Found Deceased CA - Philip Kreycik, 37, Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park, 10 Jul 2021 #2

[ElizabethAnne]

I tried to look through to see if this has already been talked about again, but with my job I can’t stay on top of all the posts so please forgive me I’d been asked already.

In the beginning phase of the search - people (volunteer searchers?) thought they heard someone yelling “help”. Having never been able to find the source they later came to the conclusion it was likely searchers yelling “Philip”. Do we have any knowledge as to if that sound was at all within range of where Philip was found?

It is my understanding that the sounds came from very far south in the park either around the town of Sunol or near the Sunol Ridge area. CT would be able to answer. I only know that they converged to search at the Sunol post office, but don't know which area they searched in.

Philip was found towards the north end of the Park. Basing the location on the SF Chronicle map they published, I think it was on the 214 acre Poole property in unincorporated Alameda County that the EBRPD bought from Robert and Charlene Poole in 1990. A house is on the property that the EBRPD uses for security and a maintenance supervisor resides there. The Poole house is discussed in EBRPD documents and is one of the four security residences https://www.ebparks.org/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=23276 along with Garms, Nipper, and Tyler houses in Pleasanton Ridge park.

The property is in land bank status and the North Ridge trail ends at the property and the property is accessible from a road entrance at 11025 Dublin Canyon Rd. This is supposed to become the Devany Canyon Trailhead shown here https://www.ebparks.org/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?blobid=26896 Where Philip was found in close to the farthest north part of the park, but I think the shouts were heard near the southern end of the park.

Once Devany Trailhead opens, I don't think they plan on building a parking lot. It is supposed to be walk in/bike in only.

 

[ElizabethAnne]

Why wouldn't Phil have just parked there instead?


Wow this is 10 years old. And they still don't seem to have the trails set up right, like its always something that's being "worked on". If I'm wrong, let me know. Thanks

You are right. The only think that has opened since 2011 is Castle Ridge. Devany Canyon and Garms have never been opened as entrances and I don't know why.

Regarding Castle Ridge, there is parallel parking off of Old Foothill Rd near the trailhead, but it is hard to see from the main Foothill Rd. The parking lot for Castle Ridge has no signs, is not visible from Foothill Rd that I can see, and is off of Old Foothill Rd.

Google Maps is the satellite view. I don't think a lot of people know it is there. If you pass by and do happen to see it, since it is next to Alviso Adobe, a city park, it just looks like parking for the city park. Old Foothill is one way and you have to turn on Jerline Pl to even get to it. It is not easy to find even when you know what you are looking for it. Even for locals it is hard to find.

 

[ElizabethAnne]

If you create a route in Strava to Pleasanton Ridge trails from the Moller staging area, the Lying Stump Shortcut Trails is the only direct route it will show you. But I still wonder why he wouldn't have gone to the Castleridge staging area to take the Courdet Trail up. Strava shows it to be a much more popular run and it's only another mile or so south of Moller.

The Castleridge staging area is very hard to find, the EB parks website To Reach the Park EBRPD - Pleasanton Ridge mentions the Foothill staging area in the main text. It has some Castleridge info there, but you would have to go to the actual PDF map to find it exists, then do a deep dive in Google to find out how to get to it. It is not at all easy to find in Pleasanton.

The only reason I know the Castleridge staging area exists is because I read a newspaper article in the East Bay Times in 2018 when it opened and from time to time look at the board agendas for the EB Parks meetings on their website. You can drive by it and not know it is there because it is not on Foothill Rd, but on a small parallel road called Old Foothill Rd. Many locals do not know the Castleridge staging area exists and continue to use the southern one off of Foothill Rd.

The city website for Parks and Rec also is really awful. You have to know the specific name of the park or trail you are looking for and then use the Google search engine to find out where anything is.

When I went to look for the Castleridge staging area one weekend, I drove up and down Foothill Rd several times and had no luck finding it. There are not a lot of places to turn around on Foothill, but I must have spent at least a half hour going up and down the street trying to find it.

