Found Deceased CA - Philip Kreycik, 37, Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park, 10 Jul 2021

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Wendyb1063 said:
It also reminds me, sadly, of Lucas Horan. Both were incredibly smart, very athletic, successful young men living in the East Bay area. Both cases involved large, organized searches, and both men had very strong networks of family and friends. Hopefully, Philip's case will have a happier ending.

Found Deceased - CA - Lucas Horan, 39, Emeryville Marina, 24 Dec 2020
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They may have even known each other, as they ran on the same trails a lot. I noticed that Philip and Lucas have 2 of the top 3 times on one Strava trail running segment starting near Vollmer Peak in the hills east of Berkeley. Also hoping for a happier outcome.
 
I fear this will end up being a case where the missing person will have fallen victim to the elements or natural (animal) predators, BUT I must admit I paused for a second to consider a planned/intentional disappearance in light of the stop Phillip made to mail a package before he arrived at the park.
I am guessing LE has already determined where the package was being sent and what it contained, and it likely has zero relationship to Phillip’s disappearance, but in other circumstances I could see a person intentionally vanishing after sending a package if it contained something nefarious/deadly, i.e. a bomb. I feel badly even making this observation because the missing man here seems, by all accounts, to be a lovely (and very much loved) individual. I am just mentioning it as one potential alternative (albeit highly unlikely/unrealistic) scenario that explains the disappearance.

IMO/MOO
 
mlhenn said:
UPDATE: Frustration Grows As Pleasanton Search For Missing Jogger Philip Kreycik Comes Up Empty
“We have yet to identify an eyewitness who saw him on that trail. And that’s why we’re asking for the public’s help,” explained Silacci.
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There have been instances recently of people being followed in their vehicle by criminals or the criminals wait in a park until a targeted car arrives in Pleasanton (not sure which) and when the targeted car arrives at their destination, they are attacked at gunpoint and robbed with their credit cards stolen. The latest happened next to the Ken Mercer Sports Park off of Parkside Drive in mid- April Teens arrested after armed robbery at Pleasanton house

I don't know if law enforcement has gone in detail about the wallet found in the vehicle and whether it still had cash and credit cards in it. But definitely these types of crimes seem to be on the uptick in Pleasanton.
 
The latest article from Berkeleyside Official search ends for Berkeley runner Philip Kreycik but volunteers keep looking shows a satellite map that shows the Moller Ranch Staging Area in relation to the surrounding area. The staging areas to Pleaanton Ridge are to the South along Foothill Road. Stoneridge Mall is nearby as well to the East which has the West Dublin/Pleasanton BART Station in the corner next to I-580 right next to Stoneridge Mall.

If you use the + sign and zoom in you can see The Preserve and the relationship to Moller Ranch. The Preserve is just north of Moller Ranch and both have staging areas. If you parked in one of the staging areas, say in Moller Ranch, then somehow ended up in The Preserve with its similar staging area, I can see how it would be easy to get disoriented very fast.

You can also get a sense of the private Tehan Canyon Road that is gated off and unaccessible. This is the road along which one property owner would not allow the SAR team to search according to a poster of the Find Philip Kreycik Facebook page. Also you can see the Castleridge Trailhead that provides direct access to Pleasanton Ridge is labeled if you navigate and look south on the map along Foothill Road.
 
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charminglane said:
If I were going to plan my disappearance, I might mail myself a package of things I might need once I got to where I was going.
MOO.
I hope he is found soon. He is loved.
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The police news conference posted above talked about the package dropped off in Oakland and said they thought it was some sort of return package.
 
mlhenn said:

Goes a little more into detail concerning areas searched
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Does anyone have the exact name of the trails he was planning to run on Saturday? I keep seeing a photo of the map over and over, but with with no mention of the actual trail names. Does anyone know? Here is the map Philip's run path from 7/10/2021 reconstructed - Google My Maps

Also, if you put the map into satellite mode and zoom into it, the run starts below the Moller Ranch Staging area. Does that mean he parked on the street and did not actually park his vehicle in the Moller Ranch staging area?
 
