James Kim Found Dead

[91 X]

http://www.cnet.com/

:frown: so sad to hear the news today...what a tragidy...AS a father of two little ones myself, I'm sure I would have probably did anything to try and save them as did he...RIP brave soul...
It is ironic though, that someone who had access to all the latest technology didn't have a GPS or something else to find his way...Let this be a lesson to all, staying in your car is the safest bet when stranded in winter conditions...

 

[zahntech]

Very very sad.....RIP James Kim.

 

[my1stnsx]

A father and a husband trying to save his family, its definitely a big loss for the kim family.:frown: My prayers go out to his family, may his soul R.I.P!!!I know I would do anything to save my family.

 

[Jeff@Carbon6]

I used to watch him on TechTV all the time. I was praying he would be OK. Very sad news.

 

[Hugh]

The guy was a geek who worked for CNET. Didn't he have a cell phone in the car? Tragic nonetheless but it was preventable. OnStar would have saved his life. Sad.

 

[Jeff@Carbon6]

The guy was a geek who worked for CNET. Didn't he have a cell phone in the car? Tragic nonetheless but it was preventable. OnStar would have saved his life. Sad.

They said on CNN that there were outgoing calls but not a close enough tower to intercept it. They were way out in the boonies, I guess.

 

[NSXGMS]

A tragedy for sure...:frown:

I didn't seem to read anything about how the wife and kids were finally found.

I'm not sure if running around in the woods in near freezing temperatures was the wisest move...I probably would have stayed on the main drag or just stayed with my family until help arrived...that's just me.

 

[Osiris_x11]

down

Incredibly sad news, to say the leasts. Wish the bests for the family...

 

[ragecorps]

very sad story, RIP :frown:

 

[DocL]

The guy was a geek who worked for CNET. Didn't he have a cell phone in the car? Tragic nonetheless but it was preventable. OnStar would have saved his life. Sad.

Actually, it was because of their cell phone that the wife and kids were found. They were alble to track the signal that all cell phones emmit unless you disable that function. Nevertheless, it's a sad ending.

 

[docjohn]

the news is saying that his footprints away from the car were spotted by helicopter searchers,so in a way his departure did indeed help his family,but with hindsight he should have stayed.:frown:

 

[BD]

The guy was a geek who worked for CNET. Didn't he have a cell phone in the car? Tragic nonetheless but it was preventable. OnStar would have saved his life. Sad.

Again Hugh, you made a insensible comment.

if you don't have any thing better to say about the dead, who tried to look for help for his family, please don't post!!! YOU DON’T THINK HE WOULD HAVE USE THE EQUIPMENTS IF THEY WORKED? Imagine his family heard what you just said; obviously you don’t care!!! There are plenty of time and place for you to make jackass comments, which you have done plenty of times in the past, BUT THIS IS NOT ONE OF THEM!!!



Kim did the honorable thing for trying to look for help, unfortunately; it ended with tragedy. My sincere condolence to his family for the lost.

 

[ediddynsx]

Wow sorry to hear about the bad news....my condolences.

 

[clr1024]

very sad news! He did everything he could and his family will remember him fondly:frown:

 

[WingZ]

This was so sad! I can't tell you all how much I was hoping they would find him alive. Dang!

 

[comtec]

Again Hugh, you made a insensible comment.

Vance i think hugh just meant that he was a techno geek, as in someone who buys all the latest electronic gadgets (ie: cell phone). i don't think he was being derogatory.

 

[steveny]

Last time I was out in Oregon I was in the area where they found Mr. Kim. I can tell you guys it wou;ld be very easy to get lost fast out there. There are tons of side roads that go for miles into nowhere. If I had gotten lost out there I would have stayed with the car for sure. Man with the cold, animals, god knows what, there is no way I would leave the car.

That show "I shouldn't be alive" shows what crazy conditions people can live through. The common denominator that kills people is most always the cold.

Rip Mr. Kim!!