I had to go home, get on Google and figure out I had to turn on Jerline Pl to get to Old Foothill Rd and tried to find it again the next weekend. Then I missed it and tried to figure out how to approach it from the south. I turned and found myself faced with Do Not Enter signs when I turned into the parking lot because Old Foothill Rd is one-way. They made it one way so Castleridge hikers would have parallel parking on Old Foothill Rd so they took one of the lanes away and striped it for parallel parking, then made Old Foothill Rd one way. What a saga.

I wonder if Philip could not find Castleridge even if he had intended to run from Castleridge. That is why I wonder why he did not appear at the Moller Ranch trailhead until 10:46 AM. I wonder if he drove up and down Foothill Rd looking for Castleridge without success. Moller Ranch subdivision has a sign at least.

 

[avalonisland]

Earlier I posted that I think Philip's body was found near where the water tank r and t letters were on this map https://www.ebparks.org/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=29796 (zoom into 200 percent). Now that the SF Chron posted a more detailed map, it could be where the dashed red lines meet instead, a little to the right of the r and t letters.

The North Ridge trail from where Philip was running goes north goes to the top of the hill where he was found and the trail simply stops (see Google maps satellite view). From the map above in the first paragraph it looks like a fence blocks a trail toward the north where he may have been able to get out. It is possible that Philip got to where the North Ridge trail ended and simply was trapped and could not find a way out. If that fence on the map is accurate, maybe that fence blocked his way out of the park.

When I look at the hill where he was found, I even think I see a lot of black poles that mark the fence shown on the map in the Google aerial photo---https://www.google.com/maps/@37.6876952,-121.9542778,62m/data=!3m1!1e3 You have to look carefully to see the series of black poles. The black poles extend in both directions when I scroll back and forth. It is possible seeing that fence that he was literally trapped on that hill with no way out.

So what is the fence? Well, I looked at the parcel viewer on the Alameda County website. The address is actually split into two parcels that EBRPD purchased from the Pooles in the 1990s. One is APN 941-2600-2-9. The other is APN 941-2600-3-3. One theory I have is that the fence divides the two parcels. I am hoping this is not the case, but I am troubled with the idea that Philip possibly could not get down off of that hill because of this fence which may have blocked him from getting out of the park. You can see the details on the Parcel Viewer if you search the Alameda County Parcel Viewer. The photos show the red boxes separating the parcels. It won't let me link to the looked up data but you have to search the address itself to find the information here Geocortex Viewer for HTML5 To me it looks like the fence runs east to west and is along the border separating those two parcels.

If the fence was not there, the path it blocked led to the driveway that exits at Dublin Canyon Rd here Google Maps

The house on the property at 11025 Dublin Canyon Rd where the EBRPD maintenance supervisor resides is downhill and shrouded by trees when I search that address on Google Earth. Philip may not have been able to see the house from the top of the hill, may have gone to the house and possibly no one was there, or perhaps the gates (I see 3 dots indicating gates) around the house prohibited him from getting to it. It is difficult to say what happened.

I hope the watch data may be able to provide details as to what happened.

I seriously doubt that EBRPD would provide anything to make the public trails unsafe to public. Hopefully the autopsy will provide answers to how Philip died though with a decomposed body of like 24 days, I am hopeful the COD can be determined. I am just not seeing how someone who was experienced with running trails and outdoor environment would be without safety measures and be so off course from what was determined by many volunteer search heads as "pre planned route." My heart aches for the family.

 

[avalonisland]

The Castleridge staging area is very hard to find, the EB parks website To Reach the Park EBRPD - Pleasanton Ridge mentions the Foothill staging area in the main text. It has some Castleridge info there, but you would have to go to the actual PDF map to find it exists, then do a deep dive in Google to find out how to get to it. It is not at all easy to find in Pleasanton.

The only reason I know the Castleridge staging area exists is because I read a newspaper article in the East Bay Times in 2018 when it opened and from time to time look at the board agendas for the EB Parks meetings on their website. You can drive by it and not know it is there because it is not on Foothill Rd, but on a small parallel road called Old Foothill Rd. Many locals do not know the Castleridge staging area exists and continue to use the southern one off of Foothill Rd.

