"Hero" Misnomer for Dead Oregon Dad

Autopsy: Missing Man Died of Hypothermia
8 Dec

The San Francisco man who sought help for his stranded family and got lost in the snowy wilderness died of hypothermia near a fishing lodge stacked with food, authorities said. James Kim, 35, had no way of knowing about the Black Bar Lodge. His body was found in shallow water feeding Big Windy Creek, about a mile away from the lodge, where he could have found shelter, warmth and enough food for months, authorities said Thursday. "I wish Mr. Kim would have found the place," owner John James said. "It would have been a beautiful ending to a sad story."

The lodge owner's rhetoric is sufficiently syrupy, but makes no sense. His statement sits in the context of the family's rescue, but if the lost dad had found the lodge, there is no way to speak of whether or not mom and the two kids would've been found. It's imaginary, what-if conjecture, and that's all.

Searchers found the body of the 35-year-old online editor on Wednesday, two days after rescuing Kati Kim and daughters, Penelope, 4, and Sabine, 7 months, from the car they had used as shelter for more than a week in Oregon's snowy coastal mountains. A medical examiner said Thursday he could not determine exactly when James Kim died.

The Kims had driven from San Francisco to Seattle for Thanksgiving and were on their way home. They planned to spend the night of Nov. 25 at a luxury lodge outside Gold Beach on the coast. Driving south on Interstate 5, the Kims had missed the turnoff to the coast and instead drove through the Siskiyou National Forest. They passed signs warning that Bear Camp Road may be blocked by snow, but kept going. At times, James had to stick his head out the window to see through the falling snow, said state police Lt. Gregg Hastings.

Okay, mistakes upon mistakes, aggravated by stubbornnes most likely, piled up here to end in death. Yeah, it's tragic, but then again, driving on a back-country road in the mountains in the snow, with no other traffic around is a pretty stupid proposition, especially if it's your wife and kids on the line. You miss the interstate turn, keep going until you get to an exit where you can go back, or ask solid directions of the locals to get to your destination. You pass warning signs about snow on the road you're on, and it's snowing, then you turn around and go back. Yeah, it's sad to miss the night at the resort, but it's better to wake up in a less-than-glamorous motor lodge off the interstate than wake up in a snowed-in car a dozen miles from any civilization, with no food. And lastly, if you've got to stick your head out the window to see where you're going, it's time to get the hell off the road, whether you're driving in the Oregon coastal range of downtown Portland. I mean, seriously.

They descended into a confusing warren of logging roads.

Logging roads aren't paved. Why in the hell would you turn onto an unpaved road if you're in a snowstorm and lost? That's just asking for trouble.

By the time they turned around, they were 15 miles off Bear Camp Road and stopped where they hoped to be spotted from the air, fearing they were running out of gas, searchers said.

It's way too late by this time, but up to now this is the smartest thing they did.

Kati Kim told investigators they stopped at 2 a.m. Nov. 26, but could get no cell phone service. They stayed in the car as it snowed and rained for three days. They had only baby food, jelly and bottled water, Hastings said. When the bottled water ran out, they melted snow. When the food ran out, Kati Kim nursed the children.

So light a fire. There's going to be deadfall wood in the forest, so get it and light a fire. And make it big, the bigger the better. Mom and Dad work in shifts to keep it going, never letting it go out. Infrared searches will spot it immediately, and the smoke will be the other way to get spotted. Earlier news accounts talked of them burning tires, so they had at least one fire going. You just stay in place and keep the fire going. Every entry-level Scout is taught that if you're lost you don't move. You stay put and let the searchers find you.

On the eighth day, James Kim decided to look for help. His wife told investigators he thought he was just four miles down the Rogue River from the community of Galice. It was closer to 15. But he felt he could follow the river to find help.

"James Kim did nothing wrong," Hastings said. "He was trying to save his family."

Yes, he was trying to save his family, but his mistake was in leaving. He had no idea where he was, and he set out. That was wrong, and it cost him.

Kim had walked five miles up a road, then five more miles down rugged Big Windy Creek. Despite his long hike, he was only a mile from the car, which was near the road to the lodge.

Typical. Without any kind of references or a map, he was going in a circle. Why get off the road and into the brush? It may be longer, but the chances of finding something, or being found, are much better on the road than they are in the forest. Another bad decision.

On Thursday, the Kim house, with its cheery, red garage door and window sills, perched up a small hill, stood dark and empty in San Francisco's Noe Valley neighborhood. A few blocks away, a sign outside Church Street Apothecary, one of the Kims' two boutiques, read: "We will be closed for a few days. Please respect our privacy." Below the sign, scores of flowers, cards and candles conveyed warm wishes from neighbors.

"Your dad is a hero. Your dad is a great, kind man. He will always love you very much," said a handmade card written in a child's scrawl, signed by "Malia."

No, sorry, he was not a hero. The CNet spokesman offered up the same overused and grossly inaccurate tag of hero yesterday. He was brave, yes. He and his wife made a very difficult choice, fully cognizant of the possible outcome, yes. He tried to do the right thing, yes. But he was not a hero; he was a victim. Just because someone dies trying to do something does not make them a hero. His actions had nothing whatsoever to do with his family's rescue, the rescue that would have been his as well if he'd just stayed with the car and the family. He set out alone and died alone, without achieving his goal and without in any way contributing to this bittersweet outcome.

He became a victim of his accumulated mistakes and likely overriding desire to get to the resort hotel. He became a victim of giving in to striking out rather than just waiting. He became a victim of the poor choice to go through the forest rather than stay on the road. In none of these things was he a hero, just tragic victim of amplified and accumulated simple mistakes.