WA WA - Mount Si, WhtMale 30-60, UP14867, camping gear, glasses, Nike shoes, knife, Jun'15

[PaulR]

Thanks for your reply, Paul. Could Mt Si also be a side trip for someone hiking the Pacific Crest Trail?

Possible, but I don't think it is plausible for a bunch of reasons:
- he had no gear for doing PCT with him.
- it's very unlikely that he left his PCT gear somewhere, since he was way unprepared for Mt. Si. Tennis shoes in winter? The only "trail" I'd hike with plain tennis shoes is Burke-Gilman which is paved.
- completely wrong time of year to do PCT if he needed a snow shovel, unless he started from the South late in the year and he died on Si in the fall. Starting early from the Canadian border and he'd have seen a lot more snow on the way and I doubt he would have made it as far as Si.
- PCT is (by what I've heard) a challenging effort, seeing things few others ever get to see deep in the wilderness. Si is one of the most popular hikes in Seattle, during summer it is quite crowded. I haven't done Si but I've done Tiger and Pilchuck, which are also popular and crowded on nice days, it's not uncommon to have to park a distance away from the trailhead because the parking lot is full. I had to do that with Tiger. In short I don't see why someone doing PCT would go out of their way to do a relatively easy hike.
- PCT crosses I-90, and Mt. Si isn't that far from I-90, it looks to be about twenty miles away not counting getting from I-90 to Si. Possible to hitchhike on I-90 of course. I wouldn't walk on I-90 but someone could hike the John Wayne Trail which parallels I-90 for most of the way to North Bend, still if there was snow on Si, there would be snow on the trail and he'd have problems. But then we still have all the other problems.

 

[ANZAC]

Is it common to take a shovel on a day hike? I don't do winter activities. I don't like cold or snow.

It would be or could be if you were going to Snow Lake, Granite or any of the trails further east on I-90, as they are higher and get much deeper snow. But someone hiking is unlikely to have one unless they also had snowshoes, skis or ice spikes, trekking poles, gaiters etc.

I'd say it would be fairly unusual for Mt Si, unless it had snowed, you were deliberately heading somewhere where there was deep snow, but then you'd have better shoes.... Like I said, the shovel sticks out as being the wrong priority given all of the other items. Some people bring small shovels etc for pooping in the woods, but they are little spades.

 

[ANZAC]

- completely wrong time of year to do PCT if he needed a snow shovel, unless he started from the South late in the year and he died on Si in the fall.

Good post, yes, he's clearly not a PCT hiker. As to the time of year, our guess is Jan-Feb, as people tend to get caught out by sudden snowfalls on Mt Si then. It has snowed there in the last week this year, but the elevation is still pretty high (not sure if above or below where body was found). If you had to broaden that (given the snow shovel) you might get to November-March.

Early April is avalanche time, but that's mostly further up I-90.

While I'm here I'll also speculate about manner of death (again, my speculation, unofficial):
- probably accidental (I'm not saying being underprepared caused his death, even the best prepared can have bad luck etc)
- possibly suicide
- not as likely but still possible, homicide

Based solely on his final location.

 

[PaulR]

Good post, yes, he's clearly not a PCT hiker. As to the time of year, our guess is Jan-Feb, as people tend to get caught out by sudden snowfalls on Mt Si then. It has snowed there in the last week this year, but the elevation is still pretty high (not sure if above or below where body was found). If you had to broaden that (given the snow shovel) you might get to November-March.

Early April is avalanche time, but that's mostly further up I-90.

While I'm here I'll also speculate about manner of death (again, my speculation, unofficial):
- probably accidental (I'm not saying being underprepared caused his death, even the best prepared can have bad luck etc)
- possibly suicide
- not as likely but still possible, homicide

Based solely on his final location.

You're SAR, you know more than anyone that it doesn't take that many mistakes to end up in a life-or-death situation. We've seen this again and again.

Jan-Feb would exclude him from PCT completely, just as much as anything else, since they'd need to be going southbound from the Canadian border or were coming up from Oregon, either way the amount of snow they'd have to deal with would mean that either they know how to deal with snow (in which case why were they so unprepared) or don't know (in which case how did they hike enough of the PCT to get to Si.) Even November-March excludes everything, if there's snow on Si there's snow in the Cascades which is where the PCT is.

If I'm guessing his rough location based on your speculation, then I agree with your conclusions.

