Dares is 500 feet up the hill, obscured by the thick vegetation. Ellinor hike in the Olympics about a month before she went missing. Thats when two hikers coming down saw her. Overall, were down on recruiting and new members, Bill Gillespie, president of the Washington State Search and Rescue Volunteer Advisory Council told a reporter in early August. Aug. 23-- Aug. 23--Samantha Sayers was last seen Aug. 1, 2018, while on a solo day-hike up Vesper Peak in the North Cascades. Just one of those feelings. Sams phone pinged, a sign it was on and working. No way, he said in a comment, because women need more protection than men do. On Friday nights, she joined Turner for what they called Rantwine and cathartic heart-to-hearts. Over a week ago, Samantha "Sam" Sayers, whose 28th birthday is on Aug.. Kevin, who used to wear jeans day hiking with Sam, learned how to use an ice ax. Monchak would head up the amateur drone searches, but later broke from Kevins search to run his own. Hi, I'm not on Facebook, but interested in this case (I posted some thoughts about the public records recently on another Reddit thread). Carr took this intuition seriously. It was Adamss first year as a search and rescue sergeant, taking over from a predecessor who oversaw SAR response for 22 years at the Snohomish County Sheriffs Office. I want to understand that she had to "put up a front" in order to properly follow other leads, but like how dare you rally and petition and raise money for volunteers to go searching if you never really felt she was there in the first place. Sergeant Adams thinks Sam is somewhere on that mountain, not far from where she was last seen. The 28-year-old woman was last seen on a day hike at Vesper Peak in the North Cascades on August 1. Next to a log and up against a rock is an orange Therm-a-Rest folded as if used as a cushion to sit on. As a child, strangers in the store would comment on how beautiful her red hair was, to which she would only growl. If you have information about Sayers, call the Snohomish County Sheriffs Office at (425) 388-3393. Her goal was to spend the night at the Hidden Lake Lookout for her 28th birthday. See Photos. Dares insisted on paying Carr $500 a week during the heat of the Sayers search. What happened next is educated speculation. Three years, and thousands of hours and dollars later, she remains missing. See Photos. But thats cold comfort for the families left behind. They were surprised at how she was dressed, thermal tights under shorts and a long-sleeved shirt under a NASA tank top, but Lakoduk seemed confident, had other clothes in her pack and was moving very well they told police. Samantha Sayers. Ive always been of a warrior mindset. Sams mother, Lisa, started one titled Love, Light and a Miracle, buoyed by her faith that her daughter was still coming home. A jet boat. He watches crime shows, so he tells me, Theres always a dungeon where they lock them up. Kim Turner, a Belltown community health therapist already close with Kevin, quickly befriended his new girlfriend. That first night he wandered Vesper Peak with only the gear Sergeant Adams had on hand; by this point, his personal base had a canvas tent with a peaked roof, like a homesteaders cabin made of fabric. Get breaking news delivered to your inbox as it happens. Another hiker told police he saw her the same day at the 6,220-foot summit and . A drone operator, who also started a GoFundMe campaign, accused Carr of pretending he served in the military because of all the military camouflage he wore. Why? Red hair. Baker - Snoqualmie National Forest. But something catches his eye to the right, in a depression beneath a tree, a flash of orange out of place in the rain-fed greenery. Its hard to say how many deep mine shafts and ventilation corridors, called adits, are dug into the mountainoften hidden in the underbrush. Now that I've heard more theories on that front, his story sounds weirder and weirder. But in August, they separated. Local drone pilots launched flights, passing along footage that Sams Belltown crew posted online for anyone to scour for clues. Someone found his criminal history. One witness claimed she saw Sam playing a TV show on her phone while hiking that day, an episode of The Bachelorette. By 8 p.m., he was at the trail, trying to track her down. There were a few other searches after that, Carr said, but things didnt really heat up until Samantha Sayers vanished on Vesper Peak in 2018. At first, he was convinced Dares killed her . And for how long? That means how long and how hard a county looks for a vanished person varies. Prior to Tripps discovery, theyd been searching uphill from the place she was last seen. Three homes. There the route passes across the south fork of the Stillaguamish River; hikers hop across boulders while the knee-deep creek rushes beneath. Adams dispatched the county-owned SNOHAWK1 helicopter on what was turning into a cloudy Thursday. He knows he should be angling left, to meet up with the group, but for some reason he wants to trend right a bit more. Supply bags meant to be left on Vesper for Sam. A self-described mountain man, Carr is an enthusiastic storyteller, one who uses every