Interesting development in the case of missing Joshua Tree hikers Joseph Orbeso and Rachel Nguyen:
The families of the missing pair have asked the public to engage in helping their recovery. They are offering a reward of $10,000 for any information that leads to the successful and safe return of Nguyen and Orbeso. It is their hope that the missing party may have left on their own accord and are alive somewhere outside the park.
I empathize with the families. What a horrible situation. Still, I think it is a mistake to publicly suggest or imply that these two hikers faked their own disappearance. There has been no evidence offered for such a claim. It is an arbitrary theory, one that serves only to cast a shadow upon the reputation of these two young adults. If I were ever missing in the mountains, I would hope that my friends and family refrain from such speculations.
I agree with you but can't imagine what it's like for those families right now. They know they didn't survive in the desert this long, so their only hope is something crazy like this.
The probability of recovery(dead) seems very high...say within a 1/2 mile range.
They were recreationalists. Cant be surprised if they were tracking dragons as well.
They were found 2 miles from the car.
So if you come to a national park and get lost, you deserve to die from NPS indifference.
Or can we get cell phone reception in Joshua Tree to send a message to that local NPS?
It's important to remember that this couple probably did almost everything wrong, and they paid the ultimate price for it. It's a terrible tragedy. But I am reluctant to place blame on the NPS for this one.
Im not referring to this situation specifically, but had they done everything right, they would have had to walk out on their own to survive.
2 people probably chasing dragons and then 'waking' to being in a desert with no idea where anything is or why....is pretty much the same as telling people to stop if they are lost.
And if you cant find people who are stopped within 2 miles in a desert, then why should anyone stop if they are lost?
As it is, the NPS has deprived them of their cell phone reception....and a response by non-SARs to find them upon search phase.
Its isnt about so much that they werent found until now as the indifference to it. If Im in charge and cant find them, this result tells me I need to improve...because human life and energy is the priority. Im not going to sit on some bureaucratic legal absolution...and then the next time the Maze loop comes up again, the odds of the next deaths are 75-25....if there is any hope at all for the next 2 months for those people. This was an indifference from the very beginning. And if you compare it to a place that is indifferent but tosses in a requirement for permits, then it looks even worse.
Of course anyone could ask how many searches Ive led, etc,etc, but it wouldnt matter because it goes back to the overall system, and which is the 'biggest pie' system.
And this one is like the outdated display relic I saw at Channel Islands that said for help to call Kings Canyon/Sequoia.
The other errors are only going to matter to those who care....which I would think are all known. I would think if drugs are found in a car, the SAR top level gets that info....and that the top level does not end on voice mail when that person is on vacation and has no access to a phone. And we will assume that the found sunglasses meant nothing and were found in a misleading direction. This is the sunglasses that the person called in to the wrong phone number listed on the poster....while volunteers were baking away in Timbuktu land on cell phone suspicions. The same followers who should have been leading...imo, but had to just take orders.
I keep thinking about the case of the French couple who died in the White Sands summer heat a couple of years ago. Only their young son survived because they gave him extra water. The parents died apparently without realizing what deep trouble they were in. The son said his father kept telling him "The car is just up ahead." The car was two miles behind.
Hyperthermia and dehydration cause mental confusion before death. Those needing rescue may not realize that they need rescue. It's not like a broken leg where you know you need help.
In any event, I believe that I am responsible for my own safety in the backcountry. I may or may not be able to make a phone call. SAR may or may not come. They may or may not be able to find me. If I wanted to be perfectly safe, I would never get out of bed.
AW wrote:And if you cant find people who are stopped within 2 miles in a desert, then why should anyone stop if they are lost?
My guess is that the extreme heat and sun exposure prevented them from stopping anywhere in the open, where they could have been easily seen by a passing helicopter or SAR member on foot.
Sean wrote:
Doh! This just in. I guess now we can stop speculating about the cause, and start speculating about the motive.
You mean the sheriff statement that anyone with an ounce of compassion would have done the same thing...to 'the animal' with no value?
Now about how much drugs were found....now that the SB sherrifs finally showed up they can finally respond to pertinent questions?
This article has an interesting bit of info. Apparently Rachel had asked her current boyfriend to go on the hike for her birthday, but he was busy and said she should go with Joseph. If the people closest to Rachel do not suspect Joseph of having evil intentions, then I certainly am not going to engage in such speculation. I think the mercy killing idea makes the most sense given recent information from the investigation and family members.
Fortunately for Rachel, Joseph just happened to be packing. Otherwise, him being the angel or mercy that he was would have been considerably more challenging.
