Presumed Located GERMANY - Jeff Freiheit, 32, Canadian hiker missing in Alps, Bad Tölz, 2 Aug 2018

Let me clarify about the area. This isn't Canada where you can get lost 50 meters into the woods and have no clue where you are.
Much of the area is open land, there are woods too, with hiking paths and mountain bike paths and in summer there are many hikers. There are mountain refuges with food and sleeping areas, there are small villages with shops, like the shop where JF would allegedly have been seen.
Mobile network is good and should you get stuck or lost, you can call the rescue services. (European code is 112.)

This is no wilderness.

I've been following the latest news about the rescue services and most accidents involve sprained or broken ankles. People fall off the mountains too, one elderly gentleman died.

There are a few missing persons in the area, two of them have been missing for years, one other missing woman was found deceased after a number of days. As far as I could see, they went missing when they left their homes, and they might have gone anywhere.
JF is an exception, he was on a specific track with a clear goal, and he documented his journey.

If JF had become desoriented, he might have walked through the meadows, the woods or the rocks for a while, but ultimately he would find a path and after a while, he would also find other hikers, or other hikers would find him.

Parts of the trail are risky, especially in case of a fall. These stages have been searched in detail and he wasn't found. Could he have fallen into a crevice that no one has noticed? Anything is possible. Is it likely? Not so sure.

The other option is that JF is hiding in plain sight. Something happened that left him confused and he is walking on and sleeping rough. He has some cash, so he can buy food. He could be literally anywhere. On the track on his way to Italy, or anywhere in Europe. One of the possibilities is a hospital.

Analyzing where his mobile phone last pinged and on which towers might help.
 
Air, ground searches fail to turn up leads

With helicopters, drones and foot crews continuing their search of the area he was believed to have disappeared, there was still no sign of Jeffrey David Freiheit as of press time on Sunday.

Freiheit was last seen on Aug. 2, in Bad Tölz, Germany, en route along a hiking rail called Der Traumpfad (The Dream Way), which spans from Munich to Venice.

An unverified tip came in during the investigation regarding his disappearance that he might have been helped at a grocery store in the nearby community of Jachenau the following day by two girls, but even if true it will have still been more than two weeks since he was last seen.

The 32-year-old local educator’s wife Selena joined Freiheit’s mother Kathy in flying out to Germany on Aug. 11 to assist in the search however they could.


BBM


This is all I can read from The Brandon Sun. Their pages are only partially accessible to me if I use an ad-blocker, if I remove it, I hit their region-blocker.

I wish this sighting at the grocery store would be confirmed. At least it would put JF beyond the dangerous Acheselköpfe and that would be a relief, even if he is still missing.

No update on the Merkur-blog as of mid-day. The closed FB group "Volunteers searching for Jeff Freiheit“ is active with new messages today. Can't read what they are doing or planning, but best wishes are in order. Go good people! Keep up the great work!
 
Air, ground searches fail to turn up leads

With helicopters, drones and foot crews continuing their search of the area he was believed to have disappeared, there was still no sign of Jeffrey David Freiheit as of press time on Sunday.

Freiheit was last seen on Aug. 2, in Bad Tölz, Germany, en route along a hiking rail called Der Traumpfad (The Dream Way), which spans from Munich to Venice.

An unverified tip came in during the investigation regarding his disappearance that he might have been helped at a grocery store in the nearby community of Jachenau the following day by two girls, but even if true it will have still been more than two weeks since he was last seen.

The 32-year-old local educator’s wife Selena joined Freiheit’s mother Kathy in flying out to Germany on Aug. 11 to assist in the search however they could.


BBM


This is all I can read from The Brandon Sun. Their pages are only partially accessible to me if I use an ad-blocker, if I remove it, I hit their region-blocker.

I wish this sighting at the grocery store would be confirmed. At least it would put JF beyond the dangerous Acheselköpfe and that would be a relief, even if he is still missing.

No update on the Merkur-blog as of mid-day. The closed FB group "Volunteers searching for Jeff Freiheit“ is active with new messages today. Can't read what they are doing or planning, but best wishes are in order. Go good people! Keep up the great work!

"We have been advised that people have been lost or injured in these areas for weeks at a time and have been able to survive," she said.

