Found Deceased CO - Kevin Rudnicki, 20, hiker, Mount Herman, Pike National Forest, 3 Sep 2018

[heartgoesout]

When he left his apartment did he leave valuable stuff there? Did he say see you Monday to his roommates?
Such a tech savvy guy, made sure to bring his phone that he knew could be tracked.

 

[Kevinsmom98]

I'm sorry, I do know how frustrating this is. Most of us on here have been in this same situation, myself included.
Does he have any friends between your home and his sister's home? Could he have stopped in to someone else's home? Are there business between? A post office? Sounds like he went somewhere to do something.

 

[Kevinsmom98]

We live on a dirt road up against the mountains. His sisters house is all of 4 houses away. Its an old neighborhood. Its about 3/4 mile to walk into town. He could have met someone at the park or just down the road. He wasn't gone very long at all.

 

[Kevinsmom98]

When he left his apartment did he leave valuable stuff there? Did he say see you Monday to his roommates?
Such a tech savvy guy, made sure to bring his phone that he knew could be tracked.

 

[Kevinsmom98]

He left his clothing, winter coats, camping gear, drum set. His room was impersonal. It was just stuff. By contrast, his dorm room the previous year had posters and other stuff on the walls. Looked like he "lived" there. He took his kindle and phone, but not his charger. Left his laptop. Phone was never on when I tried calling. LE said it last pinged at 0730 on september 2. He also left his knife that he always carried.

 

[PalmerLakeAnon]

Something also to consider: only 1 person saw him, and it was Labor Day weekend. There is no doubt that people were out hiking that day. So this tells me that Kevin did not go on popular trails AT ALL; someone else would have seen him, probably MANY other people would have seen him.
I am working on a few maps. I will post them soon.

 

[PalmerLakeAnon]

This is a map of estimated trail traffic, based on what I have observed in my time hiking these.
orange = popular
yellow = somewhat popular (Locals, especially bikers)
bright green = little traffic (Few locals only)
dark green = little to no traffic, often overgrown and eroded

We can use this to figure where Kevin may have gone.

 

[Vail]

When he left his apartment did he leave valuable stuff there? Did he say see you Monday to his roommates?
Such a tech savvy guy, made sure to bring his phone that he knew could be tracked.

But if he was intending to die by suicide, why take his kindle and phone? 90% of suicide cases I've ever seen, the victim leaves the phone. He knew to reset his laptop, I'm sure he could have reset his phone or destroyed the sim card. So that is an odd decision. The kindle is less odd I suppose - if he wanted to pass some time or was using it to reference a MAP or instructions he had on it.

@PalmerLakeAnon I notice Balanced Rock Rd is green. I think he was likely there as the dog had such strong reactions and it was the direction he was headed when his teacher saw him. The tracking along Mt. Herman road , especially since it is so well travelled, makes me think someone else may have recovered something of his or carried the scent that way or . The cadaver dog hit up there is concerning, though it could have been hitting on someones cremains if it was at a lookout or similar spot where people might go to do that.
The green trail leading from Balanced Rock Rd down to the creek trail looks like it comes out near where the vial was found. A good search of the radius between dog hit down hill and this area is a good start.

Was that hit north by the reservoir a cadaver dog?

The kindle was never mentioned in MSM. I feel like LE needs to put out a request for anyone that was hiking that weekend, who found anything from a discarded water bottle to a kindle, to please come forward.

 

[PalmerLakeAnon]

But if he was intending to die by suicide, why take his kindle and phone? 90% of suicide cases I've ever seen, the victim leaves the phone. He knew to reset his laptop, I'm sure he could have reset his phone or destroyed the sim card. So that is an odd decision. The kindle is less odd I suppose - if he wanted to pass some time or was using it to reference a MAP or instructions he had on it.

@PalmerLakeAnon I notice Balanced Rock Rd is green. I think he was likely there as the dog had such strong reactions and it was the direction he was headed when his teacher saw him. The tracking along Mt. Herman road , especially since it is so well travelled, makes me think someone else may have recovered something of his or carried the scent that way or . The cadaver dog hit up there is concerning, though it could have been hitting on someones cremains if it was at a lookout or similar spot where people might go to do that.
The green trail leading from Balanced Rock Rd down to the creek trail looks like it comes out near where the vial was found. A good search of the radius between dog hit down hill and this area is a good start.

Was that hit north by the reservoir a cadaver dog?

