Found Deceased WA - Jacob Gray, 22, Olympic National Park, 5 April 2017

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22-year-old Jacob Gray of Port Townsend left home for the trip on the evening of April 5.

His bicycle and camping gear were found the following day on the side of the Sol Duc road in the park.

636275345348504817-Jacob-Gray.jpg


http://www.kitsapsun.com/story/news...iker-missing-olympic-national-park/100349832/
 
Sounds odd, bike and camping left at the side of the road, I hope he hasn't been knocked off his bike.But not knowing the terrain and type of roads maybe he left his stuff there while looking for a pitch to set up and has got lost, at least I hope so. Does any-one know more about the park.
 
There's a ton more info in this article about findings of the search so far:

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ge...issing-in-olympic-national-park-in-washington

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From the above link, another fine example of our National Parks hampering search efforts to find the missing.

National park regulations have prohibited the use of a drone to search the river from above and held up the arrival of the search dogs. Laura Gray is hopeful the dogs will be deployed Thursday.
“When we were told they wouldn’t search until spring and it’s miles and miles to the Pacific, we panicked,” said Laura Gray. “It took our presence here to get them to launch an official search; and it took social media pressure to light a fire under them.”
 

From the above link, another fine example of our National Parks hampering search efforts to find the missing.


Sounds like it. The family seems to be doing a really good job raising awareness via SM. And some recent FB posts indicate they're making some headway "against" the parks folks.

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From the article above, it sounds like he slipped into the river and possibly climbed out the other side. He likely had hypothermia.
His family must be devastated. Hopefully he has found a way to survive but that is a long shot.
Such a vibrannt young man. :(
 
I live in Port Townsend. Jacob is actually from Bellevue, not Port Townsend. He was visiting his grandma here prior to leaving for the Olympic National Park.

Hubby and I have biked and hiked those areas over the years. The Elwha River area is stunningly beautiful but some parts are pretty wild and the rivers can be daunting. One slip and like Snoopster said, Jacob could get into real trouble. Also, black bears are active right now; we've seen a few over the years and while we kept our distance and they did the same there's never a guarantee that paths won't cross. Mind you, as far as I know there's never been a bear attack in the Park.

Also, there are some very aggressive goats in the area. A few years back a friend of ours was gored by one who had smelled his packed lunch. The goat tore our friend's femoral artery and he bled to death. That was unusual but the goats are to be avoided.

In Jacob's case though, the evidence so far is pointing to a river accident.

I'm not trying to be fear mongering, just sharing that the area can be wild and anyone planning to hike or camp in the more remote areas needs to be cautious. From what I know about Jacob from local news he didn't appear to be depressed or suicidal.

Some miscellaneous info:

http://www.skyvalleychronicle.com/999/news/img20170416133656700128679.jpg
https://www.google.com/maps/place/S...7615e84d2530e!8m2!3d48.0409122!4d-123.9488282
https://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/wilderness-trail-conditions.htm#CP_JUMP_450763
http://outdoor-society.com/bears-are-active-in-olympic-national-park-what-you-need-to-know/

Stokes said Gray is an athletic outdoors man who loves adventure, so the family didn’t worry about his trip at first. She said a ranger saw Gray’s gear on April 6. On Friday, April 7 the ranger noticed the gear was untouched and investigated. A Bible and list of family phone numbers was among the items. A day pack and water filtration tool was missing so it was unclear if he’d gone on a hike. Stokes said Gray left his cell phone at his grandmothers.

Stokes thought Gray may have slipped on a mossy rock in the river, then tried to grab onto a second rock downstream and then may have grabbed onto a fallen tree in the river and possibly climbed to shore.

Stokes posted photographs on her Facebook page that she said were from search and rescue personnel that show the scene.

“All disturbances that S&R found, they estimated to be about a week old, which fits into the timeline when Jacob disappeared,” Stokes wrote to The Leader.

“The two trackers feel, based on the evidence they found, that someone fell into the river at the spot where the skid mark and finger scratches were found and someone got out of the river by catching the fallen tree’s rootball and climbing up it to shore,” she wrote. Stokes said that several family members and two volunteers have done their own foot searches for Gray. She said the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office was also searching for him.

http://www.ptleader.com/news/search...cle_5cbb0190-214c-11e7-8c35-8b6a0ea982b0.html

From Whiskers' link:

“We have evidence that he fell in the river; probably when he went down to filter water. His Camelbak (water bottle) and water filtration system are also missing,” said Laura Gray from Olympic National Park on Thursday, where she and other family and friends have gathered to help search for her son.

Professional trackers discovered slip marks on rocks at the river’s edge near where Gray’s bike and gear were found. In addition, the trackers found what appear to be tracks leading from the far side of the river into the forest, indicating Gray may have been able to swim across the Sol Duc and safely exit.

“They saw someone had climbed out of the river on a log and found tracks that angle into the forest. They figure it probably happened late Thursday night, which is consistent with the timing of his disappearance. They recommended getting search dogs,” said Laura Gray.

I'm afraid Jacob had an unfortunate accident and this is a recovery effort. I'm so sorry for his family. :tears:
 
I live in Port Townsend. Jacob is actually from Bellevue, not Port Townsend. He was visiting his grandma here prior to leaving for the Olympic National Park.

Hubby and I have biked and hiked those areas over the years. The Elwha River area is stunningly beautiful but some parts are pretty wild and the rivers can be daunting. One slip and like Snoopster said, Jacob could get into real trouble. Also, black bears are active right now; we've seen a few over the years and while we kept our distance and they did the same there's never a guarantee that paths won't cross. Mind you, as far as I know there's never been a bear attack in the Park.

Also, there are some very aggressive goats in the area. A few years back a friend of ours was gored by one who had smelled his packed lunch. The goat tore our friend's femoral artery and he bled to death. That was unusual but the goats are to be avoided.

In Jacob's case though, the evidence so far is pointing to a river accident.

I'm not trying to be fear mongering, just sharing that the area can be wild and anyone planning to hike or camp in the more remote areas needs to be cautious. From what I know about Jacob from local news he didn't appear to be depressed or suicidal.

Some miscellaneous info:

http://www.skyvalleychronicle.com/999/news/img20170416133656700128679.jpg
https://www.google.com/maps/place/S...7615e84d2530e!8m2!3d48.0409122!4d-123.9488282
https://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/wilderness-trail-conditions.htm#CP_JUMP_450763
http://outdoor-society.com/bears-are-active-in-olympic-national-park-what-you-need-to-know/



http://www.ptleader.com/news/search...cle_5cbb0190-214c-11e7-8c35-8b6a0ea982b0.html

From Whiskers' link:



I'm afraid Jacob had an unfortunate accident and this is a recovery effort. I'm so sorry for his family. :tears:

Thank you for you local perspective @MsMarple. You have much greater perspective that so many of us.
 
Hoping and praying Jacob is found soon.
 

From the above link, another fine example of our National Parks hampering search efforts to find the missing.


Regular police departments do the same all the time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
From the article above, it sounds like he slipped into the river and possibly climbed out the other side. He likely had hypothermia.
His family must be devastated. Hopefully he has found a way to survive but that is a long shot.
Such a vibrannt young man. :(

I am familiar with Santa Cruz. He was a fixture there, awesome place.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I was in Olympic National Park last week (beautiful, beautiful place) and I saw posters for Jacob Gray everywhere.
 

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