Found Deceased CA - Philip Kreycik, 37, Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park, 10 Jul 2021

[lareportera]

The case is strange to say the least. I have yet to hear of someone who for sure has seen him. I have not heard from PD saying they have. On the other hand if this was my spouse I would lay all possibilities open. Anything from medical emergency to kidnapped. But it seems family is determined to search within the parks. Also nowadays there’s no house without a ring camera, would love to hear what is being looked at in that front.
I know a lot of people stated it’s an area with a lot steep ravines. Not so. It’s mostly rolling hills, surrounded on all sides by either highways or homes.
Living in Berkeley I know that at 106 in Pleasanton, it must have being grueling. The one time I went to the Pleasanton county fair, it was 100. Suddenly I begin to feel delirious out of no where, then I throw up repeatedly all over myself while driving away, and then finally I pulled to the side and told the parking attendant I think I’m having heat stroke. I’d lived in the Bay Area for almost 10 years by this point and I had never experienced a heat related emergency.

It happened quickly but I don’t think I could have traveled very far on foot. Not speculation but I think it’s time to consider he might not be at the park, whether that was voluntary or not.

 

[jash]

<modsnip - quoted post questioning rules was removed>

In a nutshell, under Websleuths' TOS (Terms of Service a.k.a. The Rules), if stating something as a fact, a poster should reference or provide a link to a reliable source (typically mainstream media, but could also be a social media account of the victim/missing person or an official missing page). If the post is merely speculation or opinion, that should be made clear with the use of qualifiers (e.g. "I think...", "In my opinion...", "JMO", etc.). The only exception is if the poster has been vetted by admin and is deemed to be a "Verified Insider". I'm not familiar with the specific posts you are referencing but any questions about moderation are to be addressed with the Mods directly (just click the "Report" link at the bottom of your post and someone will be in touch). It can seem like a lot of rules for newcomers but it helps keep threads focused, respectful and useful.

 

[MichelleAntonia]

I know the general area but not these trails. It seems like there aren't a ton of trees, but a great deal of dense, low brush. Is there any way that all the volunteers could have missed something right where the dogs lost the scent?

 

[zecats]

I know the general area but not these trails. It seems like there aren't a ton of trees, but a great deal of dense, low brush. Is there any way that all the volunteers could have missed something right where the dogs lost the scent?

I have to confess - I'm curious as to why his scent would just end. Possibly he doubled back and therefore contributed scent on scent? Some issue with the area where it ended? Or with the dogs? JMO

 

[slowpoke]

I have to confess - I'm curious as to why his scent would just end. Possibly he doubled back and therefore contributed scent on scent? Some issue with the area where it ended? Or with the dogs? JMO

“Search dogs found but lost his scent after a short distance; it's believed to have been eroded by heat and wind.”
Still no sign of missing runner Philip Kreycik after investigation into cries for help

It’s been much reported there’s been triple digit temps there, and that would dry out and quickly destroy the scent vapors. I guess the winds would disperse them, too.

 

[NSamuelle]

As of 10pm Saturday night, organizers will NOT be asking for volunteers and are discouraging independent searches. A lot of people are free on Sunday, so I’m sure they could’ve gotten a lot of volunteers - instead, they are turning them away. I wonder if they received new information that prompted the change in strategy. (Source: official FB page).

 

[GraceG]

“Search dogs found but lost his scent after a short distance; it's believed to have been eroded by heat and wind.”
Still no sign of missing runner Philip Kreycik after investigation into cries for help

It’s been much reported there’s been triple digit temps there, and that would dry out and quickly destroy the scent vapors. I guess the winds would disperse them, too.

Absolutely - the best conditions for scent dogs is cooler, perhaps with a little cover of trees to block the sun and the wind.

 

[mlhenn]

Pleasanton Locals Drive Search For Missing Runner Philip Kreycik

July 18
The weeklong search to find missing runner Philip Kreycik has drawn hundreds of volunteers from every corner of Pleasanton, with restaurants stepping up to feed searchers and one local even flying his Cessna over the route.

On Saturday, more than 77 volunteers were back at it, combing miles of the area in and around Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park.

