Found Deceased CA - Paul Miller, 51, Canadian, Joshua Tree Natl Park, San Bernardino Co., 13 Jul 2018 #3

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Thank you @Choochoobella! It takes a long time to summarize/transcribe so it's very much appreciated.

I thought it was Neil (the witness) who was resting in the shade of the boulder on his way back from the oasis when he saw Paul determinedly hiking towards the oasis. Either I misinterpreted what Neil posted in an earlier thread, or Dawn has mixed up the details.
 
Thank you @Choochoobella! It takes a long time to summarize/transcribe so it's very much appreciated.

I thought it was Neil (the witness) who was resting in the shade of the boulder on his way back from the oasis when he saw Paul determinedly hiking towards the oasis. Either I misinterpreted what Neil posted in an earlier thread, or Dawn has mixed up the details.
I believe you are correct. It was Neil who was resting in the shade of the rock formation. I joined the search in May and that is what Dawn told me. This was taken on July 13 this year at just a little past 9:00 AM:
upload_2019-11-5_4-53-51.jpeg
As you can see there isn’t a lot of shade. The walking stick is about 4 1/2 feet long and the picture was taken from up trail. Neil would have been seated looking up trail and could have seen Paul from at least 100 yards away. This was much more than a passing glance and would have given Neil plenty of time to take in details. The Oasis can be seen from the trail above the rocks just as a hiker crests the ridge and again about 100 yards past the rocks.
 
Based on his job description in the paraphrased summary, the first thing that comes to my mind is that he could have discovered something in somebody's water. Still, at this point, I don't think there was foul play. There are so many places that need to be searched. Maybe after the drone searching and more hikes, if he's not found, then my opinion could change.

If the house is the one to the NE of the bend in the road, there are boulders near that house that might need to be searched. Not sure if they are on public land.
 
There was a witness who saw him on the trail..corroborated by his sister who spoke to the witness. There was also a dog who tracked Paul's scent to the Oasis and had to stop because of burned paws...also corroborated by his sister. I'm not sure how much more evidence you need.
When was the incident of the dog with the burnt paws? My understanding from upthread was that the witness info was unreliable. IIRC the sister did not show up for several days.
AFAIK there is no corroboration that the car was at the trail that morning.
 
According to Wikipedia, mountain lions can be a lot bigger than I thought:
Cougar - Wikipedia
But still, the largest mountain lion couldn't do what's in the photos at the bottom of this page:
“Hidden In View” Pictographs

It's worth mentioning that even though temps were only in the 90's in the morning of his hike, exertional heat stroke can happen in lower temps than classical heat stroke. Also, it takes about 2 weeks for an adult to acclimatize, and scrambling on dark rocks can be much hotter than walking along a trail. Theoretically possible. I don't know if he drank coffee, but even something as simple as caffeine can make the heat much more dangerous by reducing blood flow to the skin.

"In the 90's" is way too hot for a hike like this, especially if he was in a hurry. This is a temperature that's unsafe to hike in. Period. And that's that's when Paul first got started, not late morning.

Plus, this was a very exposed location. Plus, plus, Paul was dressed in short sleeves and shorts. Black, no less! Recipe for killer sun exposure. So foolish. So inexperienced: he should have been dressed from head to toe in light synthetic clothing, and he should have had way more water than he seems to have had.
 
Lost Opportunities and What Paul's Family and Friends Think Happened


Paul knew he had to be back quickly from the hike. They don’t think Paul would have hiked up mountain washes where sheep typically come down.


The only witness to Paul being on the trail said there was one other vehicle, a van, in the parking lot. As the witness was returning from his hike, he saw 4 people emerge from the van and head for the trail. They were in their twenties, were laughing and appeared to be friends. The witness didn’t notice their license plate. Since there is no CCTV at the 49 Palms Oasis trailhead, there was no footage of this vehicle or its license plate. These people have never come forward so we don't know if they saw Paul.


The trail Paul was on isn’t too far from the main entrance to Joshua Park, but it is the only trail you don’t have to have a park permit to enter. It's in its own little separate area. All the more traveled areas of the park have cameras. The park now realizes that they need a camera there. This is the trail from which the park service has to rescue the most people, but there still isn’t a trailhead camera there today.


There are other businesses along the highway that have CCTV cameras that capture footage of cars going into the road that leads to the trail. Those cameras might have shown the license plate of the van that parked at the trailhead after Paul left to hike the trail. The family sees these cameras as a missed opportunity since no investigator checked them.


The family initially thought maybe Paul had fallen and injured himself and was waiting for rescue. One of Paul's friends who was in the park in May 2019 initially thought it was most likely that Paul could have fallen from a rock formation and hadn’t been found yet. But now that the area has been searched so well, he doesn't think there are many places Paul could be in the park and not have been found. Along with many of Paul's friends and Stephanie, the friend is leaning toward wondering if some criminal activity could have happened.


