Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Page 9
Interview with Kati Kim provides insight to incident
Pat McCarty (left) is
among artists who have
discovered their talents
and found support
through the Southern Ore-
gon Artists Guild. The or-
ganization’s site in Kerby
includes several displays
featuring members’ work
such as hats from Forest
Edge Farm, and dolls.
(Photos by ‘IVN’)
Artists Guild a catalyst ...
(Continued from page 1)
very beneficial to all gallery
owners and participants,”
Work said. He continued
that the addition of more
galleries ultimately would
result in further economic
development for the region.
“A rising tide raises all
boats in this harbor,” noted
Work.
“If we collectively in-
crease the tourist trade and
the economic trade for the
area, we’ll be increasing the
standard of living, which
will be beneficial to every-
one,” he concluded.
For more information
regarding the guild, visit
southernoregonguild.org.
No ‘finger of blame’ ...
(Continued from page 2)
“Access to records
needs to be improved, and
curriculum on techniques
for how to use the technol-
ogy needs to be developed.”
Also complicating
search efforts was the rough,
mountainous terrain around
the Bear Camp Road area.
Evinger said that the road
system is “incredibly con-
fusing.”
The reported noted, “A
vast network of hundreds of
miles of county, Bureau of
Land Management and For-
est Service roads and road
spurs, paved and unpaved,
many of which overlap, in-
tersect, or are called some-
thing different by the locals,
cover this area.”
Several statewide issues
also were identified, includ-
ing an overall lack of fund-
ing for SAR operations.
“There is certainly a
need for dedicated funding
and better coordination
among units,” the report
said. “Dedicated funding
must be a priority for our
leaders.”
The report also cites
“limited radio communica-
tions between the field
teams and the Command
Center,” and said that
“phone communications
into the Command Center
were inadequate.
“Outfitting a command
post with additional phone
lines and using SAR com-
munication resources could
have alleviated these prob-
lems,” the report said.
During the press confer-
ence, Gilbertson praised the
efforts of search volunteers,
saying that they “truly put
their hearts and souls into
the search.”
Gilbertson said that the
OSSA report provided a
“litany of things” that could
be fixed, and that he wants
local counties to develop a
regional management sys-
tem for such emergency
situations.
Evinger said that de-
spite flaws in the current
system, no one factor was to
blame for Kim’s death.
“I don’t think there was
a single event … that would
have changed the result of
the search,” Evinger said.
“(The report is) about
lessons learned,” Evinger
said. “It’s about how we can
do our jobs better.”
Developers on defense ...
(Continued from page 1)
properties to the project, and
that individual property own-
ers were paid up to tens of
thousands of dollars for
right-of-way acquisitions.
“We’re going beyond
what we’re asking other peo-
ple to do,” Miller said. “We
took yet another risk for this
to go.”
Jerry Miller, owner of
Wild River Brewing & Pizza
Co., said that existing busi-
nesses won’t benefit from the
project as much as develop-
ers will.
Marion Nichols said that
he is reluctant to accept the
LID and its related costs.
“I’ve lived right there
(25895 Redwood Hwy.) for
21 years, and it won’t help
me one bit,” Nichols said.
“The 17 property owners
along Redwood Hwy. … are
stuck with it.”
Carolyn Fosmore urged
council members to consider
the potential financial burden
that the LID may put on
home owners.
Councilor Russell Ehr-
man expressed concern that
some residents may feel the
financial pinch of the LID.
“The consequences are
what I’m concerned about,
really,” Ehrman said. “I want
to make sure people aren’t
adversely affected.”
Developer Dan Hughes
said that if the LID is ap-
proved, “We pay 68 percent,
and that figure is $2.5 mil-
lion. We’re not getting a free
ride here,” Hughes said.
Councilor Margaret
Miller moved for adoption.
“There are more issues
here that need to be hashed
out in a different setting,” she
said. “We do need to let this
process go through.”
Councilor Dan Fiske
seconded her motion, which
passed with a 5-0 vote.
Following is an edited
transcript of Klamath
County Sheriff Tim
Evinger’s interview with
Kati Kim.
The couple made their
reservation at a lodge near
Gold Beach while traveling
south from Portland. Kati
remembers that it was ap-
proximately 5 p.m. when
they left Portland.
Kati and her husband,
James, saw no indication
that the roads to the coast
from Merlin were not being
traveled. There were several
indicators that led them to
the opposite conclusion.
The Kims stopped at a
service station in Merlin
after exiting Interstate 5.
After missing their exit (to
the coast) near Roseburg,
they pulled out an Oregon
map in their car that showed
a straight shot to the coast
(from the Merlin area).
James went into the service
station with his map to ob-
tain clarifications about di-
rections while Kati stayed in
the Saab with the girls.
James came back frus-
trated. He thought that the
attendant gave “strange di-
rections” and that the man
was acting as though he did-
n’t understand what James
was asking. Kati felt that
(the attendant) definitely
didn’t communicate that it
was a dangerous route.
The Kims continued
toward the coast following
their map and the road signs.
At first, it was very
dark, but the weather was
dry and not even raining for
the first part of their trip.
Kati recalled seeing a snow-
plow parked along the road
as they continued and made
a mental note that the road
must be a maintained one.
