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

[Phantasma2624]

The dogs did pick up her scent. Kevin Dares posted on August 20th to the official FB page the following:
“We had a solid day Saturday with the dogs scenting hard on the southern slope.”
I also think she could have gone in that direction to find privacy and/or take a selfie before heading down.

I don’t think that these dogs were searching for Samantha’s scent though. Based on what the family said around that time, the dogs were trained to pick up any human scent, not just Samantha’s. This would makes sense as by August 20th it’s likely not enough of her scent would remain to create a trail for the dogs to follow.

 

[kgreg2529]

“New figures show volunteers donated 7,904 hours of their time. The total number of hours spent searching was greater than the hours in a year.”

https://www.heraldnet.com/news/the-8000-hour-search-to-findsamsayers-on-vesper-peak/

It says I’ve reached my limit of free articles so I’m glad you’ve posted the gist of it.

That’s crazy! Thats so much time and they haven’t found.. anything? It’s so baffling.

 

[i'm someone]

I hope this video is ok to post, as it answers a lot of questions about the terrain, hiking trails, available resources, ability to survive, and in general the feeling people who hike WA must all have. The last few moments narration is very cathartic, no matter what the outcome for Sam. This video was shot right about the time Sam went missing, so we can see the area and how it looked at the time. It does not mention Vesper Peak specifically, but its the same area. Hope she is found soon!

 

[AllGrace]

“New figures show volunteers donated 7,904 hours of their time. The total number of hours spent searching was greater than the hours in a year.”

https://www.heraldnet.com/news/the-8000-hour-search-to-findsamsayers-on-vesper-peak/

WOW....I hope the family appreciates that. It is far more than most missing persons receive.

 

[Suglo]

It says I’ve reached my limit of free articles so I’m glad you’ve posted the gist of it.

That’s crazy! Thats so much time and they haven’t found.. anything? It’s so baffling.

I reached my limit also so I cleared my history on the browser and was able to read it it’s worth the read.

 

[Suglo]

WOW....I hope the family appreciates that. It is far more than most missing persons receive.

They really went all out for her. I’ve read on various mountaineer boards that some of the SAR are none too happy about the passive aggressive statements with the gist that they didn’t do enough. They busted their tails out there for over 3 weeks.

 

[Sonji727]

From day one I have wondered about KD. We cannot question him on here as it is against TOS as he has been cleared by LE.

Thank you, I am new to the group and do not want to violate TOS.

 

[AllGrace]

Thank you, I am new to the group and do not want to violate TOS.

I am quite new as well and am still learning as I go!

 

[Curiousobserver]

If she was seen at the summit at 3:00PM and she knew she had to be at the parking lot by 5:00PM in order to make the 6:00PM scheduled phone call, it makes absolutely no sense why she would be heading down to the south, in the opposite direction of her car. If she'd gotten up there earlier in the day and wanted to poke around for awhile on some other trails before heading back, that might make sense but she wouldn't have had time for that by then. Baffling.

There is a ton of evidence she made it up the mountain and was alive and well at 3:00 at the top. There must also be a ton of evidence that KD wasn't anywhere near there or the LE would be all over him. At that point she should have been turning around and heading down or she was risking being late and getting stuck in the dark. She had done this exact hike many times before so it is unlikely she got lost. There is no evidence at all that she came down the mountain however. The man who is now the search manager made a comment on one of his videos that they are now finding and picking up small pieces of other people's trash from the physical searches and the drone image searches. He went on to say that although the area is large there are limited places you could fall, remain hidden, and leave no trace at all and all of those areas have been searched, imaged, and re-searched. 85% of the snow and ice that was there has also melted. He was surprised that hadn't found at least some piece of her gear (pole, sunglasses). He definitely thought she was no longer on that mountain. I think she started to head down after that last sighting and something happened to her along the way. The probability that she is still on that mountain decreases with every hour of searching.

