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

[hooziewhutz]

I hiked PK's posted Strava route on 7/25. Turtle Pond is full of water and turtles, there is a water faucet at the top of the ridge near the radio tower. CT said the footprints were on the Mariposa trail which is an earlier cutoff, but PK should have known about Turtle Pond and might have known about the water faucet on North Ridge. Has there been confirmation from any LE that the picture footprints are a match for PK's Saucony running shoes?

No confirmation

 

[ElizabethAnne]

The Mariposa trail in the Aug 2019 Strava planned route 7.4 mi Road Running Route on Strava shows for that segment that it is a descending path meaning traveling south. If Kreycik did not run the longer route that in his car cell phone supposedly showed the Turtle Pond Trail and Loop Trail as the connection between the North Ridge and Sinbad Creek Trail, then he may have run the shorter run instead. If he chose to opt for the shorter run because he was pressed for time to get to Stockton and/or it was baking hot outside, then he may have never reached any water at all.

The shorter run has an estimated time of 51 minutes next to Est Moving Time in the Strava link above. That would tie in to his estimated 12:35 ish text message for his ETA in north Stockton that was put in the CT AMA document, i.e.:

10:45 - 11:35 (est run time about 50 minutes)
11:35 - 12:35 (est drive time to north Stockton in law residence)

Not sure he had time to run the longer route because it seemed like that would take a lot longer than a 45 to 50 minute run.

The shoe prints on Mariposa were headed north going uphill according to the CT AMA document. But the short run route defined on Strava in the Aug 2019 link above has the Mariposa trail segment being run in the south direction that is the downhill direction.

Also for a match analysis, I don't know if they can match any shoe prints since they haven't found the shoes. I wonder if they have a precise location of the prints whether law enforcement has sent the dogs up there? It would be interesting to see if they could pick up any scent based on the T-shirt they found in the car, but it could be it is too late for that since from what I have heard, the scent goes away after a certain point in time.

At this point in time I don't know if there is any concrete evidence that he made it into the Pleasanton Ridge park boundaries. He wasn't spotted by anyone other than someone saying to an EBRPD person that they might have seen him. That isn't unusual since the main activity is in the South portion of the park near the Foothill staging area and it would have probably been in the early morning hours that people were in the park due to the extreme heat. Perhaps he never got out of the Moller Ranch/private property/landbank areas into the official Pleasanton Ridge park. At this point, it is a mystery.

 

[ElizabethAnne]

“Ol’ Doc Perkins’ house” sounds straight out of a Scooby Doo episode!

I agree. It is difficult to figure out what was there at one point in time because the area has changed so much. Historic Aerials NETRonline: Historic Aerials has aerial photos back to the late 1950s of all of Pleasanton/Dublin, but it is hard to see what was where back so long ago. I hope instead they talk to Bob Doyle who just retired from EBRPD instead of trying to wade through maps. Doyle was in charge of land acquisition for many years and probably has more detail on what features and hazards such as wells and mines and caves are at specific locations throughout Pleasanton Ridge and the landbank area than anyone else. He just retired in December so hopefully they can get in touch with him. EBRPD - News Details

 

[runspired]

Hi folks!

Came across this forum while reading what some Twitter trolls decided to try to goad me with (good luck!). Apparently they weren’t too thrilled that some moderation occurred here at some point.

first off I’d like to say thanks for all the thought work and for the relatively speculation-free environment here.

mostly I’d just like to say that I’d love to point this energy in a useful direction, and to that end if a follow up to that AMA would settle some questions I’d be happy to do it. For the most part I’m an open book at this point, the only info I’d been holding back was the long list of locations Philip might have decided to run that day which he clearly didn’t decide to run. If you truly think it’ll settle some doubt I’m happy to answer things like “where did I run Saturday” and “what did I do that night/morning”, but mostly I’m hoping for questions that help folks ponder what did happen to Philip.

