Sadly - I really believe Bryce is still in the Lake Castiac area of the crash. I do not think he has made it out of the recreation area. I believe he hit his head and was confused at the time of the accident and did wander off and get lost. I hope I am wrong.
I live in Trabuco Canyon where the two hikers went missing for several days. I kept asking my husband (an avid mountain biker in the area) during the several days of searching for them how they could possibly still be missing. They had obtained a wilderness permit at the general store and hiked from there. This is hardly a remote area - it is full of hikers, mountain bikers, campers, fire roads and less than a mile away from the general store are thousands and thousands of suburban homes. Ultimately they were not found by the searchers. They had become separated and were found at separate locations by two different sets of day hikers who heard them calling out. Rescue workers were then called in (one had tumbled down a ravine).
Sorry to ramble - my point is - (and it is just my opinionO) it can be startlingly difficult to find someone, even in this type of topography, with large populations nearby. A lot of resources went into finding these two college kids, but at the end of the day it was ordinary citizens (heroes) who stumbled upon them.
I really, really, hope Bryce is okay. Keeping the faith.
Hey, I grew up hiking Silverado, Modjeska, O'Neil Park, etc!! So close to you!
And you have a point except its been much longer now. I think If Bryce was in the area he would have been tracked by now. If he was purposefully hiding from searchers or just never found it's unlikely he would survived out there this long. And they haven't found a body. I think he's gone from the area. I hope so.
For those who don't do FB, the family's update says among other things that they are continuing to examine his laptop and cell phone, and that "all other search evidence results and investigative findings indicate that Bryce left the recreation area." They say that Castaic is no longer considered a search area.
I wonder what makes them seem so certain that he left the lake area. Footprints? Something on his phone or computer? (I know they're not done examining it but maybe they found something so far) Something that is in fact missing from the duffel bag? Did they confirm a reported sighting somehow?
Maybe mostly no sign of him including no scent, no vultures, nothing popping up in the lake.
I'm probably going to get in trouble for saying this, but I'd be probably be a little scared to face his step-father (ML) as well...Bryce had been given the car recently, could possibly have been high (or otherwise impaired), crashed the car and...then he has to face ML and his mom. Sorry, I don't want to offend anyone, but after watching the YouTube video and seeing the interview with ML, I just wouldn't be surprised if they didn't have the best relationship (just like a lot of other boy/step-father relationships).
"Just like any other thing that you might have done, we love you unconditionally. We support you, and that's all we want is for you to come home."
BBM - I just don't like this part or the tone... JMO
That's Bryce's dad, not stepdad. But either way I found nothing sinister about any of the family's statements. They all sound like they adore Bryce.
Thought I would try "walking" the road from the ramp area, via Google's little walking guy. I found myself turning left at the corner of Ridge Route and the main road as it was "closer" and there were buildings visible. With a little hike, I wound up at the Shell Station (left side) where all of the truckers pull off and refuel. (In the Google snapshot, a truck from Idaho was right there - funny.). So it is possible that he hitched a ride at the station. Plenty of truckers there, day and night. Here's that view, if interested:
http://goo.gl/3dSYn3 So posting in locations and sites where truckers go might be a great idea. If he hitched a ride with a truck there, it may be in another state, and the driver unaware that this is now a missing person case.... Just postulations, thoughts, my own opinions!
Agreed! I've been sAying that for awhile now!
It would be nice to know what "evidence results and investigative findings indicate Bryce left the recreation area". I find this hard to swallow. This is what LE told my brother-in-law about his daughter. But I was the one who found her body 2 days later. They were wrong. If he had left the recreation area, I would think he would have checked email or FB or contacted friends. It seems much more likely that something happened at the lake. I've been to the lake and there are so many places his body could be if something happened to him accidentally or intentionally.
Quote from Sgt. Pena "It's a search designed to find someone who wants to be found. In other words, you're not searching places and then leaving people there in case the person comes back. You're taking into account that the person wants to be found, and we weren't able to locate him."
If they weren't looking for a body, I dont think their search has been extensive enough. The lake shoreline is almost 30 miles! And there is miles upon miles of trails and brush that extend beyond that shoreline.