 

[Coffee56]

Nike photo

http://www.******************/forum...ck”-on-mount-si-june-2015-glasses-watch.1240/


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[Coffee56]

Nike photo

http://www.******************/forum...ck”-on-mount-si-june-2015-glasses-watch.1240/


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The drawing on the right is from another UID mentioned in the article/video below along with info on our UID from the ME's office. This is where the "extensive (emphasized so I'm guessing very extensive) dental work, camping out, lots of equipment" is coming from.

According to the ME, we should also be looking for someone a little taller than we have at 5'8-6'2 and someone with extensive dental work.

Nothing to me says day hike after this info from the ME's.

http://q13fox.com/2015/08/21/dead-m...ound-same-day-two-mysteries-many-miles-apart/




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[Bohemian]

The drawing on the right is from another UID mentioned in the article/video below along with info on our UID from the ME's office. This is where the "extensive (emphasized so I'm guessing very extensive) dental work, camping out, lots of equipment" is coming from.

According to the ME, we should also be looking for someone a little taller than we have at 5'8-6'2 and someone with extensive dental work.

Nothing to me says day hike after this info from the ME's.

http://q13fox.com/2015/08/21/dead-m...ound-same-day-two-mysteries-many-miles-apart/




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Thanks for finding this article, quoting the ME, Coffee x

‘A pair of Nike shoes popular in the mid-1990’s is just one of the clues found with the remains of a man discovered on June 17th, who Dr. Kathy Taylor is trying to identify. “He was camping on Mt. Si. He had a lot of equipment with him like a snow shovel.” A hiker came across his body near Hay Stack at the top of the mountain.

“We have him as a white male. He’s 30-60 years old, 5’8” to 6’2”, he has extensive dental work and we were really hoping because of that extensive work we would hit on a missing person right away, but nothing.”

What they do have in addition to the Nike shoes is a watch and pair of glasses. Because a missing person’s report was never filed for him Dr. Taylor thinks he may have been on the mountain for more than just a hike. “The fact that we’re not hitting and nobody knows anybody missing that matches him makes me suspect that anyone who knew him probably didn’t know he was going to Mt. Si and he may have been someone avoiding or trying to disappear.”

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[ANZAC]

The drawing on the right is from another UID mentioned in the article/video below along with info on our UID from the ME's office. This is where the "extensive (emphasized so I'm guessing very extensive) dental work, camping out, lots of equipment" is coming from.

OK, good that you found a source with Dr Taylor mentioning the dental work. I couldn't say anything about it.

Nothing to me says day hike after this info from the ME's.

The equipment he had was DEFINITELY not suitable for an overnight hike or PCT hike. I'm not saying Dr Taylor is wrong, but it is a question of context. He had more equipment than the average person driving to the grocery store. If he did die in winter, he DEFINITELY didn't have enough equipment for an overnight hike, and if it was summer, well the snow shovel is out of place. Now, he might have attempted an overnight hike, or desired to take one, but the shoes follow the same pattern as what he had in his pack (with the exception of the snow shovel).

As to camping out, I don't agree with that at all. Dr Taylor is an expert at identifying skeletal remains.

Instead of arguing over how much equipment he did or didn't have, we need to find some candidates....

 

[ANZAC]

On the height, I don't know. The ME staff are the ones who made the Namus entry, I was told. Personally I am more inclined to trust what is in Namus. (media gets facts and figures wrong all the time.... very few of them will even make corrections when they do, except Komo is pretty good)

 

[Coffee56]

I have been looking for the glasses. I think he would have needed to wear them all the time. No reason just a feeling. Very little info on this guy. The glasses look close but I still don't think it's them. He walked away from a facility.

Wayne Albert Hansen. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

http://db.childfind.ca:8080/childfind/db/child.cgi?cn=555-SR

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1778dmab.html

http://www.edmontonpolice.ca/CrimeFiles/MissingPersons/1990to1999/WayneAlbertHANSEN.aspx





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[ANZAC]

If I'm guessing his rough location based on your speculation, then I agree with your conclusions.

?

He was found off trail between switchbacks on the Mt Si trail. (closer to the top than the bottom, I can't release the exact location)

It is possible he slipped/fell in snow, or lost the trail due to snow (it is relatively straightforward at least in daytime, but IIRC he did not have a source of light), tried a shortcut, or went there to kill himself, or was dumped there. Those are the probable scenarios.

Oh, I should also mention, we've had bodies move downhill in the snow as it melts. So I guess it is possible he died closer to the trail, and the body slid down post-mortem away from the trail as snow melted.

 

[ANZAC]

I have been looking for the glasses. I think he would have needed to wear them all the time. No reason just a feeling. Very little info on this guy. The glasses look close but I still don't think it's them. He walked away from a facility.