inch of his 5-foot-11 frame to elucidate and elaborate, his gestures those of a college theater major, albeit a tattooed and felonious one. I have been following this case since the beginning. Sayers' family has started a GoFundMe campaignto purchase food and survival gear that rescuers have been dropping in 20 one-pound bags in various locations so Sayers might stumble across them. He calls it the rabbit hole, one that can swallow you. Left, the private search basecamp near Lake Elan; right, Kevin Dares, Bud Carr, and Clay Olsen. Sayers received court permission to change her last name from Steinbaugh to Sayers in May 2009, after her stepfather adopted her and her brother in February 2009, according to a name-change petition on file at the Erie County Courthouse. But the gold business soured in the late 80s and Carrs dad got into a dispute with his business partner. Eventually, Kriegers son asked him to stop. Sometime in the morning of a bluebird August day, a Seattle woman picked up a pencil and wrote her name on the register at a trailhead off the Mountain Loop Highway. A Nazi? Im at 4,500 feet, Dares says, about 500 feet above the group. As the August day melted into late evening, Kevin grew concerned. So, when they stop, its relaxed. The camera moves on, and Sam continues ever upward. In addition to the swastika, he has Tibetan mantras. One day Kevin watched Clay Olsen, one of the core searchers, trip holding an ice ax, missing his own forehead by inches. Thats how you want to move, Carr recalls his dad telling him. He liked camping. He lowered himself into an abandoned mine shaft and tromped through thick underbrush. Lean as a whip. Hearing that, Kevin can only give a scornful laugh. At the same time a surge in outdoor recreation during the pandemic, and a corresponding increase in search and rescue calls, has added pressure to an already overtaxed system dependent on an aging volunteer base. Follow the river to civilization. They call the sheriff. His girlfriend, Samantha Sayers, also disappeared while hiking. An Eagle Scout whod earned almost every merit badge, Carr was raised by a father who introduced him to both search and rescue and a defiant, self-sufficient ethos. In his book The Cold Vanish he acknowledges that its a rounded guesstimation although he believes 1,600 is wildly conservative.. Finally, in mid-October, Kevin and Bud Carr made the decision to pack up their camp and come down the mountain. She built that fire. Sam's mother, Lisa Yax Sayers, declined to be interviewed for this story. It was there, in his rising panic, that Kevin tripped and broke his flashlight, forcing him to turn back. Sam is said to have reached Vesper Peak's summit, and the peak's highest point reaches. You know. The couple descended. Seattle friends, the 27-year-old wrote in 2018, Im going hiking this Wednesday and tackling Vesper Peak Message me if you want to tag along.. Little cold-weather gear, no headlamp, Kevin tells her. David Francisthe Minnesota man whod lost his son 13 years earliernow leads a foundation to aid the families of adults lost in the wilderness; he flew to Seattle to meet with Kevin and the county SAR team, to make a plan. She was expected to return that evening and check in with family, the Snohomish County Sheriffs Office reported. They think, This is my chance to be a part of one.. Hes going to have a cigarette, a bad habit that accelerated after Sayers disappeared, and take a nap while the four searchers below him make their way up. Dares was a wreck. 2023 www.goerie.com. The trail gains elevation through switchbacks cut in a brushy hillside. I dont think there is a malicious bone in that guys body, he said. Someone texts Tripp. The Snohomish County Sheriffs Office launched 310 search and rescue missions last year, up 6 percent from 2017. A Seattle hotelier and real estate developer. Independent consultancy providing strategic and operational expertise to both large and small-scale commercial FMCG clients, and pro bono consultancy focused on strategy and operations optimisation for not-for-profit clients. She liked hiking. When I dream shes always getting kidnapped. The unknown, he says time and time again, is the hard part.Sometimes he can joke about the idea that Sam had orchestrated her own disappearance, a kind of Gone Girl stunt that would melt the internet: Youve been chilling in the woods for five months? They married on June 29, 2011, and traveled the world doing missionary work India, South Africa, Ireland, and more. THE TRAIL REGISTER may be the last tangible piece of Sam on Vesper Peak, the last one you can physically touch . Sam Sayers, described by her family and friends as an experienced hiker, set out on the morning of Aug. 1 for a solo hike in the North Cascades. Early on he told deputy Peter Teske, who would also play a huge role in the search, he had a feeling we better throw everything weve got at this one, at least for a couple of days.. She was super smart, cool, funny. The Cascades retain pockets of remote wilderness, enclaves that feel as raw as when Western civilization first mowed a passage to the Pacific, yet are a casual drive from Seattle. "Please take a moment to look at