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

[i'm someone]

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 have not heard anyone anywhere on any board saying SAR didn't do enough or a good job. They just stopped at a point where it was not feaseable to keep looking, and the family and volunteers picked up the slack. Maybe the mountaineers are not familiar with trolls and squirrels. No one thinks they or LE did anything less than a thorough job searching that mountain. If there is some other possible scenario unrelated to the mountain, though, and it's not being checked out, that is not really thorough enough in other regards, IMO.

 

[i'm someone]

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.

Really, I can't get my mind around the Vesper Peak "beauty" and the drive to hike it. Maybe it's just all the footage I've reviewed. All I see is rocks, sticks, dirt, snow, cold water, sharp pointy stuff and steep cliffs. The video sort of helped me understand what the attraction was for Sam. Can't imagine wanting to hike in snow, in a sports bra, on sharp pointy steep terrain. I think for experienced hikers it's no big deal. Sounds horrible to me.

 

[chihuahua]

Where are you Sam? Your loved-ones miss you badly.
Hoping and praying along with them for the best.
Fearing the worst.
Chi

 

[i'm someone]

There is a ton of evidence she made it up the mountain and was alive and well at 3:00 at the top.

Not really. There are two witnesses, who may or may not have had interaction with her on the trail up to the peak. No one went up to the peak with her or at the same time as she did. Nothing has been found of hers on or around the peak. No tracks of hers were found. No one saw her come down. She did not get into her car and drive home. That is basically all there is for evidence. That is not a ton. It's not even enough for a hypothesis.

 

[i'm someone]

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 love that news story. I remember when it happened. Wish serendipity was always that perfectly timed!

 

[Sonji727]

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 have read about that hiker as well. She had been there for about a day and those three hikers that caught a picture of her weren't there looking for her like hundreds of people have been, for almost 50 days and 8000 total hours in search of Sam (in addition to dogs, drones, helicopters etc). Just feel like there should be some sign of her by now, I suppose it's possible she fell somewhere and all of her belongings fell with her.

 

[Sonji727]

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.

I completely agree with all you've stated here. Since there's no evidence as to what happened, abduction of sorts has to be considered. Even if Vesper is highly populated, people have went missing from far less isolated areas than a mountain trail..and by 6pm, I would think it isn't very busy.

 

[Suglo]

Not really. There are two witnesses, who may or may not have had interaction with her on the trail up to the peak. No one went up to the peak with her or at the same time as she did. Nothing has been found of hers on or around the peak. No tracks of hers were found. No one saw her come down. She did not get into her car and drive home. That is basically all there is for evidence. That is not a ton. It's not even enough for a hypothesis.

“A YMCA group saw her going up the trail that Wednesday morning. A small rock climbing group bumped into her just before 3 p.m. at the summit. A man eating lunch at the top noticed Sayers, too. He did not eat with her, as the sheriff’s office had reported earlier, O’Keefe clarified Friday. That witness has been working with deputies to pinpoint her last known movement, possibly to the southeast.”

https://www.heraldnet.com/news/search-for-missing-hiker-nears-3-weeks-as-family-clings-to-hope/

 

[book-thinker]

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

I have a great deal of respect and admirations for SARS searching for Sam Sayers. This to include volunteers with drones, k9 dog and helicopters searching Vesper Peak and Lake Elan area for 4 weeks. SARS did a excellent job with this search .
Your right at some point it is not feasible to keep searching. This takes away for resources needed elsewhere, including the cost for Search and Rescue.
However a new command center is now about to be set up to search for Sam Sayers. This gives a approximately 3 week to locate her. The weather has
not helped with rain drizzle and over cast skies.
Look into various mountaineer boards for some underling tones

 

[glimjack]

Really, I can't get my mind around the Vesper Peak "beauty" and the drive to hike it. Maybe it's just all the footage I've reviewed. All I see is rocks, sticks, dirt, snow, cold water, sharp pointy stuff and steep cliffs. The video sort of helped me understand what the attraction was for Sam. Can't imagine wanting to hike in snow, in a sports bra, on sharp pointy steep terrain. I think for experienced hikers it's no big deal. Sounds horrible to me.

It's about what you see when you get to the top. The views are beautiful. If Vesper seems too difficult then nearby Pilchuck is a great option. It's easy and the views from the summit are still staggering.

 

[glimjack]

I completely agree with all you've stated here. Since there's no evidence as to what happened, abduction of sorts has to be considered. Even if Vesper is highly populated, people have went missing from far less isolated areas than a mountain trail..and by 6pm, I would think it isn't very busy.

6pm would still be busy. There was still hours of sunlight left at 6pm on Aug 1 - the sun set that day at 8:43pm. And all of the people up at the summit with her had to come down too, and when she was supposed to be heading down around 2-3 pm other groups were still heading up.

