Found Deceased CA - Paul Miller, 51, Canadian missing in Joshua Tree National Park, San Bernardino Co., 13 Jul 2018

[RickshawFan]

Paul R....

I think you’re onto something very important: maybe the hiker never got to Joshua Tree at all, never made it to the town of 29 Palms, never stayed at the hotel, nevef went on the hike, none of it.... We don’t have any corroboration, at least so far. Do we know if the hiker was actually at the Grand Canyon? Was, but not on arrival at JT?

Could the hiker actually have gone out in the coolness of the evening before and not at 9 am?

We need more info!

 

[Poppyflower]

Yes, this is why I asked upthread ¨Did the hotel people or anyone else see Paul in JTNP?¨

I wonder what hotel they stayed at along the way and if Paul was seen at those locations. Also, gas station and atm machines. Eyewitnesses but better yet- cctv.

 

[Inthedetails]

Could be many reasons. Maybe she wanted a leisurely morning, perhaps a break from him, was sick of the heat, slept in to focus on slots later?

Any reasons you think she may have not gone?

Oh yeah. After a road trip with my husband, I'd love to have a few hours on my own on our last morning, most definitely. I love the guy, but a break would refreshing at that point.

I'm very curious about breakfast arrangements at the hotel that morning. I'm guessing he had an earlier breakfast than she did? Either way, together or separately, they should be on hotel video in the eating area.

jmo

 

[jash]

I'm very curious about breakfast arrangements at the hotel that morning. I'm guessing he had an earlier breakfast than she did? Either way, together or separately, they should be on hotel video in the eating area.

Does anyone know what the likelihood is that the police would have reviewed security footage from the hotel in a case like this? It would show what time Paul exited the lobby area heading towards the car, as well as what he was wearing that morning.

 

[whatsnext]

Does anyone know what the likelihood is that the police would have reviewed security footage from the hotel in a case like this? It would show what time Paul exited the lobby area heading towards the car, as well as what he was wearing that morning.

But sure they would investigate this being open to every possible direction? This is my hope at least...

 

[Poppyflower]

Does anyone know what the likelihood is that the police would have reviewed security footage from the hotel in a case like this? It would show what time Paul exited the lobby area heading towards the car, as well as what he was wearing that morning.

I think they would, but stranger things have happened. Also, if there are cameras where they may have been, cross your fingers they're real and working lol

They probably have talked to hotel staff. If that is the case, then I'm going to assume that they saw Paul bc they wouldn't continue to look in JTNP, yk?

I wonder what hotel they stayed at near JTNP....perhaps I shall google...well damn, there are A LOT of hotels there. I don't remember seeing so many but ofc I was there many, many years ago

 

[Hatfield]

What about this loop - Google Maps

Vegas > Zion (2h 39m) > Bryce (1h 49m)> Grand Canyon (south rim)(5h 2m) > JTNP (5h 43m)> Vegas (3h 8m)

I wonder if they listened to U2 on the juke box (do they still call it that)while playing cricket?

(I've tried to edit out my failed attempt of embedding a map but it doesn't show up here in the edit post window?)

Your Map worked good for me. Thanks for sharing it. Looks like a possible loop that would cover all the places.

LAX or Vegas looks like a normal choice of a major airport.

As tragic as this case is it makes me want to visit all those places. Grand Canyon being my first choice. Some people think major tourist places like Yosemite and Grand Canyon have become too commercialized but dont believe it. They are still wonderful amazing places of beauty and I consider them wonders of the world. You will come away gobsmacked and floored.

 

[whatsnext]

Your Map worked good for me. Thanks for sharing it. Looks like a possible loop that would cover all the places.

LAX looks like a normal choice of a major airport.

As tragic as this case is it makes me want to visit all those places. Grand Canyon being my first choice. Some people think major tourist places like Yosemite and Grand Canyon have become too commercialized but dont believe it. They are still wonderful amazing places of beauty and I consider them wonders of the world. You will come away gobsmacked and floored.

O/T but I am with you about wanting to visit all those places

 

[Hatfield]

The only thing worse than not taking a shower after a long hike is having to ride in a hot car for three hours with someone who didn't take a shower after a long hike.

Having to be out by 11/noon makes sense, except that means she's camped out in the lobby even if everything goes according to plan, unless checkout is at noon and she's walking out the door while he's pulling up to hotel in their rental car.

This is another really good point. After the other destinations he surely knew he would become sweaty after the hike at Joshua and with the normal checkout times this does not leave enough time to go back to motel to shower before the trip home.

Things are continuing to add up that dont make much sense to me.

*Timeframe too tight to use motel room to shower and cleanup before leaving.

*Timeframe tight in general for catching a flight same day/night.

*Cellphone in car. This is 50/50 as some think its unusual and some dont. Count me in the group that think its unusual because I carry it in case of a signal that may come through eventually where I am going.