The kindle was never mentioned in MSM. I feel like LE needs to put out a request for anyone that was hiking that weekend, who found anything from a discarded water bottle to a kindle, to please come forward.

There was a loop Kevin liked to run on that was about 12 miles where he would go out on the Limbaugh Canyon trail, over to Mt Herman Rd, and then down the road and run back through the neighborhoods to home. That may have been the scent the dog was picking up on the road since Kevin has run that loop many times in the past. The cadaver dog hit on Mt Herman near the large boulder field (it is indeed a good lookout point), that was the only hit the dog got. From what I heard, it was not strong, either. The hit on Balanced Rock Rd was strong.

The kindle and phone is kind of strange, but the teacher said Kevin had earbuds in where they met. Since his phone was supposedly off at this time, he must have been listening to music from his kindle. I know he would listen to music while tripping, so he may have been tripping during his hike, or he was just hiking and listening to music.

One thing he had mentioned before was listening to The Flaming Lip's "7 Skies H3," which is a 24-hour-long song, while hiking continuously. He may have been attempting this while tripping, wandered off the trail, and then had an accident.

I think he has historically brought his kindle hiking to use for maps.

Here's something to consider: when I make maps, I will often draw them out on my laptop, email them to myself, and then download the picture onto my phone or kindle for use while hiking. Kevin may have done the same thing. Is there any way to get onto Kevin's gmail? The external hard drive files that were recovered from his laptop did not have any recent emails archived (like I said, these were from early 2017 and before).

 

[Vail]

Was it a Kindle Fire? The others don't have audio I don't think. This is something to consider - if he was listening to music off his phone it means he had removed the sim card.

I also really consider that he had a misadventure.

If you know his gmail or other emails, you'll need access to one or be able to figure out his security questions. LE can also ask google for the data outright but it depends on whether a court subpoena is requested.

Have you seen Searching? If anything it may bring you guys some strength.

I would love it if you or Megan could post the photo of Kevin on her FB here.

 

[PalmerLakeAnon]

Photo of Kevin

 

[Mom24]

We live on a dirt road up against the mountains. His sisters house is all of 4 houses away. Its an old neighborhood. Its about 3/4 mile to walk into town. He could have met someone at the park or just down the road. He wasn't gone very long at all.

It sounds like he may have started out to see her and then turned around. Any idea when he rejected his financial aid and changed his contact to his Dad's address?
It is very odd that he took his phone with him but shut it off. As for not taking his charger, he wouldn't need it. Most public places have charging stations, even car dealerships and service stations have them with every charger imaginable. So he would have plenty of places to charge his phone or kindle. Have you been able to get his phone records? See who he was in touch with in the few days before he went missing.
Do they have a guestbook at the trailhead? Something people might sign if they're visiting? If so, it would be worth looking at who was there that day and contacting them to see if they might have seen Kevin. If this is a popular destination for nearby college students to visit, get some posters over there as well.
It might also be worth getting in touch with the colorado mountain club to see if they could get some of their members to assist with a search in the spring.
I'm wondering if a phone can be traced if it's off? I thought I read somewhere that they can be tracked even if they're off? Check with your local PD on that one.
I'm guessing that anything he was listening to on his kindle was downloaded so not going to give any tracking information on where he last was.
Did he give any indication of how long he intended to be gone hiking? Or what was his usual time to be gone?
It's such a weird situation, he's pulled out of school, but still living in Laramie. He went hiking and brought his cellphone (even though it wasn't something he used much), but not his knife. He deleted things on his social media, but didn't completely take them down. He wiped his comp clean, but left one document. On the one hand it has an appearance of suicide, but there are things that don't fit, like his haggard appearance, taking the cellphone and talking about future things like seeking treatment for RLS.

 

[Mom24]

This is a map of estimated trail traffic, based on what I have observed in my time hiking these.
orange = popular
yellow = somewhat popular (Locals, especially bikers)
bright green = little traffic (Few locals only)
dark green = little to no traffic, often overgrown and eroded

We can use this to figure where Kevin may have gone.

Palmer, how many of those trails are accessible by vehicle?

 

[heartgoesout]

There was a loop Kevin liked to run on that was about 12 miles where he would go out on the Limbaugh Canyon trail, over to Mt Herman Rd, and then down the road and run back through the neighborhoods to home. That may have been the scent the dog was picking up on the road since Kevin has run that loop many times in the past. The cadaver dog hit on Mt Herman near the large boulder field (it is indeed a good lookout point), that was the only hit the dog got. From what I heard, it was not strong, either. The hit on Balanced Rock Rd was strong.