Their belief at this point is that Freiheit, an experienced hiker, had some kind of accident along the way.

Thanks for the link, it sounds like there is reason for hope!


Jeff Freiheit

"In some areas of the trail, it would be easy to lose your way due to criss-crossing trails including hunting and deer trails," she said. "In some other parts the terrain is more dangerous and treacherous, (so) an accident such as a fall or injury is very possible. A person could fall to great depths, there are ledges, gullies, caves and dense vegetation. This greatly complicates search efforts and in many areas the average hiker wouldn’t be able to search. This is why it has been necessary for the use of drones, helicopters, dogs, canyon and cave teams."

Selena said that professional and volunteer searchers have been excellent to work with, and that German authorities offered them some peace of mind upon their arrival in the European country.

"The first day that we arrived in Germany, we immediately went to the police station," she said. "The police there were kind to us and were helping us to the best of their ability. It is clear that they are taking this seriously and are doing their best to assist us. Unfortunately, there is a language barrier and that can be difficult when sharing information and communicating. We’ve had locals who have helped us with that and we are so thankful."
 
Bad Tölz/Lenggries: Kanadier Jeff David Freiheit seit Freitag vermisst - die Suche im Newsblog | Lenggries


Search for Canadian Jeff Freiheit - Update Monday, August 20, 2.30 pm:


Police chief Bernhard Gigl from Tölz said that no relevant new information on the whereabouts of the missing wanderer Jeff Freiheit had been received over the weekend. The search has officially ended. Further tips are of course followed up. Last Friday, for example, a sniffer dog was on duty after hikers noticed a pungent smell at one point on the possible path of the missing person to Vorderriß. However, the search was fruitless. How bad the uncertainty is for the family of the missing person, Gigl knows this very well. "We also keep in mind that there is someone missing here."

BBM
 
"We have been advised that people have been lost or injured in these areas for weeks at a time and have been able to survive," she said.

Their belief at this point is that Freiheit, an experienced hiker, had some kind of accident along the way.

Thanks for the link, it sounds like there is reason for hope!


Jeff Freiheit

"In some areas of the trail, it would be easy to lose your way due to criss-crossing trails including hunting and deer trails," she said. "In some other parts the terrain is more dangerous and treacherous, (so) an accident such as a fall or injury is very possible. A person could fall to great depths, there are ledges, gullies, caves and dense vegetation. This greatly complicates search efforts and in many areas the average hiker wouldn’t be able to search. This is why it has been necessary for the use of drones, helicopters, dogs, canyon and cave teams."

Selena said that professional and volunteer searchers have been excellent to work with, and that German authorities offered them some peace of mind upon their arrival in the European country.

"The first day that we arrived in Germany, we immediately went to the police station," she said. "The police there were kind to us and were helping us to the best of their ability. It is clear that they are taking this seriously and are doing their best to assist us. Unfortunately, there is a language barrier and that can be difficult when sharing information and communicating. We’ve had locals who have helped us with that and we are so thankful."


There is always hope, or mostly always.

I'm not so sure about this article. IMHO they are repeating old stuff as new.
Searches were conducted twice based on the characteristics of the area and nothing was found. Does not help to repeat the ledges, gullies, caves and dense vegetation. These were searched by experts who know how to do it and what to look for.

The criss-crossing trails including hunting and deer trails can be struck off the list immediately, JF was on a well-marked trail.

The most amazing detail missing in the article is that no questions were asked about Jeff's phone: where did it ping for the last time?

If he had an accident and was unable to use his phone, this does not look good, IMHO.
 
Bad Tölz: Freiwillige geben Hoffnung nicht auf - Suche nach vermisstem Jeff Freiheit geht weiter | Bayern

18 days after he disappeared, there is still no trace of Jeffrey David Freiheit. Although the search operations have now been officially stopped, volunteers are not yet willing to give up. Even a Facebook group was founded.

The 32-year-old from Brandon in Canada was on his first Alpine tour alone when all contact between him and his family broke off. According to current knowledge, the only thing certain is that Jeff left Bad Tölz on August 2 from Lenggries after calling his wife. This is also confirmed by a cash withdrawal at a local bank.