*No tracks found in the sandy trail. No sign of him ever being on the trail from trackers.

*No statements directly reported from wife. I find this very unusual that only church friends and others are speaking for her.

*Lots of experienced hikers think it was foolish to hike during the major heat and he would likely have known about the heat. 9am leaving is too late to beat the heat. Leaving at 6am would have been more like it.

*After the other major places they allegedly already went then wouldnt he have been all hiked out by then. What was so important to do one last hike on very last day of travel.

Im really starting to lean to this being something other than a real lost hiker story.

 

[whatsnext]

This is another really good point. After the other destinations he surely knew he would become sweaty after the hike at Joshua and with the normal checkout times this does not leave enough time to go back to motel to shower before the trip home.

Things are continuing to add up that dont make much sense to me.

*Timeframe too tight to use motel room to shower and cleanup before leaving.

*Timeframe tight in general for catching a flight same day/night.

*Cellphone in car. This is 50/50 as some think its unusual and some dont. Count me in the group that think its unusual because I carry it in case of a signal that may come through eventually where I am going.

*No tracks found in the sandy trail. No sign of him ever being on the trail from trackers.

*No statements directly reported from wife. I find this very unusual that only church friends and others are speaking for her.

*Lots of experienced hikers think it was foolish to hike during the major heat and he would likely have known about the heat. 9am leaving is too late to beat the heat. Leaving at 6am would have been more like it.

*After the other major places they allegedly already went then wouldnt he have been all hiked out by then. What was so important to do one last hike on very last day of travel.

Im really starting to lean to this being something other than a real lost hiker story.

Great summary , thank you! The lack of confirmed information kills me...

 

[meanmaryjean]

This is another really good point. After the other destinations he surely knew he would become sweaty after the hike at Joshua and with the normal checkout times this does not leave enough time to go back to motel to shower before the trip home.

Things are continuing to add up that dont make much sense to me.

*Timeframe too tight to use motel room to shower and cleanup before leaving.

*Timeframe tight in general for catching a flight same day/night.

*Cellphone in car. This is 50/50 as some think its unusual and some dont. Count me in the group that think its unusual because I carry it in case of a signal that may come through eventually where I am going.

*No tracks found in the sandy trail. No sign of him ever being on the trail from trackers.

*No statements directly reported from wife. I find this very unusual that only church friends and others are speaking for her.

*Lots of experienced hikers think it was foolish to hike during the major heat and he would likely have known about the heat. 9am leaving is too late to beat the heat. Leaving at 6am would have been more like it.

*After the other major places they allegedly already went then wouldnt he have been all hiked out by then. What was so important to do one last hike on very last day of travel.

Im really starting to lean to this being something other than a real lost hiker story.

^^^^ ALL of this ^^^^

 

[MaryG12]

This is another really good point. After the other destinations he surely knew he would become sweaty after the hike at Joshua and with the normal checkout times this does not leave enough time to go back to motel to shower before the trip home.

Things are continuing to add up that dont make much sense to me.

*Timeframe too tight to use motel room to shower and cleanup before leaving.

*Timeframe tight in general for catching a flight same day/night.

*Cellphone in car. This is 50/50 as some think its unusual and some dont. Count me in the group that think its unusual because I carry it in case of a signal that may come through eventually where I am going.

*No tracks found in the sandy trail. No sign of him ever being on the trail from trackers.

*No statements directly reported from wife. I find this very unusual that only church friends and others are speaking for her.

*Lots of experienced hikers think it was foolish to hike during the major heat and he would likely have known about the heat. 9am leaving is too late to beat the heat. Leaving at 6am would have been more like it.

*After the other major places they allegedly already went then wouldnt he have been all hiked out by then. What was so important to do one last hike on very last day of travel.

Im really starting to lean to this being something other than a real lost hiker story.

BBM

Very unusual indeed, I wonder if LE has started asking her about Paul

 

[Alexsea]

*After the other major places they allegedly already went then wouldnt he have been all hiked out by then. What was so important to do one last hike on very last day of travel.

Im really starting to lean to this being something other than a real lost hiker story.

Didn’t we learn upthread that there had been thunderstorms the day or two before he went missing? IIRC.

What if their hiking plans for JT were curtailed by the storms. If they had a later flight they could have requested late checkout so he could get in a planned but missed hike, and then he could still have a quick shower at the hotel and hit the road.

Dunno, speculating. The hinky meter is on overtime!

 

[ilovematt]

I’m nobody to judge and it’s correct that people react differently in traumatic situations, but the only 1 thing I 1000% know is they would have to pry me away from wherever my husband was lost. I would rather die myself than fly home, leaving him in another country. Where did he go? No sign of him. I was shocked that police would allow her to leave. In Mexico a situation happened with a travel companion and they put our friends group up at a hotel for 7 days so that we could be interviewed several times and I presume we had to be cleared. He’s there all alone now. That doesn’t sit well with me.