The kindle and phone is kind of strange, but the teacher said Kevin had earbuds in where they met. Since his phone was supposedly off at this time, he must have been listening to music from his kindle. I know he would listen to music while tripping, so he may have been tripping during his hike, or he was just hiking and listening to music.

One thing he had mentioned before was listening to The Flaming Lip's "7 Skies H3," which is a 24-hour-long song, while hiking continuously. He may have been attempting this while tripping, wandered off the trail, and then had an accident.

I think he has historically brought his kindle hiking to use for maps.

Here's something to consider: when I make maps, I will often draw them out on my laptop, email them to myself, and then download the picture onto my phone or kindle for use while hiking. Kevin may have done the same thing. Is there any way to get onto Kevin's gmail? The external hard drive files that were recovered from his laptop did not have any recent emails archived (like I said, these were from early 2017 and before).

The teacher said the conversation she had was not concerning. I'm not familiar with how quickly drugs work. Is it possible or worthwhile to also map out a timeframe of when the teacher saw him, when he appeared fine, and the approx. distance he could have gotten when a drug could have kicked in?

 

[mar90]

It sounds like he may have started out to see her and then turned around. Any idea when he rejected his financial aid and changed his contact to his Dad's address?
It is very odd that he took his phone with him but shut it off. As for not taking his charger, he wouldn't need it. Most public places have charging stations, even car dealerships and service stations have them with every charger imaginable. So he would have plenty of places to charge his phone or kindle. Have you been able to get his phone records? See who he was in touch with in the few days before he went missing.
Do they have a guestbook at the trailhead? Something people might sign if they're visiting? If so, it would be worth looking at who was there that day and contacting them to see if they might have seen Kevin. If this is a popular destination for nearby college students to visit, get some posters over there as well.
It might also be worth getting in touch with the colorado mountain club to see if they could get some of their members to assist with a search in the spring.
I'm wondering if a phone can be traced if it's off? I thought I read somewhere that they can be tracked even if they're off? Check with your local PD on that one.
I'm guessing that anything he was listening to on his kindle was downloaded so not going to give any tracking information on where he last was.
Did he give any indication of how long he intended to be gone hiking? Or what was his usual time to be gone?
It's such a weird situation, he's pulled out of school, but still living in Laramie. He went hiking and brought his cellphone (even though it wasn't something he used much), but not his knife. He deleted things on his social media, but didn't completely take them down. He wiped his comp clean, but left one document. On the one hand it has an appearance of suicide, but there are things that don't fit, like his haggard appearance, taking the cellphone and talking about future things like seeking treatment for RLS.

The trail head has no guestbook, there are geocache along some of the trails but his only entry was from 2017. The trails are popular for all kinds of people, we have a lot of posters up and I'm working on putting up more.

I think he asked about rls to cover for the fact that he was coming down from and experiencing side effects of his prolonged drug use.

He was supposed to be back for my daughters birthday party around 4ish.

 

[mar90]

Palmer, how many of those trails are accessible by vehicle?

You can access quite a few trails and areas with a vehicle but any area Kevin would most likely be would require hiking a ways, potentially off trial.

 

[heartgoesout]

Photo of Kevin

Ahhhh the curls!

 

[crhedBngr]

Photo of Kevin

He is a nice-looking young man. What a waste if he isn't found safe and sound.

 

[PalmerLakeAnon]

Some more maps. Here is what I noticed:
Looking at the dog path and where scent was gained and lost, the locations directly correlates with the relative location of the ridge top to the road. Notice in these pictures that where the dog could follow the scent, the ridge top was above the road. Where the dog lost the scent, the road followed the ridge top. Scent is affected by air currents, and on the ridge tops, there is a lot of free air wind that can blow the scent around, as opposed to down in valleys where air is more sheltered. At the places on the road where the road was sheltered by the ridge top from the prevailing winds, the scent was found by the dog.

When not on a ridge top, the air currents are more localized. In smaller gullies the air travels up-slope in the daytime heat, and down-slope as the air cools at night, while being mostly sheltered from the above, prevailing winds.

With this in mind, a scent path can be approximated based on the path the dog led us on. I am currently working on this map now.

 

[heartgoesout]

Impressive. What are your thoughts about that?