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Wendyb1063 said:
It also reminds me, sadly, of Lucas Horan. Both were incredibly smart, very athletic, successful young men living in the East Bay area. Both cases involved large, organized searches, and both men had very strong networks of family and friends. Hopefully, Philip's case will have a happier ending.

Found Deceased - CA - Lucas Horan, 39, Emeryville Marina, 24 Dec 2020
Click to expand...

I also thought of Lucas.
Additionally, this case reminds me of the disappearance of Sam Dubal, of Berkeley, a PhD professor and Stanford/Harvard alum, who vanished while backpacking on Mt Rainier. He was described as an avid hiker who had experience trekking in the Himalayas.

When Sam went missing there were snow storms forecasted in the area he was hiking in. The temperature was in the triple digits in Pleasanton when Philip set out for his run.

As a frequent hiker and traveler (often in canyon county that's over 100 degrees with little shade - with lots of skin coverage, ample extra water, frequent breaks, wet bandanas, slow movement ect), I highly suspect this has to do with preparations for the weather, but I also share your sentiment in hoping that this case has a better outcome than Lucas' or Sam's
IMO
 
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ElizabethAnne said:
There have been instances recently of people being followed in their vehicle by criminals or the criminals wait in a park until a targeted car arrives in Pleasanton (not sure which) and when the targeted car arrives at their destination, they are attacked at gunpoint and robbed with their credit cards stolen. The latest happened next to the Ken Mercer Sports Park off of Parkside Drive in mid- April Teens arrested after armed robbery at Pleasanton house

I don't know if law enforcement has gone in detail about the wallet found in the vehicle and whether it still had cash and credit cards in it. But definitely these types of crimes seem to be on the uptick in Pleasanton.
Click to expand...

I haven't heard of these instances, but there certainly are a lot of robberies at gunpoint happening in the bay area. I haven't heard of anyone ever being murdered in one though. Wasn't his wallet and phone located in his vehicle? What else could they have harmed him for that was valuable, given that he probably would have had to resist/fight back in order to provoke severe harm?
IMO
 
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Protectwomenandgirls said:
I haven't heard of these instances, but there certainly are a lot of robberies at gunpoint happening in the bay area. I haven't heard of anyone ever being murdered in one though. Wasn't his wallet and phone located in his vehicle? What else could they have harmed him for that was valuable, given that he probably would have had to resist/fight back in order to provoke severe harm?
IMO
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Crime has gotten so bad on the West side of Pleasanton that the Pleasanton and BART police just opened in 2019 a substation in that part of town Pleasanton police, BART open joint substation on west side

There was a similar instance in Atherton recently Attempted strong-armed robbery at Atherton home where people were followed off the freeway (in this case 101) and the robbers had a gun and shot at the couple as soon as they arrived at their destination. The charges includes attempted murder I think.

His wallet and phone were found, yes, but he was also wearing a watch. There are no license plate readers at the Moller Ranch Dr intersection with Foothill Rd. The criminals seem to be able to figure out which neighborhoods have the readers and which don't so it becomes a situation where certain low traffic neighborhoods are targeted, typically pretty close to a freeway exit. Most of these neighborhoods targeted seem to involve loop roads or dead ends rather than through streets.

In late April, there was a SWAT team standoff in West Pleasanton UPDATE: Suspect Arrested After Terrorizing Pleasanton Neighborhood With Rifle Fire Just 4 weeks ago a man opened fire outside of Stoneridge Mall which is across the street and nearby to the Moller Ranch subdivision Pleasanton Police Investigate Shots Fired in Stoneridge Mall Parking Lot and https://twitter.com/pleasantonpd/status/1402383303164919810?lang=en

Stoneridge Mall has had its share of problems Pleasanton Police Take 2 in Custody After Brutal Mall Robbery and often the people arrested that appear on the news seem to be from Oakland like this one. Retailers have moved out of Stoneridge Mall such as Nordstrom and Williams Sonoma have closed or moved on to be in other cities instead. One of the side retail buildings to the mall loop has recently been demolished that included World Market, Office Max, etc. There are less people going to that part of town because for some reason, it has just had a lot of issues.
 