The city website for Parks and Rec also is really awful. You have to know the specific name of the park or trail you are looking for and then use the Google search engine to find out where anything is.

When I went to look for the Castleridge staging area one weekend, I drove up and down Foothill Rd several times and had no luck finding it. There are not a lot of places to turn around on Foothill, but I must have spent at least a half hour going up and down the street trying to find it.

I had to go home, get on Google and figure out I had to turn on Jerline Pl to get to Old Foothill Rd and tried to find it again the next weekend. Then I missed it and tried to figure out how to approach it from the south. I turned and found myself faced with Do Not Enter signs when I turned into the parking lot because Old Foothill Rd is one-way. They made it one way so Castleridge hikers would have parallel parking on Old Foothill Rd so they took one of the lanes away and striped it for parallel parking, then made Old Foothill Rd one way. What a saga.

I wonder if Philip could not find Castleridge even if he had intended to run from Castleridge. That is why I wonder why he did not appear at the Moller Ranch trailhead until 10:46 AM. I wonder if he drove up and down Foothill Rd looking for Castleridge without success. Moller Ranch subdivision has a sign at least.

It seems to me that Strava app in this case was a setback in finding PK sooner. So much search efforts were on a Strava "pre planned" route when in fact PK was like a mile (unless I am mistaken) from the start of Strava run. It would be obvious to search the surrounding areas where PK parked his car but it seems to me that because so much emphasis was on Strava that it may have potential delayed search efforts in finding PK at his remains site.

 

[avalonisland]

The Sheriff Department Sergeant said that if Phil were dead, the thermal imaging wouldn't work. He said the imaging had been so powerful, they had seen small animals and solitary searching volunteers. He said it does work through brush and foliage.

I think it's because so much focus was on a presumed Strava run route but in fact PK deviated from that route. Imagine if there was no Strava to focus on finding PK which would make sense to search for PK around 2 miles from every way possible from where car parked. The private vehicle road that LE used after finding PK had some sort of PGE ties (maybe just access gate) but that is interesting to me as PK was employed by PGE based on what was reported about PK employement.

 

[ElizabethAnne]

It seems to me that Strava app in this case was a setback in finding PK sooner. So much search efforts were on a Strava "pre planned" route when in fact PK was like a mile (unless I am mistaken) from the start of Strava run. It would be obvious to search the surrounding areas where PK parked his car but it seems to me that because so much emphasis was on Strava that it may have potential delayed search efforts in finding PK at his remains site.

I agree with your assessment. I think from a couple of perspectives that the official SAR seemed to be fixated on the route almost to some sort of tunnel vision. If they had looked at the Preserve and Moller Ranch area, then the parcels adjacent to those neighborhoods, then next to the parcels further out and so on, perhaps he could have been found sooner. I don't fault the searchers, but law enforcement was directing them to search at locations based apparently on confidence that the Strava route was THE route.

I think the community search team was more likely to think outside the box. And ultimately, community volunteers were the ones that found Philip.

Especially irritating in this case was the Pleasanton police announcing they had searched 100% of where Philip should have been and could have been last Sunday. Bad move on their part. 100% is certainly a strong statement. They did not say 90% or 95%, but stated 100%. How horrible especially since how can any science, art, or probability ever be 100%?

Also that 100% statement from the official Pleasanton PD also signaled "Guess what. We are done. We give up." At least that is how I interpreted it. Maybe that is just how I read it. The AC Sheriff never said that, and they seemed to really want to find Philip. But I found the Pleasanton PD statement beyond disturbing.

Thank goodness for the community search team. If not for them, I don't think Philip would have ever been found. They persisted, did not give up and certainly didn't make statements in front of TV cameras that they had searched 100%.

 

[Deleted member 222031]

I think it's because so much focus was on a presumed Strava run route but in fact PK deviated from that route. Imagine if there was no Strava to focus on finding PK which would make sense to search for PK around 2 miles from every way possible from where car parked. The private vehicle road that LE used after finding PK had some sort of PGE ties (maybe just access gate) but that is interesting to me as PK was employed by PGE based on what was reported about PK employement.

