AK AK - Steve Keel, 61, missing from hunting trip, from TN - Aug 27, 2022

[Gardenista]

SEARCH UPDATE:

Search For Steve

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They say they are trying to search terrain that previous air & ground searches have not covered.

They already did "intensive ground searches" and "multiple days of aerial searches" in that exact spot. If you look closely at the image in the link, you can see the same landmarks.

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[Gardenista]

Very odd. Good find. Mile 349? I wonder how they came up with that?

Likely local SAR was going off the Department of Homeland Security’s “lost person behavior app” that has the science-determined algorithm.

I guess, but 12 miles off their camping area seems like a lot.

 

[RickshawFan]

The tip I will always remember from this thread---
Trick birthday candles that don't blow out!

I found some of mine in an old pack from maybe 25 years ago, and I couldn't remember why I was schlepping birthday candles around....I'm into this post, and I remember: The wind won't blow them out. Most people have some of those in their junk drawer.

Note in case someone missed it: not regular birthday candles: TRICK birthday candles.

While I'm on the subject of candles, pro tip:if you have a nub of an old candle that's no use for your nice candlesticks, it goes in your pack, your emergency supplies, or whatever, for fire starting.

 

[RickshawFan]

I guess, but 12 miles off their camping area seems like a lot.

I think the DHS "lost person" app is available to everyone FREE, so I'm wondering why the teams aren't using it...

I would guess local SAR is using it, thus explaining why they might not have thought to search mile 249. So yeah, you and I are opining the same thing.

 

[WingsOverTX]

I think the DHS "lost person" app is available to everyone FREE, so I'm wondering why the teams aren't using it...

I found the app that is a companion to the book. It costs $9.99 in the Google Play Store. Could you please share a link or way to find the one DHS created? TIA.

 

[RickshawFan]

They already did "intensive ground searches" and "multiple days of aerial searches" in that exact spot. If you look closely at the image in the link, you can see the same landmarks.

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Are you saying the new teams are searching in the same area as the airborne grid search and the local ground search? So you're referring to the grid search map here?

I can see where the two Google earth maps you posted are the same area.

 

[charminglane]

I found some of mine in an old pack from maybe 25 years ago, and I couldn't remember why I was schlepping birthday candles around....I'm into this post, and I remember: The wind won't blow them out. Most people have some of those in their junk drawer.

Note in case someone missed it: not regular birthday candles: TRICK birthday candles.

While I'm on the subject of candles, pro tip:if you have a nub of an old candle that's no use for your nice candlesticks, it goes in your pack, your emergency supplies, or whatever, for fire starting.

And for stuck zippers.

 

[RickshawFan]

I see that the FB group is citing the need for a RECCO system, since they are used in SAR. Some clarification so no one goes with this point!

RECCO systems are to guide a rescuer to an AVALANCHE victim. Sometimes they are hand-carried, sometimes they can be airborne. The transponder is built into many ski jackets, and is basically a chip.

Alaska State Troopers Aircraft Section Goes Operational With RECCO SAR Helicopter Detector

Alaska State Troopers Aircraft Section Goes Operational With RECCO SAR Helicopter Detector

www.snowindustrynews.com

From this article, it looks as though they are now using RECCO to hunt for missing adventurers no matter the season. The KEY, though, is that there has to be a receiver (RECCO chip) on the missing person. I don't see anything to indicate in this case that there is a RECCO chip on the missing hunter.

Then, you need a specially equipped helicopter. Most of the time, these will be focused at outdoor areas with high visitation because that's where most people go missing. The Arctic tundra? Highly unlikely.

If you'd like to learn more, RECCO has a website, and REI has an article on what this looks like in the field.

IMO RECCO is not a factor in the SK case.

For RECCO to be useful in any case, you'd have to be thinking ahead to the idea that you could get lost. You'd have to recognize the risks that you're heading into and plan accordingly. This is called risk mitigation. The 10 Essentials are "risk mitigation", as is the RECCO system, but you gotta have them with you.

 

[WingsOverTX]

I see that the FB group is citing the need for a RECCO system, since they are used in SAR. Some clarification so no one goes with this point!

