Found Deceased CA - Paul Miller, 51, Canadian missing in Joshua Tree Natl Park, San Bernardino Co., 13 Jul 2018 #2

[Dushi]

The witness said he had been interviewed the day after Paul went missing, see below... July 14

I was the last person to see Paul alive.

I was interviewed by park personnel on Saturday 14, the day after he went missing. I’d seen one of the posters describing his disappearance and called in from near the park.

( took this from a post on page 33, thread 1 )



Posted: Jul 18, 2018 2:57 PM
"That's been one of the things that's been really difficult as well. There hasn't been any track evidence of Mr. Miller. There was no scent detection that came in from canine units," he said, adding there were no reports of contact from other hikers in the area that morning. "We did have at least one person that was in during the same time and came out and said they didn't see anybody else on the trail on the way in or out."

Search scaled back for Guelph, Ont., man missing in California park | CBC News

 

[rosesfromangels]

I’m still shocked that someone could emphatically state that he was the last person to see Paul alive. How could he know that to be true unless he witnessed Paul’s demise?

It’s a high stress situation, and the witness comments reflect that. I’m sure he was stricken by the notion that he must have been the last person to see Paul, and that had to be quite upsetting.

 

[Gulliver]

I tried to cut and paste but couldn’t do it. Witness Neil posted on the 29th and said he had been reading here and more or less wanted to set the record straight

 

[Gulliver]

I tried to cut and paste but couldn’t do it. Witness Neil posted on the 29th and said he had been reading here and more or less wanted to set the record straight

Maybe I’m not allowed to do it but it can help you find the post.

 

[rosesfromangels]

Neil, if you are still following the thread, please rejoin the conversation. We very much appreciate your contribution.

 

[Dushi]

Maybe I’m not allowed to do it but it can help you find the post.

Delete

 

[Tim Callahan]

This case has many twists and turns, yet so little traction on the ground. Not that anybody owes us an explanation, but really, much background info in this case is sorely lacking. Aside from the various scenarios of his disappearance, which are all conundrums in themselves, 3 other things keep on bugging me about this case, all of which have been discussed to some degree or another:
1) How the wife, as far as I know, hasn't ever expressed any gratitude for the searches made on PM's behalf, and indeed, has badmouthed them almost from day one. I'm not saying that has any bearing on what happened to him, it just bugs me and strikes me as being a very odd attitude, even if someone is feeling helpless or frustrated.
2) I posted earlier on about how it would strike me as very odd to go out at the last minute "looking to photograph bighorn sheep", unless PM was huge into wildlife photography, not just a casual snapshot taker. We don't really have any insight into this one way or the other, but I think it's relevant enough to the case that if he were a huge wildlife photography fan, that would have come out by now. On a side note, I remember reading about his camera, and it wasn't anything really special. JMO.
3) His coyote tattoo really bugs me. I'm not dissing people with tattoos, but in context of him missing, I just find a weird-looking indigenous style tattoo of a desert animal to be very eerie. Again, JMO!
His case has been haunting me since I visited Joshua Tree with my family 2 days after he went missing and the posters were up everywhere.

 

[RickshawFan]

My first impression was his wife sure reported him missing quickly, just 3 hrs after he went on his hike.

We don't know when he went on the hike. He coulda gone the day before. We are having to rely on her story.

 

[neesaki]

The witness said he had been interviewed the day after Paul went missing, see below... July 14

I was the last person to see Paul alive.

I was interviewed by park personnel on Saturday 14, the day after he went missing. I’d seen one of the posters describing his disappearance and called in from near the park.

( took this from a post on page 33, thread 1 )



Posted: Jul 18, 2018 2:57 PM
"That's been one of the things that's been really difficult as well. There hasn't been any track evidence of Mr. Miller. There was no scent detection that came in from canine units," he said, adding there were no reports of contact from other hikers in the area that morning. "We did have at least one person that was in during the same time and came out and said they didn't see anybody else on the trail on the way in or out."

Search scaled back for Guelph, Ont., man missing in California park | CBC News

Thank you , Dushi. So, do we know how this apparent discrepancy can be reconciled ? It is a discrepancy, right? Yes it is. Noted.

