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

[Hoosier952]

If checkout is noon in Kokee, he may have mingled around for a while with friends & then moved on. I would think he would keep in mind when sunset starts. I mean he was an experienced hiker so one would believe that Samuel would be keen to set up his next camp well before sunset.

I'd love to hear from friends or family on the type of camper/hiker Samuel normally was and what his goals for the trip were.
If I'm on a hiking or hunting trip specifically, I'm not going to spend any unnecessary time at camp. Camp is just a place to rest while it's dark. I'm going to be up before dawn to eat breakfast and if I'm moving camp, pack everything up so I can be on the trails early in the morning and I'll aim to get to the next campsite around sunset or a bit before so I don't have to set up a tent and find/cook dinner by headlamp. But I'm pretty good at setting up tents in the dark from all of the times I didn't get to the next site in time and my camp stove puts out enough light to see when the water is boiling. Too many things to see and do to be hanging around camp all day when you only have a set amount of time to do everything. Especially somewhere as gorgeous as Hawaii on what many would consider a once in a lifetime trip.

The fact there hasn't been numerous people coming forward to say they hung out with Samuel at any camps makes me think he was using camp for sleep and not much else. In fact, there hasn't really been but 1 or 2 people publicly stating they think they saw him somewhere.

 

[5W's]

I'd love to hear from friends or family on the type of camper/hiker Samuel normally was and what his goals for the trip were.
If I'm on a hiking or hunting trip specifically, I'm not going to spend any unnecessary time at camp. Camp is just a place to rest while it's dark. I'm going to be up before dawn to eat breakfast and if I'm moving camp, pack everything up so I can be on the trails early in the morning and I'll aim to get to the next campsite around sunset or a bit before so I don't have to set up a tent and find/cook dinner by headlamp. But I'm pretty good at setting up tents in the dark from all of the times I didn't get to the next site in time and my camp stove puts out enough light to see when the water is boiling. Too many things to see and do to be hanging around camp all day when you only have a set amount of time to do everything. Especially somewhere as gorgeous as Hawaii on what many would consider a once in a lifetime trip.

The fact there hasn't been numerous people coming forward to say they hung out with Samuel at any camps makes me think he was using camp for sleep and not much else. In fact, there hasn't really been but 1 or 2 people publicly stating they think they saw him somewhere.

I know, 1 or two people max. saw him. But I was thinking he would mingle for a short time not for a couple of hours. I agree it would waste time not seeing this wonderful place. Does anyone know why LE would not release anymore info of what was found in his backpack? It could give a clue to people out there looking for him to have an idea of what his possible intentions were. People could assume either he was going farther or it was just a shorter hike and he would set up somewhere closer to his original camp. I mean if I was in a search looking for him I would think of these things and sort of assess the possibilities of where to possibly look. I realize professional searchers were looking for him and perhaps they assessed these possibilities.

 

[5W's]

I was just looking at the FB page of Search Dog Kauai and they posted a video where they were in a hilly area that if it were wet it would be extremely slippery. I started thinking about Samuel's observations and thought well, I'm sure he would leave an area if it were slippery especially if it was overlooking at a high height. I think he would be aware that one misstep and it could be a serious problem. I think he was seen in a steep location during rain at one point, but who knows when that sighting of him was.