I feel at this point we’ve nearly closed the loop on searching the locations he’d have ended up in if he were making rational/semi-rational decisions, but as I mentioned in the AMA my experience with heat illness is that rational decision making is one of the first things you lose. We’re expanding our search within the area bounded by Palomares/580/Niles Canyon/Foothill now based on more irrational decision making. I’d love help reasoning though what someone making to-them seemingly rational but actually poor decision making might have done.

so if you have questions about details and what is known, anything I didn’t put in the AMA but do know (mostly an oversight if I didn’t put it in there) I’ll happily follow up.

if you all come up with a list of Qs, I’ll do my best to answer them early next week. Currently I’ve handed off my remaining search responsibilities to others since I’m away at a wedding, but the search (and official SAR search) continues, folks have stepped up to handle every need so far, and there’s always room for more help!

Best,
Chris (aka Runspired, or as apparently so many folks like to refer to me as “CT”).

 

[TheFool]

The Mariposa trail in the Aug 2019 Strava planned route 7.4 mi Road Running Route on Strava shows for that segment that it is a descending path meaning traveling south. If Kreycik did not run the longer route that in his car cell phone supposedly showed the Turtle Pond Trail and Loop Trail as the connection between the North Ridge and Sinbad Creek Trail, then he may have run the shorter run instead. If he chose to opt for the shorter run because he was pressed for time to get to Stockton and/or it was baking hot outside, then he may have never reached any water at all.

The shorter run has an estimated time of 51 minutes next to Est Moving Time in the Strava link above. That would tie in to his estimated 12:35 ish text message for his ETA in north Stockton that was put in the CT AMA document, i.e.:

10:45 - 11:35 (est run time about 50 minutes)
11:35 - 12:35 (est drive time to north Stockton in law residence)

Not sure he had time to run the longer route because it seemed like that would take a lot longer than a 45 to 50 minute run.

The shoe prints on Mariposa were headed north going uphill according to the CT AMA document. But the short run route defined on Strava in the Aug 2019 link above has the Mariposa trail segment being run in the south direction that is the downhill direction.

Also for a match analysis, I don't know if they can match any shoe prints since they haven't found the shoes. I wonder if they have a precise location of the prints whether law enforcement has sent the dogs up there? It would be interesting to see if they could pick up any scent based on the T-shirt they found in the car, but it could be it is too late for that since from what I have heard, the scent goes away after a certain point in time.

At this point in time I don't know if there is any concrete evidence that he made it into the Pleasanton Ridge park boundaries. He wasn't spotted by anyone other than someone saying to an EBRPD person that they might have seen him. That isn't unusual since the main activity is in the South portion of the park near the Foothill staging area and it would have probably been in the early morning hours that people were in the park due to the extreme heat. Perhaps he never got out of the Moller Ranch/private property/landbank areas into the official Pleasanton Ridge park. At this point, it is a mystery.

Good information, but my understanding from the Strava route is that PK would have made a right turn when entering the loop on the map. This means he heads to north to Cower and Sinbad Creek. That would mean if he cut the route short of Turtle Pond a left turn and up the Mariposa Trail which matches CT's photos. FWIW the trail from the Moller Park staging area (just a square 10 car parking lot) to the loop is nearly all shaded. If PK had an issue with the heat it should have been on the loop on the Cower and Sinbad Creek trails.

 

[katydid23]

One thing that makes it hard for me to think "voluntary disappearance" is that, if a person is bright and ethical, both of which PK seemed very much to be, such a person would not be ok with allowing a search to go on and on, especially in severe weather or harsh terrain where the searchers are putting themselves at some risk.

If PK had walked away intentionally for whatever reason, it seems probable to me that he would then have let LE know he was ok and to stop searching. Within a day or two at the most.

Any bright, internet-savvy person can easily determine with a google search that one can report oneself "not missing" to law enforcement without identifying ones new location if so desired. No information will be released to the public (even the family) beyond "this person is safe and no longer considered missing".

I struggle with the same questions. He seems like such an ethical and upstanding person.

However, if he did have a moral lapse, and felt an urgent need to walk away, would he want his wife and family to know he rejected them and walked away voluntarily? Maybe he cannot bring himself to do that....And now he is impossibly stuck.

 

[ElizabethAnne]

<modnsip - quoted post removed until poster can be verified>
Hi <modsnip>---Thanks for leading the search effort. I had a few questions.