And while law enforcement officials on Thursday afternoon said they would scale back the hunt for Kreycik, emergency personnel resumed the search this weekend, a dispatcher with the Alameda County Sheriff's Office told Patch on Saturday.

 

[ElizabethAnne]

For the earlier run posted on Strava by Kreycik which I found posted from what he apparently ran in 2019 7.4 mi Road Running Route on Strava, he called it a 'road run' and in order to get to that run, which is Tehan Canyon Road, a private road on private property---there are two ways. He either hopped the fence where the Moller Ranch trail closest to Foothill Road to the east where it (see map p. 2) http://admin.cityofpleasantonca.gov/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=31377 dead ends or possibly hopped the gate that closes off the neighborhood at Serenity Terrace in order to access Tehan Canyon Road and the neighborhood. For the Strava link above, you can change the mode of the map to Satellite and zoom into to see the detailed area.

For the route last week, it sounds like from various press reports, he did not take the Moller Ranch trail portion closest to Foothill Road. Instead, it sounds as if he walked on street up to the top of Moller Ranch Drive, then took the Moller Ranch Trail western segment near the water tank, which dead ends to the fence into the EBRPD off-limits Land Bank. Again, this dead end is shown on the map on p. 2 http://admin.cityofpleasantonca.gov/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=31377 and the Moller Ranch trail portion is the one on the west side/left.

<modsnip: Removed reference to comments from general members of the FB group.>

For the search to be called out by the volunteers, it could be for various reasons. One could be that the area has had a lot of mountain lions spotted or evidence of mountain lions spotted. Yesterday, on the Find page someone posted that the searches had found a freshly killed deer that looks like had been the victim of a recent mountain lion attack. Maybe there are other reasons as well, but I'm not sure.

 

[Knox]

Thank you for all the information you've provided in this case. I've been to Pleasanton many times, primarily for work, I'm not familiar with any of the rural areas.

<modsnip: Referenced post was modsnipped>

 

[ElizabethAnne]

As of 10pm Saturday night, organizers will NOT be asking for volunteers and are discouraging independent searches. A lot of people are free on Sunday, so I’m sure they could’ve gotten a lot of volunteers - instead, they are turning them away. I wonder if they received new information that prompted the change in strategy. (Source: official FB page).

I am not sure. Someone posted on the Find page area that there is an old road where the Mariposa Trail meets the N Ridge Trail that at first looks like a fire road and then somehow disappears and then all of a sudden it goes down a dangerous ravine. The commenter noted this would be a good place to look. Maybe those organizing the volunteer search are concerned people may go there and fall into the ravine as well. Or there could be other reasons as well that they have called off the volunteers, including the recent evident of mountain lions in the area. I am not sure.

 

[Curious_in_NC]

For the earlier run posted on Strava by Kreycik which I found posted from what he apparently ran in 2019 7.4 mi Road Running Route on Strava, he called it a 'road run' and in order to get to that run, which is Tehan Canyon Road, a private road on private property---there are two ways. He either hopped the fence where the Moller Ranch trail closest to Foothill Road to the east where it (see map p. 2) http://admin.cityofpleasantonca.gov/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=31377 dead ends or possibly hopped the gate that closes off the neighborhood at Serenity Terrace in order to access Tehan Canyon Road and the neighborhood. For the Strava link above, you can change the mode of the map to Satellite and zoom into to see the detailed area.
RSBM.

Hi @ElizabethAnne. What you found is a "Route" that Philip created in 2019, presumably for a planned run, but there is no record in Strava that he actually ran that route. It's possible he did indeed run the route, but knowing that it involved trespassing, elected to make the results private. There's no way to tell. However, there are adjoining segments on that route that have been recorded in actual runs by dozens of others, so this seems less likely to me he would have elected to hide it. FWIW Strava maps don't currently indicate the Tehan Canyon Road is private. He wouldn't likely have known that without going there.

It looks like most runners have accessed the Pleasanton Ridge trails by going up the Courdet Hill trail south of the Moller and Tehan access points.