 

[Phantasma2624]

There is a ton of evidence she made it up the mountain and was alive and well at 3:00 at the top. There must also be a ton of evidence that KD wasn't anywhere near there or the LE would be all over him. At that point she should have been turning around and heading down or she was risking being late and getting stuck in the dark. She had done this exact hike many times before so it is unlikely she got lost. There is no evidence at all that she came down the mountain however. The man who is now the search manager made a comment on one of his videos that they are now finding and picking up small pieces of other people's trash from the physical searches and the drone image searches. He went on to say that although the area is large there are limited places you could fall, remain hidden, and leave no trace at all and all of those areas have been searched, imaged, and re-searched. 85% of the snow and ice that was there has also melted. He was surprised that hadn't found at least some piece of her gear (pole, sunglasses). He definitely thought she was no longer on that mountain. I think she started to head down after that last sighting and something happened to her along the way. The probability that she is still on that mountain decreases with every hour of searching.

Except if you take into account scavengers. If animals come across a body exposed in the elements, they will seize upon it, especially if it’s fresh. All animals will do this, even bears. This means that large animals could have dragged a body for miles. And it’s been a month. Birds would have also begun to take advantage of any remains, beginning to spread anything throughout the mountain. My intuition is that if she fell, she might have been hidden from human view long enough for other scavengers to get there. After a month, it’s not too surprising that they wouldn’t find anything pricesly where she fell. Especially if you take into account that much of her gear was attached to her. As I said, these items (and a body) could have been dragged for miles.

 

[Onebest]

There is a The man who is now the search manager made a comment on one of his videos that they are now finding and picking up small pieces of other people's trash from the physical searches and the drone image searches. He went on to say that although the area is large there are limited places you could fall, remain hidden, and leave no trace at all and all of those areas have been searched, imaged, and re-searched. 85% of the snow and ice that was there has also melted. He was surprised that hadn't found at least some piece of her gear (pole, sunglasses). He definitely thought she was no longer on that mountain. I think she started to head down after that last sighting and something happened to her along the way. The probability that she is still on that mountain decreases with every hour of searching.

respectfully sniped for brevity, JMO but I totally disagree that there are limited places to fall and get hidden and I have only looked at drone footage and photos. Its a HUGE area, full of massive rock slides, holders, deep canyons and water for heavens sake. Sam could be anywhere. People in these situations are really hard to locate.

That being said, I am not mentally leaving out that someone may have nefariously contributed to her disappearance. It happens.

Praying for you Sam.

JMO

 

[Apartment 9]

I really do not think that because they have not found her this means she is not on the mountain. It doesn't work that way. Lost hikers' remains have shown up much later, and sometimes not at all. Her body could also have easily been moved by scavenger animals. My understanding from people who are veteran hikers and have worked in SAR is that it is entirely possible for a body to be hidden in that mountain area. It is the equivalent of looking for a needle in a haystack. Of course anything is possible. One can't rule out anything. But IMO it is most likely that she fell/had some sort of accident up in the mountain and has died. I really hope her body is recovered so there can be closure for her poor mother.

 

[Curiousobserver]

That was my first post so perhaps I wrote it poorly. I am not saying because they haven't found her she must not be there, I am saying the more they search and don't find any trace then the more reasonable it becomes to assume some other scenario might have happened. The most likely thing is that she fell. However, the search manager was saying in this video that that all the places she could have reached and fallen to have been investigated multiple times and by both physical search and imagery. Sure there is the 1 in a million shot where she falls into a completely invisible spot with all of her gear which might turn out to be the case. I have never been up there so I can't say. The searchers are moving on to areas away from that peak that she could have reached, but really shouldn't have been going to at that time of day. That gives you a hint what they are thinking.

 

[Marknatm]

I hope this video is ok to post, as it answers a lot of questions about the terrain, hiking trails, available resources, ability to survive, and in general the feeling people who hike WA must all have. The last few moments narration is very cathartic, no matter what the outcome for Sam. This video was shot right about the time Sam went missing, so we can see the area and how it looked at the time. It does not mention Vesper Peak specifically, but its the same area. Hope she is found soon!

Yes, I have lived in the PNW for nearly 5 years. If you have ever hiked here you would understand the allure of some of the beauty that surrounds us here.