Paul's sister, Dawn, thinks a medical issue is unlikely. There is shade at the Oasis. Paul was heading back from the Oasis, according to the witness, and it’s downhill from there. If he had collapsed due to heat or another medical issue, Dawn thinks Paul would have collapsed on the trail. Dawn thinks it is unlikely Paul would have gone much off the trail due to his time constraint. She acknowledged Paul may have gone a short distance off the trail for a photograph and got lost.


If someone had tried to attack Paul on the trail, Dawn said he would have fought. Paul was not tall, but was one of the tougher players on his hockey and lacrosse teams. Park rangers could not find any blood or scuffle marks. However, when Dawn tried to mark the ground, she found she couldn’t scuffle the dry, hard ground. Dawn knew Paul was dressed appropriately and had the supplies he needed for a short hike. When she has come to JTNP since her brother's disappearance, she has noticed people entering that trail wearing flip-flops and only taking a small bottle of water, but most got in and out safely.


If Paul’s in a dry crevice, he’ll dry out, almost mummify. If his body is in the open, scavengers would scatter the bones, but searchers should be able to find his backpack, leather boots and camera. Dawn said they are putting a lot of hope in drones that are seeking permission to search the area. Dawn has found there are definitely gaps in what has been searched, particularly some steep drop-off areas. Searchers have looked above and below most rock formations, but some of the steepest areas can only be seen with a drone.


Since Paul’s family lives over 2000 miles away, the family is so grateful to those who keep searching the trail. The family receives emails and some photos from people that are doing this.


At the time he disappeared, Paul was 5’5 and 160 pounds. You can follow Paul’s story on “Find Paul Miller” on Facebook. Dawn Robinson, Paul’s sister, and her husband plan to keep going back until something is found. The family is desperate for closure.


The podcast ended with David Smith, JTNP superintendent, giving the phone number if anyone has any tips or finds any evidence. Please call 760-367-5500 and ask for the Chief Ranger’s office. There are still posters up inside the park and at the 49 Palms Oasis trailhead.

Every time I read the reported details like this my hinky meter goes sky high, because the criminal investigations were focused on the Park and pursued by Park Rangers. Evidently, no investigations took place outside the Park, with non-Park criminal investigators. Investigations in the immediate area also seem to focus on homeless folks (stereotyping, much) next to the park, a sensitive fella from a house nearby who doesn't like folks to trespass, and a maybe van with 4 people in it. Waaay too little to hang evidence on.
I'd want to be looking at video footage in town between the motel and the trailhead.
No one knows when the car got to the parking lot.... The keys were there, IIRC? Why? You don't just leave your keys at a trailhead when the car could be easily clouted.
Whether or not people can hike to the oasis in flip flops safely is oh, so, irrelevant. A successful round trip in flip flops (who's tracking this, by the way, in the heat for 2-3 hours?) does not mean a safe trip in hiking boots.
So much irrelevant detail IMO and "maybe perhaps" witness input that no one has corroborated.
 
Last edited:
This article is dated July 12, 2019:

'One second at a time': Missing Joshua Tree hiker's wife talks of year without answers, clues

In September a helicopter was used to conduct an aerial sweep of the area using a new software system that takes high-resolution aerial photos, honing-in on any anomalies. The photos have shown nothing but are still being reviewed.
....................................

Does anyone know if the photos have been reviewed yet?

It is a shame Paul did not have his cellphone with him.

How reliable was that witness sighting of Paul when he was hiking?
 
Every time I read the reported details like this my hinky meter goes sky high, because the criminal investigations were focused on the Park and pursued by Park Rangers. Evidently, no investigations took place outside the Park, with non-Park criminal investigators. Investigations in the immediate area also seem to focus on homeless folks (stereotyping, much) next to the park, a sensitive fella from a house nearby who doesn't like folks to trespass, and a maybe van with 4 people in it. Waaay too little to hang evidence on.
I'd want to be looking at video footage in town between the motel and the trailhead.
No one knows when the car got to the parking lot.... The keys were there, IIRC? Why? You don't just leave your keys at a trailhead when the car could be easily clouted.
Whether or not people can hike to the oasis in flip flops safely is oh, so, irrelevant. A successful round trip in flip flops (who's tracking this, by the way, in the heat for 2-3 hours?) does not mean a safe trip in hiking boots.
So much irrelevant detail IMO and "maybe perhaps" witness input that no one has corroborated.