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Protectwomenandgirls said:
I also thought of Lucas.
Additionally, this case reminds me of the disappearance of Sam Dubal, of Berkeley, a PhD professor and Stanford/Harvard alum, who vanished while backpacking on Mt Rainier. He was described as an avid hiker who had experience trekking in the Himalayas.

When Sam went missing there were snow storms forecasted in the area he was hiking in. The temperature was in the triple digits in Pleasanton when Philip set out for his run.

As a frequent hiker and traveler (often in canyon county that's over 100 degrees with little shade - with lots of skin coverage, ample extra water, frequent breaks, wet bandanas, slow movement ect), I highly suspect this has to do with preparations for the weather, but I also share your sentiment in hoping that this case has a better outcome than Lucas' or Sam's
IMO
Click to expand...
So in between the area of the Moller Ranch trail where it comes to a dead end and the actual Pleasanton Ridge park, I believe but am not sure that there is a gated area which they call the "Land Bank" or "Landbank" that indicates the area is closed and not open to the public. The Find Philip Kreycik Facebook page had a poster comment "Don't forget the "secret" way into Pleasanton Ridge, via the Land Bank. May not show up on maps, since not opened to public yet." I am guessing that this is where he went to get from the Moller Ranch trail to the Pleasanton Ridge trail.

This is a more detailed description of the "Land Bank." Ascent of Main Ridge on 2017-11-15 - Peakbagger.com
It says: "I parked on Moller Ranch Drive and went up a paved path towards a water tank, then veered right and continued steeply uphill. After crossing a small knoll the trail heads right until it reaches a fence, the right again following the fence line before opening out on a fire road. After about 3/4 mile you pass a park gate noting the edge of the land bank. From there it was another 1.25 miles on fire road to the crest, then right a few hundred feet to the summit."

If he did go through that area and got going the wrong direction, there is a very steep section that leads to Tehan Falls. I still don't know whether he made it onto Pleasanton Ridge trails. Also because the early reports say his scent was lost around the Moller Ranch trail near the water tank, it is possible that when he saw the gate about the closed off Land Bank, he might have turned around to go back.

A reviewer on Yelp refers to the trails through the Land Bank in https://www.yelp.com/biz/preserve-trail-pleasanton?start=10 as a "windy trail." The quote is "You can turn the usual 1.5 loop into a 7-20 mile run if you follow the windy trail through the [closed off?] land bank and into Pleasanton Ridge Park, which stretches all the way to Sunol."
 
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A couple of comments about Strava. Some of the search efforts have been coordinated through Strava mapping. Philip also appeared to have opted in for making his past Strava runs public. After some tests, I realize that what Strava subscribers can see of them is far more detailed than non subscribers. I don't know if that led to some misinterpretations (and now deleted posts) or not. I can say that his most recent recorded runs pretty much look like those of a very experienced and fast trail runner.
 
Search for missing Berkeley runner expands far beyond Bay Area

Volunteer search crews gathered, once again, to Foothill High School for day seven of search efforts.

Many of the hundreds of volunteers offering to look for Kreycik are complete strangers; they have never met Philip or known about his family before last week. Some of Kreycik's oldest and closest friends say they are grateful for the Bay Area hospitality.


‘Hug Your Families': Relatives Continue Search for Missing East Bay Runner


“Hug your families.”

That was one of the heartbreaking messages Friday from the wife of an East Bay runner who's been missing since Saturday.

The family believes Philip Kreycik is still out there injured and disoriented but alive. They are asking neighbors to check their properties in case he wandered in from the park, looking for help.

The family said they will soon start a crowdsourcing campaign to help this community, perhaps to help fund other search and rescues.
 
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