their faces and read and share their stories. But since moving to Seattle in 2012, and spending months of his life living on Vesper Peak, hes accustomed himself to the Pacific Northwest lifestyle. No one exactly knows. Her poor mother has lost herself in this horror and become a different person. He thanked him. None of these things were irrefutably Lakoduks, but Tripp who everyone calls Brad Dad had a feeling. David Francis, the man who lost his son in the Idaho Sawtooths, told a reporter that hed never seen anything like it and that they are the most dedicated West Coast County sheriffs Ive ever seen.. Members of the Find Sam Sayers group began referring to themselves as Sams Army, calling elected officials en masse to demand more resources. If your loved one is missing the odds are low that public sector law enforcement is going to find them, said David Francis, the founder of the Jon Francis Foundation named in honor of his son who went missing in the Idaho Sawtooths in 2006. She spoke her mind. Kevin and Sam on a Mt. People made YouTube videos. Her scrawl is the last concrete sign of the 27-year-old day hiker whose disappearance launched one of the biggest search and rescue operations in the states history. I hope I'm being polite as I say this, I'm not trying to attack anyone or assign blame. Idk, I am not there. They werent worried about getting caught, focusing instead on the imminent collapse of society. MARBLEMOUNT, Wash. This is tough country. The longest search in state history turned up nothing. Among them is a former Marine, who days after Rachel Lakoduk went missing on Oct. 17, 2019, spent an entire night searching for her. Sam is up on that mountain somewhere. His girlfriend, Samantha Sayers, also disappeared while hiking. Kevin shut down the Facebook group and others sprung up in its wake. Spreadsheets tracked every time a viewer thought they saw something. Two trekking poles. Sayers' mom, Lisa Sayers, has posted daily videos to a Facebook page, #findsamsayers . Because at the end of the day, hes the only person out there helping you.. Its been an uphill battle. The Find Sam Sayers Facebook group had grown to five figures, with posters trading conflicting theories and rumors. Raven the search dog and her handler spent 39 days on the mountain, 17 of them in a row. And women are targeted by predators (2 and 4 legged) way more than men are.. Most of them are found, dead or alive, rather quickly. On the phone he is well-spoken. How to travel in the mountains. To my understanding, both the Truth group is no longer accepting new members. She preferred if more people thought she was punk than had cancer.Sam exuded vitality. Nice family vacations, eventually a fourth home in Las Vegas. Jun 2004 - Mar 20138 years 10 months. Hey I would love to be added to the truth group please! On forums like NWHikers.net, locals offered likely scenarios, stories of their own misadventures around Vesper, their own accidental wanderings down to Spada Lake or the Sultan River. I know theres some crazy shot going down now. But for Dares these searches are painful. 2 No Hate Speech or Bullying Make sure everyone feels safe. :-), I would love to be added to that group! They wrote operating plans, considered moon phases and water sources. Life had narrowed to a singular purpose, to comb a few square miles of earth for a trace. The longest search in state history turned up nothing. He also worries that such rogue searchers put themselves in danger. He called 911 early in the morning of Aug. 2. As clues go, it's not much, just a name: Sam Sayers. There is a pause, ever so slight, and the radio squawks back to life. Dares drops his pack. On the mountain, Kevins crew of a half-dozen hardcore searchers, most of whom had never met Sam, became a little band of brothers. Im a member of the truth group and the missing Seattle hikers group ( they discuss Sams case and others and its also my favorite because theres no stupid drama.) I also believe quasi-conspiracy theories like missing411 perpetuate the underestimation of the dangers of going unprepared or overconfident into the wilderness by suggesting that there are other causes to the events other than accidents in the wild. The last few hundred feet of Vesper is more of a scramble route than it is a defined path. Despite her healthy pallor, strangers assumed shed just undergone chemotherapy, and the sympathetic clucks wore on her. In July, he posted a photo of a note hed placed on the car of a solo female hiker on Facebook. They remembered her distinctive bald head, crowned with a star tattoo like a Roman laurel wreath. Law enforcement, particularly the county sheriffs of the West who hold responsibility for wilderness operations, are by Davids accounting inadequately trained, funded, staffed, or committed to long-term searches.. One day stands out: August 4, three days in. Around 10 a.m., Sayers signed her name in the logbook at the trailhead and then disappeared. Over the course of the next days the Skagit County Search and Rescue team will gather up Lakoduks remains and her things. Granite Falls, Washington. Someone else commented on his swastika tattoo, calling him a Nazi and racist. They