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

[jash]

If they had gone to all those other nice places then surely there would be other pictures of him in hiking gear. Surprised there was not a full body photo included that showed him in hiking gear.

If he used a standalone camera, perhaps all those pictures are lost/missing along with Paul. Being away from home, it may have been difficult for his wife to get her hands on any older hiking photos. I don't believe Paul has any social media accounts.

 

[SeesSeas]

If he used a standalone camera, perhaps all those pictures are lost/missing along with Paul. Being away from home, it may have been difficult for his wife to get her hands on any older hiking photos. I don't believe Paul has any social media accounts.

Using her cell phone, I would think his wife would have taken some photos of him earlier in the week at Grand Canyon, Zion Canyon, and Bryce Canyon. . . . and kept in touch with their children by sending some photos.
Search scaled back for missing Guelph hiker in California
[...]The Miller's were at the end of a vacation that involved hiking at four large national parks. They had just come from the Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce Canyon in Utah and were finishing up in Joshua Tree when Paul went missing.[...]

 

[Hatfield]

I looked closely and believe there are 3 other people in the background of the photo. The blue thing looks like a turned over plastic milk crate, on which one of the guys is sitting. The white circle things look like buckets/pails to me. It looks like they're holding drum sticks in their hands so I conclude they are playing the buckets.

It also looks like someone (his wife?) has been cropped out next to him. I believe Paul took the photo himself.

Great deductions. You could be right on most all of it. Thanks.

 

[MaryG12]

It does seem highly unusual that his cellphone was left in his car.

What about his wallet and passport? Were those in the car too, or with him?

What bothers me in the cellphone issue - if he deliberately left it behind, then did he want to disappear?

Was there any reason for him to disappear on his own into JTNP?

 

[PaulR]

I totally believe that part. If I was trying to do final packing and get ready for an afternoon flight, I would tell Mr. Carbuff to go take a walk, push him out the door, and lock it behind him Well, not literally, but he gets jittery and doesn't like to wait. It makes more sense for him to be doing something and a quick, easy walk like that is exactly what we'd choose.

Oddly there are short hikes in JTNP, that look perfect for taking some photos before hopping the flight back. They'd require going through a ranger station.

I checked temperatures for the other parks and Zion, which the Millers visited and hiked at, was regularly hitting highs of 100 degrees at noon in the weeks before his disappearance. The Grand Canyon was also recording noon temperatures around 100, Bryce had highs around 90.

Maybe Paul got cocky but it seems like if they had hiked in parks with similar levels of heat and humidity, they'd know how to handle themselves.

Past Weather in Zion National Park, Utah, USA — Yesterday or Further Back
Past Weather in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, USA — Yesterday or Further Back
Past Weather in Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA — Yesterday or Further Back

 

[SeesSeas]

not a confusing or difficult trail. . .
Search scaled back for missing Guelph hiker in California
George Land is the public information officer at Joshua Tree National Park Service.
[...]
The 49 Palms Oasis trail goes straight to the oasis and you walk the same trail back to the parking lot, Land said. “It’s not an extremely confusing or difficult trail to negotiate."

“Because of the way the area is, it’s literally in a canyon,” he said. “If he was going to go anywhere, there’s only one place kind of off the trail he would go, and we searched that extensively.”

 

[dulcinea]

I am the same way. With their schedule, they had to get to the airport, drop off the rental car, do all the security stuff, and be ready to board. That's a long process.

I can totally see why she called so soon after he was missing. I can kinda see an outgoing, energetic guy wanting to get in "that one last trail," but can't understand why he didn't leave even earlier in the day.

And I don't understand leaving the cellphone in the car - even if he had a camera and even if he doubted reception.

I'm guessing the hotel has cameras in public areas - did the couple dine for breakfast that morning in the hotel?

jmo

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I frequently hike JTNP. I ALWAYS leave my cell phone in the car. There is very spotty coverage in the park, so my battery drains quickly. When we get close to the park I shut my phone all the way off and leave it in the console or glove box. When we leave the park I turn it on again. I have another camera I bring for taking pictures. If he realized that he didn't have coverage, he might have decided carrying the phone was more of a pain.

Slightly off topic. I've taken groups of students to JTNP on multiple occasions. Without fail, they complain about the lack of cell service. I tell them to shut their phones off so their batteries won't drain, but inevitably they don't listen and many of them have dead phones when we leave the park.

 

[PaulR]

What I've done is turn on "airplane mode" which stops the phone from wasting the battery trying to contact a cell tower/wifi. The camera still works of course, as does GPS/compass.

 

[dulcinea]

What I've done is turn on "airplane mode" which stops the phone from wasting the battery trying to contact a cell tower/wifi. The camera still works of course, as does GPS/compass.

Great option, as well. I just prefer not to carry my phone. It's more of a burden to me.

 

[jash]

It does seem highly unusual that his cellphone was left in his car.

What about his wallet and passport? Were those in the car too, or with him?

What bothers me in the cellphone issue - if he deliberately left it behind, then did he want to disappear?

Was there any reason for him to disappear on his own into JTNP?

Great questions about his wallet and passport. The passport may have been stowed safely at the hotel, but it wouldn't be a good idea to be driving without a license on hand and maybe a credit card for emergencies so I'd expect those at least to be in the car.

I have to say, I firmly felt this was a case of someone getting lost and/or accidentally injured, but the longer it goes with no sign of him, the more open I am to the idea of Paul hurting himself. There's something about this being the last activity before heading home. Last chance?