His last sign of life was an instagram video message taken in front of the panorama restaurant Brauneck. According to several hikers, they allegedly have met Jeff on their way later in different spots, but the 32-year-old never reached the Gasthof Post in Voderriß, where he had booked a room for the night.

After unsuccessful mobile phone tracking, the examination of two items of clothing highly likely to be irrelevant for the search, analyses of the summit books, interviews with witnesses and a large-scale deployment of local rescue forces lasting several days, the search was aborted without success on 17 August.
In addition to the mountain rescue service and its rescue and avalanche dogs, helicopters of the Bavarian Federal Police, officials of the Alpine Task Force and volunteers were involved in the large-scale operation. They were even on the lookout for the hiker with the help of a drone . Munich's Merkur reports that, according to the deputy head of inspection, everything has actually already been searched, but of course any relevant information will be followed up.

The family of the young man from the province of Manitoba has meanwhile travelled to the area where the events took place and continues to be in contact with the locals via the social media.

The Facebook group "Volunteers searching for Jeff Freiheit" has received a whole series of further tips, and search teams have also been formed. The mountain enthusiasts are very helpful; at the weekend alone, the Birkarspitze, Fuchs- and Klausgraben and also the Schrödlstein were searched . The tireless volunteers received help from the Wolfratshausen company Air Bavarian GbR, who arranged a private helicopter search flight.

The members of the social network are also very committed to solving the case of missing persons: private persons uploaded further information or pictures of found objects in the forum and contacted, among others, Paraglider associations, the Austrian and the German Alpine Association as well as the Second German Television Network. They asked the latter for an announcement of the disappearance in the television series "Aktenzeichen XY... unresolved", the request has not yet received a reply.


BBM

Birkarspitze, Fuchs- and Klausgraben are south of Vorderriss, in Austria. Stage 6 and 7 of the Traumpfad.
 
Wanderer bleibt verschollen

Despite intensive searches, Canadian Jeff Freiheit, who went missing three weeks ago at Brauneck, remains missing. Meanwhile, the police and mountain rescue services have suspended the major searches. The 32-year-old Canadian was on the "Dream Trail Munich - Venice" on his own. On August 2, he had sent a selfie to his wife at the Panorama Restaurant am Brauneck. After that, his trail gets lost. Well over 100 emergency forces have so far searched unsuccessfully for Freiheit. The dog squadron Oberland, helicopters and the drone team of the Penzberg mountain rescue service were involved.

According to the head of operations, Sepp Bergmayr (Lenggries mountain rescue service), the extensive area makes the search difficult. Between Brauneck and Vorderriß - where the Canadian had reserved a hotel room - the emergency services had combed at least 20 square kilometers, he describes. In the area interspersed with mountain pine fields and forests, it is almost impossible to search through every spot. All technical search aids have been exhausted. "Without a concrete indication, it makes no sense to continue searching on a large scale," reports Bergmayr. According to information, the Canadian was seen at the Tutzinger Hütte or in Jachenau. But the information remains vague.

The emergency forces have intensively searched the area of Achselköpfe and Benediktenwand. The area requires surefootedness and freedom from vertigo. In 2014, a 58-year-old woman from Erding fell 80 metres to her death. Only after a week her body was found. However, there was no trace of Jeff Freiheit found here. "We didn't see or detect anything," says Christoph Brenninger, duty manager of the Lenggries mountain rescue service.

The crisis intervention team supports the wife and mother of the missing person, who have arrived in the meantime, according to Bernhard Gigl, head of the police station in Tölz. The family has set up the Facebook group "Volunteers searching for Jeff Freiheit", where volunteers can network. Marinus Vogl of Wolfratshauser Air Bavarian GbR has organized further helicopter and drone search flights on behalf of the relatives. According to the mountain rescue service, the search will continue on a smaller scale.

BBM
 
Bad Tölz/Lenggries: Kanadier Jeff David Freiheit seit Freitag vermisst - die Suche im Newsblog | Lenggries

Search for Canadian Jeff Freiheit - Update Tuesday, August 21, 10am:


On Tuesday, volunteers will continue their search for the missing hiker Jeff Freiheit. After joint meetings with the mountain rescue service, the efforts now focus more on the area around the Benediktenwand and less on the section Jachenau-Vorderriß. The search is coordinated by the Facebook group "Volunteers searching for Jeff Freiheit". There are also explicit safety instructions for volunteers. The following video also summarizes the state of affairs in English. But beware: The photo of the Tölzer Hütte shown in the video is not correct. It shows the hut of the same name at the Schafreiter, not at the Brauneck.