RECCO systems are to guide a rescuer to an AVALANCHE victim. Sometimes they are hand-carried, sometimes they can be airborne. The transponder is built into many ski jackets, and is basically a chip.

Alaska State Troopers Aircraft Section Goes Operational With RECCO SAR Helicopter Detector

Alaska State Troopers Aircraft Section Goes Operational With RECCO SAR Helicopter Detector

www.snowindustrynews.com

From this article, it looks as though they are now using RECCO to hunt for missing adventurers no matter the season. The KEY, though, is that there has to be a receiver (RECCO chip) on the missing person. I don't see anything to indicate in this case that there is a RECCO chip on the missing hunter.

Then, you need a specially equipped helicopter. Most of the time, these will be focused at outdoor areas with high visitation because that's where most people go missing. The Arctic tundra? Highly unlikely.

If you'd like to learn more, RECCO has a website, and REI has an article on what this looks like in the field.

IMO RECCO is not a factor in the SK case.

For RECCO to be useful in any case, you'd have to be thinking ahead to the idea that you could get lost. You'd have to recognize the risks that you're heading into and plan accordingly. This is called risk mitigation. The 10 Essentials are "risk mitigation", as is the RECCO system, but you gotta have them with you.

It's kind of "Hail Mary Pass" usage in this case. They are hoping to find a signal from his cell phone.

RECCO - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

The signal from the detector can also weakly be reflected from other electronic devices, such as cameras and cell phones, as well as metallic objects. However, even if this effect has allowed the rescue of several buried people who were not carrying a reflector, the search range of those others devices is much shorter and not reliable enough.

 

[RickshawFan]

The new iphone evidently has emergency satellite communication capability, both for SOS and messages to friends and family. Somehow or other. This would be a game changer IMO. I think we'll know more about specifics once it actually comes out.

 

[Gardenista]

Are you saying the new teams are searching in the same area as the airborne grid search and the local ground search? So you're referring to the grid search map here?

I can see where the two Google earth maps you posted are the same area.

Yes, they are.

 

[WingsOverTX]

The new iphone evidently has emergency satellite communication capability, both for SOS and messages to friends and family. Somehow or other. This would be a game changer IMO. I think we'll know more about specifics once it actually comes out.

So a very small percentage of U.S. iPhone users, which is currently 50% vs Android's 50% might have access to it?

 

[RickshawFan]

So a very small percentage of U.S. iPhone users, which is currently 50% vs Android's 50% might have access to it?

No doubt the satellite feature will become standard. Give it a few years, and most people will have that capability.
You can get the capability now (as a type of PLB), but you have to have a gizmo and a subscription plan. These gizmos are used in conjunction with a smart phone when you're off grid: you can send texts, etc.

 

[RickshawFan]

It's kind of "Hail Mary Pass" usage in this case. They are hoping to find a signal from his cell phone.

RECCO - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

The signal from the detector can also weakly be reflected from other electronic devices, such as cameras and cell phones, as well as metallic objects. However, even if this effect has allowed the rescue of several buried people who were not carrying a reflector, the search range of those others devices is much shorter and not reliable enough.

A metal detector might be more practical.

 

[WingsOverTX]

A metal detector might be more practical.

Looks like RECCO is being recommended for hunters:

RECCO Enters New Market Segment With US Based FORLOH - Recco

recco.com

"The RECCO SAR helicopter detector can cover large areas fast. Searching from a height of 100 meters with a search area of approximately 100 meters wide, rescuers can cover a 1 km2 area within 6 minutes."

 

[WingsOverTX]

Update: Today’s search was called off because of the weather conditions.
Heavy fog and rain made conditions unsafe to search. The team is coordinating with North Slope Borough Search & Rescue for tomorrows search plan.

There is also no new news in terms of assets although, I had several different conversations with several people who are trying to get us more help. I would like to thank the members of the Stewart County Government and the State of Tennessee for your continued efforts and support.

Search For Steve | Facebook

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[acutename]

There is low lying vegetation, and you’d also be carrying stuff to get a fire going at least partly for this very purpose. That’s why experienced outdoors folks carry a pack with their 10 essentials.

