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

[EmmieA]

Well, I'm not materialistic or well paid either, but I still do better than these two.
I value being able to call and use the internet when I want, so pay for an 20gb data plan. It's cheap enough.

Thing is, it's peace of mind. I'm surprised having 2 young children, they didn't upgrade to more secure and reliable things. Shoes and phones are a good place to start.

I do wonder what they DID spend their money on....maybe they are saving it for early retirement?

An idea on where he spent his money: He owned a house in Berkeley, CA where the median price is $1.5 million

 

[MichelleAntonia]

Can you supply a source for this? I've only seen mentions of "a person" (not specifically "a man") and that the cries may have in fact been searchers shouting "Philip," which could be mistaken for "Help!"

I'm wondering too. From my recollection, the news story said that the cries were heard after midnight and by the Sunol exit off 680, which is not in the search area. I'm also not sure that searchers would be out there past midnight.

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

Has it been confirmed the car was locked? I have seen it mentioned both locked and unlocked, just trying to confirm.

CT confirmed in a FB post that it was locked.

 

[annpats]

An idea on where he spent his money: He owned a house in Berkeley, CA where the median price is $1.5 million

Well, it was their choice. Cheaper areas are available......

 

[RumorMonger]

What if we try this….

How about for argument’s sake, we conclude that he’s not in the park.

What happened to him?

I keep coming back to the idea that a fake route and a short time span means that he didn't aim to disappear himself. If that was the ultimate goal, he would have bailed out the night before or some other time when he had a longer period to get lost before his wife narced him out.

I also keep thinking that his being reported as missing so quickly must mean something. Most people would just think that he had gotten distracted ... ran longer ... stopped for a beer ... stuck in traffic ... whatever. Who jumps to lost and missing after 1 hour? Someone with suspicions.

So, if he isn't in the park, I say he used his free time to get up to no good and was planning to return home but that plan went bad. I have no evidence for this theory and won't speculate on the "no good" given that I'm already so far out on a limb.

IMO

ETA: I didn't use the word above, but this theory means the drawn route on Strava and, in fact, the whole "run" was an alibi.

 

[EmmieA]

I'm wondering too. From my recollection, the news story said that the cries were heard after midnight and by the Sunol exit off 680, which is not in the search area. I'm also not sure that searchers would be out there past midnight.

 

[EmmieA]

info on the cries for help from the AMA

 

[Auntie Cipation]

I also keep thinking that his being reported as missing so quickly must mean something. Most people would just think that he had gotten distracted ... ran longer ... stopped for a beer ... stuck in traffic ... whatever. Who jumps to lost and missing after 1 hour? Someone with suspicions.

I wondered about this too but then decided that it probably wasn't just that he didn't arrive when expected, but also that he didn't respond to her presumed phone calls or texts to check in with him. Maybe they were always diligent about that kind of safety check communication, and when adding in the warnings about the extreme heat that weekend, she knew something was likely wrong when she couldn't reach him.

MOO just speculating

 

[Beekarina]

The heat was the only reason I could come up with as it has been clearly stated PK is physically and emotionally healthy.

 

[Deleted member 222031]

Hi @runspired I’m sure these are not all the questions various members have asked you concerning Philip’s disappearance, but as you suggested it may be easier for you to address some of them if they’re in a compiled form.
(Note: these questions are from other members’ posts & may have already been answered) Hope this helps a lil!
Thanks for all your input and the hard work you’ve put in towards finding Philip.

Compiled Questions from Members
Are cameras at the exit/entrance points to the Emergency Vehicle Access points to Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park and were they checked?

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)?

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?

Was there any validity to the report I read that a woman saw a man running under a bridge in/near the park, seemingly in distress? (maybe this ties in with the Walmart sighting)

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?

Have the water tanks been searched?

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?

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?

Do you know what the temperature was in the park at the time of Philip's run? I tried to find this info on some weather sites but wasn't able to. I'm asking because I live about 30 miles from Pleasanton Ridge Park, so I experience basically the same climate. When I see references to running in 107 degree heat or some such, I know that can't be true. 107 degrees was reportedly the highest temperature for that location on 7/10.

Do you think offering a reward for information will help find him?

One thing I'm really puzzled by probably cannot be answered, but I will put it back out there: with all of the general surveillance out there, the only place PK was captured was when sending the package?

But the thing is, why NOT release them (surveillance of Philip dropping off package)?
It just seems strange not to, and in most missing persons cases the last known footage is released to the public.

