Missing hiker in Uintas - Ray Humpherys

Update:

I confirmed that the Summit County Sheriff's Office provided the foundation with the area to be searched. The grid squares were worked left to right, top to bottom. On day one I was part of group four. On day three I was part of group 17.

IMG_2024.jpg

And here's an approximation of the area covered by volunteers over the three days of the Bardsley Foundation operation on CalTopo. The red tracks are my own.

(EDIT: Map link removed)

The start of the volunteer search on Saturday was hampered by technical difficulties. The Foundation ran into trouble getting the grid coordinates loaded into handheld GPS units used by the team leads. That meant several hours of waiting and lost time, unfortunately. As a result, many of the members of my group on Saturday had to quit early. That's why Saturday's grid is so much smaller -- we didn't complete our assigned area.

The search around the north side of Star Lake was pretty tough due to a ton of downed trees and a large cliff band in the middle of our grids.

_MG_6395.jpg
 
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Dave said:
Update:

I confirmed that the Summit County Sheriff's Office provided the foundation with the area to be searched. The grid squares were worked left to right, top to bottom. On day one I was part of group four. On day three I was part of group 17.

View attachment 66736

And here's an approximation of the area covered by volunteers over the three days.
Click to expand...

This comment is directly related to Ray Humphries and this image above. Was this the complete search that was conducted? Looking at this photo above, does it strike anyone funny that Ray was last seen in the evening on Wen at Hidden Lake, marked on the map, but the search was conducted from Wall Lake to Bench Lake in the Bald Mountain Trail? Why would they not search the Middle Fork of the Weber which is much closer to his last seen location? That is a pretty decent walk from Hidden to Dean or Notch lakes. Was any of his gear missing from camp? Was he carrying a head lamp? I'd have to say traversing the Divides and making it into the Bald Mountain Trail in the dark without one would be a challenging route. Was there some indication that he intended to head to those areas? Seems like a long trecherous walk in the dark. Going to and from Hidden Lake, there are ramp like areas which looked like glaciers carved them that you walk up and down to and from to get in there. Without a light I would not want to try to hike those. The terrain below Hidden Lake gets steep. I am puzzled by the search area conducted for Ray. Looks like some areas seemed to be left out of the search. I am not S&R expert, but I have participated in searches in the past. Did the dogs indicate that he had moved in the direction of the areas searched? What was the logic used in determining the area focused on in this image? It just puzzles me to see no searching done in the immediate vicinity Ray was last seen in if this map represents the searching that was done over the weekend. If he fell, was hurt, or worse, he would not have traveled such a long distance from his last seen location, unless he indicated that he was going to travel to the areas searched. Sorry for the long winded post, but the searched areas, and the distance from his last seen location seems odd to me.
 
Dr Nebz said:
This comment is directly related to Ray Humphries and this image above. Was this the complete search that was conducted? Looking at this photo above, does it strike anyone funny that Ray was last seen in the evening on Wen at Hidden Lake, marked on the map, but the search was conducted from Wall Lake to Bench Lake in the Bald Mountain Trail? Why would they not search the Middle Fork of the Weber which is much closer to his last seen location? That is a pretty decent walk from Hidden to Dean or Notch lakes. Was any of his gear missing from camp? Was he carrying a head lamp? I'd have to say traversing the Divides and making it into the Bald Mountain Trail in the dark without one would be a challenging route. Was there some indication that he intended to head to those areas? Seems like a long trecherous walk in the dark. Going to and from Hidden Lake, there are ramp like areas which looked like glaciers carved them that you walk up and down to and from to get in there. Without a light I would not want to try to hike those. The terrain below Hidden Lake gets steep. I am puzzled by the search area conducted for Ray. Looks like some areas seemed to be left out of the search. I am not S&R expert, but I have participated in searches in the past. Did the dogs indicate that he had moved in the direction of the areas searched? What was the logic used in determining the area focused on in this image? It just puzzles me to see no searching done in the immediate vicinity Ray was last seen in if this map represents the searching that was done over the weekend. If he fell, was hurt, or worse, he would not have traveled such a long distance from his last seen location, unless he indicated that he was going to travel to the areas searched. Sorry for the long winded post, but the searched areas, and the distance from his last seen location seems odd to me.
Click to expand...