BBM

Video with an overview of Jeff's disappearance from the moment he arrived in Bad Tölz, including a map of areas of interest, and forbidden, dangerous areas:

 
Sofar no new news, but I found a video from last week. "Brisant" from Mitteldeutsche Rundfunk about JF.
The video has a German voice-over. It gives a good impression of the area. Selena, JF's wife and his mother visit the last places where Jeff was seen. They take the cable car to the restaurant.
JF had pre-booked the places where he was planning to pass the night, and many of them were already paid for.

Towards the end of the video, the police officer says that, in the meantime, they must reckon with an accident and that JF may no longer be found alive. They do not think he disappeared of his own free will.

Wanderer aus Kanada in den Alpen vermisst | Das Erste

video-wanderer-aus-kanada-in-den-alpen-vermisst-100.html
 
Alpine Life has posted a video with an update of the current searches of Wednesday August 22.. There were two search parties out yesterday.
They are trying to identify areas of low, medium and high priority to search.
Today 4 spots were found on the Achselkopf where JF potentially could have fallen. At this time of the year, the bush is very thick and dense, so if JF has fallen there, it is very difficult to see him, especially from the air. Searchers will have to go into the bush on foot and have a look.



 
Another update from Alpine Life, about today August 23.

Today was the orientation day for Jeff's best friend Adam who has arrived.
The searches have been halted due to the weather. Rainstorms and lightning have hit the valley. You hear the thunder in the background while Mr Alpine Life vlogs form inside the house.

There may be no updates in the coming days because of the weather. Jeff's mother wants everyone to stay safe inside during the storms, and Jeff would not have wanted it any other way.

In the video: some very interesting images of the area, with scary climbs ~ are these part of the regular Traumpfad?

 
Bad Tölz/Lenggries: Kanadier Jeff David Freiheit seit Freitag vermisst - die Suche im Newsblog | Lenggries


Search for Canadian Jeff Freiheit - Update Friday, August 24, 9.30 am:


Over the past few days, several groups of volunteers have continued their search for the missing man - on foot, from a private helicopter and by means of a drone. This is supported by the Wolfratshausen-based company Air Bavarian. Other helpers continue to hand out flyers with the picture of the missing person along the " Traumpfad ", on which Jeff Freiheit was on his way to Venice. At the request of the family, the search for the 32-year-old is interrupted this weekend. The weather outlook is too bad. "We don't want any more accidents," Jeff's mother Kathy Freiheit appeals to the helpers. How difficult the terrain is, which is searched, is shown in the video of Air Bavarian.

 
Freiwillige suchen nach vermisstem Kanadier an der Benediktenwand

640x360


Peter Huck felt in a cauldron on a burning stove below the Achselköpfe near the Benediktenwand on Tuesday. The whole heat of the high August sun heats up in the stones of the Schotterkaren particularly intensively. The Sauerlacher Huck was on his way in the rough terrain at the pass from Geroll to the Latschen. For eight hours he intensively combed the area between the Jachenau hiking car park Petern and the Achselköpfen He could not find a trace of Jeff Freiheit, a hiker who has been missing for 23 days at Brauneck.

The members of the mountain rescue service and police have now interrupted the official search for the missing 32-year-old Canadian. But 51-year-old electrical engineer Huck and other volunteers continue privately. In their free time they comb the area on their own. They exchange ideas via the Facebook group "Volunteers searching for Jeff Freiheit." This site with more than 400 members has been set up by the family of the missing person.


But why does someone simply start looking for someone he doesn't know at all? Huck feels powerless on major global political issues, as he describes it. "There's an emergency right on my doorstep and in an area I know," he says. He had often hiked around the Benediktenwand. In this case he can actively help. "I imagine how bad it is for the family and how easy it is for me," he describes. In his spare time he would have been out in the mountains anyhow.