1. PARK EXITS Are cameras at the exit/entrance points to the Emergency Vehicle Access points to Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park and were they checked? I don't have the full list but the closest I found was from https://www.ebparks.org/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=23276

"--Hedd Canyon Trail connecting to Devany Canyon Road [through Vinsonproperty] [1]
--Devany Canyon connection to “The Preserve” subdivision [Pagini] [2]
--Valle Vista Trail connection through “The Preserve” subdivision open space [3]
--Connection between the former Schuhart property (now parkland) and the proposed Tehan Falls Trail/Garms Staging Area via Fuller, Smathers,
Finnegan and Del Arroz properties [4]
--Access to Garms Staging Area park security residence/park office via River Rock Hill Road [5]
--Santos Ranch Road connecting to the Valle Vista Trail/ (and Sinbad Valley) from Foothill Road [6]
--Valle Vista “bypass” [Tulare and Sadue] [7]
--Cook Canyon access off Palomares Road [Yunis] [8]
--Serenity Terrace Road (private) connection to Tehan Ridge Trail [9]
--Private drive off Foothill Road near southern boundary- EBRPD Conservation Easement [Butner property] [10]
--Kilkare Road connecting to Sinbad Creek Trail – District EVMA and secondary evacuation route for Kilkare Canyon residents (Refer to Emergency
Egress below) [11]
--Access routes through former Owen property from Palomares Road into the northern part of the park [12]."

Note: The list is confusing because EBRPD looks like it has renamed the North Ridge trail to the Valle Vista trail in this list. The Tehan Ridge Trail approximates what was the landbank area on the Strava run that connects Moller Ranch to Pleasanton Ridge. Also the Garms staging area does not exist yet.

2. PRIVATE PROPERTY Was the property around 9104 Longview searched where the Augustin Bernal Park entrance is at the top of the cul de sac (Augustin Bernal is the city park that accesses the EBRPD Pleasanton Ridge Park)? The city has an easement through private property there.

3. SANTA RITA Any subsequent thoughts to whether you think Philip was seen near the Arroyo Mocho trail near Santa Rita Rd across from the Walmart Neighborhood Market store that evening on Saturday July 10th? Or do you think it is possible they spotted someone else who looked similar? As far as I know, the Pleasanton Police have not commented on this at all.

4. DOGS Where did the dogs lose Philip's scent? I've read it was near a water tank off of Moller Ranch Dr. Is that accurate? And if so, was it on a specific trail on Moller Ranch near the tank (either the western trail that is near the grove of trees or the eastern trail that connects to Tehan Canyon Road) or actually on the trail that leads to the water tank? Or somewhere off trail near the water tank? Or was it on a completely different trail? Why do you think the scent was lost? Do you think Philip could have turned around? Also, has law enforcement attempted to find Philip's scent in Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park and did they have any luck at that such as where the shoeprints were found on the Mariposa Trail?

5. WATER ACCESS For water up there, did you see a lot of spots where there was water or had most of the lakes and streams dried up? Were the drinking fountains working both in Moller Ranch and Pleasanton Ridge or did Pleasanton/EBRPD turn them off because of COVID?

 

[ElizabethAnne]

Good information, but my understanding from the Strava route is that PK would have made a right turn when entering the loop on the map. This means he heads to north to Cower and Sinbad Creek. That would mean if he cut the route short of Turtle Pond a left turn and up the Mariposa Trail which matches CT's photos. FWIW the trail from the Moller Park staging area (just a square 10 car parking lot) to the loop is nearly all shaded. If PK had an issue with the heat it should have been on the loop on the Cower and Sinbad Creek trails.

I was referring to the Aug 2019 route. I am not sure whether he ran clockwise in the east direction (North Ridge) or counterclockwise in the west direction (Cowing to Sinbad Creek) but on the EBRPD map https://www.ebparks.org/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=24388 , the only areas marked with W for drinking water above Augustin Bernal Park are on the east side of the park. The map I am looking at is on p. 2 and I assume it is up to date. The W that was closest is near the box that holds all of the tall antenna structures near the North Ridge trail. I don't know if Philip had a map with him or had looked at in detail prior to the run. But from the map, I don't know of any drinking water at the north end of the Pleasanton Ridge park or the west side trails at all. If it was a hot day, and if it were me, I would have maybe stuck to the side of the park with the drinking water which is at least as I can tell the east side. Or in the past when I have entered the park through Golden Eagle and gone through Augustin Bernal along shady trails and it is really hot up there, I've just turned around and gone back.

