I believe this was the first article to mention the flight.
Search scaled back for missing Guelph hiker in California
He left his nearby hotel at around 9 a.m. and parked at the trailhead. The route to the oasis, there and back, is a little more than three kilometres in length. Miller knew he couldn’t be out too long — his flight back home was scheduled to leave that afternoon.
It's unclear what they mean by "afternoon" but I'd lean more to it being an evening/overnight flight (there is a three hour time difference so it's common for West Coast flights to land in Toronto early in the morning).
In this recent interview, they say Paul's wife called their kids to let them know the day after she initiated the search. That also suggests to me the kids weren't expecting them home until Saturday, otherwise she would have called sooner.
(@1:20)
Paul Miller's wife, son want search to continue
JMO
This case can still go in a few different directions IMO.
He may be found deceased at any moment so we really dont know yet what happened.
With that said there have been many things that were concerning about this case.
This case has been very strange from the get go. And there are valid reasons why concerns about what happened. Its all so bizarre. Searchers were out very quickly that same day he went missing.
If not for the witness that came on WS and shared that he saw him on the trail I am not sure I would have thought he ever got on the trail.
Even that witness was a little strange because he/she came on for one post and then left. He/she would know there would be followup questions people had so if taking the time to sign up and share then why not stick around for at least a couple followup questions. I hope LE has reinterviewed that witness because he had valuable information about his physical condition at the time he saw him. Saying he looked like he was on a mission. I got the feeling Paul may have already been in heat stroke when he saw him. He didnt stop to talk or anything and that is very unusual for anyone when you are on a desert trail and nobody else on the trail. Even a friendly quick chat would have been normal and from the description he just walked right on by like on a mission.
But so many other things too is just a little odd.
Black clothing? Cmon. The worst color in the world to choose and experienced hikers in heat should know that. Black is much hotter than white or light clothing.
So many other things. Like the quick
and talking about life insurance money within the first few weeks if I am not mistaken. It was very quick as all I remember. Dont know exact date when it was created but it was fast and the comments about life insurance were bothersome to say the least because he may have been still found alive somewhere when those comments surfaced.
And from the linked interview if your plane was that same day then shouldnt they have called the kids that same night when she missed the flight?
Surely the kids would have been expecting them home and wondering why they missed the flight home. Some families go to the airport to meet relatives. Even if they had not planned to meet at airport then surely they would be worried about the missed flight. Afterall it was a long trip and so I am sure the kids knew the day they were supposed to finally come back. An afternoon flight would have made them come back by early evening at latest. So why wait till next day to even call the kids. Why let them worry all night when they did not show up on scheduled day to come back on the flight?
And even worse is the news was breaking about a missing hiker. What if the kids saw the breaking news first on TV news.
And another thing slightly odd. At first it was always friends and family spokespersons and not until many days passed did we ever hear from his wife in a media interview. That could be normal although it was strange at the time as everything was passed through other people. It came across strange as we kept hearing from other people second hand and third hand information and the person that knew the story best was not heard from. Sure they would be upset but we are talking many days and it may have been even a couple weeks before wife finally did a media interview. Now we are getting lots of them.
I also am upset the way some of the relatives and family spokespersons have been criticizing the search effort people when she herself left the country after just 5 days after he went missing. She has not been back since and people have offered her a free place to stay if she wants to ever come back to help try to gather more information about her missing husband. Its just not fair to the search people risking their own life to criticize them IMO. They did their best and are continuing to look for him. So since they elected to leave so quickly then no real right to criticize other searchers IMO who are risking life and limb for them.
There was other things too and there was quite a long list of slightly odd things. The phone left in car some thought was odd. To me that would be odd because you never know when you are going to get a signal and its good safety precaution to keep it with you.
From the interview itself I found something that could be an honest slip up or mistake but it came out strange. Does anyone want to try to guess what she was really going to say here.
At 1:08 in the video she says
"He wanted to get some pictures so he went on the t** trail"
Was that a slip up or an honest mistake?
What was she about to say?
Maybe train instead of trail?
Anyway this case is still a huge mystery and can go in a few different directions. I hope he wasnt attacked and abducted when he got back to the car.
I do hope and pray that searchers will find him and be able to give the family closure. If its something else then I hope LE figures it out. It was a strange case from the start.
One place I would look very carefully again is right there near the parking lot. There are many boulders and a small hill right there. Everyone may be searching along the trail but what if he is right there near the parking lot inbetween some boulders.
This other link speaks to the strangeness.
"Land said he’s been working at the park for eight years and never has he seen anyone lost like this. Park staff respond to calls about missing hikers all the time, but sooner or later those hikers are found. This year, the park has already had five successful rescues."
Paul Miller's wife, son want search to continue
Search scaled back for missing Guelph hiker in California
