Lost Hiker??

[Mushroom]

Hopefully this guy has not been out out in the woods for two weeks...

http://www.thewmurchannel.com/news/4167721/detail.html

 

[Panama Jack]

Holy Cow

Sherpa John & I parked right next to that car on Tuesday. It was a light blue Saab with the windshield covered with snow, it struck us as a little odd I guess but never made anything of it. The snow was wiped off the windshield on the drivers side by someone checking his day pass.

Wow. I guess I should call that number.

Well I called the number, the phone was answered by a machine that does not receieve messages. (bites tongue rather than say something sarcastic)
Says, call back Monday

 

[forestgnome]

Creepy. Well, I'm available and local if there needs to be a search.

 

[Sherpa John]

Note in Windshield



Yes, we did see the car. Looked like it had been there through the blizzard as the windshield had been wiped to see day pass as Chris Said,

But also.. in the windshield was a note..which read.

"Friday Here ~~> Saturday Galehead ~~> Sunday Zealand ??"

Perhaps the question marks were a prelude? Is he missing by his own wishes? I am willing to volunteer as well to find the man?

Keep in Mind... on his car lays at least 6" of snow. He was up there during that dang blizzard. He could be anywhere on Twinway??

Anyone want to go hunt with me sometime this week? For S&G's

 

[Sherpa John]

I'd like to bring up the possibility of an Abominable Snowman on twinway. Last year an "experienced hiker" froze to death, this year a guy goes missing.

WTF Mate?!

 

[NH_Mtn_Hiker]

I was up there today, searched along the Garfield, Garfield Ridge, and Gale River Trails as well as the Garfield Ridge Campsite and the area around the Galehead hut. When I got back to Rt. 3 I spoke briefly with a Fish & Game Officer, he said there wasn't likely to be any further organized searches after today.

I hope if I go missing, peeps search for more than one day. Hell, I'd probably hide for the first 2 or 3 days anyways.

Anyone want to go hunt with me sometime this week? For S&G's

I'm available for a search/hike Monday.

Anyone been by the Thirteen Falls Campsite since he went missing?
I ask because most of the tracks I followed East from the summit of Garfield descended the Franconia Brook trail.

 

[albee]

count me in

I'm available for a search/hike on Monday as well. I live in Dover if you'd like to carpool up. Drop me a line - [email protected].

Actually, I'll be up there on Monday to bag a few peaks either way but I wouldn't mind having more of a purpose (or someone to hike with).

 

[Maddy]

Has this person been reported missing by relatives, friends, employer?
It appears that he left a specific itinerary.
Maybe I'm missing something but this seems to be one of the most "laid back" searches I have ever read about. Has F&G been searching since they realized his vehicle was parked and looking a bit like no one was coming back??? Usually there's a big commotion with lots of people, search dogs, updates, etc.
Except for a few VFTT folks willing to search.... this guy is out of luck if he's in trouble up there. I wish you luck trying to find him. I wish I could join you.
One could stay alive for a while if you had enough warm clothes.

 

[spider solo]

It did give reference to a ground seach and a state police helicopter search...but all in all it does seem like a low level search. Pehaps there is no next of kin.....

 

[Sherpa John]

????!!!

So let me get this straight...

News 9 FINALLY airs the story on Friday during the 5-6:30pm news casts. The supply us with a number to call with any information. Upon calling the number, you hear we can only call Monday-Friday from 8am-5pm and it does not take messages. Great.. we get the number for the first time after 5 on a friday. So we decide to call Monday

Thing is...

BY the time Monday comes, the only two searches will have been performed and the case all but closed with no searches after Sunday.

What the hell happens if I call on Monday? Does a search ensue. And perhaps the guy is actually alive up there and someone on this great earth knows but can't tell anyone until MONDAY when the guy is at that time potentially DEAD.

I am VERY displeased with Fish and Game and I agree, there HAS TO BE more to this story!

 

[poison ivy]

Maybe there is more going on than is being reported?? I don't know if they were actually searching this morning, but there were two fish & game logo-ed cars parked in front of the gate at the Gale River trailhead when I drove by this morning. I imagine they were out there related to the disappearance.

-- Ivy

 

[caleb]

I'm available for a search/hike Monday.

