CA CA - Egbert Rimkus (dec'd), Cornelia Meyer, & 2 kids, Death Valley, 26 July 1996

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2057dfca.html

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2089dmca.html

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2076dmca.html

No link for the other little boy.

George Weber is reported missing with the police since August 1, 1996. He did not return from a California vacation with its father.
The disappearance of German architect Egbert Rimkus his girlfriend Cornelia Meyer, his son Georg Weber, and Meyer's son Max, 4, has baffled officials for a decade. The travelers had bought an informational booklet at the Furnace Creek Visitors Center. A cash register receipt from the center's store indicates it was purchased on July 22, 1996.
A day later, as temperatures climbed to 124 degrees, the tourists drove south and then west in their 1996 Plymouth Voyager van, heading toward the stark Panamint Mountains.
The dirt trail they were on was being reclaimed by the desert. It was covered by loose rocks, large and small, as well as sand bars. Climbing from below sea level, the canyon road ascends to an abandoned mining camp at an elevation of about 2,500 feet. Known for his adventurous spirit, Rimkus must have found the drive to the camp an exciting adventure, according to people who knew him. Egbert stopped at the camp and left an entry in the log book that is kept in a steel box atop a short metal post. In German, it read, "7-23-96. Conny Egbert Georg Max. We are going through the pass."
Rimkus probably was referring to Mengle Pass, located near 7,196-foot-high Manly Peak on the southwest border of Death Valley National Park. After stopping at the cabin, the green minivan turned about a mile short of the pass and headed east along a sandy wash into remote Anvil Spring Canyon. Investigators familiar with the disappearance of the foursome are puzzled why they would have chosen to travel into such an isolated area.
In Dresden, Germany, the families and friends of the four tourists had expected them to return home by July 29. But their reserved seats aboard a Transworld Airways flight were empty. When they did not arrive, Heike Weber -- Rimkus' former wife and Georg Weber's mother -- went to the travel agency that arranged the foursome's trip to find out what had happened to the German tourists. The agency then inquired if the minivan rented by Rimkus and Meyer in Los Angeles had been returned. It had not. Dollar Rent-a-Car in Los Angeles said the van was overdue. The rental agent said the minivan would be reported as stolen if it wasn't returned within 30 days. On September 10, a stolen vehicle report was filed by Dollar Rent-a-Car with Los Angeles police.
The last anyone in Germany had heard from them was a fax that Rimkus had sent from the Treasure Island Hotel in Las Vegas. In it he had asked Heike Weber to send money. On August 14, Interpol listed the four Germans as missing persons. The vehicle they had travelled in was located on October 26, 1996 stuck in the wash at Anvil Spring Canyon. Its tires were buried deeply in the sand. Three were flat. There was no sign of the four German tourists.
Few clues were discovered in or near the minivan. No tracks were found which could be related to the missing persons, no purse, passports, rental car contract, keys, wallet, money or airline tickets were found.
Among items in the van were two Coleman sleeping bag boxes, along with a new Coleman sleeping bag, various pairs of shoes, and clean clothing for a woman, man and two children. There was also a 12-pack carton of Bud Ice beer, two unopened bottles of beer, empty one-gallon bottles of water and apple cider and a Swiss cheese wrapper. A camera, numerous rolls of exposed 35-mm film and a portable CD player also were found, along with an American flag, which had been taken from a stone cabin in Butte Valley, five miles away. A beer bottle was found a half-mile away that matched bottles in the vehicle, other than these clues, nothing else conclusive was found.
The official search for the missing tourists was called off on October 26, but subsequent efforts to learn the fate of the missing tourists continued for years, conducted by private parties and search-and-rescue groups.

There was an article about the Rimkus case in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (CA) on July 23, 2006, but I cannot access it. It was titled "Family Lost Without a Trace a Decade Ago"

Interesting case. I wonder when the fax was sent from Las Vegas to Germany? I didn't see a date in the write-up. And is it being inferred that the American flag was stolen from the cabin? That is odd.

not really. I mean if they were from another country, maybe it was a suvioner, I dont know, though, somethings sounds really weird about it. I mean you take off walking with no supplies if something happens to your car?

I don't see any conclusive proof that all of them were in the mini van when it became stuck in the wash. Maybe Rimkus walked out on his own (maybe with his 10yo son, too) after he ditched the car at the wash?

