GRANTS PASS, Ore. – A San Francisco woman and her two children missing for more than a week were found Monday in a remote area of southern Oregon but the search continued for her husband, police said.
Searchers in a helicopter spotted Kati Kim, 30, waving an umbrella about 1:45 p.m. Her daughters Penelope, 4, and Sabine, 7 months, were with her. They were airlifted to Three Rivers Community Hospital in Grants Pass.
The three “are in good condition, Kim and the kids” Linda Rankin, vice president for patient care at the hospital, told The Associated Press.
“Mom arrived in an ambulance smiling and waving.”
Nursing supervisor Cynthia Russell said the mother nursed both children while they were lost.
Josephine County Undersheriff Brian Anderson said James Kim, 35, was wearing tennis shoes, a sweater and a jacket. Jackson County Sheriff Mike Winter said search dogs and horse patrols would join the search today.
Sabine Kim will be admitted and the other two will stay overnight in the same room, she said.
Rescuers continued to look for James Kim and said the search will be a round-the-clock effort. He had left on foot two days ago on a rural road headed south to seek help, police said.
They said two U.S. Forest Service employees would follow the tracks apparently left by Kim through Monday night.
Anderson said the family turned onto a side road and became stuck in the snow, ran the car heater through the nights to stay warm snf eventually burned their car tires.
Oregon State Police Lt. Gregg Hastings said a detective interviewed Kati Kim, who said the family had intended to take state Highway 42 from I-5 to the coast, a usual route, but missed the turnoff and found Bear Camp Road on the map. They decided to take it rather than turn back.
They took a wrong direction at a fork in the road and were 15 miles from Bear Camp Road when found.
“During the night they just cuddled as a family to stay warm,” Hastings said, adding that there was no sign of panic. He said there was only some baby food and a few snacks in the car.
James Kim left for help early Saturday morning, heading up the road they had come in on but went down into a drainage area, he said.
Ladd said there is “a very reasonable chance” that he is still alive and that the family said he had some outdoor experience.
The Kims were vacationing in Seattle and had stopped to see friends in Portland before heading to a resort on the southern Oregon coast on their way home to San Francisco.
The family had made reservations at the Tu Tu Tun Lodge near Gold Beach. But they never arrived after they were last seen at a Denny’s in Roseburg on Nov. 25.
Bear Camp Viewpoint is at a high point in the Coast Range with a view of the southern Oregon wilderness.
Roads through the area often are used as shortcuts to Gold Beach on the south Oregon coast, but can be impassable in the winter.
Anderson said searchers had to use Sno-cats in the area because of ice and snow.
James Kim is a senior editor for CNET Networks in San Francisco who covers digital audio and co-hosts a weekly video podcast for the Crave gadgets blog on CNET.
Searchers including volunteers and friends and relatives of the family had been checking state highways that run from I-5 to the Oregon coast and along the coastline looking for any sign of the family, their vehicle, and any indication that the vehicle may have traveled off the highways.
The Curry County Sheriff’s Office in Gold Beach was searching the region using four-wheel-drive vehicles but were limited by snow and icy conditions.
The Oregon National Guard Air Unit deployed a Blackhawk helicopter to search the roads in the Bear Camp Road area.
Their family also hired helicopters to search the area.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