 

[neesaki]

We don't know when he went on the hike. He coulda gone the day before. We are having to rely on her story.

Good point, RickshawFan. There are several things that certainly don't seem right .........

 

[jash]

Thank you , Dushi. So, do we know how this apparent discrepancy can be reconciled ? It is a discrepancy, right? Yes it is. Noted.

Since then, JTNP officials have acknowledged there's a witness who saw Paul that day (although they say it was at the trailhead, not 2/3 of the way to the Oasis, like Neil_witness told us).

“We have a witness who saw (Miller) at the trailhead that morning, but that’s all,” Park Superintendent David Smith said Saturday. “It is really disconcerting. But we are not going to give up.”

Wife of missing hiker from Canada describes 'hell' each day brings since Paul Miller disappeared at Joshua Tree

 

[frisson]

Do we know if they were staying at a hotel or cabin? And was he seen leaving on any security camera?

 

[tarabull]

Do we know if they were staying at a hotel or cabin? And was he seen leaving on any security camera?

Bumping my own post that confirms it was a hotel in the City of 29 Palms

A tweet from 9 hrs ago states the hotel was in the City of 29 Palms, FWIW

#FindPaulMiller hashtag on Twitter

And today is Day 60!!!



Where is Paul???

 

[eucalyptuz]

I think if LE in the US had a sniff of anything untoward in this case, then Paul's wife would have been told not to leave town. I'm sure her possible involvement has been scrutinized: the car checked for prints overlaying Paul's prints, the hotel staff quizzed, security footage checked etc.

Yes, maybe she is acting differently to the way some other people would behave. For some people the writing would be on the wall after two or three days that it had gone from search to recovery. Some people may need to find a body to move on, others need to grieve with those they love. I really don't know how the wife could have aided the search and recovery efforts more than she did. She now has a single-income family and is probably facing big questions going forward and in her shoes, I think I would have returned to Canada too...

 

[ElementalLaura]

These are all great points. I’ve been wondering whether part of the issue is this has been more of a SAR activity than a missing persons investigation. I haven’t seen any timeline (or mention by LE that they are confident they had a timeline), though I may well have missed something.

Now for the TL;DR musings inspired by your thoughtful post.

I have nothing to say about #1 other than I would find it more suspicious if Paul’s wife was immensely grateful for all the efforts expended, given they haven’t found Paul. It makes sense to me that his family would call for searches to continue until they do, similar to Samantha Sayers’ family (they are now relying on volunteer searches).

#2 - Several reports have mentioned his interest in photography and his missing persons flyer says he took his Nikon D5300 with him. The D5300 is a respectable camera, neighborhood of $600 US for the body alone (more when it first came out). The lens? Wildlife photogs would tend toward a zoom lens that would add weight and $$ invested, which usually has an inverse correlation. Maybe he used a compact lens (250ish mm) for hiking purposes. I don’t find it odd that someone w/o a social media footprint wouldn’t have online photo galleries; it may be a passion of his that he hasn’t explored monetizing (I’m the same way).

I *do* think the whole timing of his hike is strange. Many people have posted about the limited time window, and I understand his wife was originally going to join him. Setting aside all other concerns, from a photography standpoint alone — whether shooting bighorns or landscapes — you’d go out earlier to get the photos. Sunrise at JTNP on July 13 was roughly 6:41 am. If it were me? I’d plan to be at the trailhead by then if I were by myself and had any concerns about the hike. Otherwise I’d want to be on location for sunrise and would hike with a headlamp assuming the trail was reasonable. So it’s hard for me to understand him going out for photos but going in the late morning.

#3 I think Paul’s tattoo is a Haida style wolf, not a coyote. MOO. It’s inspired by Pacific Northwest native art. Regardless of whether it’s a wolf or coyote, though, it’s an interesting indication that there was more to Paul than met the eye. JMO.