Why 2 miles if his plan was an 8 mile run? Strava was the best clue IMO since it is how he tracked his runs. My concern is he started from a parking lot that requires crossing private and land bank property to get to the PR trails. Why?

When we find out whether he ever made it to the PR trails, we will know more about what happened that day. Hopefully his watch will yield clues as well, especially if it tracks his heart rate accurately and can pinpoint time of death. We need a lot more info before we can justify criticizing the search strategy. JMHO

 

[Deleted member 222031]

It seems to me that Strava app in this case was a setback in finding PK sooner. So much search efforts were on a Strava "pre planned" route when in fact PK was like a mile (unless I am mistaken) from the start of Strava run. It would be obvious to search the surrounding areas where PK parked his car but it seems to me that because so much emphasis was on Strava that it may have potential delayed search efforts in finding PK at his remains site.

Looking at maps of that area, both within the boundary of the park and outside it, keeping in mind this is terrain with elevation, tree cover and other challenges, I am impressed they found him at all.

It is not really close to where he parked from my look at maps. There was no reason for him to be where he was found. I don't think his planned run would have taken him to the Poole Property. I also don't think he would have gone that way seeking help. Going deeper into wilderness instead of staying near an established trail even in the heat makes no sense to me. Looking forward to more data. Something is very off from what we know right now.

My opinion only.

 

[scdiv]

Oh gosh, well that press conference was just heartbreaking. His poor family. I'm glad they stayed off social media. I thought it was really touching the way his parents spoke so highly of Jen's parents. I'm so glad the two families feel such connection and that she has a good support system. This is so tragic. He was just doing what he loved and trying to get a good run in with new scenery.

 

[ElizabethAnne]

Why 2 miles if his plan was an 8 mile run? Strava was the best clue IMO since it is how he tracked his runs. My concern is he started from a parking lot that requires crossing private and land bank property to get to the PR trails. Why?

When we find out whether he ever made it to the PR trails, we will know more about what happened that day. Hopefully his watch will yield clues as well, especially if it tracks his heart rate accurately and can pinpoint time of death. We need a lot more info before we can justify criticizing the search strategy. JMHO

You make a good point, but I looked at the Pleasanton Trails map posted on the city website https://www.playcallippe.com/images/documents/trails-map.pdf in the area of Moller Ranch/The Preserve and that Tehan Canyon Road area. It gives no indication on the official Pleasanton Trails map from the City of Pleasanton that Tehan Canyon Road is private, etc. Hardly anyone knows what land bank land is.

Also the local paper had articles stating that the north end properties of Pleasanton Ridge Park had opened to the public Now open: nearly 1,100 acres of open space at Pleasanton Ridge It even talks about the North Ridge trail extending north, which is the trail that he was found near. It says "The land for the new trails was acquired in the 1990s but only recently in the past few years was it outfitted for public use." Reading this article I would assume that the 1100 acres they refer to are the parcels either on or near where Philip was found.

I'm not sure how Philip would have known since the city documents with the trail map show these trail connections with no indication that there is a problem and the newspaper had stated that the north end of Pleasanton ridge park had opened to the public.

There is the Moller Ranch and Preserve brochure online with no indication that the bounds beyond the area are private property with no trespassing or are land bank EBRPD land http://admin.cityofpleasantonca.gov/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=31377

Also the EBRPD posted this map to their website https://www.ebparks.org/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?blobid=26896 showing trails to the north and to the east. It is really difficult to tell which trails exist, which are planned, which staging areas exist, and which ones don't just by looking at this. Just looking at it, someone could assume the entire park is open.

Given all of this, how would anyone in the general public know which parcels are land bank or not or open or not unless you somehow try to read the Board minutes or try to figure it out from the Internet Archive Wayback Machine? I know it is difficult for me to find the information even going through agendas and minutes and the Internet Archive.