I would like to see an inventory of the things they purchased for this trip, esp. the sleeping bags, camping equipment so we can see what their intentions were.

July 23

• High: 123 at Death Valley, Calif.
• Low: 35 at Stanley, Idaho

July 24

• High: 124 at Death Valley, Calif.
• Lows: 33 at Barrow, Alaska (contiguous 48 states: 35 at Stanley, Idaho)

July 25

• High: 125 at Death Valley, Calif.
• Low: 39 at Jackson, Wyo.

July 26

• High: 121 at Death Valley, Calif.
• Low: 39 at Jackson, Wyo.

I've been thru death valley a few times and it can be unbearably hot--especially if you aren't used to hot temperatures. Just driving thru there i wondered what would happen if my air conditioning went out or my car broke down...the area is so desolate. You also don't see many cars out there except an occasional highway patrol officer or a few tourists. It takes (i think) at least an hour or more to drive thru, with not much to see except for sand and there is a point where you can see everything from up high, as it gets more elevated .

no one is really saying what they think happened to them, but what i think is more likely is not a kidnapping or murder (although it definitely could be) but hot temperatures, heat stroke, dehydration, etc. There are also wild animals, such as coyotes in death valley, which could explain why bodies were not found. i would think that one sandstorm would easily cover bodies as well. i hope that it's not the case, but it would seem almost impossible to find them if they never made it out of the desert.

I wonder about the beer bottle that was found. Did he throw it out the window on the way in or drop while they were walking away?

Did they stay with the car, using the airconditioner, until the fuel run out? What type of terrain was the car found in? Is there shelter within view of where the car got stuck? Mountains, forests, etc. Does the brochure they purchased show where water in located?

How long prior to them signing the guest book, did someone else sign the guest book? How long after them?

Had there been any attacks by wild animals outhere at all during the summer of 96?

I wish I had a map of where they were and where the bottle was found.

if they were out there in death valley, away from the small ghost towns and small tourist areas, i doubt they found shelter anywhere. I'm trying to recall seeing at least ONE tree out there, and i can't, unless you count cactus. I guess that would rule out a forest! for most of death valley, all you can see is yellow sand with a few hills here and there. There is not much out there because it's too hot.

Ten years later, a Death Valley mystery still unsolved
http://www.dailybulletin.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?article=4081105



http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/archives/1996/dec/18/505400896.html


Disturbing to investigators is that temperatures ranged in the 120s the week the tourists were last seen alive -- temperatures which could easily kill someone traveling without water and air-conditioning for longer than three days.

A team of 45 searchers, eight horses and four helicopters from numerous law enforcement agencies combed the remote area where the minivan was recovered in October, a rescue effort that cost at least $80,000. Investigators have ruled out foul play, although Callison declined to further comment.

http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:1UXnJyfinW4J:data2.itc.nps.gov/morningreport/archive/1996/10-25.doc+Egbert+Rimkus&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=16

On October 21st, an abandoned vehicle was discovered in Anvil Springs Canyon, a remote location in the park. The vehicle had been reported stolen from a rental company in Los Angeles when it was not returned as scheduled on July 26th. At the same time, the four German national who'd rented the vehicle - Egbert Rimkus, 33, Cornelia Meyer, 28, Georg Weber, 10 and Max Meyer, 4 - had been reported as missing. Since their itinerary was unknown, the park had not been notified of their disappearance. A ground search is underway with mounted horse units and rescue teams and SAR groups from several state and federal agencies. Updates will follow as the search continues. [Ann Holeso, PIO, DEVA]

In late July 1996, a pair of German tourists, VANISHED . . .
Chuck Mueller, Staff Writer
Editor's Note: The following is the first part of a two-part series on four German tourists who vanished in the Mojave Desert 10 years ago Sunday. DEATH VALLEY - For a record 40 straight days in the summer of 1996, the temperature soared above 120 degrees in this scorching natural cauldron in the Mojave Desert.
Photo Gallery: 1996: German tourists vanished
As inhospitable as it was, four German tourists drove their rented minivan into it in late July of that year - and vanished. It's one of the many mysteries of the Mojave.