are the most dedicated West Coast county sheriffs Ive ever seen.. From Kevins first post, Facebooks role in the search metastasized. For 20 years, Ron Goins has worked with county search and rescue in Western Washington in one form or another. Carr, at the time 19, started dating a girl and became friends with her dad, a crazy backwoods hillbilly who was convinced society would collapse in 2000. Adams established operations bases at nearby Big Four ice caves and at Spada Lake far below Vespers southeast side. Carr continues talking about his tattoos, all of which (except for the ones on his back) he did himself, Yes sir, Im ambidextrous, he says. He didnt think it was likely Sam had ended up there, but it was worth a look. Dares looks closer, careful not to disturb anything. Carr belayed him down ropes into steep ravines. Being proficient in anything is militant.. He was honest.. The next evening, she was reported missing, her Jeep located that night by a sheriffs deputy. at 1 PM just accidentally, not because Kevin Dares called her, make him . The internet hordes accused Carr of being a grief profiteer. Off the mountain, Kevin had become the tragic fiance who refused to give upor maybe the subject of wild speculation. Thats a squishy number, though, because the two largest land managers the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Forest Service dont keep track. WA hiker Samantha Sayers went missing on 8/1 a solo day hike to Vesper's Peak. Originally from New Orleans, his leisurely drawl belying a sharp wit and quick tongue. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. I know many of you have reached this point already, but there are some serious problems with what's going on now, and with how it's being presented. He added fuel to the fire when one person asked if hed have left the note if it was a man. Psychics sent tips to the police Sam is near rocks, trees and water someone reported seeing her in a Walmart in Spokane acting strangely. It's a dangerous hobby for someone not really experienced, or competent, or truly prepared. Online criticism reached a fever pitch. Soon hes ahead of everyone else. 447 followers 447 connections . (Rescue calls) are running a little bit ahead of where weve been traditionally, and the severity of injuries has gone up. Two years later as Kevin Dares hikes uphill searching for Lakoduk, snow is a distant memory. Flashlight in hand he started up the dirt path around 10pm, quickly through the first third of the hike, which rambles through thick forest. Handler Cheryl Phillips and her dog, Raven. 425 775-3000. tips: findsamsayers.infobox@gmail.com. The desperate family paid, nonetheless. Kevin Dares. Jamie hoped theyd repair the marriage. He points to the moats off the north side of the peak, where the steep bottom of the cliff meets the glacier. Go to the creek. Sam left on the trail at around 8 am and was expected to head home and check in with her boyfriend, Kevin Dares, that evening by 6 pm. A brand-new BMX bike for Bud. Hes accused of being a Nazi, a white supremacist, a misogynist, a charlatan. This is known. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. The note warned the woman, whom Carr passed while searching for Rachel Lakoduk, about hiking alone. Everyones gonna say, a boyfriend, whatever, fly-by-night, who cares, he says. They dont touch anything. He met Rachel when she was a senior in high school. Its as if the ties that bound Sam to him, to her life, to reality, are fluttering in the Cascade gusts, and after months of grasping at them he still cant seem to catch one between his fingers. Before she left on her solo hike on the Vesper Peak trail hed texted Be safesos me if anything goes haywire. Her replyThanks baby I love you.was classic Sam, straightforward and confident. Sayers' disappearance sparked a major, exhaustive search on the 6,200-foot peak off the Mountain Loop Highway, as well as a frenzy on social media. Finally, the last push to Vesper: a short traverse from Headlee to tiny Lake Elan, still partially frozen, and the triangular peak half-covered in snow. Samantha Sayers is still missing. A paramount code in the search and rescue world, he said, is to not squawk about victories or defeats. Of that first week, Kevin mostly remembers climbing and crying. Where did she go? Kevin swiftly moved into the next stretch, where hikers emerge into Wirtz Basin, a box canyon with a smattering of squat trees. After she passed the two hikers, Lakoduk continued up. SOS, SOS. He moved to Colorado as a child and now lives in northwest Washington in a small, rented home on the Skagit River with his wife and three children. The U.S. Forest Service denied access for their helicopter, and Kevin rallied Sams Army to make phone calls to USFS offices, politicians, anyone who could make noise. Mohawked. But he knows that any scenario where Sams alive is a dark one. Though Snohomish County had officially suspended its operation, Sergeant Adams came back up to snorkel Lake Elan in a thick dry suit. Two boots. Volunteers brought up snacks, so many grocery store fried chickens that the team joked about the tidal wave of drumsticks. Her boyfriend went to look for her