 

[Deleted member 222031]

You make a good point, but I looked at the Pleasanton Trails map posted on the city website https://www.playcallippe.com/images/documents/trails-map.pdf in the area of Moller Ranch/The Preserve and that Tehan Canyon Road area. It gives no indication on the official Pleasanton Trails map from the City of Pleasanton that Tehan Canyon Road is private, etc. Hardly anyone knows what land bank land is.

Also the local paper had articles stating that the north end properties of Pleasanton Ridge Park had opened to the public Now open: nearly 1,100 acres of open space at Pleasanton Ridge It even talks about the North Ridge trail extending north, which is the trail that he was found near. It says "The land for the new trails was acquired in the 1990s but only recently in the past few years was it outfitted for public use." Reading this article I would assume that the 1100 acres they refer to are the parcels either on or near where Philip was found.

I'm not sure how Philip would have known since the city documents with the trail map show these trail connections with no indication that there is a problem and the newspaper had stated that the north end of Pleasanton ridge park had opened to the public.

There is the Moller Ranch and Preserve brochure online with no indication that the bounds beyond the area are private property with no trespassing or are land bank EBRPD land http://admin.cityofpleasantonca.gov/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=31377

How would anyone know this? The only way I would know is to go to Google Maps and plan the route and it gives a restricted route warning.

This is what CT said in his AMA about the area near where PK was found:
"Then there's the property above Hedd Canyon.

• Official SAR tracks cover one of the only two ravines that would funnel someone there. Our tracks also cover a third ravine that *could* funnel someone there but which could also funnel someone away.
• The ravines that do lead into this property would require Philip to have made a series of especially bad decisions. Not impossible for someone in his potential state, but of the various probabilities I'd go with *extremely not likely*.

• To get into these ravines he'd have to make a series of uphill wrong turns away from landmarks after leaving his route.
• He'd also likely have had to have doubled back over his loop after missing both his turn and the 3 next best turn options.
• This is because in part his footprints that were found were heading up on Mariposa Trail, indicating he'd cut the loop short at exactly the point he needed to in order to stick to the time budget he had.

• Police searched the buildings on the property."

 

[Deleted member 222031]

You make a good point, but I looked at the Pleasanton Trails map posted on the city website https://www.playcallippe.com/images/documents/trails-map.pdf in the area of Moller Ranch/The Preserve and that Tehan Canyon Road area. It gives no indication on the official Pleasanton Trails map from the City of Pleasanton that Tehan Canyon Road is private, etc. Hardly anyone knows what land bank land is.

Also the local paper had articles stating that the north end properties of Pleasanton Ridge Park had opened to the public Now open: nearly 1,100 acres of open space at Pleasanton Ridge It even talks about the North Ridge trail extending north, which is the trail that he was found near. It says "The land for the new trails was acquired in the 1990s but only recently in the past few years was it outfitted for public use." Reading this article I would assume that the 1100 acres they refer to are the parcels either on or near where Philip was found.

I'm not sure how Philip would have known since the city documents with the trail map show these trail connections with no indication that there is a problem and the newspaper had stated that the north end of Pleasanton ridge park had opened to the public.

There is the Moller Ranch and Preserve brochure online with no indication that the bounds beyond the area are private property with no trespassing or are land bank EBRPD land http://admin.cityofpleasantonca.gov/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=31377

Also the EBRPD posted this map to their website https://www.ebparks.org/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?blobid=26896 showing trails to the north and to the east. It is really difficult to tell which trails exist, which are planned, which staging areas exist, and which ones don't just by looking at this. Just looking at it, someone could assume the entire park is open.

Given all of this, how would anyone in the general public know which parcels are land bank or not or open or not unless you somehow try to read the Board minutes or try to figure it out from the Internet Archive Wayback Machine? I know it is difficult for me to find the information even going through agendas and minutes and the Internet Archive.

To answer your question.
How would anyone know.....?
Strava, apparently.

 

[ElizabethAnne]

To answer your question.
How would anyone know.....?
Strava, apparently.