 

[ElizabethAnne]

I have to confess - I'm curious as to why his scent would just end. Possibly he doubled back and therefore contributed scent on scent? Some issue with the area where it ended? Or with the dogs? JMO

I don't know exactly where his scent ended but the issue is that where ever it was, those Moller Ranch trails dead end. The issue is that the Moller Ranch is not a staging area for Pleasanton Ridge. The two staging areas for Pleasanton Ridge are down Foothill Rd at the Castleridge staging area and also there is one further south down Foothill Rd as well.

Here is a photo of the gate into Tehan Canyon Road at Serenity Terrace Google Maps in Pleasanton that has Keep Out signs and is marked Private Property. This is where Kreycik ran in the first 2019 run on Strava and is Private Property. Another photo of this gate is shown on a property listing of a house off on Tehan Canyon Road on Zillow https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/10-Tehan-Canyon-Rd-Pleasanton-CA-94588/25069389_zpid/?mmlb=g,2

I am not sure whether he climbed this gate or the gate where the Moller Ranch trail dead ends which is located a little further up the private road. But you can tell from his Strava from 2019 7.4 mi Road Running Route on Strava that the first part of the run is definitely up Tehan Canyon Road. It is easier to see if you turn the map into Satellite mode and then Zoom in to look at the area in detail.

In order to do that, go to where it says Standard Map, then click on Satellite Map. Next zoom into the area near the beginning of his route and you can clearly see the beginning of the route was on the private and gated Tehan Canyon Road. You can also see it in Standard Map mode as well if you go into and zoom into the area near the Green Circle indicating the beginning of the route. To zoom in, use the + sign on the map. If you zoom in far enough in Standard Map mode, the road is labeled Tehan Canyon Rd.

If he was trying to access Pleasanton Ridge at the upper Moller Ranch trail, this also dead ends into a fence into a Land Bank sign put up by East Bay Regional Park District that indicates it is closed to the public. Land Banks are areas EBRPD has closed to the public.

 

[ElizabethAnne]

Hi @ElizabethAnne. What you found is a "Route" that Philip created in 2019, presumably for a planned run, but there is no record in Strava that he actually ran that route. It's possible he did indeed run the route, but knowing that it involved trespassing, elected to make the results private. There's no way to tell. However, there are adjoining segments on that route that have been recorded in actual runs by dozens of others, so this seems less likely to me he would have elected to hide it. FWIW Strava maps don't currently indicate the Tehan Canyon Road is private. He wouldn't likely have known that without going there.

It looks like most runners have accessed the Pleasanton Ridge trails by going up the Courdet Hill trail south of the Moller and Tehan access points.

Good point. Also he created the route in Aug 2019 and may have run it but may not have recorded his times after the fact. Strava has been in the news because of their maps and also that it has included military bases that are supposed to be secret Fitness tracking app Strava gives away location of secret US army bases and also because some have accused the app of allowing others to 'stalk' users, the flyby feature etc.

Kreycik has a Masters Degree in Urban Planning from MIT and given that, I would think he would know all about how to determine if something is private or public property, a public street or a private road, etc. and have far more detailed knowledge of tract maps, subdivision maps, topo maps than the general population, including me. If he was completely unfamiliar with the area, it also seems strange he would run without his cell phone and leave it in the car. Even if he had run the area once before, given the extreme heat that day, I still don't understand why the cell phone was left in the car.

One of my neighbors has an idea that he turned back and cut the run short, then went back to the car, found it was locked (not sure if he locked it or not), had lost his keys and could not open the door, then went searching for dropped keys. But then he was wondering about the keys. Since keys are usually heavier than a cell phone, did he even take the keys with him at all? Or does his vehicle even use keys or is it one of these keyless vehicles. Not much has been stated in the press that I can find concerning the make or model of the vehicle, exactly what they found. All I have heard is that it had the cell phone, his wallet, and a shirt in it.

Courdet if as far as I know accessible from the official Castle Ridge staging area into Pleasanton Ridge. Since his vehicle was parked in or near the Moller Ranch staging area rather than the official Castle Ridge staging area for Pleasanton Ridge and law enforcement has been searching Moller Ranch, I'm assuming they ruled out that he walked down Foothill Rd and went through the Castle Ridge parking lot and ran on Courdet.

