WA WA - Samantha Sayers, 28, Vesper Peak, North Cascades, 1 August 2018

[Phantasma2624]

Just watched a video posted by someone on Aug 1 who was there that day. It looks all the world to me like she is following another hiker, who has what looks like a lot of gear up the mountain. No one has said if this is someone she knows, or if it's just a coincidence that she is behind someone who looks like they are on more than a day hike. Very odd video, and with 10 or more people there that day, no one saw them reach the peak.

The eye witness said that he saw her at the summit while he was eating lunch, I believe.

 

[i'm someone]

The eye witness said that he saw her at the summit while he was eating lunch, I believe.

There were several eyewitnesses that day, but I think only she and one other person began the hike up to the peak. If you watch the video from the other witness, she is following someone up the peak, and the witness says something like "Are they really trying to go up there?".

 

[carbuff]

Wow. Scarey moment sometimes.

Yeah. It was. I was on the verge of panic--and panic means not behaving rationally. I was whacking my way as fast as I could through some heavy underbrush and downed trees, in the direction I thought the trail was. Fortunately a branch jabbed my thigh pretty hard and the pain got my attention and I remembered the whistle. Everybody should carry one; you can hear so much farther than a voice.

 

[i'm someone]

I have seriously learned a lot from this case. If I am ever lost in the wilderness, I plan on bringing something bright, and placing dark items on top of light items and vice versa so they can be seen from above Not even necessary to go all out and spell things out with rocks, just a plain old x, or stacking rocks in an artificial manner, would be enough to spot from drone footage. Stick the trekking pole(that I will now not ever leave on any hike without) in the ground where it's obvious. Wear convertable and/or multi-use gear. Bring an everyday carry with the 10 items you need to survive. Of course I might just stay out of the wilderness for another couple of years too.

 

[DexterMorgan]

Yeah. It was. I was on the verge of panic--and panic means not behaving rationally. I was whacking my way as fast as I could through some heavy underbrush and downed trees, in the direction I thought the trail was. Fortunately a branch jabbed my thigh pretty hard and the pain got my attention and I remembered the whistle. Everybody should carry one; you can hear so much farther than a voice.

Next time take a ball of yarn and tie one end to a tree or boulder near the trail.


Then venture off as far as you can and then follow the yarn back to the trail.

 

[zencompass]

Yeah. It was. I was on the verge of panic--and panic means not behaving rationally. I was whacking my way as fast as I could through some heavy underbrush and downed trees, in the direction I thought the trail was. Fortunately a branch jabbed my thigh pretty hard and the pain got my attention and I remembered the whistle. Everybody should carry one; you can hear so much farther than a voice.

Dear Carbuff,

Your idea of taking whistles is brilliant.

It is a life-saving idea and I had not heard of this before. It makes so much sense and it works!

Even if someone hiking alone they should always have a whistle.

I'm going to start carrying a whistle.

Thank you for your post! I always look forward to your posts!

 

[zencompass]

Wow. Scarey moment sometimes.

Dear Dexter,

That is a scary moment, for sure.

Thankfully Carbuff had a whistle and so did Mr. Carbuff. That was good thinking and planning on their parts!

Great to see you on this thread, Dexter !

It is perplexing to me as to where Samantha is. This must be so distressing for her family. Hopefully answers will come soon.

Praying for Samantha and her family. My heart goes out to them.

 

[zencompass]

Next time take a ball of yarn and tie one end to a tree or boulder near the trail.


Then venture off as far as you can and then follow the yarn back to the trail.

This is wonderful advice, Dexter.

Thank you.

 

[Melanie G. FRENCH]

Just read the forum thread on the young husband, father and school teacher Jeff Freiter from Canada. He went missing while solo hiking the Alps on August, it made me realize even more what a tough job searching is.

It is difficult to find someone in such a heavily forested area. Below is an excerpt from his discussion thread. I was caught by some similarities to the search for Sam - solo hike, very experienced, SAR had stopped regular search, mom, wife and his best friend flew there and continued to drive the search. Ultimately mom was with the group that found his body. First they saw a shoe only..
...........
“More than 100 members of the mountain rescue service and police searched unsuccessfully for the Canadian for a long time. They had flown over the area between Brauneck and Vorderriß with helicopters and drones. They were out with search dogs, even in the area where now the dead Jeff Freiheit was found.