Wayne Albert Hansen. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

http://db.childfind.ca:8080/childfind/db/child.cgi?cn=555-SR

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1778dmab.html

http://www.edmontonpolice.ca/CrimeFiles/MissingPersons/1990to1999/WayneAlbertHANSEN.aspx

"[FONT=&quot]Wayne checked out of a Health Care Facility and family has not heard from him since."[/FONT]

That's certainly a fit on most of the parameters, it would be nice if we had some knowledge that he was heading this way. We had a subject drove from Chicago out here to commit suicide, told his family that he was going near some mountains near us (not exact). Our patrol deputies found his car (hidden, off road) and then we found his body, it can't have been more than a couple of weeks after we got the report. So we definitely have our share of people who travel from a distance to come here to either hurt themselves or "try out hiking a mountain" (and then get injured or worse).

 

[Bohemian]

I have been looking for the glasses. I think he would have needed to wear them all the time. No reason just a feeling. Very little info on this guy. The glasses look close but I still don't think it's them. He walked away from a facility.

Wayne Albert Hansen. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

http://db.childfind.ca:8080/childfind/db/child.cgi?cn=555-SR

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1778dmab.html

http://www.edmontonpolice.ca/CrimeFiles/MissingPersons/1990to1999/WayneAlbertHANSEN.aspx





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I went a bit further afield too, Coffee:

http://www.nampn.org/cases/horvath-allan_charles.html

http://www.nampn.org/cases/paeschke_jens.html

 

[Bohemian]

Quotes from King County Sheriff’s office spokesman, Stan Seo:

https://issuu.com/pnwmarketplace/docs/i20150707125938544

 

[Coffee56]

And Alaska is a possibility.



Flew to Washington. Sounds like he probably boarded the ferry and took his life. What I did notice in his picture is what appears to be a strap on his glasses with the same bare sides.

Brian Eugene Helmuth

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/19654/0/

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/3824dmak.html

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/h/helmuth_brian.html




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[LucyOso]

I can't share any other info on what else he had in the pack. Nothing sinister, and very consistent with the other items. Again, my opinion is he not only could have, but probably bought most of everything in a single trip to REI - and maybe even on the way to Mt Si. (Maybe he owned the backpack already

While we're here, I think it is really, really interesting there was no ID in the wallet. A WA or OR driver's license from around that time would still be in one piece, as would a credit card.

Possibilities:
- subject was robbed before or after death
- subject never had a plastic driver's license or credit card
- subject left them somewhere else (seems less likely)

Back then (and probably now still) there are some countries that make IDs out of less durable material than the typical driver's licenses issued in the US. I still think there is a small chance he was visiting from another country.

Snipped by me...

My thoughts on items in the pack were based on geographical brand preference. It was a thought, like certain outdoorsy folks in certain areas prefer certain brands I.e. Patagonia, Helly Hansen, LL Bean, Culmbia, North Face, etc. And certain people might carry items relevant to the area they live, like rain gear etc. Someone with Columbia rain gear might come from PNW.

As for the wallet without ID, that is interesting. Perhaps if he was from out of the country he’d have a passport and that wouldn’t fit in a wallet. Or in a hypothermic situation with paradoxical undressing it got lost. Is there any chance there was a secondary site elsewhere. Maybe a camp site, a tent, etc? He could have “dropped out” and had a site the. Met with misadventure away from camp.

Hopefully he’s not a IK victim.

 

[PaulR]

Even if he had a nearby camp, I don't think he'd be wearing basic tennis shoes.

Once I went on a hike - not a very strenuous one, 5+ miles and ~1500 foot elevation gain - and when I was leaving, I saw two guys just starting from the trailhead. One of them was carrying a gallon jug of water, literally one of those gallon jugs you see at the store. I don't think he had a backpack at all. Certainly no hiking poles which can come in handy, plus he was starting in the mid-afternoon which is a bit late to hit the trail.

This sounds like the "profile" of our doe. Perhaps our doe hit the trail late - maybe he had just stopped at REI that morning to buy whatever was in his pack, got some lunch, then hit the trail. It gets dark very early here in winter.

 

[Coffee56]

I think the following fits the profile. I liked this one enough to do a photo merge. Dat Tat Tran.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/4393dmca.html
https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/9606/307

Thoughts?



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[WesternArtist]

I really like the facial overlay here and the circumstances would be a good fit for Tran with the rental car in Washington. However, the Doe is listed as White and cobsiderably taller than Tran. IMO one discrepancy can be overlooked (after all they’re estimates) but with two factors being different I don’t think this is a likely match. The facial similarities are impressive though.

 

[CarlK90245]

The bottom of his nose is obviously too low.