Anyone been by the Thirteen Falls Campsite since he went missing?
I ask because most of the tracks I followed East from the summit of Garfield descended the Franconia Brook trail.

I was going hiking anyway, but now I plan to make myself available to help search. leaving portsmouth Mon late or early tues if anyone wants to carpool. My plan is to check in with F and G first and go from there. I had originally planned to go Lincoln woods - thirteenfalls - guyot, then back out, so I might not even have to deviate much from my original hike. (but I will certainly go where asked). The temps are expected to be somewhat warmer. Caleb [email protected]

 

[jjmcgo]

Robert Sypek

Sypek is an active participant on saabnet.com. He also lists a Nashua address in addition to Twin Mountain. His e-mail address is on there somewhere but I can't find it. I e-mailed the site administrator asking him to assist us with information. A phone number and e-mail might help save everyone a search if he's in Nashua and the car simply broke down. The Saab had over 300,000 miles as of Aug. 2003.

 

[blownaway]

Check out this thread on saabnet. Seems a light blue Saab was reported stolen in the Mass area.

Prob why the law has not been aggressive with search and rescue.

Owner only reports 100,000 miles on the odo....jjmcgo, could you have made a mistake on the odo reading?

http://saabnet.com/tsn/bb/NESA/index.html?bID=688

 

[beverly]

More news

Much more detail in this article

News Article

Volunteers from a number of hiking and rescue groups conducted an extensive ground search Saturday, Bogardus said, covering a 25-mile area. The search area was based on a note found in Sypek's car outlining a 16-mile route from the trailhead to the Gale Head Hut along the ridge line of Mount Garfield and continuing to the Zealand Hut.

Sypek lives alone and has no family in the area, and no one had reported him missing, Bogardus said. Officials have contacted family members in Massachusetts who confirmed they have not heard from Sypek during the past few weeks.

Sypek is an avid hiker, although Bogardus said that, according to reports from other area hikers, he often went hiking without adequate equipment. Sypek is also known to leave hiking trails and bushwhack during outings.

Sunday's search efforts were terminated by dusk, and Bogardus said the search would be scaled back. He said Fish and Game officials and Bethlehem police would determine how to continue the search Monday morning and that any further search efforts would likely be conducted via helicopter

Doesn't sound good.

 

[jjmcgo]

Bob Sypek

We need to get through to the administrator of this web site. You have to buy a membership to get posting privileges so I was blocked in an effort to put a note on the bulletin board or in chat.
I think I saw where he uses BobS as his name on that board. There were no postings from BobS from November until Saturday. Then there was one post Saturday and two on Sunday. Hopefully, that's him.

I found this listing for an older model, high-mileage car Sypek owned. I think he posted this info in August 2003, on this page.


http://www.saabnet.com/tsn/faq/miles/All.html

Bob Sypek Nashua NH 1986 900S 308,000 miles Aug-03

 

[Panama Jack]

parking pass

Is a pass required at Gale River Road, or was car actually at Garfield?QUOTE]

The beginning of gale River Road is as close as you can get to the Garfield trail by vehicle, and yes you do need to pay.

 

[Stan]

Another mountain mystery.

Regarding the out-going message only at F&W, I'm surprised they don't have a live emergency number since they are responsible for coordinating searches. I'm equally surprised that anyone would seriously wait until Monday morning if they thought they had important information to share.

The state police have an emergency number, the AMC can be reached at most hours, most forest service offices are open weekends ... and each of them I'm sure have plenty of ways to contact F&W search and rescue.

As much as many of us would really like to help, I wouldn't suggest anyone conduct their own search without serious coordination with F&W. Searches that are random are not the most effective and actually may destroy evidence or helpful leads. Search patterns and areas that are planned will yield the best results. How many times has anyone used the phrase, especially with kids, "You can help by not helping"?

Anyone with a sincere interest in SAR should look into what is necessary to become part of that effort. Good intentions and a yearning for adventure alone are not enough.

 

[blownaway]

Doesn't look like the mileage of the stolen saab (on saabnet) matches the mileage on the parked saab. Stolen saab was metlic gray not lite blue, but sometimes the metailic gray is referred to as a silver blue color.

 

[blownaway]

I phoned in the stolen saab info and the fact that Rob was a member of saabnet.com to the NH State Police (twin mountain district). They were very receptive.

blownaway