You have experience hunting in that area, it sounds like, @acutename ? Can you burn that scruffy vegetation?

we were not hunting and we were actually further north- float planes droppd us in a lake and we canoed down portions of the Noatek River. There seemed to be some pieces of wood to be found along the river- almost like drift wood, and we gathered some for fires but we had guides and they had supplies so probably firestarter too and a propane stove! On alternate days we hiked but there were no trails- you picked a point or promontary and "made your way to it." You could gain a bit of altitude and it was drier, but the ground was scrubby and uneven everywhere and there was water running down in little streams that you could only see when you were stepping in them. not sure if any of the brush would have been flammable like cedar- we burned our excrement too- you were not supposed to leave it and you were not supposed to put anything in the river. there were cariboo herds, grizzlies and musk oxen. The river bank provided campsite areas because it was relatively flat and bare.

[I looked up this chlidrens' reference on burning in alaska- the blueberry, heath and some grasses burn... if dry https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/education/educators/pdfs/wild_wonders_issue4_fire.pdf]

 

[RickshawFan]

Looks like RECCO is being recommended for hunters:

RECCO Enters New Market Segment With US Based FORLOH - Recco

recco.com

"The RECCO SAR helicopter detector can cover large areas fast. Searching from a height of 100 meters with a search area of approximately 100 meters wide, rescuers can cover a 1 km2 area within 6 minutes."

Yeah, it's very efficient.

But it's only going to be cost effective where there are lots of people, and a fair number are in the habit of going missing, e.g. ski areas.
And in places like Denali where you think one might be useful, the altitude is too high and there's a lot of overcast for allocating a copter for that mission. True, they use helicopters when they can for SAR, but it's gosh awful dangerous.

The Tetons would be very appropriate to have a copter able to be outfitted like this. They're be covering Yellowstone as well. All seasons. Ski areas. Backcountry snow adventures. Mountaineers.... And it would be easy to persuade people to have transponders there. As it is, Yellowstone requires bear spray (which you can rent, AFAIK). There are so many visitors to this area, they have a lot of use for something that finds the missing.

In the Deadhorse area in AK, risk mitigation—apart from the items I've already mentioned—is by (at minimum) hooking in with an outfitter. These keep tabs on their clients, though it's generally not their role to guide them. That would be a guiding service, not an "outfitter", which is basically logistics support.

 

[RickshawFan]

Update: Today’s search was called off because of the weather conditions.
Heavy fog and rain made conditions unsafe to search. The team is coordinating with North Slope Borough Search & Rescue for tomorrows search plan.

There is also no new news in terms of assets although, I had several different conversations with several people who are trying to get us more help. I would like to thank the members of the Stewart County Government and the State of Tennessee for your continued efforts and support.

Search For Steve | Facebook

www.facebook.com

View attachment 365393

Gosh, how miserable. The rain and fog will make the ground soggy, too. Look how deep those footprints go already.

 

[RickshawFan]

we were not hunting and we were actually further north- float planes droppd us in a lake and we canoed down portions of the Noatek River. There seemed to be some pieces of wood to be found along the river- almost like drift wood, and we gathered some for fires but we had guides and they had suppies so probably firestarter too and a propane stove! On alternate days we hiked but there were no trails- you picked a point or promontary and "made your way to it." You could gain a bit of altitude and it was drier, but the ground was scrubby and uneven everywhere and there was water running down in little streams that you could only see when you were stepping in them. not sure if any of the brush would have been flammable like cedar- we burned our excrement too- you were not supposed to leave it and you were not supposed to put anything in the river. there were cariboo herds, grizzlies and musk oxen. The river bank provided campsite areas because it was relatively flat and bare.

That sounds like so much fun! And I love the attention to "leave no trace". So much taken care of so you can really enjoy the landscape, and with evident thoughtfulness.

Yes, you definitely want a propane stove for any cooking. Actually, just one fire destroys the spot forever (I once had to clean up fire spots in backcountry Yosemite, assigned to the NPS: permanently charred rock where someone got their jollies one night. I took out maybe 30 in an acre or so. Fire for emergencies only, as in this instance: you'd want something smoky here.