Found Deceased CA - Paul Miller, 51, Canadian missing in Joshua Tree National Park, San Bernardino Co., 13 Jul 2018

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jash said:
Paul's wife has released more information via this new article:
Wife of missing hiker from Canada describes 'hell' each day brings since Paul Miller disappeared at Joshua Tree

Stephanie Miller last saw her husband of 26 years about 9 a.m. July 13 — the final day of an anniversary trip that started in Las Vegas and brought them to Joshua Tree for a week of hiking.

“We had just had breakfast and went back to the hotel room. I had been planning on going on the trail with him, but just wasn’t quite feeling up to it so we planned that I would stay back at the hotel,” she said.

[Once again, we're told she last saw him around 9 in the morning. This is the time Neil_witness stated he saw Paul on the trail.]
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She's changed her story? Adding more detail?
 
MaryG12 said:
No bushes/trees along that trail?
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Maybe in the oasis, but it doesn't look like anywhere else. He might have gone behind a rock, though SAR would surely know to expect this.

A safe-thinking hiker would simply have taken the pit stop right in the trail. For gosh sake, there's no one for miles because of the heat. No need for discretion!
 
jash said:
******

He was wearing dark shorts, dark gray — almost black — hiking boots and a black hat and sunglasses, Miller said.

“For the life of me ... I can’t remember his T-shirt,” Miller said.

He also had a CamelBak hydration pack and a Canon camera.

****
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This get up is nonsensical! He was wearing shorts? A T-shirt???? Bare legs and arms? Nuts!

A safe-thinking person would be wearing UV protectant pants and long-sleeve shirt, and preferably in a lightish color. Almost anything would have been better than a T-shirt and shorts.

He'd be completely fried just getting to the oasis. And being from Canada 'n' all he was likely very sensitive to the sun.

There's something so wrong with this whole situation....
 
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jash said:
The Lost Palms Oasis Trail is different from the Fortynine Palms Oasis Trail. It's in the southern part of JTNP (it takes 75 minutes to get from one to the other by car, or an unfathomable 16 hours to hike).
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Those are two different trails, yes, but the two scenarios may have been very similar.
 
RickshawFan said:
This get up is nonsensical! He was wearing shorts? A T-shirt???? Bare legs and arms? Nuts!

There's something so wrong with this whole situation....
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Why? I wouldn't go out on a hot sunny day with shorts/t-shirt - UPF clothing is a good thing - but I certainly see a lot of people who think it's a good idea.

Whether someone who was an "experienced hiker" would think it's a good idea is another matter.
 
PaulR said:
Why? I wouldn't go out on a hot sunny day with shorts/t-shirt - UPF clothing is a good thing - but I certainly see a lot of people who think it's a good idea.

Whether someone who was an "experienced hiker" would think it's a good idea is another matter.
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Many people would be wrong in thinking this is a good idea....

These are extreme conditions. It's desert and it was approaching 100 degrees. The sun is almost directly overhead. Reflection from the ground, too. You can even get savagely burned through cotton or any loose-weave clothing, especially if you're out that long....

Paul should have been avoiding a catastrophe by not going on the trail at all. Not only that, he didn't even take the extreme prevailing conditions into account by dressing appropriately. Madness.
 
RickshawFan said:
Many people would be wrong in thinking this is a good idea....

It's desert and it was approaching 100 degrees. The sun is almost directly overhead. Reflection from the ground, too. You can even get savagely burned through cotton or any loose-weave clothing, especially if you're out that long....

Paul should have been avoiding the conditions there by not going on the trail at all. Not only that, he didn't even take the prevailing conditions into account by dressing appropriately. Madness.
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Which is why it mystifies me that parks like JTNP even has its trails, no matter how short they are, open during the summer months. I'd never go hiking during summer months here in FL and the humidity factor has its own special problems.
 
PaulR said:
Why? I wouldn't go out on a hot sunny day with shorts/t-shirt - UPF clothing is a good thing - but I certainly see a lot of people who think it's a good idea.

Whether someone who was an "experienced hiker" would think it's a good idea is another matter.
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I mentioned earlier on in the thread, I don’t know why more people don’t use reflective umbrellas while desert hiking. Practically no downside to them in my opinion.
 
RickshawFan said:
Many people would be wrong in thinking this is a good idea....

These are extreme conditions. It's desert and it was approaching 100 degrees. The sun is almost directly overhead. Reflection from the ground, too. You can even get savagely burned through cotton or any loose-weave clothing, especially if you're out that long....