The keys were not left with the vehicle in this case. The family had issues with the rental car company because they kept charging PM's credit card despite being told that both PM and the keys were missing.
Rental company charging missing man's credit card
 
Lost Opportunities and What Paul's Family and Friends Think Happened


There are other businesses along the highway that have CCTV cameras that capture footage of cars going into the road that leads to the trail. Those cameras might have shown the license plate of the van that parked at the trailhead after Paul left to hike the trail. The family sees these cameras as a missed opportunity since no investigator checked them.


RSBM

Businesses such as gas/convenience stores?

Have they been checked by LE, the business employees asked if they saw Paul (maybe he stopped somewhere in between leaving the hotel he was staying at, and the location of where his rental car was found)?

Because my hinky meter is going off.
 
Every time I read the reported details like this my hinky meter goes sky high, because the criminal investigations were focused on the Park and pursued by Park Rangers. Evidently, no investigations took place outside the Park, with non-Park criminal investigators. Investigations in the immediate area also seem to focus on homeless folks (stereotyping, much) next to the park, a sensitive fella from a house nearby who doesn't like folks to trespass, and a maybe van with 4 people in it. Waaay too little to hang evidence on.
I'd want to be looking at video footage in town between the motel and the trailhead.
No one knows when the car got to the parking lot.... The keys were there, IIRC? Why? You don't just leave your keys at a trailhead when the car could be easily clouted.
Whether or not people can hike to the oasis in flip flops safely is oh, so, irrelevant. A successful round trip in flip flops (who's tracking this, by the way, in the heat for 2-3 hours?) does not mean a safe trip in hiking boots.
So much irrelevant detail IMO and "maybe perhaps" witness input that no one has corroborated.

If no investigation took place in the vicinity of the Park, that would be on San Bernardino County Sheriff's. But, they did set up an incident command and they did help in the early phases of search and investigation. But, if you follow missing persons cases from that vast county, you'll see that the Sheriff is very tight-lipped when it comes to an ongoing investigation (Paul's case is still open). They say they follow all leads. I'm not sure what more than can do, in this case. They need tips.

My own guess is that death by misadventure and death by foul play are both possible and I'd say 60/40 odds. The couple where there was a murder-suicide not far from a JT main trail remained unfound for quite some time (3 months). Two bodies, constant searches by family members, not far off main train - 3 months.
 
It would be lovely, but so far there is zero evidence to support this.
There is also equally zero evidence he was lost on that trail. I’ve been to this park a dozen times. Camped here as well. I have read that local SARS groups train here at or around this trail. I find the lack of any evidence of Paul (clothing or equipment) very telling.
 
If he became disoriented I could see him removing clothing or dropping belongings he had on him. Sure, critters may take off with small portions of clothing & backpack material. Outside of this, I believe whatever he was wearing or had on him is with him, not scattered. Even in a fall, it's most likely right there wherever he landed. He was attempting to hike in a area unknown to him, in high temps and under a tight timeline to return before heading home from his trip.

I personally don't believe this is foul play.
 
If he became disoriented I could see him removing clothing or dropping belongings he had on him. Sure, critters may take off with small portions of clothing & backpack material. Outside of this, I believe whatever he was wearing or had on him is with him, not scattered. Even in a fall, it's most likely right there wherever he landed. He was attempting to hike in a area unknown to him, in high temps and under a tight timeline to return before heading home from his trip.

I personally don't believe this is foul play.
Agree completely K9Enzo.
For those who have participated in a search, it becomes quickly clear that it is extremely difficult to find someone outdoors. Add boulders, ravines, drop-offs, and so forth, and it becomes even more difficult. He's there, yet to be found.

Amateur opinion and speculation
 
Agree completely K9Enzo.
For those who have participated in a search, it becomes quickly clear that it is extremely difficult to find someone outdoors. Add boulders, ravines, drop-offs, and so forth, and it becomes even more difficult. He's there, yet to be found.

Amateur opinion and speculation

I believe you know exactly what I'm talking about when I say remains can take on the color of the surroundings, same as clothing. Especially as seasons change, time passes. A hunter or hiker can come stumble upon remains and not know exactly what they're looking at but know it's out of place. Searches are difficult, recoveries are difficult.
 
There is also equally zero evidence he was lost on that trail. I’ve been to this park a dozen times. Camped here as well. I have read that local SARS groups train here at or around this trail. I find the lack of any evidence of Paul (clothing or equipment) very telling.

I don't think it is fair to say there is "zero" evidence of him being on the trail - there was a credible eyewitness account and a car parked at the trailhead and the statement of intention by Paul that this was what he was planning to do.

Of course, nothing can be ruled out until he is found. But I still believe this is misadventure. I have also spent a lot of time in JTNP and sadly over those years there have been other missing persons who have never been located despite a lot of searching.

All of that is MOO and this is a forum for discussing ideas and theories and I enjoy reading others ideas on what may have happened.
 
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