 

[NsXMas]

...
That show "I shouldn't be alive" shows what crazy conditions people can live through. The common denominator that kills people is most always the cold.

Rip Mr. Kim!!

I was thinking the same thing - Les Strand did that "I shouldn't be alive" show with the exact same situation - showing what you can do if you get stranded in the cold, to survive.

I also loved his "Survivorman" shows where he shows how to survive in the extreme cold, as well as "How to survive urban disasters".

Very informative, and could save lives.

 

[steveny]

I was thinking the same thing - Les Strand did that "I shouldn't be alive" show with the exact same situation - showing what you can do if you get stranded in the cold, to survive.

I also loved his "Survivorman" shows where he shows how to survive in the extreme cold, as well as "How to survive urban disasters".

Very informative, and could save lives.

Have you been watching that nut Bear Grills? This dude is crazy. He pretends he is in a plane crash in the mountains. So he has to walk back to civilization, but he says what would happen if I had fallen in the water? So he jumps through the ice into freezing water and then walks miles back. NUTS!!!

The Everest climbing show that is on Tuesdays at 10 has to be one of the best shows about survival I have ever seen. Makes me want to go and climb that mountain now.

I wonder if Mr. Kim ever had the opportunity to see any of these shows?

 

[TES]

This was a terrible tragedy. The events have been all over the news in my home state since the beginning. I keep reading people state that he should have stayed with the car, yet put yourself in his shoes. If I was stuck in the same environment with my wife and two daughters, after 7 days I would have started hiking too – probably sooner. Keep in mind they had minimal food – I believe some rice cakes and a little baby food. The two children survived off their mother’s breast milk. Unfortunately after 7 days with basically no food James’s mind made a bad decision when he went up the road less than a mile and then started hiking down through a drainage -- then up and down through very steep terrain. He was very motivated to find help yet it’s too bad he didn’t back track on the main road – he likely could have made it 50+ miles over the same period of time down the same road he came in on, potentially crossing paths with another vehicle. His route only progressed 7 miles due to the brutal terrain.

I believe the lesson for all is if you travel in these conditions in the wilderness always be prepared for the worst – have a duffel bag full of bare necessities -- so easy to say yet so few follow.

RIP – I wish the best to his family - he is their hero.

 

[steveny]

This was a terrible tragedy. The events have been all over the news in my home state since the beginning. I keep reading people state that he should have stayed with the car, yet put yourself in his shoes. If I was stuck in the same environment with my wife and two daughters, after 7 days I would have started hiking too – probably sooner. Keep in mind they had minimal food – I believe some rice cakes and a little baby food. The two children survived off their mother’s breast milk. Unfortunately after 7 days with basically no food James’s mind made a bad decision when he went up the road less than a mile and then started hiking down through a drainage -- then up and down through very steep terrain. He was very motivated to find help yet it’s too bad he didn’t back track on the main road – he likely could have made it 50+ miles over the same period of time down the same road he came in on, potentially crossing paths with another vehicle. His route only progressed 7 miles due to the brutal terrain.

I believe the lesson for all is if you travel in these conditions in the wilderness always be prepared for the worst – have a duffel bag full of bare necessities -- so easy to say yet so few follow.

RIP – I wish the best to his family - he is their hero.

My wife says if this ever happened to us she would want me to stay with the car. She says if I die, she wants to be dead with me. :frown: :biggrin:

 

[flaminio]

This story really affected me these past few days, for a couple reasons. One, I'm familiar with Kim's work on CNet, and have always enjoyed his broadcasts that stream to my TiVo. In fact, the most recent one featured Kim heavily, reviewing MP3 players, and this was after he was already reported missing. I couldn't help feeling "I'm watching a dead man tell me about iPods"; sadly, I was right.

The bigger reason Kim's story got to me was it could have easily been me. Kim's a tech geek; I'm a tech geek. Kim lives in the Bay Area; I live in the Bay Area. Kim has two small daughters; I have two small daughters. Kim likes to take them on road trips, as do I. Kim has friends in Portland, and I do to. Each step of the way I could easily imagine myself finding myself in the same situation, making the same decisions.