 

[Koshka]

I was thinking if she did eventually make it back to her car and someone with bad plans asked her for help, she probably would have just tried to help. Ted Bundy got a lot of his victims that way. In WA, no less.

Ted Bundy didn't pick isolated hiking areas in the mountains to find his victims. He abducted victims from busy streets in Seattle, parks crowded with people on sunny summer days, university campuses. He disposed of them in the mountains, so he was certainly familiar with those areas, but he didn't find his victims there.

If someone was going to abduct a target of opportunity, they'd have far better chances just about anywhere other than the Vesper Peak trail on a summer day. There are just enough hikers there on a sunny day, and few enough single hikers that finding a target would be far easier elsewhere. ETA: That's not to say that she couldn't have been abducted, just that so far there is not evidence of it, and it seems less likely to me than a fall or getting lost and hypothermic.

 

[book-thinker]

They really went all out for her. I’ve read on various mountaineer boards that some of the SAR are none too happy about the passive aggressive statements with the gist that they didn’t do enough. They busted their tails out there for over 3 weeks.

I feel for her family, she's been missing since Aug 1, I understand not a trace of her equipment has been found.
A massive search by SAR and other other volunteer's was conducted. Hearing afterwards the same passive aggressive statements about SAR not doing enough. Now a new command center this being set up at Lake Elan near Vesper Peak.
They are waiting for weather to clear. They are not part of SARS.

 

[Suglo]

I feel for her family, she's been missing since Aug 1, I understand not a trace of her equipment has been found.
A massive search by SAR and other other volunteer's was conducted. Hearing afterwards the same passive aggressive statements about SAR not doing enough. Now a new command center this being set up at Lake Elan near Vesper Peak.
They are waiting for weather to clear. They are not part of SARS.

Hopefully Mother Nature complies and allows them to search more than a week or two. I think she’s up there. They’ve probably passed close by but it’s not that easy to spot a person in the wilderness even though people may think so. Someone on this site posted this article about an injured hiker and the people who miraculously found her after one of them spotted her bright red dyed hair (after taking pictures and starting to rock climb without noticing her).

Meet The Three Hikers Who Saved A Woman's Life On A Hiking Trail | HuffPost

 

[i'm someone]

WOW....I hope the family appreciates that. It is far more than most missing persons receive.

They absolutely do.

 

[i'm someone]

I feel for her family, she's been missing since Aug 1, I understand not a trace of her equipment has been found.
A massive search by SAR and other other volunteer's was conducted. Hearing afterwards the same passive aggressive statements about SAR not doing enough. Now a new command center this being set up at Lake Elan near Vesper Peak.
They are waiting for weather to clear. They are not part of SARS.

No one anywhere I have read has said SAR has not done enough. Do you have a link to that?

 

[i'm someone]

Ted Bundy didn't pick isolated hiking areas in the mountains to find his victims. He abducted victims from busy streets in Seattle, parks crowded with people on sunny summer days, university campuses. He disposed of them in the mountains, so he was certainly familiar with those areas, but he didn't find his victims there.

If someone was going to abduct a target of opportunity, they'd have far better chances just about anywhere other than the Vesper Peak trail on a summer day. There are just enough hikers there on a sunny day, and few enough single hikers that finding a target would be far easier elsewhere. ETA: That's not to say that she couldn't have been abducted, just that so far there is not evidence of it, and it seems less likely to me than a fall or getting lost and hypothermic.

He took several people who were isolated from others by using a fake cast and asking for help, two successfully and 4 failures, at Lake Sammamish. I am not saying this could have been done by someone copying Bundy. Also, serial predators do not operate under any of our ideas of "usual" or "normal" And they have a different idea of "opportunity" as well. My point is, there was plenty of places out of view to grab someone on this mountain, and someone asking for help with a vehicle, or faking injury or being lost could easily get within reach. There is no proof that anything like this happened, but there is no proof of anything else either. I am just saying since we know nothing, anything is up for possibility. And should at least have a cursory investigation to make sure some other weird scenario is not being overlooked completely. I don't know, if it does turn out to be foul play, hindsight is not a comfort. No matter where she is and under what circumstances if she's alive I hope they get to her before it's too late.