.....
More at link:
http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_4081236

96-631 - Death Valley NP (California) - Significant Search in Progress


On October 21st, an abandoned vehicle was discovered in Anvil Springs Canyon, a remote location in the park. The vehicle had been reported stolen from a rental company in Los Angeles when it was not returned as scheduled on July 26th. At the same time, the four German national who'd rented the vehicle - Egbert Rimkus, 33, Cornelia Meyer, 28, Georg Weber, 10 and Max Meyer, 4 - had been reported as missing. Since their itinerary was unknown, the park had not been notified of their disappearance. A ground search is underway with mounted horse units and rescue teams and SAR groups from several state and federal agencies. Updates will follow as the search continues. [Ann Holeso, PIO, DEVA]

Click to expand...

Above from: http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:1UXnJyfinW4J:data2.itc.nps.gov/morningreport/archive/1996/10-25.doc+egbert+rimkus&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=16&ie=UTF-8

96-16 22 Oct 96 Search Death Valley Myers
Sgt. Marty Williamson called at 1130 on Tuesday, 22 October to tell us that the Park Service needed assistance with a search for four touring German nationals who were missing in the Anvil Springs area in the southwest corner of Death Valley National Monument. The missing persons were Egbert Rimkus (34), his son Georg Weber (10), Cornelia Meyer (28), and her son Max Meyer (4). They were last seen in Las Vegas on or about 21 July.
I called Park Ranger Dan Dellinges, the incident commander in base camp at Furnace Creek Airport, to get as many details as possible. Based on my conversations with Sgt. Williamson and Ranger Dellinges, I decided to let everyone finish the workday and meet at the Hut at 0400 on 23 October.
The subjects' vehicle, a rental mini-van, had been spotted on Monday, 21 October by Death Valley Park Rangers on an aerial reconnaissance flight. It was found about two miles into Anvil Springs Canyon heading east. It had three flat tires, and all the doors were locked. Further investigation showed that the subjects had signed the visitor's log at the Warm Springs Canyon mine site on 23 July. They almost certainly had visited the Anvil Springs geologist's cabin at the eastern base of Manly Peak because items were found in the van that were missing from the cabin. The most notable, an American flag clearly labeled "Butte Valley Stone Cabin," was found under the rear seat of the van.
CLMRG members were given assignments and flown into the field from a remote landing zone south of Furnace Creek. CLMRG was to search down canyon (east). Burros had wiped out all signs of human foot prints, and burro prints look almost exactly like human prints. Roseman's team found some soiled toilet paper about 1/2 mile southeast of the van and an empty beer bottle about one mile east of the van. The bottle was retrieved by the helicopter crew, and investigators matched the lot numbers with other bottles found in the van. These were the first and last positive clues found during the entire search.
Mitchell and Green arrived late Wednesday night, and Mitchell relieved me in base camp. Green and I were teamed with three members of the Inyo County team Thursday morning and flown into Mesquite Springs several miles down canyon from our other CLMRG teams. We were to search up canyon until we met D. Burge's team. This was done without any success in finding additional clues.
All the teams then moved to a bivouac location about two miles up canyon. The Inyo team was extracted by helicopter that evening, and all CLMRG members were grouped together as one team of eight.
The assignment for the third day was to clear an enormous alluvial fan, an area of about four square miles. We spread out and did a line search of the entire inner perimeter of the alluvial fan. We discovered one possible clue during this search-a bunch of cotton stuck in a cactus. An investigator flew in and picked up a sample to compare with the stuffing of a sleeping bag found in the van. The cotton turned out to be from a cottontop cactus.

It was after 1500 by the time we finished this assignment. Base thought about giving us an additional assignment but instead decided to extract us from the field. A helicopter came in almost immediately and flew everyone out to the Warm Springs landing zone and staging area. We returned to base by about 1800, debriefed, ate some dinner, and headed home. We arrived at the Hut at 2300, did our own debrief, and secured at 2330.
No sign of any of the four people was discovered. The Park Service secured the organized search the following day. The search will continue on a less formal basis, and an investigation is ongoing into possibilities other than that the subjects are lost in the desert.
Participating CLMRG members: Mike Myers (leader), Dennis Burge, Tom Roseman, Mike Dorey, Steve Florian, Debbie Breitenstein, Cindy Goettig, Al Green, Andrew Mitchell, and Carol Burge (coordinator).

Click to expand...