Two weeks ago, Huck saw Jeff Freiheit's missing persons report on the timeline of his Facebook page. Since then he has been travelling for five days in the area between Brauneck and the Karwendel near Vorderriß. He walked about 150 kilometres. He pinned flyers with the missing persons report to bus shelters, spoke to many alpine pasture farmers. But everything remained inconclusive. How a hiker can remain missing in such a popular tourist region for so long is a "mystery" for him. "The Benediktenwand is a real hot spot," Huck wonders.

What is certain is that the lost hiker wanted to travel from Munich to Venice on the "Traumpfad" - one of the increasingly popular long-distance hiking trails. The Canadian was an experienced alpinist. The young man is said to have already climbed Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa, which is almost 5900 meters high. On foot he apparently has climbed the South American Inca city of Machu Picchu, located on a remote rock plateau.

Freiheit had already climbed from Lenggries to Brauneck on August 2. He took a selfie in front of the panorama restaurant at the summit station of the mountain railway. He sent the photo to his wife. Then his trail gets lost.

He wanted to stay overnight in the Tutzinger Hütte near the Benediktenwand. In Vorderriß, the Canadian had reserved a hotel room. He did not arrive at either of the two overnight stops.

The search for Jeff Freiheit therefore encompasses the 20-kilometre section of the Traumpfad between the Brauneck and Vorderrriss, in Austria. The number of kilometers alone indicates the challenge. In addition, the area is rugged with deep gorges. Shrubbery and woods make it difficult to find someone.

More than 100 police and mountain rescue services were deployed. Helicopters went up in the air. Drone-based cameras filmed the area from above. The Dog Squadron Oberland was involved. Except for diffuse indications that Freiheit is said to have been seen at the Tutzinger Hütte or in Jachenau, all actions so far have yielded nothing. Without any indication of the whereabouts of the Canadian, the searches have currently been interrupted.

If no new leads are found, the Weilheim criminal police will take over the investigation in about one week. As Bernhard Gigl, head of the Tölz police department, describes, this is the usual administrative procedure one month after a person has disappeared. All technical resources have currently been exhausted. The vast area makes it practically impossible to go through every single corner.

Searching for missing persons is not an isolated case for the Tölz police. Four years ago, a 58-year-old hiker from Erding fell 80 metres to her death near the Achelsköpfe near the Benediktenwand. The rescuers found her body about a week later. From Gigl's point of view, the rocky ridges of the Achselköpfe are among the most dangerous places in the search area. This is where surefootedness and freedom from vertigo are required.

For the time being, the relatives of the lost Canadian have to live with the uncertainty. The wife and mother have since travelled to the region from overseas. Both were supported by the crisis intervention team. Through the Facebook group "Volunteers searching for Jeff Freiheit" they have built up a broad, private support network. The volunteers post where they have searcheded for the missing person and create maps with their routes.

On behalf of the family, the Wolfratshausen company Air Bavarian GbR, specialists in aerial photography, has organized helicopter and drone flights. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the owners examined two gorges in Jachenau - but without results. Marinus Vogl of Air Bavarian describes how they and their car had been on the road with amplified antennas.

During the search, the drone pilot is outside the vehicle and controls the aircraft. With the help of a live image monitor he can follow the flight of the drone exactly. In addition, a Google Maps map shows him the route that has already been flown. According to Vogl, the pilot is in constant contact with the team in the darkened car. Sitting there, you can watch the drone flight on a 30-inch monitor. If something is detected on the ground, the drone may remain in a fixed position in the air. The camera can then enlarge the image up to 30 times, says Vogl. He assumes he won't be doing any more drone flights. This is a matter of cost and the weather will be bad.

Change of scene to the Schützenhaus in the Jachenau. Peter Huck from Sauerlach will meet three more volunteers on Tuesday evening. Huck tells how he had a long conversation with the host of the Bichler Alm on the Benediktenwand. He had shown the man a picture of the slim, 1.85 meter tall Canadian who has gone missing. But the landlord did not remember that someone who matched the description had passed by.

No news from Huck's comrades. One of the helpers, who does not want to be named, comes from Kleinwalsertal. According to him, his grandfather co-founded the mountain rescue service there. He also felt obliged to help in the search for the Canadian. He also knows the Risstal valley in the Karwendel well through his own activities, he reports. For him and the others, the search for the missing person resembles a piece of a criminal puzzle. "Maybe Jeff tried to take a shortcut somewhere," he says.