Paul should have been avoiding a catastrophe by not going on the trail at all. Not only that, he didn't even take the extreme prevailing conditions into account by dressing appropriately. Madness.
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What is odd is if the entire story is true, this is presumably the way he dressed for all the other desert hikes in the heat that the couple had been on. How did he make it this far only to apparently get lost on a trail nobody gets lost on?
 
Thanks so much for posting the map! I can see SAR’s point; even with the elevation change it’s a there-and-back trail. It seems like if he had any health / wellness issues, he could have simply stayed at the oasis until another hiker arrived (I suspect the trail sees a few hikers per day even in the summer, maybe more early morning). He must gotten turned around, followed the false trail & ??? It does look like there’s a few boulder fields that complicate the search.

A lot of day hikers don’t consider the ten essentials really, well, essential for hiking in unpopulated terrain. If he had a health issue that affected his mental clarity - like heat exhaustion, shortness of breath, or even a heart attack - combined with feeling the need to rush to get back to catch a flight, the combo probably tipped him into some bad decision making and he wasn’t prepared for more. I do think that whatever happened was unintended, though if Paul really is drinking pina coladas on a foreign beach, I hope we get the whole story someday.

EvaBell65 said:
I hope it's okay to post this link! This site had the best pictures I have found of the trail and I think it would be easy to get lost if you went off trail. Fortynine Palms Oasis in Joshua Tree National Park
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The article that was released yesterday was later updated after they spoke with a Park official.

“We have a witness who saw (Miller) at the trailhead that morning, but that’s all,” Park Superintendent David Smith said Saturday. “It is really disconcerting. But we are not going to give up.”

This is the first time an official has stated Paul was seen by someone! My first thought was Neil_witness, however he said he saw Paul about 2/3 of the way to the Oasis, not at the trailhead.

The official also addressed the family's concern that more wasn't done.

“I assure them, the park service will not forget about Mr. Miller. We are doing all that we can,” Smith said.

The FBI, he said, is called in “only if there is a murder or homicide and at this point, there is no indication that is the case ... nothing to indicate this was a planned disappearance.”

Help from the U.S. Marine Corps — or any branch of the military — can be requested in an emergency, but “in this particular case we had enough people” and resources available in the early days of the search, Smith said.

Wife of missing hiker from Canada describes 'hell' each day brings since Paul Miller disappeared at Joshua Tree
 
I am beginning to think Paul was never on that trail, and never intended to be on that trail but intentionally left the rental car right where it was found. In light of the fact that searchers were out there almost immediately after he was supposed to be there and they found zero evidence of him anywhere... it only makes sense that he was never there.

moo
 
Ontario Mom said:
I am beginning to think Paul was never on that trail, and never intended to be on that trail but intentionally left the rental car right where it was found. In light of the fact that searchers were out there almost immediately after he was supposed to be there and they found zero evidence of him anywhere... it only makes sense that he was never there.

moo
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100% agree
 
It sounds as if LE has what they consider a credible sighting at the trail. Although I still am on the fence on this one, the only appropriate course is to continue to search off trail for Paul where he would have wandered off for a good photo.

But if he perished, why no vultures flying around?
 
RickshawFan said:
He'd be completely fried just getting to the oasis. And being from Canada 'n' all he was likely very sensitive to the sun.
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Much of this is dependent on how fit he was, how tolerant to heat and whether he wore a sun hat. Based on historical data, it looks like it got to about 100 for the high that day, so it was maybe in the low 90s when he started the hike, which does not look that strenuous based on the elevation gain and distance. One poster on a hiking site said this round trip hike could take 60-90 minutes depending on how long you stopped at the oasis, which seems reasonable to me at a 3 MPH pace for an experienced hiker who is in fair shape.

If he was in good shape and heat tolerant, even in the morning sun this may not have been that bad a hike for him if he stayed on the trail or not encountered other problems. But anticipating problems is what backcountry preparedness is all about; it can all go wrong quickly and then your initial gear choices may determine whether you survive.
 
A question for any & all,

Does hearing they were suppose to go back to JT together (again) but she changed her mind and let Jeff go alone shed different light on what might have happened here???

Just curious...
 
tarabull said:
A question for any & all,

Does hearing they were suppose to go back to JT together (again) but she changed her mind and let Jeff go alone shed different light on what might have happened here???

Just curious...
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In general, no. The wife might simply have been tired and not wanting another hike, had to pack, make last minute changes to travel, do some work, whatever.
However, it would be interesting to note whether she had checked out, had bags packed, and so forth (if that can be determined). I'm trying very hard not to be suspicious of this couple, but I'm having a hard time controlling that impulse to be.
For now, I'm sticking to the default explanation that he is off trail and has perished, yet to be found. It truly is very difficult to find someone outdoors. But still, why no vultures?
 
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