Found Deceased CA - Paul Miller, 51, Canadian missing in Joshua Tree National Park, San Bernardino Co., 13 Jul 2018

[MaryG12]

Some information about desert bighorn sheep in JT:

Desert Bighorn Sheep - Joshua Tree National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

I could not locate Wonderland of Rocks where one of the herds resides on the following park map:

http://npmaps.com/wp-content/uploads/joshua-tree-map.pdf

I've no idea if any of these bighorn sheep travel through the area where Paul went hiking.

 

[musicaljoke]

I think maybe his statements to park officials about seeing Paul were not deemed reliable because of the different coloured car he saw?

I doubt that his witness report would be tossed out because of the reported colour of the car. Witness reports normally contain plenty of errors, depending upon how engaged the witness was with particular elements in the report. Eg. some people recall faces with great detail, but can't say what the person was wearing.

 

[tarabull]

Reviewing old news videos & just realized Paul went missing on Friday the 13th... :thud:

A couple of other niggly things, mainly wording LOL:
@0:47 "...i would encourage people, you know, for this time of year, find something else to do...."
@ 0:53 "...his vehicle found parked at the 49 Palms Oasis trail head where he began to hike alone..."
@ 1:00 "...authorities says it's unusual for hikers to go missing on the trail..............."

SMH...FWIW.

 

[tarabull]

#FindPaulMiller

 

[RickshawFan]

His car was found in parking area though right? So he must have been there at one point. Not sure why someone would point a finger to themselves if they were not legitimately a witness. Sensationalism at its best perhaps. jmo

Who drove the car there?

 

[rosesfromangels]

I would like to hear more from Mrs. Miller. Her thoughts could be very helpful in narrowing down where he might be found.

 

[zecats]

Who drove the car there?

Could be THE question. Presuming he was hiking, he drove himself. Presuming insurance fraud, deliberately missing, foul play... who knows? Jmo

 

[Bethan]

Could be THE question. Presuming he was hiking, he drove himself. Presuming insurance fraud, deliberately missing, foul play... who knows? Jmo

Just a reminder of the young couple lost in JTNP last year, who were eventually found after 11 weeks, despite intensive searches.

 

[PaulR]

Just a reminder of the young couple lost in JTNP last year, who were eventually found after 11 weeks, despite intensive searches.

Vastly different terrain - the trail Paul went missing on is described as more like a canyon where there isn't much of a way to get lost. There's also speculation that the couple you mentioned was intentionally trying to pick an isolated place.

 

[Suglo]

Some times accidents happen and many times there is no foul play or deception. Some times it is what it is. Speculation when the German tourists in Death Valley went missing ranged from wanting to start a new life (the McStays also) to aliens abducting them. In the end, they traveled much farther than SAR gave them credit for and were found miles from the original search area. Same thing could happen here. Just look at where they searched last weekend. That terrain looks nothing like the supposed “easy trail” he took. I just hope his search doesn’t turn into another German tourists or Bill Ewasco year’s long search.

 

[MaryG12]

Who drove the car there?

And, did his wife have another rental car? How did she return home? Taxi cab to the airport?

 

[Eevee Pie]

I am picking up what you are laying down.

I’m not!! Lol can you spell it out for me, sorry for being dense about it.

 

[rosesfromangels]

Vastly different terrain - the trail Paul went missing on is described as more like a canyon where there isn't much of a way to get lost. There's also speculation that the couple you mentioned was intentionally trying to pick an isolated place.

The use of the word "canyon" makes me think of someone going out on a perch of sorts to take a pic and falling in to a vast drop off. It's very hard to spot people in these types of scenarios, but drones do help alot. Paul, where are you?

 

[tarabull]

Hi Eevee Pie --- my take on RichshawFan's post, I guess you want the Cole's Notes??? lol

Mountain Goats are elusive, next to invisible & the thought of being able to follow even one is not really using your head, STS....

RichshawFan, hopefully my interpretation is acceptable.

 

[musicaljoke]

Some times accidents happen and many times there is no foul play or deception. Some times it is what it is. Speculation when the German tourists in Death Valley went missing ranged from wanting to start a new life (the McStays also) to aliens abducting them. In the end, they traveled much farther than SAR gave them credit for and were found miles from the original search area. Same thing could happen here. Just look at where they searched last weekend. That terrain looks nothing like the supposed “easy trail” he took. I just hope his search doesn’t turn into another German tourists or Bill Ewasco year’s long search.

Indeed. It doesn't make a lick of sense to me that this was an insurance fraud attempt. Canada has a vast wilderness of potential places to go and not get reported as being lost for days. Besides, there really isn't any evidence to suggest that he tried to create a false trail. From the pictures of the terrain, it certainly looks like a person could get turned around in just a few steps, or fall from a rock, or climb a hill and get disoriented, especially in the ridiculous heat. He was in a hurry.

I hope that he is found quickly so that the family no longer has to live under a cloud of suspicion.

 

[Tim Callahan]

Some times accidents happen and many times there is no foul play or deception. Some times it is what it is. Speculation when the German tourists in Death Valley went missing ranged from wanting to start a new life (the McStays also) to aliens abducting them. In the end, they traveled much farther than SAR gave them credit for and were found miles from the original search area. Same thing could happen here. Just look at where they searched last weekend. That terrain looks nothing like the supposed “easy trail” he took. I just hope his search doesn’t turn into another German tourists or Bill Ewasco year’s long search.

Certainly, accidents in treacherous wilderness happen all the time, but I'd say the cases of the German tourists or Bill Ewasko were much more "open-ended" in their potential whereabouts. Bill's search didn't under way until several days after he was missing, and although they found his car, they weren't sure of his itinerary. Not only was the search for Paul underway hours after his hike, his purported destination was known, and according to park officials, there aren't too many areas he could go off the beaten path on his trail. Doesn't sound like an easy trail to get lost on. Even in a medical emergency where someone could go off-trail irrationally, IMO, not likely he'd go far. God willing, they will find him soon; I'm still of the opinion that he didn't want to be found, but it could certainly have been an accident or medical emergency.

 

[tarabull]

Search for Hiker Missing at 49 Palms Oasis - Joshua Tree National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

Search for Hiker Missing at 49 Palms Oasis Continues - Joshua Tree National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

Search Operations Scaled Back For Hiker Missing in Joshua Tree National Park - Joshua Tree National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

 

[RickshawFan]

And, did his wife have another rental car? How did she return home? Taxi cab to the airport?

Uber, natch.

I’m making that up, though. Didn’t a family member fly down to help out?

 

[jash]

The family friend who has been active in the media has set up a Facebook page. Find Paul Miller

Based on the most recent post, there is a local regularly hiking and looking for Paul.

 

[cybervampira]

Search Efforts Renewed in Joshua Tree for Missing Canadian Hiker

Following a week of searching without success, rescuers scaled back the efforts to ” a limited continuous search mode,” but have returned to concentrate on more remote sections of the 49 Palms Oasis area, with “technical specialists with high-angle rescue skills” brought in to manage steep terrain and cliffs in the search area, according to a park spokesman.

Rescuers are also beginning their searches at 4 a.m. each day to avoid high summer temperatures that regularly exceed triple digits.