 

[MaryG12]

I’m nobody to judge and it’s correct that people react differently in traumatic situations, but the only 1 thing I 1000% know is they would have to pry me away from wherever my husband was lost. I would rather die myself than fly home, leaving him in another country. Where did he go? No sign of him. I was shocked that police would allow her to leave. In Mexico a situation happened with a travel companion and they put our friends group up at a hotel for 7 days so that we could be interviewed several times and I presume we had to be cleared. He’s there all alone now. That doesn’t sit well with me.

I am so with you there!

If my husband went missing nothing would stop me from trying to find him. Doesn't matter where we are on this rock.

 

[whatsnext]

I also don't understand this...why let her leave? The kids are more or less grown up.... they were kind of quick to leave , IMO.

 

[GraceG]

I did my doctoral program in Southern California and visited a lot of the parks. Joshua Tree is one that, after my first visit, I didn’t visit alone or EVER in the summer, but it is beautiful to the point it would be tempting to do, even for “one last visit”. But it is a changing landscape of hills, canyons, riverbeds, caves, and alcoves large enough to hide a human from view. Solid canyon walls reveal themselves, on closer inspection, to be loose agglomerations of huge rocks, hiding crevasses as large as living rooms. The National Park Service also warns that the landscape hides at least 120 abandoned mine shafts into which an unsuspecting hiker might stumble.

It’s easy to get lost even if you step off trail a few yards for a call of nature. An animal trail that resembles a new branch of the path might divert downhill to a stream, for example, before winding onward through a series of ravines, ending at a dry wash — but by then an hour or more has gone by, and the path forward is now nowhere to be seen. Sometimes simply turning around can be impossible, as the route back is camouflaged by rocks or brush. The hiker is lost.

I’m not feeling any conspiracy in this one and the wife may simply have had money or health issues that called her home. I’m thinking he set out as planned, ended up off the trail and wandered out of the range of the search or into some place where he is injured or deceased and not visible. The body under stress can do amazing things. There are actually many examples in search and rescue of people in extreme conditions of dehydration and exposure both acting bizarrely and undertaking physical feats that would seem to be beyond them. For example, in 2014, an off-duty firefighter went missing in Los Padres National Forest after he ran away from his campsite to chase a lost dog. Despite being barefoot, clad only in shorts and a T-shirt, his body was found two weeks later 1,200 feet above the campsite in rugged cliff type terrain. Not only could anybody fathom why he climbed so high, it was hard to believe that it was physically possible clothed as he was.

I’m still hoping for closure on this for his family

 

[rosesfromangels]

I agree with your assessment Grace. I think he is off trail, yet to be found.

 

[SeesSeas]

Missing without a trace: Family, friends of Canadian hiker Paul Miller hold tight to hope he's alive in Joshua Tree
Missing without a trace: Family, friends of Canadian hiker Paul Miller hold tight to hope he's alive in Joshua Tree
Published 1:51 p.m. PT July 21, 2018 | Updated 2:05 p.m. PT July 21, 2018
[...]
An avid hiker from Guelph, Miller, 51, and his wife were vacationing in the desert last week in celebration of their 26th wedding anniversary.
They were getting ready to check out of their hotel room in Twentynine Palms the morning of July 13, but he wanted to take one more hike in hopes of spotting – and photographing – some bighorn sheep, so he headed for the 49 Palms Oasis trail in Joshua Tree National park.
[...]
Miller’s car, a rental he and his wife had picked up in Las Vegas, where they started their vacation, was found at the 49 Palms Oasis trailhead.
But that’s all. There have been no other traces of Miller – no footsteps, empty water bottles. No sunglasses or camera parts to indicate he may have fallen somewhere.
Not even a scent that search dogs could pick up, said David Smith, Joshua Tree National Park superintendent.
He also left his cell phone at the hotel – not unusual, Otten said.
“He is not a glued-to-his-cell” person, she said.
[...]
They had hiked extensively together at the park July 12, Otten said.
[...]

Paul and Stephanie Miller came to Joshua Tree National Park from Guelph, Ontario, to hike. He went out for a short hike on July 13, 2018, alone and has been missing since. (Photo: Courtesy of Ainsley Otten)

 

[PaulR]

Also in that article:

• Cell phone left in the hotel. Apparently this isn't unusual for Miller according to the family friend as he's not glued to his cell.
• They both hiked extensively in the park the day before. (Temperatures were about the same the day before FYI.) In fact they go on outdoors vacations frequently - they've hiked in Canada/US/Mexico, and go camping and kayaking.
• Family friend said he "does not typically hike alone."
• Still no direct quotes from the wife. Family friend said she flew back home to be with the kids after the park ranger told her they were scaling back SAR operations.
• They did fly into Las Vegas, so I can assume they were leaving from there as well.

The bighorn sheep that he apparently wanted to photograph are best seen at the oasis and usually at dusk/dawn.