Above from: http://www.clmrg.org/TPFeb97.html

96-16 22 Oct 96 Search Death Valley Myers
Sgt. Marty Williamson called at 1130 on Tuesday, 22 October to tell us that the Park Service needed assistance with a search for four touring German nationals who were missing in the Anvil Springs area in the southwest corner of Death Valley National Monument. The missing persons were Egbert Rimkus (34), his son Georg Weber (10), Cornelia Meyer (28), and her son Max Meyer (4). They were last seen in Las Vegas on or about 21 July.
I called Park Ranger Dan Dellinges, the incident commander in base camp at Furnace Creek Airport, to get as many details as possible. Based on my conversations with Sgt. Williamson and Ranger Dellinges, I decided to let everyone finish the workday and meet at the Hut at 0400 on 23 October.
The subjects' vehicle, a rental mini-van, had been spotted on Monday, 21 October by Death Valley Park Rangers on an aerial reconnaissance flight. It was found about two miles into Anvil Springs Canyon heading east. It had three flat tires, and all the doors were locked. Further investigation showed that the subjects had signed the visitor's log at the Warm Springs Canyon mine site on 23 July. They almost certainly had visited the Anvil Springs geologist's cabin at the eastern base of Manly Peak because items were found in the van that were missing from the cabin. The most notable, an American flag clearly labeled "Butte Valley Stone Cabin," was found under the rear seat of the van.
CLMRG members were given assignments and flown into the field from a remote landing zone south of Furnace Creek. CLMRG was to search down canyon (east). Burros had wiped out all signs of human foot prints, and burro prints look almost exactly like human prints. Roseman's team found some soiled toilet paper about 1/2 mile southeast of the van and an empty beer bottle about one mile east of the van. The bottle was retrieved by the helicopter crew, and investigators matched the lot numbers with other bottles found in the van. These were the first and last positive clues found during the entire search.
Mitchell and Green arrived late Wednesday night, and Mitchell relieved me in base camp. Green and I were teamed with three members of the Inyo County team Thursday morning and flown into Mesquite Springs several miles down canyon from our other CLMRG teams. We were to search up canyon until we met D. Burge's team. This was done without any success in finding additional clues.
All the teams then moved to a bivouac location about two miles up canyon. The Inyo team was extracted by helicopter that evening, and all CLMRG members were grouped together as one team of eight.
The assignment for the third day was to clear an enormous alluvial fan, an area of about four square miles. We spread out and did a line search of the entire inner perimeter of the alluvial fan. We discovered one possible clue during this search-a bunch of cotton stuck in a cactus. An investigator flew in and picked up a sample to compare with the stuffing of a sleeping bag found in the van. The cotton turned out to be from a cottontop cactus.

It was after 1500 by the time we finished this assignment. Base thought about giving us an additional assignment but instead decided to extract us from the field. A helicopter came in almost immediately and flew everyone out to the Warm Springs landing zone and staging area. We returned to base by about 1800, debriefed, ate some dinner, and headed home. We arrived at the Hut at 2300, did our own debrief, and secured at 2330.
No sign of any of the four people was discovered. The Park Service secured the organized search the following day. The search will continue on a less formal basis, and an investigation is ongoing into possibilities other than that the subjects are lost in the desert.
Participating CLMRG members: Mike Myers (leader), Dennis Burge, Tom Roseman, Mike Dorey, Steve Florian, Debbie Breitenstein, Cindy Goettig, Al Green, Andrew Mitchell, and Carol Burge (coordinator

http://www.clmrg.org/TPFeb97.html

They also reported this case in Germany.
Article is in German.
http://www.berlinonline.de/berliner-kurier/archiv/.bin/dump.fcgi/1996/1027/none/0015/index.html

http://lang.sbsun.com/socal/gallery2/?folder=news/072206_vanished

Photo Gallery. Hope the link works.

I don't understand why they do not have a Doe Network page for the youngest boy.

It worked, thanks, thats awesome, it really brings it to life.

Beyond Belief said:

I wonder about the beer bottle that was found. Did he throw it out the window on the way in or drop while they were walking away?

Did they stay with the car, using the airconditioner, until the fuel run out? What type of terrain was the car found in? Is there shelter within view of where the car got stuck? Mountains, forests, etc. Does the brochure they purchased show where water in located?

How long prior to them signing the guest book, did someone else sign the guest book? How long after them?

Had there been any attacks by wild animals outhere at all during the summer of 96?

I wish I had a map of where they were and where the bottle was found.

Click to expand...

There are photos on the link I provided below. The 4th and 10th show the area where the van was found. I'm guessing after the car got stuck, they decided to walk (not a good idea, but then neither is staying there) and got lost, overheated, etc.