Deceased/Not Found HI - Samuel Martinez, 23, from Nebraska, missed flight home, Kauai, 12 May 2021

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How sad this is. I assume he lost the trail somewhere and just couldn't find his way back out or was injured / fell somewhere where no one could help. Maybe there's a small chance of being a crime victim too.
Still rooting for a miracle or for his family to have answers soon.
 
Day 78

Yes, it's frustrating to not be hearing any updates since Sam's family flew to Hawaii last month. The flight home without their loved one must have been bittersweet.

The lady, Amanda Eller, who was lost in a Maui forest for two weeks gives hope tho. She survived by eating guavas and drinking water. Her legs were raw since she lost her shoes early on during her horrendous ordeal in May.

Yoga teacher Amanda Eller after rescue from Hawaii forest: 'I chose life'
 
According to Search Dog Kauai, Samuel's backpack was found Oct. 13 stashed under some bushes near the church in Koke'e. Police believe it was stashed near the beginning of his trip, so it seems he wasn't planning to be gone too long.
I can't post the link as it is from FB, but it was posted by a close family member.
 
Last edited:
Mamamerced said:
According to Search Dog Kauai, Samuel's backpack was found Oct. 13 stashed under some bushes near the church in Koke'e. Police believe it was stashed near the beginning of his trip, so it seems he wasn't planning to be gone too long.
I can't post the link as it is from FB, but it was posted by a close family member.
Click to expand...

Any speculation regarding why he would stash his backpack, and why that location?

Any dangerous trails nearby where he might have gone exploring?
 
Mamamerced said:
According to Search Dog Kauai, Samuel's backpack was found Oct. 13 stashed under some bushes near the church in Koke'e. Police believe it was stashed near the beginning of his trip, so it seems he wasn't planning to be gone too long.
I can't post the link as it is from FB, but it was posted by a close family member.
Click to expand...

Thank you. Was the name of the church given? Hoping to get an idea of Samuel's location at that time.
 
ChatteringBirds said:
Any speculation regarding why he would stash his backpack, and why that location?

Any dangerous trails nearby where he might have gone exploring?
Click to expand...
There are many, many very steep trails. I don't want to give information, though, that might be inaccurate...memory fails me at times. Samuel's family has a FB page for him, although I don't remember the title. Search Dog Kauai is helping the family on his own and conducts searches whenever he can. Check him out.
 
ChatteringBirds said:
Any speculation regarding why he would stash his backpack, and why that location?

Any dangerous trails nearby where he might have gone exploring?
Click to expand...

My only thinking was he was maybe planning on a short trip out and back so he had no reason to carry the entire pack. He likely just planned on picking it back up on the way to his camp spot for the night. He would have had quite a bit of weight in his pack, so it could have definitely been a bit of a hindrance on a more difficult trail. Steep hikes are rough with a multi-day pack, especially if you're not doing ultralight packing.

Knowing where his pack was found could potentially narrow down areas worth searching, but maybe not enough to be super helpful.
 
Samuel was last seen on a day it was raining by a witness (IDK which publication I saw this in I think it may have been Facebook told by his mother Fran.) Fran said that it was slippery and close to cliff edges where the witness saw him. I wonder if that location is close to where his pack was found? I don't remember if he had his pack on or not or even if the witness reported that he was seen with his pack. In my mind this sort of narrows things down if the pack was found in this area as Fran mentioned that it was wet and slick that day. But this would help narrow the search down if he didn't have the pack with him that day. Apparently the cliff's are 4000 feet down.
 
I've looked and googled for so long trying to find evidence of a church in or near Kokee, but I haven't had any luck. My suspicion is the CCC camp beside the Natural History Museum and Lodge or the cabins nearby may have housed a church in the past. There are also a couple of camps used by religious organizations that could potentially have a church as well.

Nu'alolo and Awa'awapuhi Trail are both in that general vicinity and while they both look like out and back trails, I think there might be a trail that connects them somewhere, but both end up back near the Lodge. There's also a New Spur/Waipo'o Falls trail that's an out and back, but farther south. The rest of the nearby trails wouldn't make sense to stash a bag as they are trails he'd take to get from camp to camp and would need his pack for.

It still really bugs me he didn't have a known reservation for the night of the 13th and it appears whatever happened, happened on the 13th/14th depending on accuracy of eyewitnesses. Without a camp setup, he wouldn't have had a place to leave his pack/gear while out hiking. I would so much love to know if that was an oversight on his part, he couldn't get a reservation somewhere, or if there are places to camp that do not need a reservation. Maybe hunting camps or similar.
 
Hoosier952 said:
I've looked and googled for so long trying to find evidence of a church in or near Kokee, but I haven't had any luck. My suspicion is the CCC camp beside the Natural History Museum and Lodge or the cabins nearby may have housed a church in the past. There are also a couple of camps used by religious organizations that could potentially have a church as well.

Nu'alolo and Awa'awapuhi Trail are both in that general vicinity and while they both look like out and back trails, I think there might be a trail that connects them somewhere, but both end up back near the Lodge. There's also a New Spur/Waipo'o Falls trail that's an out and back, but farther south. The rest of the nearby trails wouldn't make sense to stash a bag as they are trails he'd take to get from camp to camp and would need his pack for.

It still really bugs me he didn't have a known reservation for the night of the 13th and it appears whatever happened, happened on the 13th/14th depending on accuracy of eyewitnesses. Without a camp setup, he wouldn't have had a place to leave his pack/gear while out hiking. I would so much love to know if that was an oversight on his part, he couldn't get a reservation somewhere, or if there are places to camp that do not need a reservation. Maybe hunting camps or similar.
Click to expand...

looks like I sent you on a wild goose chase and I apologize. The pack was found near a church camp.
I recommend going to Search Dog Kauai to read the post/s yourself for accuracy. Nico also has maps of the area showing which trails he has already searched.
 
Mamamerced said:
looks like I sent you on a wild goose chase and I apologize. The pack was found near a church camp.
I recommend going to Search Dog Kauai to read the post/s yourself for accuracy. Nico also has maps of the area showing which trails he has already searched.
Click to expand...

No need to apologize. I have not been on FB for a while (work and a much needed vacation for a few days with family). I see the post, but unfortunately, it doesn't appear there have been any updated maps showing where they have searched since the week prior to the pack being found. Correct me if you can find a newer update. Those two have done an amazing job searching. So many miles put on those 6 legs.

If it's a church camp, I can only find three possible camps that would be in/near Kokee. The Methodist Church camp, Kokee Hongwanji Camp and the Sloggett camp which is affiliated with the YWCA. There again may be others, but I've definitely spent too many hours trying to find "church camps" which are surprisingly hard to find with google searches.

Sloggett doesn't appear to have any marked trails stemming from it, so I don't find it likely he would have stashed a bag there. I think it's far more likely he set out on the 13th from camping at Kokee and stashed his bag nearby aiming to hike one or both of the two trails I mentioned above. I'd like to know if he had a daypack as well as the pack they found or if he was just carrying some water/snacks in hand.
 
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