Christoph Brenninger, stand-by manager of the Lenggrieser mountain rescue service, explains that this is possible because of the extensive area traversed by mountain pines and gorges. If a person falls under scrub, he can hardly be spotted without clear indications or traces. In the specific case, it was problematic that the local forces were not called in until about ten days after the Canadian disappeared. The more days passed, the harder it was for dogs to find a missing person, especially in the hot weather of the past weeks. If the wind is unfavourable, the dogs are sometimes unable to detect a missing person even from relatively close range, “
.......
like I said- ground searches are critical. I continue to pray they find Sam soon and bring her home to family.

 

[Suglo]

Just watched a video posted by someone on Aug 1 who was there that day. It looks all the world to me like she is following another hiker, who has what looks like a lot of gear up the mountain. No one has said if this is someone she knows, or if it's just a coincidence that she is behind someone who looks like they are on more than a day hike. Very odd video, and with 10 or more people there that day, no one saw them reach the peak.

I can’t seem to find that video again. I thought the person who shot the video said it was shot at 1:33 pm? It would take her a while longer to reach summit so how could someone eating lunch see her around noon at the summit per the Find Sam Sayers website? Find Sam Sayers | Resource Center

That’s either not her or the witness is mistaken

 

[Phantasma2624]

can’t seem to find that video again. I thought the person who shot the video said it was shot at 1:33 pm? It would take her a while longer to reach summit so how could someone eating lunch see her around noon at the summit per the Find Sam Sayers website? Find Sam Sayers | Resource Center

That’s either not her or the witness is mistaken

The witness who saw her at the peak was eating lunch when he saw her. The police first said that he said that he saw her around one, but this was later revised to be closer to three. I'm not sure that the witness is 100% sure of the time. I can see this happening while hiking if you're not particularly conscious of the time.

I think people are getting confused due to this video. The video was shot by someone else and then a separate witness reported seeing her at the peak around three. This would actually fit with the video. It also doesn't help that the eyewitness sighting at the peak doesn't appear to be on the timeline they have posted.

 

[Suglo]

The witness who saw her at the peak was eating lunch when he saw her. The police first said that he said that he saw her around one, but this was later revised to be closer to three. I'm not sure that the witness is 100% sure of the time. I can see this happening while hiking if you're not particularly conscious of the time.

I think people are getting confused due to this video. The video was shot by someone else and then a separate witness reported seeing her at the peak around three. This would actually fit with the video. It also doesn't help that the eyewitness sighting at the peak doesn't appear to be on the timeline they have posted.

This makes sense. Their website still says:

“Cell phone pings were recorded near the summit of Vesper Peak, and an eye-witness had lunch with her at the summit around 12pm”

which is what was confusing. They should change it but they probably don’t have time right now.

 

[DexterMorgan]

Is there multiple parking structures surrounding the area? Or do all hikers have to park in the same area before starting their hiking venture?

 

[i'm someone]

Is there multiple parking structures surrounding the area? Or do all hikers have to park in the same area before starting their hiking venture?

It's kind of hard to know, because the discussion pages shut down any mention of them. All conversations must be only about her, being lost, on the mountain, and alive. No talking about any other scenario, and no asking for searches of lower areas. I hope they just already checked because of they are focusing on the mountain and she's not actually on the mountain, that would be a serious loss of time for searching other places.

 

[Phantasma2624]

It's kind of hard to know, because the discussion pages shut down any mention of them. All conversations must be only about her, being lost, on the mountain, and alive. No talking about any other scenario, and no asking for searches of lower areas. I hope they just already checked because of they are focusing on the mountain and she's not actually on the mountain, that would be a serious loss of time for searching other places.

That is one of the frustrating thing about being on that page. I know that her family does not want to think about the worst, but at this point the fact that this may be a recovery mission rather than a rescue needs to be taken into account for an effective operation to take place. Even if it is painful, it should be a factor in how they run their operations, and the instructions they give to those that are helping them search drone footage. For example, the mother mentioned yesterday that Sam would not be completely bald anymore. This is an important fact if she is still alive. On the other hand, if she did pass away, it doesn't do any good to tell people not to look for a bald woman. Furthermore, looking for someone alive would involve looking for signal fires, footprints, etc., while searching for people who have passed away is generally more complex (e.g., she could be covered by the underbrush by now).