Bumping this post of unanswered questions compiled for VI @runspired

 

[MichelleAntonia]

info on the cries for help from the AMA

Thank you. What he says makes sense. There's no confirmation that it wasn't PK, but if it was him, it seems like they had a high likelihood of finding him there.

 

[mlhenn]

The thing is though, I read the other day that extreme heat can negate a human scent being followed by a search dog. So that could be why the dogs lost the scent so early.

This link seems to have some pretty interesting info on how temperature affects scents.

Family-Disaster-Dogs: Temperature and Scent affects Working Dogs

Throughout the increasing heat of the day, water and moisture in the scent particles evaporate. The surfaces and the scent become dry.

This means during certain times of the day, the particles of scent will be more difficult to detect due to the loss of moisture in everything. Scent particles are still there but shrunk in a sense and can be detected under certain circumstances.

This is why search dogs and tracking dogs should be kept hydrated at all times.

Mild temperatures will affect the dog’s nose less but more with distance. For instance, when a dog begins to dehydrate after tracking for several miles the nose will dry up and scenting ability begins to drop.

At this point a dog may lose the scent, go off track or stop trailing or tracking the trail or scent not because the trail has disappeared but because their nose is dry.

...

The day’s temperature plays a role in how quickly the scent particles will be released or if they stay dry making them move more easily on the wind. The surface comes into play when the surface changes from grass, dirt, pavement or a table top.

 

[hooziewhutz]

(Can we post comments from WS verified insiders that were written on other websites? Please delete my comment below if not, but I *think* that's allowed.)

Someone asked a question about why the text screenshots between PK and his wife that were shared on the AMA document weren't blue bubbles (as they would be on an iPhone). CT replied: "It’s directly from Jen’s phone, hers has the Cricket carrier. It’s green vs blue because Phil doesn’t have an iPhone."

From this, we can learn that Phil doesn't have an iPhone and his wife's phone is a Cricket phone.

I was considering posting this very reference. Glad you did

 

[mlhenn]

I agree. The Sheriff's Department Sergeant, who spoke at length in a news video before this weekend's extensive search, said they are convinced PK is in the park area. (don't remember exact words) He made clear his admiration of PK as an athlete, family man, and outdoors person. That tells me one of two things. Either they have done enough research to believe PK never left the park area. OR They are investigating other avenues quietly. The Sergeant's heartfelt words touched me, and frankly. I was surprised. Maybe Pleasanton has a really exceptionally caring LE community.

I’m with you on this 100%

 

[mlhenn]

Isn't Cricket a pay as you go phone? i.e. not dissimilar from the ones we were discussing earlier?

Interesting.

Maybe they're really frugal?

Cricket is a phone carrier owned by ATT. Cricket offers iPhones as well as a variety of other phones.

 

[Curious_in_NC]

I looked at Philip's recent Strava activities. Some were recorded with the Suunto Ambit watch but many were recorded directly by an Android Strava app. So this suggests he had an Android phone, and more importantly, he actually did take a phone with him on quite a lot of his activities.

 

[10ofRods]

I looked at Philip's recent Strava activities. Some were recorded with the Suunto Ambit watch but many were recorded directly by an Android Strava app. So this suggests he had an Android phone, and more importantly, he actually did take a phone with him on quite a lot of his activities.

Maybe. My watch doesn't upload things until it's connected back to the phone - in which case, it looks like it came from the phone (not Android, though).

His friends say he didn't take the phone, as he was trying for ultra-light. Did he even have water? Do we know?

I keep coming back to the idea that a fake route and a short time span means that he didn't aim to disappear himself. If that was the ultimate goal, he would have bailed out the night before or some other time when he had a longer period to get lost before his wife narced him out.

I also keep thinking that his being reported as missing so quickly must mean something. Most people would just think that he had gotten distracted ... ran longer ... stopped for a beer ... stuck in traffic ... whatever. Who jumps to lost and missing after 1 hour? Someone with suspicions.

So, if he isn't in the park, I say he used his free time to get up to no good and was planning to return home but that plan went bad. I have no evidence for this theory and won't speculate on the "no good" given that I'm already so far out on a limb.

IMO

ETA: I didn't use the word above, but this theory means the drawn route on Strava and, in fact, the whole "run" was an alibi.

Totally disagree about "someone with suspicions." In this day and age, my family members give parameters that tie them to strict return times. I'm serious.