All volunteers do not yet want to give up hope that the young man could still be alive. Maybe he is lying near a brook or a stream and has enough water, they think. But they are aware that this hope is diminishing with every day that passes without result.



BBM


Amazing people. We cannot thank you enough for all your efforts. Keep up the good work and stay safe out there!


 
I looked up Achelsköpfe - omg! That seems crazy to me! Of course I am not an expert hiker but wow that does seem very dangerous. I can see how someone could easily fall if they were trying to rush through such places at a faster-than-normal pace and are very hot in the sun. :(
 
Psychische Ersthilfe

Psychological first aid

The crisis intervention team of the Bavarian mountain rescue service takes care of relatives and companions of people who have suffered accidents in the mountains.

These are some of the worst scenarios you can imagine. The spouse or a relative is suddenly no longer available after a hike across the Alps and is considered missing. Or the friend crashes right in front of your own eyes and dies in an accident.

In such extreme situations, the crisis intervention team of the Bavarian mountain rescue service, the so-called crisis intervention service on the mountain, supports the desperate family members. The KID supports those affected, it helps to process traumatic impressions and experiences and to stabilize emotionally. "We provide psychological first aid," says Heiner Brunner, who heads the crisis intervention team. The volunteer team has been active in Bavaria for 19 years now.

The team was also deployed again in these days, in a case that caused quite a stir throughout Bavaria. The Canadian Jeff David Freiheit, an experienced hiker, is still missing without a trace: He disappeared at Brauneck after setting off on a hike across the Alps to Venice. The crisis intervention team temporarily took care of his relatives who had arrived at Brauneck from Canada. According to the Tölzer police chief Bernhard Gigl, the helpers explained to the relatives why the large search with more than 100 participants, a dog squadron and a drone team of the Penzberg mountain rescue service has been suspended for the time being. According to the Lenggrieser Bergwacht, the large-scale search no longer makes sense after all conceivable means have been exhausted and no concrete new information is available. Explaining something like that to relatives is "difficult," says Brunner.

On average, volunteers are deployed 120 to 140 times a year, with 70 to 85 deaths per year. Throughout the State of Bavaria, the Mountain Rescue Service's crisis intervention team has 72 honorary members. They will be alerted in the event of fatal accidents, falls with serious injuries, suicide in the alpine region, avalanche accidents and searches for missing persons. "Whenever relatives, friends, tour partners or eyewitnesses are affected by an accident and overwhelmed with the situation," says Brunner.

At the scene of the accident, the emergency services provide immediate psychological assistance. Together with those affected, they are looking for ways to overcome the extreme situation. "Most people have good resources with which they can survive difficult life situations, but in this difficult situation they are often not available. You then try to activate these resources." Another central task of the KID is to inform those affected about every single step of the rescue operation or - as in the case of the Canadian - also about its end.

Since the relatives or acquaintances of the victims usually live far away, the KID tries to activate their social network as quickly as possible and build up a familiar environment that helps them to cope better with the traumatic experiences. In the case of serious injuries, they also accompany relatives to hospital during the first hours after the accident. The KID's assignments usually last four to five hours.

"One of the most difficult situations is searching for missing persons," says Brunner. The hope of the relatives always remains. "It is easier for most people to accept when someone has perished than to accept that someone is missing." The Mountain Rescue Service's crisis intervention training comprises 110 teaching units followed by a one-year observation period. The emergency services were largely neutral in their dealings with relatives, Brunner emphasizes. "It's not our place to raise any hopes." It is unlikely that a man who is missing in the mountains will still be alive after three weeks, Brunner says. In his 32 years at the mountain rescue service he has never experienced this.


BBM
 
I looked up Achelsköpfe - omg! That seems crazy to me! Of course I am not an expert hiker but wow that does seem very dangerous. I can see how someone could easily fall if they were trying to rush through such places at a faster-than-normal pace and are very hot in the sun. :(

Agreed. A hiker I'm certainly not, but images like these make me wince and want to stay stuck on my sofa. The slightest misstep for even the most experienced hiker...

Poor jeff
 

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
205
Guests online
3,567
Total visitors
3,772

Forum statistics

Threads
591,536
Messages
17,954,213
Members
228,525
Latest member
Lefer
Back
Top