That's just the volunteer search area. The actual SAR operation was taking place where you'd expect it to. Just a guess, but it seems to me that they didn't really want the volunteers getting in the way.
 
Nick said:
That's just the volunteer search area. The actual SAR operation was taking place where you'd expect it to. Just a guess, but it seems to me that they didn't really want the volunteers getting in the way.
Click to expand...

It would be good to see the whole search, volunteers and S&R.
 
Dr Nebz said:
It would be good to see the whole search, volunteers and S&R.
Click to expand...

The official SAR search is not complete yet. I will be attempting to get their GPS tracks when it is. The volunteer search area was exclusionary, meaning it was designed to confirm that Ray had not been in an area. The SAR search is evidentiary, so it’s two different approaches.

Ray was carrying a clear, collapsible 2-gallon water container. He did have a head lamp. Neither has been located.
 
Dave said:
The official SAR search is not complete yet. I will be attempting to get their GPS tracks when it is. The volunteer search area was exclusionary, meaning it was designed to confirm that Ray had not been in an area. The SAR search is evidentiary, so it’s two different approaches.

Ray was carrying a clear, collapsible 2-gallon water container. He did have a head lamp. Neither has been located.
Click to expand...
Sorry I’m just now getting into this conversation so I’ve read a few posts not all....but has there been an idea he did come back to camp.???...since no one noticed till morning and he got up really early like 5 am still took those things with him for a day hike .....just a thought that is why no one knows which way he could have gone ....just giving scenarios. But I don’t think he would have taken lamp or bucket on day hike....just looking at every possibility
 
How far was the water source from the camp? I just can't fathom how someone could disappear from their tent to the shore or bank of a river. I guess if they were camped a quarter mile away or even 200-300 hundred yards I could maybe get it, but in that area I see them being camped within eyesight of the water source. This whole case seems much more mysterious than most other disappearances in the area.
 
It's easy to get lost in the dark. I once helped with an Outdoors Colorado project and set my tent up a ways off from the others (too many people, too noisy, I mean we're talking about 50 people). I'm guessing a good hundred feet away. After a group campfire dinner I headed in the direction of my tent, so I thought. I had a bright headlamp, but it took me a good half hour to find it. If I hadn't had the campfire noise to kind of help me stay oriented, I could've easily gotten myself lost, as we were in the timber. Lesson learned, and not the hard way, fortunately.
 
I am just so sad about all of this....I just hope some people stay looking for him. I think the dive team needs to go in again just one more time and really scour the Lake thoroughly again. Something could have been missed.
 
But one other thing I just have been thinking about today as I am sitting at my desk.....Wouldn’t it b a blessing as those who are looking for Ray in the Uintas....to find others who have gone that path before and hAve not been recovered yet???...now can offer closure for their family member.......sometimes it’s when you are not actually looking for something or someone that you find them.....prayers for all families who have lost loved ones and have not recovered them yet.
 
Yep. Summit County SAR located him about 3p today roughly 1.5 miles west of Hidden Lake. I don't have the specific coordinates but the location seems to fit with someone becoming disoriented in the dark and wandering into steep and rocky terrain. An autopsy is pending but no foul play suspected.
 
Sad to hear but I'm glad his family doesn't have to wonder anymore.

I'm very curious what the exact location was. 1.5 miles west is well up the other side of the middle fork drainage, even if it were significantly NW or SW. It's only 0.9 miles to the river itself.
 
Nick said:
Sad to hear but I'm glad his family doesn't have to wonder anymore.

I'm very curious what the exact location was. 1.5 miles west is well up the other side of the middle fork drainage, even if it were significantly NW or SW. It's only 0.9 miles to the river itself.
Click to expand...
Me too. He must have been heading down the middle fork if I had to guess. He knew he was 40 yards from his tent but still wandered 1.5 miles, linearly, away. I have a hard time imagining being that irrational/discombobulated.
 
Does sound like he fell... “his injuries appeared to be consistent with the “harsh terrain and environment.”


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Dave said:
Yep. Summit County SAR located him about 3p today roughly 1.5 miles west of Hidden Lake. I don't have the specific coordinates but the location seems to fit with someone becoming disoriented in the dark and wandering into steep and rocky terrain. An autopsy is pending but no foul play suspected.
Click to expand...

I knew he had gone into the Middle Fork of the Weber. It did not make sense for him to go into the area searched by the volunteers. Condolences to his family.
 
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