The one thing I don't understand about the story is, when Kim decided to leave the car and find help, why did he leave the road? Granted, leaving the car in the first place is generally a bad decision, but given that they'd been sitting there for eight days already, it probably made a little sense. He had no idea that they'd be rescued anytime soon. Also, it appeared from the pictures of the car that the snow had begun to melt, so he might have seen it as a window of opportunity to get help before the next snowfall comes. But why leave the road? If he had just followed the road back the way he came, he would eventually have walked clear to Grant's Pass -- and certainly before then come upon a house or car he could flag down. Or get in range of a cell tower to make a call. According to the reports he walked about two miles down the road, and then into a drainage ditch. Why? Not for water -- there was still lots of snow around to eat. We may never know, but it vexes me.

My thoughts are with his family, and especially his daughters.

 

[queenlives]

of course, this was a tragedy for such a young family. by all accounts, he was an admirable father, husband and co-worker and will be missed by all who knew him.

having said these things, perhaps his loss / this situation can benefit those who will learn from it:

when traveling in unfamiliar areas in uncertain conditions (remote territory, night, inclement weather) increase your level of awareness and preparedness to increase your chances reaching your destination or simply surviving the journey.

 

[steveny]

This story really affected me these past few days, for a couple reasons. One, I'm familiar with Kim's work on CNet, and have always enjoyed his broadcasts that stream to my TiVo. In fact, the most recent one featured Kim heavily, reviewing MP3 players, and this was after he was already reported missing. I couldn't help feeling "I'm watching a dead man tell me about iPods"; sadly, I was right.

The bigger reason Kim's story got to me was it could have easily been me. Kim's a tech geek; I'm a tech geek. Kim lives in the Bay Area; I live in the Bay Area. Kim has two small daughters; I have two small daughters. Kim likes to take them on road trips, as do I. Kim has friends in Portland, and I do to. Each step of the way I could easily imagine myself finding myself in the same situation, making the same decisions.

The one thing I don't understand about the story is, when Kim decided to leave the car and find help, why did he leave the road? Granted, leaving the car in the first place is generally a bad decision, but given that they'd been sitting there for eight days already, it probably made a little sense. He had no idea that they'd be rescued anytime soon. Also, it appeared from the pictures of the car that the snow had begun to melt, so he might have seen it as a window of opportunity to get help before the next snowfall comes. But why leave the road? If he had just followed the road back the way he came, he would eventually have walked clear to Grant's Pass -- and certainly before then come upon a house or car he could flag down. Or get in range of a cell tower to make a call. According to the reports he walked about two miles down the road, and then into a drainage ditch. Why? Not for water -- there was still lots of snow around to eat. We may never know, but it vexes me.

My thoughts are with his family, and especially his daughters.

Maybe the road had a sharp turn and he was trying to not walk 2 miles down to a turn and two miles back when he could just cut across a revine. Then he got lost in the bottom of the revine. I bet the lack of food and warm weather made it hard to make good decisions.

 

[NsXMas]

Have you been watching that nut Bear Grills? This dude is crazy. He pretends he is in a plane crash in the mountains. So he has to walk back to civilization, but he says what would happen if I had fallen in the water? So he jumps through the ice into freezing water and then walks miles back. NUTS!!!

The Everest climbing show that is on Tuesdays at 10 has to be one of the best shows about survival I have ever seen. Makes me want to go and climb that mountain now.

I wonder if Mr. Kim ever had the opportunity to see any of these shows?

No I haven't heard of Bear Grills. I'll need to search for his show information.

I haven'ts seen the Everst show either, now I want to see it.

One thing makes me wonder about James Kim - as CNet editor, why the heck did he not have a GPS system???

With GPS systems cheaper than dirt these days (the MIO C310x was $150 after Thanksgiving), and given the long trip the Kim family had to take, how the hell could they not bring along a GPS system?

Fatal mistake.

RIP.