If my SO was supposed to contact me after an hour of hill hiking (which he does routinely - not a runner, a hiker), not only would I be on the phone, but I know the name of our neighborhood watch commander and that person would answer my urgent messages - day or night. I live in a place similar to Pleasanton.

If I told my spouse I was going for a 20 minute walk (I would set my watch timer) and it was 45 minutes, with the uptick in various crimes and misdemeanors, he'd call it in and I guarantee you, there would be a response from our neighborhood resource officer. I help train them (but that wouldn't be why they respond - they don't even know my partner's name). Our police staff takes missing person reports extremely seriously and uses all reports for training. There are a few daily (kids go down into the river bed, etc)

The older the person, the more likely it is that they are actually responsibly hiking/running and will let others know when they are done and on their way. All I'd have to do is tell the desk person at our local LE that my SO normally checked in promptly when he said he would, but hadn't done so. It would take a couple of hours to get a helicopter into the air, but less for LE to be at various trail heads, asking people what's up (not all the trailheads, but the beginning and ending, for sure).

There's a reason that people give their loved ones their times and parameters and the loved ones try to be diligent. It's not at all surprising to me, as a Californian (and NorCal is more diligent than SoCal) to think that the spouse of a runner/hiker who reported them missing would be seriously listened to.

He's not the type of guy who just stopped for a beer and ignored his obligation to turn up and pick up his family. It's hard to explain, but my gut level understanding of ultra-marathoners and hill runners tells me that he didn't just skip out.

I'll eat my words if that turns out to be the case. But personally, I think suggesting he'd do this to his wife, children, friends, colleagues and law enforcement is truly ugly. He's a victim of misadventure and needs rescue. He didn't run off in any planned manner. IMO.

Using the word "alibi" implies you think he was, in addition, trying to cover something up.

 

[10ofRods]

Well, it was their choice. Cheaper areas are available......

But most scientists with his background could likely afford it - I don't see why it's an issue here. At all.

 

[ElizabethAnne]

I personally don't think the BART theory is as feasible. In order to get to BART from the trailhead/parking lot, you'd have to walk through that Moller Ranch neighborhood (the quiet, idyllic one where everyone notices everyone else), then out on Foothill, most likely through the Stoneridge Mall area, and then down, on either side of the freeway, on very big/busy streets going east (Dublin Blvd on the north side of 580 is the only one I'm thinking of rn, I think there are mainly industrial parks on the south side). On a Saturday, he'd have to pass tons of people, many huge intersections and probably traffic cams. A shirtless guy isn't necessarily the most common sight, I think people would have remembered seeing him.

Whoever drove Kreycik's car (Kreycik or someone else) could have left the neighborhood without being seen by the neighbors.

The reasons are:

There is only one house between the staging area and Foothill Rd and it faces Legendary Court, not Moller Ranch Dr. Only the side fence faces Moller Ranch Dr. and there is a lot of foliage.

The staging area is not in the neighborhood among the houses, but below the neighborhood.

It was a very hot day and assuming most of the people had their ACs on full blast and were sitting in their family rooms of this development, most which are oriented toward the back yard, and not the front of the house, I doubt and individual would have been seen people walking around because it was so hot. Neighbors would not have been outside strolling around in the late morning to late afternoon, but they would have been in their houses. They could have driven down the street though.

Anyone can cut through to the Preserve neighborhood via a trail and there are no houses between the Laurel Ranch staging area and Foothill Rd either.

 

[cbdoc]

I think its important to remember that shoe prints matching PKs shoes were located on the uphill portion of the Mariposa trail and photographed early in the search (blue star on the map). According to Chris (PKs good friend), there's a high likelihood that those prints were PKs.

This would suggest that PK ran the Strava route but took a shortcut via the Mariposa Trail, possibly because he was running slower in the heat. He was also close to the peak of the run at that point, and most of the route from that point forward would have been downhill.

I speculate he tried another shortcut that cuts through one of the canyons as he may have been familiar with the trails that this canyon joins with from previous runs in the area. At this stage he

1. Either injured himself or heat got to him in a very hard to find spot given how much this area has been combed.
2. Ran into Tehan Canyon Road and either ran into someone on the road or ended up on private property / homes. There are several large homes/properties on this street whose properties run right into some of the trails that would have led PK back to his car. I would love to know if these homes/property owners have allowed LE to search.

See map. Red is the "shortcut" run through Mariposa and the blue arrow is what I speculate.