This case has many twists and turns, yet so little traction on the ground. Not that anybody owes us an explanation, but really, much background info in this case is sorely lacking. Aside from the various scenarios of his disappearance, which are all conundrums in themselves, 3 other things keep on bugging me about this case, all of which have been discussed to some degree or another:
1) How the wife, as far as I know, hasn't ever expressed any gratitude for the searches made on PM's behalf, and indeed, has badmouthed them almost from day one. I'm not saying that has any bearing on what happened to him, it just bugs me and strikes me as being a very odd attitude, even if someone is feeling helpless or frustrated.
2) I posted earlier on about how it would strike me as very odd to go out at the last minute "looking to photograph bighorn sheep", unless PM was huge into wildlife photography, not just a casual snapshot taker. We don't really have any insight into this one way or the other, but I think it's relevant enough to the case that if he were a huge wildlife photography fan, that would have come out by now. On a side note, I remember reading about his camera, and it wasn't anything really special. JMO.
3) His coyote tattoo really bugs me. I'm not dissing people with tattoos, but in context of him missing, I just find a weird-looking indigenous style tattoo of a desert animal to be very eerie. Again, JMO!
His case has been haunting me since I visited Joshua Tree with my family 2 days after he went missing and the posters were up everywhere.

 

[slowpoke]

I tried to cut and paste but couldn’t do it. Witness Neil posted on the 29th and said he had been reading here and more or less wanted to set the record straight

Here’s the link to the “Neil_witness” post from Thread 1, post #492, July 29:

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

 

[Gulliver]

Thank you.
I spent a bit of time last night on the Twitter #JTNP and found a thank you from PM’s sister to Neil. so she believes he’s real

It’s the very first thread mentioning the missing hiker. Mid July

 

[MaryG12]

I am off the fence and leaning towards Paul not being anywhere in the park.

I’m pretty sure the hotel has security cameras, would LE have checked those? Have they even bothered to verify the story? If left completely up to park officials they would have no jurisdiction outside the park, right? I actually have forgotten if local LE was involved, thinking back I think they were. So, they would have checked all that right? , security cameras to verify what she told the , what time he left, etc.

I found it a bit odd that the poster her called Neal stated he time was off , wasn’t it by about 45 minutes? That’s significant, IMO. Not sure what that might mean.......

Was anything else missing, such as some of Paul's clothes and bare essentials?

What about his suitcase/travel bags?

Seems like no mention was made of that.

 

[neesaki]

If he was deceased out there wouldn’t vultures have been seen , are they not common in the area?

I am off the fence and leaning towards Paul not being anywhere in the park.



Was anything else missing, such as some of Paul's clothes and bare essentials?

What about his suitcase/travel bags?

Seems like no mention was made of that.

Was there any way for him to exit the trail without going back to the trailhead? I recall another poster stating something about he could have exited via some of the other unofficial trails, something like that. I haven't found that post yet but I remember it.

 

[MaryG12]

This case has many twists and turns, yet so little traction on the ground. Not that anybody owes us an explanation, but really, much background info in this case is sorely lacking. Aside from the various scenarios of his disappearance, which are all conundrums in themselves, 3 other things keep on bugging me about this case, all of which have been discussed to some degree or another:
1) How the wife, as far as I know, hasn't ever expressed any gratitude for the searches made on PM's behalf, and indeed, has badmouthed them almost from day one. I'm not saying that has any bearing on what happened to him, it just bugs me and strikes me as being a very odd attitude, even if someone is feeling helpless or frustrated.
2) I posted earlier on about how it would strike me as very odd to go out at the last minute "looking to photograph bighorn sheep", unless PM was huge into wildlife photography, not just a casual snapshot taker. We don't really have any insight into this one way or the other, but I think it's relevant enough to the case that if he were a huge wildlife photography fan, that would have come out by now. On a side note, I remember reading about his camera, and it wasn't anything really special. JMO.
3) His coyote tattoo really bugs me. I'm not dissing people with tattoos, but in context of him missing, I just find a weird-looking indigenous style tattoo of a desert animal to be very eerie. Again, JMO!
His case has been haunting me since I visited Joshua Tree with my family 2 days after he went missing and the posters were up everywhere.

Does anyone know how long PM had that coyote tattoo? I mean, did he get it just before he and his wife came to the states to go hiking?