The volunteer search team did a Foothill Rd walk up and down the road a few days ago, but did not turn up anything. I think if he had walked up or down Foothill Rd also that given cars are going up and down there all the time, someone would have spotted him.

There was a planned route that was on his cell phone found on the car. People have put out approximations of the route of the Find page., e.g., Philip's run path from 7/10/2021 reconstructed - Google My Maps Given that the first days Kreycik was missing law enforcement was searching in the Moller Ranch area p;us references to losing the scent on a trail near the water tank, it sounds to me like they believe that the route he was planning to take started off similar to this Ascent of Main Ridge on 2017-11-15 - Peakbagger.com

 

[ElizabethAnne]

I know the general area but not these trails. It seems like there aren't a ton of trees, but a great deal of dense, low brush. Is there any way that all the volunteers could have missed something right where the dogs lost the scent?

There is a lot of ground to cover and within the crevices of the land where the water drains, there are Blue Oaks that usually have dense underbrush. The Blue Oaks seem to always have leaves and it is hard to see within them.

Up at the ridgeline, there are few trees and occasional Valley Oak tree, but grasslands. The grass can grow high and end up turning a tan/brown during the spring/summer because between about April and October, there is no rain. I don't know how often the grass is cut, but if it is high enough, if someone was laying down in the grass/weeds and it is high enough, you would possibly not be able to see them.

The Google satellite views you see are taken with green grass/weeds during the rainy season in the Winter. Right now those grasslands/weeds are all a light tan color. It would be difficult to see anyone if they were laying down also because the tan color of the weeds also strongly resembles the complexion of those with light tan skin color.

 

[Snoopster]

I have absolutely no knowledge of ultra-runners on the trails, but based on my limited hiking I can see how easy it would be to get overcome by heat and trip, falling into the undergrowth, down a slope.

One thing I DO find strange is that his wife reported him missing at 2pm. That seems pretty quick considering that he only arrived at the trail head at 11 am, and it would likely take a while to drive back to his house after the end of his planned run. Did Philip have a planned commitment? Was that why his wife reported it so soon? I've often taken longer than planned on a hike as I've explored an offshoot trail. But then I don't have a young family, where free time is very limited.

 

[ElizabethAnne]

I have absolutely no knowledge of ultra-runners on the trails, but based on my limited hiking I can see how easy it would be to get overcome by heat and trip, falling into the undergrowth, down a slope.

One thing I DO find strange is that his wife reported him missing at 2pm. That seems pretty quick considering that he only arrived at the trail head at 11 am, and it would likely take a while to drive back to his house after the end of his planned run. Did Philip have a planned commitment? Was that why his wife reported it so soon? I've often taken longer than planned on a hike as I've explored an offshoot trail. But then I don't have a young family, where free time is very limited.

You ask some very good questions. I have not heard of Ring doorbell videos or definitive eyewitnesses seeing him in the Moller Ranch neighborhood or trails. Plus after days of SAR by multiple agencies and volunteers, no one has located him there.

His vehicle was there, but with the lack of definitive proof that he was actually physically present, one would have to wonder whether he was the one that put the vehicle there.

Also, if he arrived at the trail head at 11 am, and the package was dropped off in Oakland at around 9 am, what happened in the meanwhile? It doesn't take 2 hours on a weekend to drive from Oakland to Pleasanton unless there is a huge traffic accident. Police said in one press conference that they were attempting to put together a time line of exactly what happened that day after the time he dropped off the package in Oakland. I hope they are working hard to figure out what exactly happened.

Reporting him missing at 2 PM does seem a bit strange. Some press reports say he never returned to Berkeley, some say there was some sort of business meeting he missed, and another said he was supposed to drive to Stockton to meet his family. I'm not sure which is accurate.

Pleasanton to Stockton is not a quick trip with normal traffic. Assuming the third drive to Stockton scenario, for destinations to Stockton on Saturday morning or early afternoon, Pleasanton I-580 eastbound through the Altamont Pass, I-205 through Tracy, and I-5 often have traffic accidents and heavy traffic on weekends as those travel out of the Bay Area to Yosemite, the Central Valley and so on (likewise, westbound I-580 through the Altamont backs up on Sunday afternoons and evening as these travelers return to the Bay Area). If a run ended around 12:30 or so in Pleasanton, I can see it easily taking over 90 minutes to get to Stockton or Lodi particularly when the Altamont Pass is full of traffic.