If I'm not mistaken, all the search efforts have been focused on the trail to the oasis. What if from the parking lot he went in an entirely different direction though. We don't even know the colour of the shirt he was wearing.

 

[Inthedetails]

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I frequently hike JTNP. I ALWAYS leave my cell phone in the car. There is very spotty coverage in the park, so my battery drains quickly. When we get close to the park I shut my phone all the way off and leave it in the console or glove box. When we leave the park I turn it on again. I have another camera I bring for taking pictures. If he realized that he didn't have coverage, he might have decided carrying the phone was more of a pain.

Slightly off topic. I've taken groups of students to JTNP on multiple occasions. Without fail, they complain about the lack of cell service. I tell them to shut their phones off so their batteries won't drain, but inevitably they don't listen and many of them have dead phones when we leave the park.

It would be helpful to know if he left the cellphone in the glove compartment or elsewhere in the car.

jmo

 

[Poppyflower]

Did the hotel people or anyone else see Paul in JTNP?

 

[MaryG12]

I guess I am a little surprised that some WSers have gone hiking while leaving their cellphones in the car though I realize much also depends on battery charged and carrier, in addition to length of time spent hiking in a state or national park. DH and I have always carried our cellphones on us, even that time we took a 17 mile jaunt from Mabry Carlton in Venice FL all the way through the majestic Myakka Prairie, Arcadia Grade (a trail worth boasting about, for it's being lined with pines, plenty of deer and other wildlife), ending about a mile from Rt 72/Clark Ave in Sarasota where the Myakka State Park is located. I will stress that was done during the winter, right around Christmas. If anything I would feel insecure not having my cellphone on me while hiking or bicycling.

Second - and it has been established that Paul Miller and his wife came to the USA to hike at four national parks: Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce Canyon in Utah and Joshua Tree.

Where does this fall on the couple's list of vacations to take, in priority terms?

And, did Paul Miller have any kind of life threatening illness that might inspire him and his wife to come here and hike these parks at this time of the year? You know, like a bucket list item wanting to be fulfilled.

This just seems to lead to more questions.

 

[RickshawFan]

Going to try to research airlines to see about flight times and how far away airport was.

Maybe the airport is Palm Springs?

 

[RickshawFan]

Good point about maybe he wanted to check it off his list.

But since he was evidently a somewhat experienced hiker he should have known that 9am was too late to beat the heat. I believe it was already around 87 f at 9am before he even started out.

He would have known he would have had to leave around 5am or 6am to beat the worst of the heat. If hikers are like fisherman then they know to get up super early.
Leaving at 9am is not early IMO. especially there.
JMO of course

He wasn't an experienced hiker........ He was an "experienced hiker". Also, unless he had experience hiking at 90 degrees in the desert with full sun, he's not an experienced enough hiker to be hiking in Joshua Tree at all under those conditions, let alone noon as a planned return.

 

[RickshawFan]

So maybe it wasn't Palm Springs airport. Ontario CA airport is more like an hour and a half away. So the family leaves the motel once Paul gets back, drives an hour and a half, that puts them at the airport at 2pm at the very, very earliest. Here are those results. All redeyes. LAX is three hours away, and there's an afternoon (5:55pm) direct flight to Toronto that gets them home at 1:40am.

Bakersfield?

 

[RickshawFan]

Vegas. The airport might have been Las Vegas. It has to be somewhere easy to come and go for the 3 other parks, IMO. And that interstate is fast.

From North Joshua Tree, they could easily be en route to Vegas.

A California car could easily have been dropped off at Vegas for them to come along and rent.

 

[Poppyflower]

Do we know how many days their trip was for? Do we know the order of the trip? I know JTSP was last. I'm going to guess Grand Canyon start and JTSP to finish.

Google Maps

The above map shows the 4 national parks + Vegas.

Google Maps

The above map shows a route from the Grand Canyon to Bryce, Zion, Vegas (maybe they stopped?), then onto Joshua Tree.

They could fly into Flagstaff airport and fly out of Palm Springs.

There is a whole lotta of nothin', beautiful nothin' but desolate- many areas that are just miles and miles of similar scenery and not a lot of people about. I've driven many of those routes and it is gorgeous.

PS. I'm new to this case and I have read the thread but if anything I contribute is redundant I apologize. I'm hazey from my foster kittens getting spayed and neutered today and all the stress that comes with it.

Vegas. The airport might have been Las Vegas. It has to be somewhere easy to come and go for the 3 other parks, IMO. And that interstate is fast.

From North Joshua Tree, they could easily be en route to Vegas.

A California car could easily have been dropped off at Vegas for them to come along and rent.

 

[RickshawFan]

Oddly there are short hikes in JTNP, that look perfect for taking some photos before hopping the flight back. They'd require going through a ranger station.

Those other hikes might not have been near Twenty-Nine Palms, though, and they might have stayed the night there just so they could drive easily to Las Vegas. The choice of trail might not have had anything to do with going through a ranger station, but might have been chosen for proximity to their flight, but also ease of accommodations and "short and high interest".

 

[RickshawFan]

Maybe Paul got cocky but it seems like if they had hiked in parks with similar levels of heat and humidity, they'd know how to handle themselves.

It's possible those earlier hikes were ranger-guided, i.e. under controlled conditions. This might have made him fatally cocky, thinking he was experienced enough to know what he was doing.