However, I do think that searching the mountain only makes the most sense. Based on all of the evidence, she reached the summit, but never came back down along the trail. No one has yet reported seeing her coming down, despite there being people on the trail. Without other evidence pointing elsewhere, I'm not sure that it's a good idea to spread out their resources over too vast of an area right now.

Your suggestion of searching lower areas is interesting though. I think they may even need to search higher areas just in case. I don't like to think this way, but I would imagine that predators may take a body higher into the mountain to get away from people. Additionally, if there were foul play involved, her attacker may have moved her higher rather than lower. This isn't the general pattern, but it has been known to occur, especially since she is such a small woman.

 

[Melanie G. FRENCH]

That is one of the frustrating thing about being on that page. I know that her family does not want to think about the worst, but at this point the fact that this may be a recovery mission rather than a rescue needs to be taken into account for an effective operation to take place. Even if it is painful, it should be a factor in how they run their operations, and the instructions they give to those that are helping them search drone footage. For example, the mother mentioned yesterday that Sam would not be completely bald anymore. This is an important fact if she is still alive. On the other hand, if she did pass away, it doesn't do any good to tell people not to look for a bald woman. Furthermore, looking for someone alive would involve looking for signal fires, footprints, etc., while searching for people who have passed away is generally more complex (e.g., she could be covered by the underbrush by now).

However, I do think that searching the mountain only makes the most sense. Based on all of the evidence, she reached the summit, but never came back down along the trail. No one has yet reported seeing her coming down, despite there being people on the trail. Without other evidence pointing elsewhere, I'm not sure that it's a good idea to spread out their resources over too vast of an area right now.

Your suggestion of searching lower areas is interesting though. I think they may even need to search higher areas just in case. I don't like to think this way, but I would imagine that predators may take a body higher into the mountain to get away from people. Additionally, if there were foul play involved, her attacker may have moved her higher rather than lower. This isn't the general pattern, but it has been known to occur, especially since she is such a small woman.

I agree with you. It’s time to look at areas she could have had a fatal fall. I know it’s not what anyone wants to hear or think, but it is far more unlikely she is injured and holed up somewhere that she could not get some type of attention with a piece of clothing, gear, stick words, yelling, etc unless she is being purposely hidden by an assailant . Possible but plausibility lessens each day.

 

[i'm someone]

I agree with you. It’s time to look at areas she could have had a fatal fall. I know it’s not what anyone wants to hear or think, but it is far more unlikely she is injured and holed up somewhere that she could not get some type of attention with a piece of clothing, gear, stick words, yelling, etc unless she is being purposely hidden by an assailant . Possible but plausibility lessens each day.

I don't even think they got cadaver dogs out there. The mom doesn't want to go that route. I think if she was on the move, as they seem to think, a month is kind of a long time to be wandering. But if she is down in the woods wandering or otherwise, searching endlessly in another direction is useless. If she was that experienced of a hiker, why would she hike towards a place that even search and rescue can't get to? Without knowing how she herself would respond to danger or being lost, it's hard to know what she would do. Unfortuneately, any conversation that heads in any direction other than she is alive and will be found in footage or the air gets deleted or they say people are being negative. I don't know, I think I'd want to try every single approach to the area. I mean, the videos have been watched over 5000 each. What if she is nowhere near the drone sites? What if she is somewhere completely different and is hoping desperately they don't think she's still up there? There could be a ton of stuff we are not privvy to. At the point they are at, until they come up with some new info, I have done all I can anyway.

 

[Rotten apple]

Is there any mention of people going to see if those bags that were left out on the trails for her have been taken? I'm not on FB so I didn't know if they had discussed that or not. Seems like it would be something they'd do while searching.

 

[DexterMorgan]

Maybe she ran off and figured that doing it while hiking was the best way to do it?

Because Im sure experienced hikers are searching all areas while simply hiking themselves.

But nobody has yet mentioned anything about finding a backpack , phone or anything. Jmo

 

[i'm someone]

Maybe she ran off and figured that doing it while hiking was the best way to do it?

Because Im sure experienced hikers are searching all areas while simply hiking themselves.

But nobody has yet mentioned anything about finding a backpack , phone or anything. Jmo

I asked that on the FB page and it got deleted. I asked of there was any way she just hiked on through voluntarily. I hope someone wouldn't do that to their loved ones, but it has happened, and who knows? They have found nothing of hers, and if she was lost and in trouble, or someone did something, I think I'd be throwing my gear all over to get LEs attention. JMO.