I think abduction from the mountain is highly unlikely. There would just be no way to do that without being seen. Even Ted Bundy was spotted by several witnesses talking and walking with his victims. If Sam Sayers was tricked into helping someone and walked out to the trailhead with that person then someone would've seen them.

I think if something criminal happened then it's more likely that she was killed on the mountain and buried up there.

 

[stormyk]

6pm would still be busy. There was still hours of sunlight left at 6pm on Aug 1 - the sun set that day at 8:43pm. And all of the people up at the summit with her had to come down too, and when she was supposed to be heading down around 2-3 pm other groups were still heading up.

I think abduction from the mountain is highly unlikely. There would just be no way to do that without being seen. Even Ted Bundy was spotted by several witnesses talking and walking with his victims. If Sam Sayers was tricked into helping someone and walked out to the trailhead with that person then someone would've seen them.

I think if something criminal happened then it's more likely that she was killed on the mountain and buried up there.

 

[stormyk]

If it would take her two to three hours to get back to her car, and assuming she started to descend around three, why would people be ascending so late in the day? I dont think that trail is as busy as people have said it is. Im not sure though, I am not an avid hiker. I would be curious how many people signed the registry book that day and when the last person signed in and the last person signed out.

 

[FlossyMay]

Is the registry book left out overnight? Just curious.

 

[sasha17]

Is the registry book left out overnight? Just curious.

Yes, it is.

 

[glimjack]

If it would take her two to three hours to get back to her car, and assuming she started to descend around three, why would people be ascending so late in the day? I dont think that trail is as busy as people have said it is. Im not sure though, I am not an avid hiker. I would be curious how many people signed the registry book that day and when the last person signed in and the last person signed out.

If you start up at 2-3 pm, summit at 5-6 pm, you can get back down by 8-9 pm which still wouldn't have been dark. From what I understand a boy scout group was on their way up around 2-3 pm and they didnt see her coming down.

There is also video showing Sam Sayers walking through a snowfield and past a boulder right before the summit. The video shows several people in the immediate area, probably 6 to 8? Consider that there would be people up ahead of them already at the summit, and also groups of people behind them, and you can get an idea of the amount of traffic. SAR said there was a lot of people on the mountain that day and I don't think they're mistaken.

 

[stormyk]

If you start up at 2-3 pm, summit at 5-6 pm, you can get back down by 8-9 pm which still wouldn't have been dark. From what I understand a boy scout group was on their way up around 2-3 pm and they didnt see her coming down.

There is also video showing Sam Sayers walking through a snowfield and past a boulder right before the summit. The video shows several people in the immediate area, probably 6 to 8? Consider that there would be people up ahead of them already at the summit, and also groups of people behind them, and you can get an idea of the amount of traffic. SAR said there was a lot of people on the mountain that day and I don't think they're mistaken.

 

[stormyk]

I do know, most people that hike a trail as challenging as vesper, dont usually start at 2 or 3 pm.

 

[sasha17]

If you start up at 2-3 pm, summit at 5-6 pm, you can get back down by 8-9 pm which still wouldn't have been dark. From what I understand a boy scout group was on their way up around 2-3 pm and they didnt see her coming down.

There is also video showing Sam Sayers walking through a snowfield and past a boulder right before the summit. The video shows several people in the immediate area, probably 6 to 8? Consider that there would be people up ahead of them already at the summit, and also groups of people behind them, and you can get an idea of the amount of traffic. SAR said there was a lot of people on the mountain that day and I don't think they're mistaken.

I'm not sure if you're talking about other people or Sam? For Sam, according to the findsamsayers.com website, she started on the trailhead at about 9:50AM and was first spotted by the Boy Scout group at an unknown time in the morning and then they saw her again on her way up at about 12:30PM. Link to map with labeled times: MAPS | Find Sam Sayers

I think other people could have possibly started much later, especially if they were experienced hikers who knew they could summit and get down quickly. My brother likes to RUN up those same mountains for exercise (he's kind of crazy, if you ask me).

 

[glimjack]

If it would take her two to three hours to get back to her car, and assuming she started to descend around three, why would people be ascending so late in the day? I dont think that trail is as busy as people have said it is. Im not sure though, I am not an avid hiker. I would be curious how many people signed the registry book that day and when the last person signed in and the last person signed out.

If you start up at 2-3 pm, summit at 5-6 pm, you can get back down by 8-9 pm which still wouldn't have been dark. From what I understand a boy scout group was on their way up around 2-3 pm and they didnt see her.

There is also video Sam Sayers walking through a snowfield and past a boulder right before the summit. The video shows several people in the immediate area, probably 6 to 8? Consider that there would be people up ahead of them and people behind them. SAR said there was a lot of people on the mountain that day and I don't think they're mistaken.

I do know, most people that hike a trail as challenging as vesper, dont usually start at 2 or 3 pm.

It's not that challenging if you're in shape. And some people aren't going to the top. Some are off to vesper lake to camp or whatever else.