Found Deceased CA - Paul Miller, 51, Canadian missing in Joshua Tree National Park, San Bernardino Co., 13 Jul 2018

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GraceG said:
I read that they had initial hopes of finding him alive as there was rain not long after he went missing. Unfortunately, this affects the scent trail Two-thirds of scent given off by the subject is heavier than air. It falls to the ground or blows alongside to the ground. These heavier particles form a trail. As the bacteria on the scent particles (skin cells) digest the protein they convert the cells to vapors. The trailing dogs will follow this scent. The longer the bacteria works on the protein, the more it is consumed, until at last, it is all gone. Warm, moist weather causes the fastest rate of conversion, more scent, but a much shorter duration. Looking at historical radar (www.piperairsafety.com) there was a large and fairly heavy rain shower that moved through the park not long after his wife reported him missing but prior to when it was likely an organized search began.
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If Paul was wearing suntan lotion/sunscreen/insect repellent, would that have thrown the dogs off course in not being able to follow his tracks?
 
Well, this is tragic.
I did summer landscaping in Tucson during college.
The sun is deadly sneaky. One time I stumbled, lost my balance due to heat. Fell into patch of prickly pear. Scary part is, you can't really tell when you are starting to lose it, it sneaks up on you like the Devil
 
And boy do Canadians burn easy. worked with one during a Caribbean cruise, and he turned Lobster red on St. Maarten, they out to post signs out there at Joshua tree warning people not to hike in summer
 
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MaryG12 said:
If Paul was wearing suntan lotion/sunscreen/insect repellent, would that have thrown the dogs off course in not being able to follow his tracks?
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Three or so years ago, some dangerous prisoners escaped from an upstate NY prison (Attica, maybe?). Dogs were unable to track them. They scattered salt to mess up the dogs' ability to scent.
So maybe even a brand-specific sunscreen formula might have thrown off the dogs...
 
RickshawFan said:
Three or so years ago, some dangerous prisoners escaped from an upstate NY prison (Attica, maybe?). Dogs were unable to track them. They scattered salt to mess up the dogs' ability to scent.
So maybe even a brand-specific sunscreen formula might have thrown off the dogs...
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Escapees scattered pepper:
From lockdown to breakout: How a prison escape and manhunt unfolded
. . . first escape ever in the history of the 150-year-old Clinton Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison in Dannemora, N.Y.
. . . police said they believe that Matt and Sweat may have tried to throw off search dogs by spreading pepper on the trail.
Dr. Alexandra Horowitz, who directs the Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard College, said it's "extremely unlikely that that would work." Horowitz told The New York Times that the scent from people's dead skin cells lingers both in the air and on the ground. Shaking pepper onto one's tracks, she said, "might disrupt the dog's ability to follow the track, but the dog can 'air-scent' and get the track from the air."
 
Never hike alone in the desert. If you become immobilized for any reason, you are toast. Broken ankle, trip over rock/root, snakebite, loose rock, Once immobilized, then the Sun starts to work on you. Many grossly underestimate their needed water supply. Canyons and ridges make cell coverage spotty.
 
Jim G said:
Never hike alone in the desert. If you become immobilized for any reason, you are toast. Broken ankle, trip over rock/root, snakebite, loose rock, Once immobilized, then the Sun starts to work on you. Many grossly underestimate their needed water supply. Canyons and ridges make cell coverage spotty.
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Wise counsel.
 
AzPistonsGirl said:
We have had quite a few hiker deaths in Arizona this year, another one just late this weekend: Phoenix Hiker Found Dead In Deem Hills Recreation Area: Reports

And This man was a seasoned hiker.... Very sad...
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Oh wow - summer is the worst time to go hiking - 105 degrees! I wonder if a bottle of water was found near this guy?

The other problem being - it may be cooler in the early morning but by noon it doesn't take long for that thermostat to rise. And I lived in AZ for 3 years.
 
This case is niggling at me, especially since six(?) teams of dogs were unable to pick up Paul’s scent?

The Mexican border is three hours from Joshua Tree. Could Paul have escaped to a new life?

The chances are very high that he did perish in the Park, yet to be found. However, I can’t help but wonder...

Amateur opinion and speculation.
 
rosesfromangels said:
What an interesting question. I don't think so, but maybe we can ask one of our Trackers on WS.
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I've never worked AS a tracker but I've worked out in the field with them. I do not think sunscreen would be an issue. Trained tracker dogs can identify a single odor in a stew of smell, in the same way we can identify a single color in a painted picture.
 
rosesfromangels said:
This case is niggling at me, especially since six(?) teams of dogs were unable to pick up Paul’s scent?

The Mexican border is three hours from Joshua Tree. Could Paul have escaped to a new life?

The chances are very high that he did perish in the Park, yet to be found. However, I can’t help but wonder...

Amateur opinion and speculation.
Click to expand...

I respect that this is trying to keep positive thoughts for Paul to be alive, but this is a poor choice of parks for a planned escape to Mexico. Anza Borrego is much closer to the border and also has lovely desert hikes and big horn sheep or just go all in and visit Valley of the Moon which is right on the border. To even make it to i-10 from 29 palms would require an incredible trek across high desert in incredible heat with no water.

To me the fact that 6 dogs picked up no scent is further evidence that the conditions that day were unfavorable for picking up a scent, not evidence that he wasn't there.

I just hope he is found when the fall comes and hiking activity picks up so his family gets closure. There are too many that are never found in JTNP.
 
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