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

[GuyfromCanada]

MISSING HIKER

Matthew Thoke was last seen on 7/21/21 at about 1pm leaving the High Sierra Trail approximately 3 miles east of the Crescent Meadow trailhead, just east of Panther Creek. Thoke split from his group and was hiking towards Crescent Meadow when he walked off trail, downhill to the south, without his pack (a black overnight backpack).

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 Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks Dispatch at 888-677-2746 or by email SEKI_Dispatch@nps.gov.

Log In or Sign Up to View

Search Underway For Newport Beach Hiker Matt Thoke Missing For 9 Days In Sequoia National Park

 

[katydid23]

"Thoke split from his group and was hiking towards Crescent Meadow when he walked off trail, downhill to the south, without his pack (a black overnight backpack)."


I wonder what made him drop his pack and go off trail, down the hill? It was only about 1 pm or so. Plenty of sunlight and he shouldn't have been over tired.

Why did he split from his group?

 

[Rosegold68]

Did they argue? What was said? Is he found yet this was over a week ago?

 

[slowpoke]

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.

 

[MichelleAntonia]

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.

I instantly assumed that it's from being vaccinated. Could be confusing to choose such a picture, but I think the purpose was to get one in which he's wearing the clothes he'd most likely be in now.


I agree, all these missing hikers, it's distressing. I know it's a common occurrence, but it's also so much more difficult to locate them than someone who goes missing from a busy urban/suburban area.

 

[moonriverfarm]

So his hiking companions didn't think it was odd for him to ditch his pack and leave? Nobody tried to stop him or follow him?

 

[slowpoke]

I instantly assumed that it's from being vaccinated. Could be confusing to choose such a picture, but I think the purpose was to get one in which he's wearing the clothes he'd most likely be in now.


I agree, all these missing hikers, it's distressing. I know it's a common occurrence, but it's also so much more difficult to locate them than someone who goes missing from a busy urban/suburban area.

I thought it didn’t look like a bandage, but I guess it could be (from being vaccinated). I was wondering if it was some kind of patch for weight loss, or those blood sugar monitors for diabetics—something akin to that. I thought maybe it caused him to feel off and do something uncharacteristic.

 

[Tower]

I thought it didn’t look like a bandage, but I guess it could be (from being vaccinated). I was wondering if it was some kind of patch for weight loss, or those blood sugar monitors for diabetics—something akin to that. I thought maybe it caused him to feel off and do something uncharacteristic.

It is a little strange. It doesn’t look like a bandage to me, either, and vaccination sites usually use just a typical rectangular bandage. I am a healthcare worker and the placement and size looks wrong for a diabetes monitor or transdermal medication patch. But it could be a type not prescribed in my area. JMO

 

[10ofRods]

That trail curves along a drop-off (south/southwesterly) as it goes from Panther Creek to Crescent Meadow. I would assume he was observed getting off trail nearer the top part. The drop-off is steeper as the trail goes along, until it becomes wooded at Crescent Meadow. Sorry about the size of this image, but the trail is on the ridge in the left middle, heading up toward the high Sierra area to the left, as well. He would have separated from his group at Panther Creek, which you can't see, but is in the gully to the far left, below that rounded peak. This is taken 2-3 miles from Crescent Meadow, from atop Moro Rock. The High Sierra Trail, naturally, goes back into those mountains. Crescent Meadow sits at about 6000 feet of elevation - he started at out about 8500 feet and had to traverse that ridge to get to Crescent Meadow. We're facing north in this picture and you can see a tiny section of the trail just below the trees, left middle (but that would have been 3 miles past where he left his friends).

From Crescent Meadow, a person can take a shuttle to various parking lots, but most people who hike that trail get there early and leave their car there. Information is scant - why did he leave his backpack?? Had they just started the trail from Crescent Meadow? Sounds like they were planning to camp past Panther Creek, there's a campground at Bearpaw Meadow - about another 3 miles from Panther Creek.

 

[slowpoke]

It is a little strange. It doesn’t look like a bandage to me, either, and vaccination sites usually use just a typical rectangular bandage. I am a healthcare worker and the placement and size looks wrong for a diabetes monitor or transdermal medication patch. But it could be a type not prescribed in my area. JMO

The not knowing what it is has been continuing to bug me, so in googling I think I’ve got an idea now what the thing on his arm may be.

I don’t want to get political here, but maybe he was doing the “magnet challenge”, where vaccinated people stick magnets to their arm and post on social media.