She also noticed that the
road was narrowing and
thought that it might be
challenging to pass an on-
coming car with the amount
of space available. They
continued following small
signs that directed them to
the “coast.”
A short time later, they
made a turn that went “up,”
and noticed a sign that read,
“Road May be Blocked by
Snowdrifts 6 Miles Ahead.”
Kati advised that this was
the first indication that the
roads they were on are not
traveled as they initially felt.
At nearly the same mo-
ment that they started past
the sign, it began snowing
and they ran across snow on
the road. James wanted to
turn around, but Kati
thought it too dangerous
given how narrow the road
was combined with the
darkness and the steep sides.
Both James and Kati
noticed tire tracks in the
snow, but could not tell if
they were fresh. She was
certain that they were going
to be headed down the
coastal side of the range any
minute, but then they went
across a hill that took them
up into more snow.
James opened the
driver’s door of the car and
carefully backed down the
road to the intersection be-
low the warning sign. It was
at this point that the Kims
attempted to reach 911 on
all three cell phones they
were carrying. They were
unable to get a signal on any
of them.
It was starting to snow
harder so they decided to
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take the road that went
lower. Thinking that the
lower road would get them
out of the snow zone, they
continued. The road became
so narrow that turning
around became more diffi-
cult. The paved road turned
to gravel.
The Kims initially took
the road up to the left,
backed down in the snow
and then took the lower road
down to the right. Both are
paved at this point.
At about 2 a.m., the
couple knew that they were
definitely disoriented and
chose to park at a “T” inter-
section. They thought that
there was a good chance that
a snow plow might arrive
during the night or in the
morning.
When they awoke, it
was raining. They knew that
to get back out, they would
have to go up through the
snow zone.
In the distance, they
could hear a noise that they
presumed to be snowplows.
They later realized that it
was the sound of the Rogue
River. They used more of
the remaining fuel in the car
to stay warm. They used the
heater and turned on the
heated seats.
Weighing the fact that
they would have to travel
back up in altitude and that
they were lost in a maze of
roads, they chose to remain
stationary and conserve the
remaining gasoline for heat.
They were confident that a
ranger would be along soon.
They found an open
gate near where they had
parked. In crayon, James
wrote a note that read: “Low
on Gas, Low on Food, 2
Babies.” They put the note
in a Ziploc bag and stuck it
in the gate.
The Kims awoke Mon-
day morning, Nov. 27, to
heavy snowfall. Kati de-
scribed the snowfall as hav-
ing “bent the tree branches
nearly to the ground.”
She told of her survival
plan that she made as soon
as they knew they were lost
for an extended period. She
planned on having the food
in the car last for two weeks,
even if it meant “one mouth-
ful a day.” In fact, Kati
stated that there was some
rice cereal left when they
were rescued.
She put snow in bottles
and warmed them in the sun
for drinking water, and she
breast-fed the two girls. She
also related the three rules
that she and James agreed
on while at the car: No get-
ting wet, no getting hurt, no
getting sick.
The couple moved all
their belongings to the front
seat and laid the seats down
in the rear of the car. They
were all able to sleep to-
gether, keep each other
warm and sleep more com-
fortably than on the seats.
The Kims were able to hear
a radio station they thought
was from Seattle.
The Kims then worked
on putting out signs and
signals near their car. They
would walk to the open gate
to check on it about five
times a day, and they
stomped out “SOS” in the
snow. They thought of who
might report them missing
and worried about those
back home who counted on
them. Kati and James also
honked the car horn often
and yelled for help.
Four days after getting
lost and eventually snow-
bound, the couple was
studying the Oregon map in
their car. They noticed “a
tiny box” in the corner that
had the message: “Not all
Roads Advisable, Check
Weather Conditions.” Kati
went to college in Eugene
and was reflecting on a
drive between Eugene and
Florence on the Oregon
coast. She believed that the
route to the coast they took
on this trip would have simi-
lar terrain. This route was
significantly more moun-
tainous and the road much
narrower than she expected.
The car completely used
its rationed gas by Thurs-
day, Nov. 30. Kati related
that by this time, James was
keeping a fire going daily.
They decided to take the
spare tire and burn it on
their warming fire in hopes
of signaling help.
James punctured the tire
and put in onto the fire. The
smoke was black, but the
trees were tall enough that the
smoke seemed to dissipate
before it got above them.
On Friday, Dec. 1, the
pair decided to build a big-
ger blaze and burn more
tires to again try to gain at-
tention. They first took two
tires off the car and realized
a good deal of black smoke.
They then increased their
effort by putting the other
two tires on the fire, as well
as finding anything
“caustic” in the car to burn
to cause black smoke.
Kati walked down the
road to view the plume. She
said that this time it was
getting above the trees and
might be visible to someone.
She stated, “If they
won’t come save us, maybe
they will come save their
forest,” referring to the rang-
ers who still had not come
by. The Kims were still ex-
pecting someone to arrive in
a four-wheel-drive vehicle
“anytime.”
The signal fire had just
“fizzled” when Kati and
James heard a helicopter. He
frantically tried to relight the
fire, hoping that those in the
helicopter might see it. It
was so damp and wet that he
couldn’t get the blaze going
again.
Kati describes that after-
noon, near dark about 4:30,
as one of the toughest mo-
ments of their ordeal. They
realized that they had to
(Continued on page 13)
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