Also State Route 120 is near the I-5 and I-205 intersection. State Route 120 can back up because this is the route to Yosemite. This can cause backups on the other Interstates as well particularly on weekends. Sometimes people have to bounce through back roads to access instead Highway 99 to get to Stockton.

Also, people do not generally eat lunch before they go on a run, don't they? if someone finished running around 12:30 or so, wouldn't you expect that they would find somewhere to go get something to eat before heading out to Stockton even if just going through a drive-through? Finding some place to eat in a city you are not familiar with and grabbing something for lunch might take 15 to 30 minutes depending upon the time it takes to find somewhere to eat. Given the long lines at the nearby drive-through restaurants nearby, it could take at least an hour.

There is an In-and-Out Burger nearby (located off of Johnson Drive) that usually has a line that can take 20 or more minutes to get through. It is usually backed up to the road. Close by the In-and-Out, there is a Chick-Fil-A (located at the Hopyard/Owens Drive intersection) that can take 30 minutes to get through because the lines are so long. Traffic is directed through multiple parking lots of nearby businesses because the lines are so long.

It seems to me in my opinion 2 PM is pretty early to call the police.

 

[mlhenn]

One thing I DO find strange is that his wife reported him missing at 2pm. That seems pretty quick considering that he only arrived at the trail head at 11 am, and it would likely take a while to drive back to his house after the end of his planned run. Did Philip have a planned commitment? Was that why his wife reported it so soon?

I agree the 2pm reporting time was pretty quick, but I believe it’s because his wife was expecting him to only be gone a very short time.
Reports shared that he told his wife he was going for a short run. It’s also been reported he was expected to pick up his family in Stockton immediately after the run.
His wife may even tried calling him at a time he was expected to be finished running and on his way to the family. When he didn’t answer, then didn’t show up, it’s possible she became quite worried. (Speculation)

 

[partimesleuth]

The dogs did pick up his scent from the car to the trail though, so I would assume that would be definitive proof of his presence?

“One of the dogs found Kreycik’s scent and followed it from his car to the trail but lost track, the station reported.”

https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article252728598.html

 

[ElizabethAnne]

The dogs did pick up his scent from the car to the trail though, so I would assume that would be definitive proof of his presence?

“One of the dogs found Kreycik’s scent and followed it from his car to the trail but lost track, the station reported.”

https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article252728598.html

In my opinion, relying on a dog's scent, particularly when the scent just ends, does not give definitive proof he was there when there is:

1) no other evidence that he was present (for example if the dog scent path went up the street and no Ring videos and security cameras of neighbors show him actually going up the street)
2) in spite of a massive search effort of 13 agencies and hundreds of volunteers, he hasn't been found

I did read that the volunteers had contacted a firm that has some sort of satellite photos from the time from 11:15 to 11:30 that day and were analyzing them trying to detect if they can pick him up running up there. So far I haven't found anything on the Find website that points to him being spotted.

I don't know if law enforcement has cameras they are not telling us about, but it is possible they are there and no one knows they are there. The FAQ page posted by the moderators on the Find site says "Neighborhood cameras checked by police could neither confirm, nor rule out, Philip entering the park." It also says "Some trail cameras have not yet been analyzed fully." Whether these are EBRPD, HOA, or City or Private cameras is not clear. On the other hand, it did not say who is analyzing these "trail cameras" so I could not really figure out what the Find site was talking about.

I know in the case of two women missing on Mt. Tam a few years ago in Marin County, they had a photo of one of them released to the press and public from what the press called a security camera in the parking area. Body of missing woman found on Mt. Tamalpais Given Pleasanton have had its fair share of playgrounds vandalized and city property stolen/destroyed, I would not be surprised if they have put cameras at parks and staging areas. The City may have security cameras in the area, but may not be disclosing them to the public. In addition, many HOAs place surveillance cameras throughout their subdivision. You never know, but it is possible that the HOA of the neighborhood could have cameras throughout the property as well.