If that’s what he’s doing, it has nothing to do with his behavior on the hike. MOO

 

[mlhenn]

43-year-old hiker missing in Sequoia National Park

To Note
•Matthew Thoke was hiking along the High Sierra Trail Between Kaweah Gap and Crescent Meadow
•last seen around 1 o'clock Wednesday afternoon when he split from his group and walked off-trail

Newport Beach hiker missing in Sequoia National Park

To Note:
•was last seen leaving the High Sierra Trail approximately 3 miles east of the Crescent Meadow trailhead
•was said to have left the trail and split from his group heading south during a multi-day wilderness trip.
•The group was hiking from Bearpaw to Crescent Meadow
•It's unclear why he left the group
•he did not take his pack with him
•Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks began their search efforts the day Thoke went missing
•Ground search and rescue teams, dog search teams, aerial searches, trail containment and investigation efforts have been used so far

 

[NervousNellie]

Bizarre. Surely there is more to why he just walked off without his pack? How big was the group? Who was in the group? He's been missing a week!

 

[mlhenn]

Hiker still missing in Sequoia National Park

The post said, “Thoke split from his group and was hiking towards Crescent Meadow when he walked off trail, downhill to the south without his pack (a black overnight backpack).”

Sequoia National Park is located east of Visalia in the Central Valley of California and west of Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in the contiguous United States. The Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park website posts trail condition updates. The condition of the High Sierra Trail, which was last updated on July 2 reads, “Kaweah Gap to Big Arroyo free of obstructions.”

The search, led by the National Parks Service, includes ground search and rescue teams, dog search teams, aerial helicopters and help from everyday hikers.

 

[mlhenn]

Log into Facebook FOX26

 

[mlhenn]

Matthew Thoke


Case Status

• Active Search Underway

Initial Report

The National Park Service reported a hiker is missing in the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

Matthew Thoke was last seen on Wednesday, July 21, 2021, at about 1p leaving the High Sierra Trail approximately 3 miles east of the Crescent Meadow trailhead, just east of Panther Creek.

Thoke split from his group and was hiking towards Crescent Meadow when he walked off trail, downhill to the south, without his black overnight backpack.

He is 6' tall, 190 lbs., and has brown hair and brown eyes.

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 Wednesday and Thursday, regardless of seeing him, please contact Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks Dispatch at (888) 677-2746or by email SEKI_Dispatch@nps.gov.

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks


Missing From
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks

Park Description
This dramatic landscape testifies to nature's size, beauty, and diversity—huge mountains, rugged foothills, deep canyons, vast caverns, and the world's largest trees. The parks lie side by side in the southern Sierra Nevada east of the San Joaquin Valley. Weather varies a lot by season and elevation, which ranges from 1,370' to 14,494'.

High Sierra Trail

Significant Locations
High Sierra Trail


Investigative Entities
National Park Service Law Enforcement Rangers

This case file has been assigned the Missing Persons ID 5450

 

[MimosaMornings]

The not knowing what it is has been continuing to bug me, so in googling I think I’ve got an idea now what the thing on his arm may be.

I don’t want to get political here, but maybe he was doing the “magnet challenge”, where vaccinated people stick magnets to their arm and post on social media.

If that’s what he’s doing, it has nothing to do with his behavior on the hike. MOO

I thought it might be a continuous glucose monitor
FreeStyle Libre

 

[Unsolved]

I thought it might be a continuous glucose monitor
FreeStyle Libre

I agree it might be it:

 

[MimosaMornings]

Possibly diabetic, missing a week and without his black overnight backpack.

The Freestyle Libre sensor lasts for 14 days, you need a monitor or smartphone to use it. Would his supplies and insulin be in his backpack?

 

[Tower]

I thought it might be a continuous glucose monitor
FreeStyle Libre

They are a little larger and whiter in color, in my experience, and they are applied more toward the back of the arm. I’m sure it is not one I have seen on my patients in healthcare, but there could be other types.

It could be very important to this case if this gentleman has Type I diabetes because of health and disorientation issues, but I think it’s unlikely this is a monitor. Jmo

 

[mlhenn]

Hiker still missing in Sequoia National Park

To Note:
The description of what Thocke was last seen in matches the articles of clothing he is wearing in the photo being shared in msm.
•was last seen wearing clothes that include a neon orange tank top shirt, blue shorts and a dark red baseball cap with gold embroidery lettering on it.