Well, at this point I hope the watch he was wearing somehow can reveal how he entered the trail system and where he went. Given that there seems to be no video of him walking or running up Moller Ranch Dr on doorbell cameras, it could be he entered the trails a completely different way. Maybe he went through the back end of the Preserve. Or maybe some other way I don't know about. I hope they are able to find out.

The latest SF Gate article is characterizing where Philip was found as on a ridge Wife speaks out after missing Bay Area runner found dead rather than a ravine.

It is just so sad.

 

[runspired]

Well, at this point I hope the watch he was wearing somehow can reveal how he entered the trail system and where he went. Given that there seems to be no video of him walking or running up Moller Ranch Dr on doorbell cameras, it could be he entered the trails a completely different way. Maybe he went through the back end of the Preserve. Or maybe some other way I don't know about. I hope they are able to find out.

The latest SF Gate article is characterizing where Philip was found as on a ridge Wife speaks out after missing Bay Area runner found dead rather than a ravine.

It is just so sad.

the watch will hopefully tell the final story but tbh mostly I think this forum simply doesn’t understand trail running, especially at his level, and especially with a tool like Strava for planning.

I want to get into Phil’s perspective here a bit, but I’ll start with correcting (again) the descriptions of how to reach the loop portion. This approach into the park is fairly simple, and compared to so many other ways up (courdet for instance), easier.

From moller ranch, you take either road or the parallel trail to the “lying stump trail”, which takes you to Tehan Canyon Fireroad. For the non-fire-road portion you are on officially maintained HOA trails that are a part of the preserve and open to the public: yes this even includes the connection onto the fireroad.

The directions are pretty simple, despite there being a number of early turn options, because more or less you just point yourself uphill. This is especially true once on the fireroad, point uphill and go.

the fireroad portion is entirely within the land bank, and it’s a well maintained and recently graded access.

no part of this is something Phil would have considered steep, except for maybe a 100’ stretch which would still have been less steep than his usual route up chaparral peak in Berkeley. The climb is 2 miles long and averages only 450’/mile. This is pedestrian for a fellow used to an 1800’ in 1.9 mile climb (his usual). I’m sure lots of folks that don’t typically choose to recreate by taking the steepest route up or down a peak do find this climb hard, and I’m not belittling anyone who finds this route steep, but for anyone with the appropriate training this route is well within what we call “runnable”, meaning at no time would we find ourselves needing to hike.

in my AMA (I think though it could have been elsewhere) I mentioned that we seemed to have a camera that ruled out his having taken the road vs the parallel trail for the first quarter mile stretch. The watch will tell the story, I’d still presume he took the trail option, but as we dug in more we found the homeowner that was so insistent they had continuous footage and no sighting of him had been overly-confident in their camera: it was motion activated not continuous and doesn’t activate for folks in the street like they thought it did. It’s still possible he took the road.

the biggest mistake people are making is around distances. It might help to stop thinking about distances and to start thinking about time, because that’s the real factor in play. To me for instance, 15-20 miles is a short run. This is because I know I can comfortably cover that many miles on tough terrain in roughly 2-3 hours depending on conditions. 15-20 miles sounds much longer than 2-3 hours. Same thing here with Phil: 6/7/8/9 miles sounds much longer than 45-60min.

this is most evident in “how far off course” he was. Had he not been overheating and slowed by that, he was probably less than 7min off course, the entirety of which except for the last 200’ was spent on a well maintained fireroad, the last 200’ of which was spent on a newly built community trail. The last few feet of which he left that to slide under a tree. With the heat he was feeling this likely took longer than 7min, I’d be unsurprised if that last half mile wasn’t 30-60m or more. But I’ll also be unsurprised if the watch says that from the car, around the loop, shortcutting at mariposa, missing his turn, taking the turn that seemed correct, and then staying straight before heading under the tree wasn’t a sum total of 60-75min. And that’s what’s so scary about what happened here. Heat kills.

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

Sure - if you have a cellular watch (my next one will be), that's a good plan. Otherwise, if that extra 6-7 ounces is making that much difference to a person's running, I think that a common sense plan would be to stay on known trails.

