoke does not look IMHO like a candidate for commercial weight loss but perhaps muscle building?

Best for Mr. Thoke, his family & friends. In the wilderness, do not leave your group!
 
Maybe it's just me, but it kind of looks like it's just a quarter? Is it in any other pictures?

Search Continues for Hiker Matt Thoke, Missing for 9 Days in Sequoia National Park - Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks (U.S. National Park Service)

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I’m hoping they find Matt today. The bright orange shirt should help. I may be completely wrong, but it seems the only chance of a good outcome is if he made it to water. (Or possibly catching rainfall?) I hope they’re searching any streams, etc. Do search teams start focusing more on water sources after a few days, trying to find someone alive? Maybe someone with more knowledge can chime in. @10ofRods , you seem to know the area. Any thoughts on water sources?
 
I thought at first it was a quarter too but when I enlarged it I thought it looked too "thick" or raised, so then I thought a bottlecap, then a insulin monitor, now back to a quarter! Oh the things that catch my attention and I then worry about lol.

upload_2021-8-1_16-37-59.png
 
mlhenn said:
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Sequoia Kings NPS has shared missing info in a post.
The post includes over 300 comments under it!

As I scanned the comments, I noticed it was asked over & over whether he is diabetic. Commenters who supposedly know him personally continue to share that he is not diabetic. Of course, this isn’t confirmation but if he isn’t then what are other possibilities to what is on his arm in the photo?
Click to expand...

The consensus seems to be that Matthew, like many of my FB friends, is making a joke. Conspiracy theorists say that the vaccine makes us magnetic, so he's pretending that the quarter on his arm is sticking to him because it's metal (yes, we all know silver does stick to a magnet, but it's a joke). IMO.
 
Glad we now know definitively he does not have diabetes. IMO, it was a relevant question to inquire about the thing on his arm, as we’re all trying hard to find an explanation for his seemingly odd action (leaving the group, and leaving his pack).

If diabetic and he was having severe blood sugar problems, he might have been experiencing symptoms that made him feel quite ill. Now, we expect that is not the case. IMO
 
distracted said:
Authorities are still searching for Matthew but they are scaling back.
Resources scaled back as search for missing hiker continues

I can't believe another hiker is missing.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the update.

“The National Park Service says those searching for Thoke on the ground have faced difficult terrain and risk experiencing both tripping and slipping hazards.”

If the searchers were experiencing those hazards, then it follows that Matthew would have, too. :( MOO
 
I've read all of the articles I can find but none of them say when it was that he was reported missing. All of the articles say that he left the group at 1pm without his backpack but none of them say when it was that they started questioning where he is.

In other words, did the group think that he wouldn't meet back up with them? Or, did they think he would meet back up with them later? Did he drive separately or was his car still there but he wasn't? Did he ride with someone else?

When did they realize that he is missing?

Have I just missed this information somehow? These details seem pretty important to me.
 
distracted said:
I've read all of the articles I can find but none of them say when it was that he was reported missing. All of the articles say that he left the group at 1pm without his backpack but none of them say when it was that they started questioning where he is.

In other words, did the group think that he wouldn't meet back up with them? Or, did they think he would meet back up with them later? Did he drive separately or was his car still there but he wasn't? Did he ride with someone else?

When did they realize that he is missing?

Have I just missed this information somehow? These details seem pretty important to me.
Click to expand...

All good questions. Found this article, which says:

“Thoke deliberately parted ways with his hiking group at Bearpaw Meadow on July 21, with the stated intention of hiking out to Crescent Meadow via the High Sierra Trail on his own. Thoke was last seen at about 1 p.m. that day, at which time he was traveling downhill and south off of the High Sierra Trail, about three miles east of the Crescent Meadow Trailhead, leaving his pack behind. The search was initiated that afternoon after Thoke failed to return to his pack.”

That still doesn’t make sense. If he stated he was going his own way, why would he leave his pack with the others? o_O

Search for Matthew Thoke in Sequoia National Park Moving to Limited Continuous Mode

Photo from the article of the thick vegetation and how difficult it would be to find Matthew.
20210726_122147.jpg


 
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