 

[Andreee]

Hi <modsnip> and welcome! Glad to get your perspective on the search. I was just wondering if there was any validity to the person who said they saw a man in distress running under a bridge in or near the park, when exactly that was and which bridge it was?

 

[MichelleAntonia]

<modsnip - quoted post removed unless/until Poster is verified>


re: rational/irrational decision-making- as someone who's camped/hiked in many places in CA, lots of them hot, my first instinct is to say that someone feeling uncomfortable would want to get under something for shade/cooler air. Even if heat conditions have not affected clear thinking, getting into something like a tunnel or ditch, or any feature of the land, manmade or not, seems like something I would want to do for a moment or two. One of these places could be something that a clear-headed individual might rule out since they might be hard to later crawl out of. I am not familiar with anything past the main trail in the area, so I can't say if there's anything like that in the vicinity, at least on the west side of Foothill.

This is a thought, and it might be an extremely out-there one, but what about this water tower in question? How big is it, is there any way a person might be able to access it? Does it currently have water in it?

 

[Beekarina]

If the sighting near a Walmart where the individual appeared ready to cross a multi-lane highway was PK, what else is in that immediate area?

Are there trains heading out? Could he have crawled inside a freight car? Are there any relatively accessible but perhaps not frequently accessed industrial settings nearby where he may have sought shelter? Could he have hitched a ride out of the area with a truck driver?

I know these seem a bit out there, but you did ask us to consider what a person who is not rational might do.

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

New article, clarifies that police responded to JY's call w/o significant delay.
Pleasanton community steps up to support missing runner's family | News | PleasantonWeekly.com |

 

[JaimeInLA]

Hi <modsnip>---Thanks for leading the search effort. I had a few questions.

1. PARK EXITS Are cameras at the exit/entrance points to the Emergency Vehicle Access points to Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park and were they checked? I don't have the full list but the closest I found was from https://www.ebparks.org/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=23276

"--Hedd Canyon Trail connecting to Devany Canyon Road [through Vinsonproperty] [1]
--Devany Canyon connection to “The Preserve” subdivision [Pagini] [2]
--Valle Vista Trail connection through “The Preserve” subdivision open space [3]
--Connection between the former Schuhart property (now parkland) and the proposed Tehan Falls Trail/Garms Staging Area via Fuller, Smathers,
Finnegan and Del Arroz properties [4]
--Access to Garms Staging Area park security residence/park office via River Rock Hill Road [5]
--Santos Ranch Road connecting to the Valle Vista Trail/ (and Sinbad Valley) from Foothill Road [6]
--Valle Vista “bypass” [Tulare and Sadue] [7]
--Cook Canyon access off Palomares Road [Yunis] [8]
--Serenity Terrace Road (private) connection to Tehan Ridge Trail [9]
--Private drive off Foothill Road near southern boundary- EBRPD Conservation Easement [Butner property] [10]
--Kilkare Road connecting to Sinbad Creek Trail – District EVMA and secondary evacuation route for Kilkare Canyon residents (Refer to Emergency
Egress below) [11]
--Access routes through former Owen property from Palomares Road into the northern part of the park [12]."

Note: The list is confusing because EBRPD looks like it has renamed the North Ridge trail to the Valle Vista trail in this list. The Tehan Ridge Trail approximates what was the landbank area on the Strava run that connects Moller Ranch to Pleasanton Ridge. Also the Garms staging area does not exist yet.

2. PRIVATE PROPERTY Was the property around 9104 Longview searched where the Augustin Bernal Park entrance is at the top of the cul de sac (Augustin Bernal is the city park that accesses the EBRPD Pleasanton Ridge Park)? The city has an easement through private property there.

3. SANTA RITA Any subsequent thoughts to whether you think Philip was seen near the Arroyo Mocho trail near Santa Rita Rd across from the Walmart Neighborhood Market store that evening on Saturday July 10th? Or do you think it is possible they spotted someone else who looked similar? As far as I know, the Pleasanton Police have not commented on this at all.

