I dont think there is a malicious bone in that guys body, he said. There are the obvious theories including wild animal attacks, getting lost or falling. His voice is strained, sometimes wavering with panic. No ones seen a single trace of Sam Sayers since. Squirrels are going to be stuffed, one poster wrote. Nine months later, the mystery has consumed the lives of thousands. Like Sam, Jon summited a mountain and then vanished. 447 followers 447 connections . Three homes. Local drone pilots launched flights, passing along footage that Sams Belltown crew posted online for anyone to scour for clues. His biggest complaint? I went to high school with Sam, and her mom was always that uber-intense type. Once, while working a night shift at Dennys a customer complained that his steak was too dry. He added fuel to the fire when one person asked if hed have left the note if it was a man. News organizations picked up the story. After climbing more than 4,000 feet, up switchbacks and across boulder fields and finally across the patchy snow that marbles the stone pyramid of Vespers very top, Sam reached the summit. For $1,700. No definitive signs ever surfaced; some footsteps on the southeast side could have been Sams, but they revealed nothing. Every year, in the United States, roughly 600,000 people go missing. Dares is 500 feet up the hill, obscured by the thick vegetation. So thats cool. 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. I was a member of that group, but found them to be really gossipy, and petty. On Friday nights, she joined Turner for what they called Rantwine and cathartic heart-to-hearts. This one was different. Flyers wrapped trees and signposts on the Mountain Loop and telephone poles in Seattle. She was a strong woman who was not afraid to speak her mind, and I loved that about her, Turner says. Now shes gone. When Kevin returned from the search, real life was waiting. The AFRCC, or Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, was actively monitoring Sams phone for pings, a sign of brief connectivity to cellular sites. 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. I would just like to read at my pleasure and see what everyone else is thinking. Such as did LE look into this and do DNA testing, etc. Super driven. 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. A man with a dog showed up in the early days of the Idaho search in 2006 and offered his services. He gave up two things for Lent: social media and alcohol. After a $20,000 reward was announced, the trail swelled further. Despite those challenges, when Samantha Sayers went missing in 2018, county and state agencies spent 22 days searching for her. Missing Seattle hiker's family, friends remain hopeful despite 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. It's a dangerous hobby for someone not really experienced, or competent, or truly prepared. Like Kevin she was a self-employed entrepreneur, owner of a cleaning service for Airbnbs. A search ensued unlike anything the state of Washington has ever seen. The conversation covers more ground than the searchers have. To Kevin, Carr was a generous stranger turned close friend, willing to take the Louisiana tenderfoot through the rugged terrain around Vesper Peak. For 20 years, Ron Goins has worked with county search and rescue in Western Washington in one form or another. See Photos. The vegetation is so thick and the terrain so rugged its entirely possible to walk by a clue, or an entire body, and not see it. Reflecting on that time, Dares said lots of people offered to help and some followed through. He peeks under logs and behind boulders. The Find Sam Sayers Facebook group had grown to five figures, with posters trading conflicting theories and rumors. It was easy for fellow hikers to remember the young woman with the bald, tattooed head and the wide, easy smile. I say it again: in my opinion what the boyfriend of Samantha Sayers, Kevin Dares, did the night she went missing, going into that trail alone, the way he contacted Rangers and 911 that night, his delay to inform Samantha's mother that her daughter was missing - she learned about her disappearance next day approx. A bass boat. The longest in state history. Now that I've heard more theories on that front, his story sounds weirder and weirder. By life. It was easy for fellow hikers to remember the young woman with the bald, tattooed head. Sayers' mom, Lisa Sayers, has posted daily videos to a Facebook page, #findsamsayers . Charismatic in the most genuine way. Sam was a proud LGBTQ ally, thriving on activism. Regardless, Rachel left Moses Lake alone that morning. I'm happy to PM you with my FB name so you can invite me. The drama continued. The note warned the woman, whom Carr passed while searching for Rachel Lakoduk, about hiking alone. A year after officials called off search for hiker Sam Sayers, her It looked like the moon.. Its more than three miles from the trailhead to the shores of Lake Elan and Kevins base camp, where snow had mostly melted. According to the sheriff's office, a group of hikers reported seeing her on her way up Vesper Peak around midmorning. Youve got to be a little crazy to do that.. Sam's mother, Lisa Yax Sayers, declined to be interviewed for this story. Follow the river to civilization. They know the chances of finding her are slim to none. 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. April 23, 2019 Kevin began referring to himself as Sams fiance. In a snowstorm, this would be easy to miss. Boot prints found during search for missing Girard native hiking Vesper Off the mountain, Kevin had become the tragic fiance who refused to give upor maybe the subject of wild speculation. A sexist and, just plain creepy, not to mention an opportunist taking advantage of grieving families. 