I don't find it nefarious, I find it troubling. I'm not sure he "felt safe," and it's possible he wanted the thrill of the unknown. He told friends that the temperature range that day was at his "upper end" of what he thought he could do...

Do you have a link for the "upper end" quote, I seem to have missed it?

 

[okbeachmouse]

Looking at maps of that area, both within the boundary of the park and outside it, keeping in mind this is terrain with elevation, tree cover and other challenges, I am impressed they found him at all.

It is not really close to where he parked from my look at maps. There was no reason for him to be where he was found. I don't think his planned run would have taken him to the Poole Property. I also don't think he would have gone that way seeking help. Going deeper into wilderness instead of staying near an established trail even in the heat makes no sense to me. Looking forward to more data. Something is very off from what we know right now.

My opinion only.

I agree, I can't shake the feeling that something is very off also. As you say there was no reason for him to be where his body was found. The time of his run on a day when excessive heat warnings were everywhere, taking off his protective shirt, no cell phone, no water, a weird route that doesn't make sense off his "planned route" and a body out of view from an extensive SAR....

I am hoping the autopsy can shed some light. I also hope the evidence around and under PK's body was collected to be analyzed. I'd like to know if surrounding evidence and evidence on his body support him being there for a month.

Since LE has not ruled out foul play I think all things should be considered until they say otherwise.

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

I agree, I can't shake the feeling that something is very off also. As you say there was no reason for him to be where his body was found. The time of his run on a day when excessive heat warnings were everywhere, taking off his protective shirt, no cell phone, no water, a weird route that doesn't make sense off his "planned route" and a body out of view from an extensive SAR....

I am hoping the autopsy can shed some light. I also hope the evidence around and under PK's body was collected to be analyzed. I'd like to know if surrounding evidence and evidence on his body support him being there for a month.

Since LE has not ruled out foul play I think all things should be considered until they say otherwise.

Given the extreme heat of the day, it seems entirely plausible to me that that factor plus exertion in the triple digit temps, for someone used to running in quite cool temps in Berkeley and for the most part, Mass, could lead to death. I strongly suspect he died the day he went missing, rendering heat seeking equipment moot. But MOO. CT I do hope that you or the family will take up the "hyperthermia/hypothermia mantle" and hopefully save other lives through education. You tried your best to find him, as did many others, my condolences on your loss.

 

[MrsEmmaPeel]

. . .the biggest mistake people are making is around distances. It might help to stop thinking about distances and to start thinking about time, because that’s the real factor in play. To me for instance, 15-20 miles is a short run. This is because I know I can comfortably cover that many miles on tough terrain in roughly 2-3 hours depending on conditions. 15-20 miles sounds much longer than 2-3 hours. Same thing here with Phil: 6/7/8/9 miles sounds much longer than 45-60min.

this is most evident in “how far off course” he was. Had he not been overheating and slowed by that, he was probably less than 7min off course, the entirety of which except for the last 200’ was spent on a well maintained fireroad, the last 200’ of which was spent on a newly built community trail. The last few feet of which he left that to slide under a tree. With the heat he was feeling this likely took longer than 7min, I’d be unsurprised if that last half mile wasn’t 30-60m or more. But I’ll also be unsurprised if the watch says that from the car, around the loop, shortcutting at mariposa, missing his turn, taking the turn that seemed correct, and then staying straight before heading under the tree wasn’t a sum total of 60-75min. And that’s what’s so scary about what happened here. Heat kills.

Thank you. This makes everything much clearer to me, an old lady! Time vs distance. Time is so relative. In "Phil Time," everything that happened could have occurred within an hour. That demonstrates how quickly the heat kills and how deceptive an easy, somewhat shaded, lower-grade run was, at that time of day.

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

A local posted elsewhere about microclimates in that park and how the temp in some areas was believed to 111 or even 115 at some points on the ridge that day although the trailhead at much lower elevation may have been in the upper 80s. Things can change so quickly and heat illness comes on so fast.