Thanks for the link, Jim W.

A San Francisco mother and her two children who had been missing for nine days were found alive Monday along a snowy roadway in southwestern Oregon, police said.

A search continued for the father who left his family two days ago on foot to get help.

Investigators said a helicopter spotted 30-year-old Kati Kim waving an umbrella about 1:45 p.m. PST.

She was with daughters Penelope, 4, and Sabine, 7 months.

They were airlifted to Three Rivers Community Hospital in Grants Pass.

“Mom arrived in an ambulance smiling and waving,” said Linda Rankin, vice president for patient care at the hospital.

She said all three were in good condition, and would spend the night at the hospital.

Josephine County Undersheriff Brian Anderson said the family turned off a side road and got stuck in the snow.

When the father struck out for help, he left wearing only tennis shoes, pants, a sweater and a jacket.

His family said he had outdoor experience, and Oregon State Police Lt. Doug Ladd said there is “a very reasonable chance” that he is still alive.

Two Sheriff Dept deputies are following James’ footprints through the snow and there is a helicopter with night-vision thermal imaging gear on board trying to find him, now. The search will continue through the night.

Here is a link to the press conference after they were found.



  1. doug says:

    some good news! now we can only hope and pray that they find James, safe and sound.

  2. KB says:

    Wow! Thanks for the update, Ed!

  3. Jim W. says:

    early photos of the rescue here

  4. Mark Derail says:

    …the family turned off a side road and got stuck…

    Must have been faithfully following a GPS Nav Sys…

    Still one more to find.

  5. james hatsis says:

    I cried with joy at the news

  6. Davidka says:

    I don’t often pray, but I pray for his safe return to his family….

  7. clockwork oranjaboom says:

    So many grinding their mojo for it’s all, surely James is not far.

  8. Mike says:

    Sorry to hear he’s still missing. Heading out on foot during a snow storm probably isn’t the smartest thing to do.

  9. Olo Baggins of Bywater says:

    9, let’s hope he waited until the storm was over to start his trek. Leaving a vehicle is always a bad idea, for lots of reasons, but with two small kids I can understand what he might have been feeling. I pray that they find him upright…soon.

  10. Geoffrey Knobl says:

    Good news. Dear God I hope they find James alive.

  11. Bryan says:

    I rarely get emo over news, but I just feel for this man so much. Taking that risk, leaving his loved ones knowing there was a chance he’d never see them again — just so he could potentially save them.

    I’m almost in tears here and want to just pray to God that James is found and is back with this familly safe and sound.

  12. Tom 2 says:

    Great news for the most part, I will keep praying for the father safe trip home.

  13. Zuke says:

    I even saw this story finally hit my local small town news and the Today Show this morning. Great news, but keep praying for James… I’m confident they’ll find him today!

  14. Mike Voice says:

    My wife & I were coming home from Seattle, on the night of Nov 27th, and got stuck in the traffic backlog on I5 just North of Hwy 12 – apparently due to a couple of truck accidents caused by the icy road conditions.

    I5 was a frozen parking lot, and we sat for a few hours with the engine running, bumper-to-bumper with 100’s of other vehicles, so we could keep the heater on…

    With that recent experience in mind, it is scary to read in today’s Oregonian that the Kim family ran the engine until the gas ran out, and then they burned the car’s tires to keep warm. 🙁

    I can’t even begin to imagine it getting that bad…

  15. OhForTheLoveOf says:

    I very happy that Jame’s beautiful wife and children are safe, and I hope he is found soon. He’s very well respected in the tech community, obviously beloved by his peers, and is a great role model to boot. I know he is smart and successful… Now I know he is courageous too.

    I noticed a passage in the news story…

    Terri Stone, an innkeeper at the Tu Tu Tun Lodge in Gold Beach, where the Kims were to have stayed the night of Nov. 25, said the Bear Camp Road is shown on some Internet road-direction sites as the best way to get to the coast from Grants Pass, but she advises against it.

    I imagine that Kim, a known gadget guru and very tech savvy, utilized an Internet mapping service in making his decision to travel as he did. Is it possible he would have chosen differently if he had more information. I hope that this story leads these Internet mapping services to study ways to incorporate better road condition and season weather info into the service. I’m not laying blame… Please don’t think that. But maybe this tragic experience can help prevent similar experiences for others in the future and Yahoo, Mapquest, and Google maps can help.

  16. Mike Voice says:

    re: 17

    I second that.

    http://tinyurl.com/y862y6

    Anderson said Bear Camp Road is only passable in warm weather. He said they rescue people every winter from the road.

    “It’s not a good way to go in winter,” he said. “You can’t make it.”

  17. traaxx says:

    Whatever,

    They found his pants so he’s probably long gone. They’ll find his body next sping. Looks like they weren’t smart enough to stay off roads that go through the more isolated part of the state and even dumber not to have taken any survival equipment, not even flares. Oh well, they aren’t the first and won’t be last individuals to learn their lesson the hard way.

  18. Kim Rozell says:

    Your comment on Taxing blank CDs and DVDs had me thinking. What happens when we put our own personal copywrighted material on a blank disc for distribution? We are then taxed on our speech! This could be argued a voilation of the 1st Amendment of Free Speech. Since blank tapes were taxed, when we recored a business meeting, or ourselves for distribution to others, our free speech was no longer free because it was taxed. To make matters worse on the tape tax, the money went to private industry. Therefore, Hollywood has violated our right to free speech by having Congress tax us for the blank tapes, and now disc we use to put our intelectual property on. I think the American public should file a class action law suit against Hollywood for forcing a tax on our free speech which is protected by the 1st Amendment! Let the RIAA chew on that for a while!

  19. Andrea Gera says:

    Response to Number 19. I’m not sure what (whatever) means in your comment, but it usually reflects a bad attitude. I’m glad that you are soo smart and would be more capable than the Kim Family. You know the saying “hind sight is 20/20?” Well, that is what you are basing your knowledge on and your response is very judging. No one, no matter how smart and capable they are can claim to make a better plan and decision unless they were right there walking in their shoes making the decisions with them. Shame on you for your rude comment. I hope someday you can get your head out of your ass!


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