4. DOGS Where did the dogs lose Philip's scent? I've read it was near a water tank off of Moller Ranch Dr. Is that accurate? And if so, was it on a specific trail on Moller Ranch near the tank (either the western trail that is near the grove of trees or the eastern trail that connects to Tehan Canyon Road) or actually on the trail that leads to the water tank? Or somewhere off trail near the water tank? Or was it on a completely different trail? Why do you think the scent was lost? Do you think Philip could have turned around? Also, has law enforcement attempted to find Philip's scent in Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park and did they have any luck at that such as where the shoeprints were found on the Mariposa Trail?

5. WATER ACCESS For water up there, did you see a lot of spots where there was water or had most of the lakes and streams dried up? Were the drinking fountains working both in Moller Ranch and Pleasanton Ridge or did Pleasanton/EBRPD turn them off because of COVID?

Water tanks?! Have they checked INSIDE the water tanks?! (Please don’t let this be an Elisa Lam situation!)

 

[okbeachmouse]

Hi folks!

Came across this forum while reading what some Twitter trolls decided to try to goad me with (good luck!). Apparently they weren’t too thrilled that some moderation occurred here at some point.

first off I’d like to say thanks for all the thought work and for the relatively speculation-free environment here.

mostly I’d just like to say that I’d love to point this energy in a useful direction, and to that end if a follow up to that AMA would settle some questions I’d be happy to do it. For the most part I’m an open book at this point, the only info I’d been holding back was the long list of locations Philip might have decided to run that day which he clearly didn’t decide to run. If you truly think it’ll settle some doubt I’m happy to answer things like “where did I run Saturday” and “what did I do that night/morning”, but mostly I’m hoping for questions that help folks ponder what did happen to Philip.

I feel at this point we’ve nearly closed the loop on searching the locations he’d have ended up in if he were making rational/semi-rational decisions, but as I mentioned in the AMA my experience with heat illness is that rational decision making is one of the first things you lose. We’re expanding our search within the area bounded by Palomares/580/Niles Canyon/Foothill now based on more irrational decision making. I’d love help reasoning though what someone making to-them seemingly rational but actually poor decision making might have done.

so if you have questions about details and what is known, anything I didn’t put in the AMA but do know (mostly an oversight if I didn’t put it in there) I’ll happily follow up.

if you all come up with a list of Qs, I’ll do my best to answer them early next week. Currently I’ve handed off my remaining search responsibilities to others since I’m away at a wedding, but the search (and official SAR search) continues, folks have stepped up to handle every need so far, and there’s always room for more help!

Best,
Chris (aka Runspired, or as apparently so many folks like to refer to me as “CT”).

Hi, I just have two questions- was the shirt that was found in PK's car the same one he wore on Friday night? And why is it assumed that PK was "probably" shirtless when he ran?

Thanks!!

 

[CocoChanel]

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[JaimeInLA]

<modsnip> does anyone know if the water tanks have been searched (inside the tanks?)

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

Pleasanton PD on Twitter: "It's been nearly 3 wks since Philip Kreycik was reported missing after he failed to return from a run at #Pleasanton Ridge. The search &amp; investigation continues as @ACSOSheriffs search teams are set to deploy tmrw. We'll provide an update after the search is complete. https://t.co/yqdVE5GObf" / Twitter

 

[Sillybilly]

ADMIN NOTE:

FYI, we have invited new member runspired (aka Chris T.) to become Verified as a case insider. Hopefully they will apply, and as soon as they are approved, their post that was removed will be reinstated, along with all responses to it.

 

[NancyDrewPonders]

I agree. It is difficult to figure out what was there at one point in time because the area has changed so much. Historic Aerials NETRonline: Historic Aerials has aerial photos back to the late 1950s of all of Pleasanton/Dublin, but it is hard to see what was where back so long ago. I hope instead they talk to Bob Doyle who just retired from EBRPD instead of trying to wade through maps. Doyle was in charge of land acquisition for many years and probably has more detail on what features and hazards such as wells and mines and caves are at specific locations throughout Pleasanton Ridge and the landbank area than anyone else. He just retired in December so hopefully they can get in touch with him. EBRPD - News Details

Have you brought this up to the search group? Sounds like a good tip

 

[Emi]

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this was a week ago but his family speaking to the media