that night and couldn't find her, so he alerted authorities. Sams trace. Hed recently graduated. Healthy debates are natural, but kindness is required. She had two hiking poles, a blue backpack, a beige sun hat and a dark gray wool beanie. Im looking for vent stacks. Kevin took it in stride, told the stranger who he was, but held no hard feelings. If Sam was distinctive for the head she shaved bald, Kevins signature trait is the thick New Orleans accent that betrays his Louisiana upbringing. Driving down together after a day of work, Carr Sr. would quiz Bud on what to do if he got stranded on that mountain road. What color was Rachels pad, backpack and sleeping bag?. Ill owe Bud for the rest of my life, he said. A Cup of Noodles, six hand warmers, some glow sticks. Her family will come from Moses Lake, her father will caress his childs remains through the thick plastic of a body bag and try not to cry. Trash. 70-year-old, Karen Sykes, headed for the wilderness around Owyhigh Lakes in Mount Rainier National Park in June 2014. (Tyler Tjomsland/The Spokesman-Review). A carpenter by trade, who converted to Buddhism while in a Missouri prison, Carr spends months in the woods looking for missing people as a way of repaying his karmic debt to society. Kevin, Carr, and the others made occasional trips down to visit their children and gather gear, but their lives had become ruled by the command tent maps, the bearings and grid lines plotted around PLS: Sams place last seen. Been trying for a week now I thought it was shut down (I'm social media challenged) 3 Brad Tripp, her father, believes she missed the turn. We can get statistics on auto accidents but theyre not collected for people missing in the wilderness., The search for Jon lasted only two days before the county sheriff pulled out and, as David remembers, told him he should give his son up to the mountain. They clicked immediately. But even he doesnt think Carr is a grief profiteer or a charlatan. In this wide swath of mountains unpenetrated by cell phone coverage, the Verlot pay phone is literally a lifesaver; more than 25 calls to 911 were made between 2015 and 2017 alone. Despite those challenges, when Samantha Sayers went missing in 2018, county and state agencies spent 22 days searching for her. She and Kevin, a single dad of three, moved in together. Carr posted a 30-minute live YouTube video during which someone called him ridiculous. He responded by calling them a weak ass fool and challenged them to meet him on the mountain. Why? I'm sure you've met them, the kind who are super into crystal healing but also love them some jesus? The sheriffs office fielded sightings of bald women across the state, several at various Walmarts. Im a militant, he says, his voice softer than his camo wardrobe suggests. August 1 had long since rolled into August 2, the first day of the search for Sam Sayers. Flyers wrapped trees and signposts on the Mountain Loop and telephone poles in Seattle. Lots of interesting characters. He took off up the trail toward Vesper, leading Cheryl Phillips, a dog handler from South Carolina, and her search dog Raven. Literally nowhere else in the long history of missing persons cases do you see someone rallying up an "army" in this way. Three weeks later, Kevin stood in the Sunrise Mine Trail parking lot, shoving food into an army-style tan backpack. The elder Dares prepared hot meals of rice and meat and anything else on hand, calling it all jambalaya. He drove to the trailhead. He took to Vesper and pioneered his own way off trail; from the brush he counted more than 100 people on the day the reward was posted. They found boot prints but that's it. The 33-year-old lives just across Second Avenue and the eatery is more or less his office, where he runs a company that does real estate deals, renovations, and property management. News organizations picked up the story. They spotted a tree on fire, but no Sam. Spiders rappelling into your hair. Hed read about it on Facebook and decided to help. Sam was raised in the Erie, Pennsylvania area where her parents Ron and Lisa still live. All told, Carr and various configurations of volunteers have spent more than 70 days on this mountain in the North Cascades searching for her. So forgive Kevin for being a bit anti-social. According to the sheriff's office, a group of hikers reported seeing her on her way up Vesper Peak around midmorning. It was easy for fellow hikers to remember the young woman with the bald, tattooed head. and our Now, his body is covered in ink, including a swastika, although its oriented in the traditional Buddhist way, not the Hitler way, he said. She was 3,300 feet and 3 hard miles from the road, but she was on the right track. On his foray into town that first night, Kevin had posted a plea on Facebook. It isnt easy to utterly vanish. But Carr was the only person who was there from beginning to end. All she had on her was "three sandwiches, some chips and water" and no cold weather gear for nighttime. Ok so, I know most of what's going on in there is prob BS and conspiracy theories, but in light of the recent days' events I am dying to get in, and nownthst it's secret I fear I never will.