MERLIN, Ore. – The body of San Francisco father James Kim was found in Oregon’s snowy coastal mountains on Wednesday, searchers said.
Kim’s body was at the foot of the Big Windy Creek drainage, a half mile from the Rogue River, where ground crews and helicopters had been searching for days.
It appeared he traveled about seven miles from his car. He set out on foot Saturday seeking help for his family, stranded nearly a week on a road through the mountains.
“He was very motivated,” said Brian Anderson, undersheriff of Josephine County. “We were having trouble in there. He traveled a long distance.”
A helicopter hired by Kim’s family spotted the body about noon and lowered a rescue worker to confirm that it was Kim’s.
“I’m crushed,” Anderson said. He said he had few details about Kim’s condition or the immediate area where he was found.
The body was taken to Central Point for an autopsy. But results were not expected to be released until Thursday after his family was given details.
Kim’s wife, Kati, and their two children were rescued Monday.
Earlier in the day, searchers said they had uncovered clues that suggested Kim, 35, had shed clothing and arranged it to give searchers clues to his whereabouts. They had also made plans to drop rescue packages for Kim with clothing, emergency gear and provisions.
Oregon State Police Lt. Gregg Hastings praised Kim’s family, which had financed helicopter searches.
“They have been true champions throughout this whole ordeal,” Hastings said.
When he left the car Saturday, James Kim went about two miles along the road, and then headed down into a drainage area, Hastings said. One pair of his pants were found about a mile below where Kim left the road. Family members told officers he had been wearing them over a pair of blue jeans.
When he left his family, Kim, a senior editor for the technology media company CNET Networks Inc., was wearing tennis shoes, pants and a heavy coat, but no hat, Anderson said.
The Kims left Portland on Nov. 25, headed home after a holiday trip to the Pacific Northwest. They were to stay at a resort in Gold Beach.
Kati Kim told officers that, traveling south from Portland, the couple missed the turnoff from I-5 to a state highway, Oregon 42, leading through the mountains to Gold Beach.
The couple made a wrong turn and stopped in what they thought was a visible area. They used their car heater until they ran out of gas, then burned tires to stay warm and attract attention. With only a few jars of baby food and limited supplies, Kati Kim nursed her children.
The family told their rescuers that James Kim left his family about 7:45 a.m. Saturday in search of help and went the way they had come, saying he would return by 1 p.m. if he found none. He did not return.
On Monday, searchers in a helicopter spotted Kati Kim, 30, and daughters Penelope, 4, and Sabine, 7 months. They left a hospital in Grants Pass on Tuesday and were described as in good condition.
A friend of the Kims, Scott Nelson Windels, released a statement: “We want to send out our utmost thanks to the search and rescue teams who risked their lives in the efforts to bring James back to us, they are true heroes to risk their own lives for a stranger. As friends we know that we did everything we could to help in the search for the Kim family, which is our only comfort now.”
Outside the downtown San Francisco office building where James Kim worked, three red roses were laid at the base of the orange CNet logo. Employees leaving the office were teary, and a courtyard usually packed with workers at lunch was vacant.
The company canceled its holiday party scheduled Wednesday evening.
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