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

[Sanz]

The NPS was suppose to release a final report of Jacob's death but as of today I have not seen any media articles in regards to that. Its my belief that Jacob had some type of accident/injury at the Sol Duc River location which might have resulted in a ill advised/prepared journey to Hoh Lake.

At Jacobs FB page his family has posted photos of where Jacob died in the park and put up a small cross to mark the location which is very near Hoh Lake and the scenery is quite beautiful and maybe Jacob was overcome by its beauty that he lost track of time and the elements around until it was to late for him.

NPS wouldn’t release the final autopsy report. It would have to be Jacobs next of kin.

This news link pretty well sums it up to me what was found during the investigation and the autopsy. It seems that his parents didn’t contest the findings.

“The King County Medical Examiner’s Office used dental records to confirm his identity Wednesday and the initial thought is that Gray, who was 22 when he died, did not die of trauma...”
“...the doctor will further examine Gray’s remains for the next couple days to confirm that Gray’s death was not the result of a traumatic event.”

Jacobs parents Randy and Laura said their family is thankful to the community on the Olympic Peninsula who supported them through the past year”.
“We have closure,” Randy said.
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/n...ic-national-park-identified-as-missing-hiker/

 

[PastTense]

What Happened to Jacob Gray?
What Happened to Jacob Gray?

 

[kelsie]

What Happened to Jacob Gray?
What Happened to Jacob Gray?

A side note... Jacob's dad is absolutely amazing. He went up to the place where Jacob's remains were found and tried to intercept the rangers and Jacob's remains, but he missed them. On his way back down the mountain, he came across other rangers giving CPR to a 29 year old woman in cardiac arrest. HE STAYED TO HELP. He switched off doing compressions with the rangers. The woman didn't make it. But imagine... you've been doing 14 hour searches per day for your son for 16 months and you get news he is dead, and then you still stop to help other people right away. Incredible. My god.

Some points of interest from this article...

Oddly, there were four arrows stuck in the ground in an east-west line near the tarp. Why were they stuck in the ground? Was it some sort of sign for people who would come upon the bike?

Jacob’s bike and trailer were functional-the tires were not flat, there was no evidence he’d been hit by an automobile. Nothing appeared malfeasant-most of his gear was there, and he probably had his wallet in his pocket.

All logic led to the Sol Duc-Quileute Indian for sparkling waters. Jacob needed water, he skipped to the river to filter into his CamelBak, he slipped and fell in, the water sweeping him downriver. That’s the likely scenario, concluded the Olympic National Park rangers: We think he fell into the river-we’ll check the river in the summer when the water goes down.

On Friday, April 7, Ranger Wray found a list of phone numbers among Jacob’s things and called his sister, Mallory, who is a year older than Jacob. Mallory urged Wray to phone their parents in Santa Cruz right away.

Jacob was all geared-up for a cross-country tour to Vermont to see his older brother, Micah, who was stationed there with the U.S. Coast Guard. Jacob said he might take two years to make the trip. He figured he could do odd jobs along the way, maybe a little seasonal work as a transient organic farmhand. If that was his plan, then why would he ride west in weather, even if it was just a shakedown ride?

Within a week of Jacob’s bike being found, there was also a plane crash and then another missing person in the park. They didn’t have the bandwidth to do a full-scale search.

Swiftwater rescue experts will tell you that if he fell or jumped into the water, it’s nearly impossible that he went that far, and it’s improbable he’d flow more than a mile. It’s likely Jacob could be wearing a wool coat and canvas Carhartt dungarees. This is not an outfit you want to fall into a river wearing, but Jacob was as strong a swimmer as they come. In the water he knew when to relax and go with the current, and when to stroke like hell.

Swiftwater rescue experts will tell you that if he fell or jumped into the water, it’s nearly impossible that he went that far, and it’s improbable he’d flow more than a mile. It’s likely Jacob could be wearing a wool coat and canvas Carhartt dungarees. This is not an outfit you want to fall into a river wearing, but Jacob was as strong a swimmer as they come. In the water he knew when to relax and go with the current, and when to stroke like hell.

The state of the world had gotten him down. He sought answers in the Bible. The Holman Bible found with Jacob’s things had Isaiah 34:14 circled: And an abode of ostriches. And the desert creatures shall meet with the wolves, The hairy goat also shall cry to its kind; Yes, the night monster shall settle there.

His family had been worried that Jacob was showing signs of mental health issues. Randy said Jacob hadn’t been himself and cites the divorce and losing the beloved home he grew up in as possible triggers. “He was having trouble adulting,” Laura said. A cross-country bike tour seemed like a good remedy, a chance for growth and change.

His family wonders if he could have been found alive if officials had gotten a helicopter in the air and dogs into the backcountry within a day or so of finding the abandoned bike? Jacob’s remains were found on a treeless ridge and might have been seen from the air.

Robert Koester, PhD, author of Lost Person Behavior, the seminal Search & Rescue manual, says, “Children will often go up. So will people on a vision quest. Depending on what message they get from God, I have seen people climb mountains.”

 

[siliconrod]

What Happened to Jacob Gray?
What Happened to Jacob Gray?

@PastTense thank you for posting this article about Jacob. I live near Santa Cruz CA, Jacobs hometown, so his disappearance was somewhat local to me. The article does provide some answers as what led to Jacobs death but others remain unanswered. The article does show the amazing love and commitment of Jacob's father Randy. I hope Jacobs father and family are at peace now.

I hope NPS changes it SAR protocols since Jacobs death.

 

[dotr]

Missed this case altogether but decided to check it out after reading a book review today regarding Jacob Gray and others. Looking forward to reading this book when it comes out July 7.
https://www.amazon.com/Cold-Vanish-Seeking-Americas-Wildlands/dp/153874757X

''These are the stories that defy conventional logic. The proverbial vanished without a trace incidences, which happen a lot more (and a lot closer to your backyard) than almost anyone thinks. These are the missing whose situations are the hardest on loved ones left behind. The cases that are an embarrassment for park superintendents, rangers and law enforcement charged with Search & Rescue. The ones that baffle the volunteers who comb the mountains, woods and badlands. The stories that should give you pause every time you venture outdoors.

Through Jacob Gray's disappearance in Olympic National Park, and his father Randy Gray who left his life to search for him, we will learn about what happens when someone goes missing. Braided around the core will be the stories of the characters who fill the vacuum created by a vanished human being. We'll meet eccentric bloodhound-handler Duff and R.C., his flagship purebred, who began trailing with the family dog after his brother vanished in the San Gabriel Mountains. And there's Michael Neiger North America's foremost backcountry Search & Rescue expert and self-described "bushman" obsessed with missing persons. And top researcher of persons missing on public wildlands Ex-San Jose, California detective David Paulides who is also one of the world's foremost Bigfoot researchers.

It's a tricky thing to write about missing persons because the story is the absence of someone. A void. The person at the heart of the story is thinner than a smoke ring, invisible as someone else's memory. The bones you dig up are most often metaphorical. While much of the book will embrace memory and faulty memory -- history -- The Cold Vanish is at its core a story of now and tomorrow. Someone will vanish in the wild tomorrow. These are the people who will go looking.''

 

[dorothyland]

And top researcher of persons missing on public wildlands Ex-San Jose, California detective David Paulides who is also one of the world's foremost Bigfoot researchers.
'

Saw this and immediately thought Missing 411 and David Paulides and then I saw he's in this book. I was about to write a whole book report but I don't think this post in the right space for it. Thank you for sharing this book!

 

[CastlesBurning]

https://nypost.com/2020/07/04/why-hundreds-of-people-vanish-into-the-american-wilderness/