I don't know what to say, but to call the search off of the lake seems premature. I hope I'm wrong and that hes out there somewhere alive and hiding, but my intuition says otherwise.
Nothing indicates they weren't looking for a body. But since they found no trace of him at all I guess they feel he's left. I think if dead they probably would've found him by now.
The FB update is rather vague. I think the purpose of the meeting was to acquaint the family with all the efforts that LE had made in searching around the recreational area and in the lake for Bryce so there was no point in conducting further searches there.
So if Bryce left the lake area and did not get a ride from someone he either walked into the greater SCV which is heavily suburbanized and one would think he would have been spotted (actually) in three weeks. The other alternative is the Angeles National Forest, which borders Castaic and is 1,024 square miles of real wilderness, with limited trails and very brushy; difficult to search. I have done trail hiking up there with the Scouts and if one goes even a few steps off a trail you can lose sight of your fellow hikers in a hurry. Also, someone not experience in the outdoors could mistake a game trail for an actually trail and get hopelessly lost since these game trails follow the easy ridge line to help animals navigate to water sources and can end suddenly.
Remember the two hikers lost over Easter Weekend earlier this year in the Cleveland National Forest in Orange County? They were found (alive) NOT by professional SAR but by day hikers who heard them calling for help after professional SAR (and all the ambient noise created by helicopters, vehicles and dogs) cleared out and they could be heard. They were also found within a mile of their vehicle and the trail head where they entered, in (of course) an area previously "searched."
Yeah but that doesn't mean they were in that area they were found in the whole time. I'm 100% positive they weren't. They were on drugs and wandering.
Sgt. Pena: "It's a search designed to find someone who wants to be found. In other words, you're not searching places and then leaving people there in case the person comes back. You're taking into account that the person wants to be found, and we weren't able to locate him."
Why was Sgt. Pena talking in riddles?
It almost sounds like he was saying: we know where BL is, and because we know where he is we're not going to search there because we don't want to come face to face with him, so we're going to allow him to come forward when/if he wants to come forward.
OR ... it is just not in the English language ... he's translating from his primary language into English and the translation just doesn't work - not comprehensible.
OR ... ???
It was totally clear to me: if Bryce was hiding from searchers he could have purposefully circled back to areas already searched to remain hidden and no one would ever know it.
Yes, I remember it well I took the day off from work to help search. Come to find out they weren't there to hike but to do DRUGS. City and County were seeking to go after them for $160,000 that cost for the search due to their stupidity for going there to do meth. They were high on METH and hallucinating that's why they got lost. Police found out after they were found they were there to do DRUGS not hike. It was a massive search. Because of that situation it has probably hurt future searches for others missing here in Cali. Especially because state of CA bankrupt. I can't stand our governor Jerry Brown.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/02/nicolas-cendoya-arrested_n_3201861.html
http://news.yahoo.com/drug-means-hikers-may-charged-search-171332585.html
The family of LE must have some pretty good info from friends or family during their investigation that leads them to believe he is hiding somewhere and this is intentional and it would cost the county a lot money to continue searching.
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Yeah, all a person had to do to know they were on drugs was listen to their 911 call. They started hallucinating on the same day of the hike even though they had some water and it was a cool day? It really pizzed me off!
But can we keep politics out of it? Brown has zero to do with why those two went missing and California is not bankrupt. At least not yet.
I think he's trying to say that when they look for him they are assuming he is either going to call out or be in an open area so they aren't searching dense brush areas and such. Which to me is pretty ridiculous because if he's dead somewhere he can't call out.
I still think the lake needs a much more extensive search. All along I've thought lake like others.
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No way did LE fail to search dense brush because they assumed he'd call out, IMO. Clearly they were looking for Bryce dead or alive. I also think the remarks we're clear that if Bryce was hiding, he could double back to where the searchers had just passed and none would be the wiser, as they don't leave sentries where they have searched.
Phoenix Rescue Mission is free.
All the free places in SoCal have prohibitive waiting lists. Also, any rehab who had a patient reported as missing would simply kick them the heck out if they refused to tell LE they were okay. :twocents:
