cgarby said:
I'm surprised the crime scene wasn't preserved as that is usually the case or at least what we are taught in SAR.
However, Maddy brings up some good points. Lost Person Behavior characteristics (which many SAR groups use) say that children from 7-12 may "become upset or confused when lost causing them to act irrationally; will frequently become trail runners getting them farther from the PLS (point last seen)". While the case may be suspicious and should be investigated, it is not out of the question for a lost child to roam 2 or more miles from the PLS.
Also the Capenews.net article reads "Despite the official conclusion that Patric died of hypothermia, the autopsy report includes very few indicators of hypothermia, said Mr. O’Connell, and the lowest temperature the day the boy died was 43 degrees, said Mr. O’Connell". I was there and the conditions were bad - the temp. may not have been that low but it was steady rain and cool conditions. Hypothermia doesn't just happen in cold weather. .
I have stayed out of this conversation as I have mixed emotions about the whole event. I was in the Bartlett area when this happened but was tied up with other things so I wasn't able to join the search which bothered me immensely but I followed it closely. My personal opinion was there were too many people and the Incident Command was having a hell of a time coordinating all of it. No ding on them. It was an overwhelming response to a terrible situation by many untrained people. I have seen this happen before. It winds up being more of a gaggle then a search. The results are that the IC is trying to get the crews that they can determine have training, out in the woods and the other teams out doing something that may or may not be useful without getting them lost or injured so that they eventually have to be rescued. It’s not easy and it saps resources and wears heavily on the command.
Having said that, there was nothing to indicate that the searchers were dealing with a crime scene. When the body was located everyone in the team should have stopped and one rescuer (hopefully the one with the highest medical training) should have moved in a direct line to the body and checked to see if this is now a rescue or recovery. Once that it was discovered that it was a recovery then that rescuer should have come away from the body on the same path that s/he approached it. The area should have been roped off around the body in as large an undisturbed area as possible and the police should have been notified. When the police/coroner had decided if it was a crime scene or not only then should the body have been moved. Again, I don’t know if this was done or not. It may have been.
43 degrees with high winds and soaking rain are
IDEAL conditions for hypothermia, especially if the person is exhausted. When I was outside during those conditions I really felt for Patric and had serious misgivings that he was going to survive long. The behavior with his missing socks and his shoes being on is not unusual in a hypothermia case. Late stage hypothermia is characterized by cessation of shivering, slurred speech, mumbling, stumbling, loss of fine motor skills, etc. The brain is shutting down and rational thought is not occurring anymore.
When I had read where his body was located I personally thought that it was a little unusual. His age puts his thought process at a point that makes it difficult to determine what his actions should be. Many 12 year olds will follow the path of least resistance when lost. 58% of them go downhill. 87% usually stay on the path or trail as well. That should have brought him down the drainage not up. Strange but not totally out of order. 93% of children in this age group are found within 2 miles of the PLS. We will never know what his path was because a tracker wasn’t brought in right from the start. I was initially hoping that they would use trained trackers to try to find him and that any hasty teams that they used were at least track/sign aware. That didn’t happen from what I can tell. If they used track/sign aware hasty teams maybe the socks would have been found and would have helped find him. I am assuming that the socks were not found but this may not be correct. Does anyone know the answer to that?
Also, the LPB characteristics, which some of the information listed in the previous paragraph comes from is just a guide. The information that is in it is from the Search and Rescue Society of British Columbia Canada. There are indicators that while it can be useful as a guide, differences in terrain may make it less useful in searches in the northeast. This research was done by them using data from out in the western US if I remember correctly. The Society even tells you that the data is not complete and to use your own judgment based upon your experiences. Don’t misunderstand me. SARBC is a top notch group, probably none better, but the LPB
may be of limited use in this instance.
Onn a personal note I have two sons myself and I cannot imagine the depth of the loss that they must be feeling. My heart truly goes out to them. It is my sincerest wish that they eventually get an answer that they are satisfied has been investigated properly, though I don't know that there will be a different determination.
Keith