509 Olive Way, Suite 305, Seattle, WA 98101 Phone: 206-957-2234 Fax: 206-447-3388, By LYS suddenly dismissing her vehement faith that SS was/is on the mountain. As for the money, Carr never asks to be paid. That can lead to profiteering and exploitation, with some bad operators capitalizing on grief to make a buck. Samantha Sayers - Documentation and Operations - Medical Network He continued up despite the plan to meet. Later, her husband Jamie, will receive a bag of her gear from the coroner and place the items on the floor of an empty room in the house they used to share. And please don't get me started on the multiple GFM accounts. Thanks if anyone can do that! The strange disappearance and death of Karen Sykes on Mount Rainier Sam had hiked Vesper Peak before, but its a rigorous trail. I just do not know what to think, but I am guessing she fell, and the area that required technical climbers was not searched properly? His dad sold his shares in the business and the family moved to Port Townsend, Washington, poured the gold money into a salvage diving company, sold that and moved to Missouri. 509 Olive Way, Suite 305, Seattle, WA 98101, Kevin recognized Sam from across the room. In the Belltown apartment, they hung maps and scrawled Sharpie notes directly on the wall. This unofficial search began as soon as SAR pulled out. When volunteers arrived around 6am, they took off in teams to comb the trail and call out Sams name. If you have information about Sayers, call the Snohomish County Sheriffs Office at (425) 388-3393. In late July, the Tacoma Mountain Rescue Unit Facebook page posted a photo (clearly photoshopped) of a bearded man with a Pinocchio-length nose, wearing a do-rag and smoking a cigarette. Tips came pouring in, from the usefulYMCA campers at Lake Elan just below the peak saw Sam ascend but never come downto the questionable, like psychic visions of her near rocks, trees, and water. Hey I would love to be added to the truth group please! Over the next 10 days, 137 volunteers spent roughly 2,000 hours combing the mountain. That number 1,600 comes from the journalist Jon Billmans research. It even had an iron box stove inside. Also, if you check out her IG she appeared to enjoy taking a lot of cliffside selfies soit's feasible she may have fallen. I submitted a request to join but it hasn't been approved yet. He posted regularly to Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. The Sunrise Mine Trail lot was dark, and Kevin could see Sams blue Ford Fiesta still in the gravel lot. Copyright 2023, The Spokesman-Review | Community Guidelines | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy, Three years, and thousands of hours and dollars later, she remains missing, National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, already overtaxed system dependent on an aging volunteer base, Bill Gillespie, president of the Washington State Search and Rescue Volunteer Advisory Council told a reporter in early August, county and state agencies spent 22 days searching for her, the founder of the Jon Francis Foundation, The Hidden Lake trek is 8 miles round trip and steep, publishing three short books on the topic, he posted a photo of a note hed placed on the car, told a reporter that hed never seen anything like it, Carr posted a 30-minute live YouTube video during which someone called him ridiculous., whose husband Tom disappeared and died hiking alone this year and was later found by a friend, a Seattle real estate broker and woman of color, of a bearded man with a Pinocchio-length nose, wearing a do-rag and smoking a cigarette, Heightened interest in Moscow killings by true crime consumers could be harmful, Man who exchanged gunfire with Spokane police downtown in October faces federal drug charge , Man accused of killing four UI students agrees to be extradited to Idaho in Pennsylvania hearing , Hayden man arrested after firing weapon in apartment building , 'There's not much doubt': Families of UI students react to suspect's initial court appearance and new details released, Investigators believe DNA of accused killer found on sheath at home where 4 UI students were slain, 'She was living the life that she deserved': Maddie Mogen's father braces for first Christmas without her, 'People could be charged': Social media rumors about Moscow case leading to doxxing, harassment. Still, its hot and hes tired when his radio crackles to life. Volunteers still showed up, most unbidden, like a trucker from Memphis who read about Sam online and dropped everything to come climb a mountain in a place hed never been. His father, Carlton Carr Sr. was an entrepreneur, jumping from hustle to hustle, but by far his most successful, and formative enterprise, was a gold mine in Colorado. Between Carrs military mindset and Kevins own stint in the Navy, they approached the mountain with a tactical eye. Denice Rochelle, a Seattle real estate broker and woman of color, messaged Carr in August asking if hed teach her how to travel safely in the backcountry after following his exploits online. Adams dispatched the county-owned SNOHAWK1 helicopter on what was turning into a cloudy Thursday. 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. 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.. Spiders rappelling into your hair. Hunters asked to look for signs of missing hiker Sam Sayers Samantha Sayers, Girard Native, went missing August 1st after climbing a mountain in Washington state. While his dad worked at the mine, Carr played and explored in the mountains. Everyones gonna say, a boyfriend, whatever, fly-by-night, who cares, he says. Sam Sayers is a 5-foot-8-inch white woman who weighs 125 pounds. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. All the things you want in a partner, he says. No way, he said in a comment, because women need more protection than men do. What a complete waste of resources, and all for what? The color of her lipstick debated, what does it mean? Police are continuing to search for a woman who went missing after going out on a solo hike in Washington State on Aug. 1. In every community across Washington, families are facing the challenge of accessing and affording long-term care.