Hiker Missing on the AT in Virginia

[SmokyMtn Hiker]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/hiker-goe...181032986.html

[Gambit McCrae]

She was found today!

[One Half]

She was found today!

Great! Linky?

[Gambit McCrae]

https://www.facebook.com/shenandoahnps

[GoldenBear]

https://wset.com/news/local/woman-la...-national-park

[One Half]

12 days missing and is "safe." There has to be more to this story. No?

[GoldenBear]

There has to be more to this story.

And we may never know, unless Ms Pulley decides to talk about it. Just like you, she has a right to privacy about what she was doing during the last twelve days -- if either you or she don't want to talk about it, nobody can force you or her to do so. She might have been recovering from a near-fatal bear attack, she might have been meditating, she may have been sneaking off with her paramour. Unless she wants to reveal what happened, we won't know.

[JPritch]

I'd love to know if she was actually out on the trail the entire time or not through that weather, and if folks just overreacted and thought she was missing. I would think if some rescue effort took place @GoldenBear that some part of the effort would be made public. I think I read that it was a ranger that found her. Not sure what to make of that.

[JNI64]

Probably married and just wanted to spend the holidays with her boyfriend

[Traveler]

Governor Sanford (SC) famously claimed he was "hiking the ol' Appalachian Trail" as an excuse for a prolonged absence which turned out to be tryst. That excuse I'm sure has been used by many others over time to cover all sorts of activities. Though there is a privacy issue with most anyone out and about on trails, once a missing persons report is made and/or SAR/R efforts are launched for a search, it then becomes legitimate public interest.

That said, given reported sighting(s) she probably was on the trail and hunkered down somewhere for a few days to wait out the weather. Given the relatively heavy snow with ice storm that developed, if she didn't have proper footgear it would make sense she found a safe place to be for a few days.

[gpburdelljr]

Probably married and just wanted to spend the holidays with her boyfriend

Do you always slander people you know nothing about? It’s not funny.

[cmoulder]

once a missing persons report is made and/or SAR/R efforts are launched for a search, it then becomes legitimate public interest.

I concur, and the more public expenditures required to effect rescue or recovery the greater the level of detail the public is entitled to.

For example the woman out in CA who faked her own disappearance.

[cmoulder]

Probably married and just wanted to spend the holidays with her boyfriend

Do you always slander people you know nothing about? It’s not funny.

Gotta agree with you there.

[4eyedbuzzard]

As far as I know, as long as you're not committing a criminal act in concert with disappearing, such as child abandonment, criminal theft/intentional fraud (simply not paying bills is generally a civil, not criminal act), there's nothing illegal per se about simply disappearing. Not appearing in court (if those creditors later sue you) can then later get you arrested, as can not paying taxes. But that can take a really long time, and unless it's a lot of money, pretty much nobody except maybe friends and family cares. And it's really nobody's business, even if a search (you didn't ask for) is initiated. Often police/authorities find reported missing persons who tell them they are okay and don't want to be "found", and that's the end of it, other than releasing the limited info that the person was located and is okay. Could an agency performing S&R later sue you for expenses or if a person was injured during the search, based upon a theory that a "reasonable person" would want to be searched for if they mysteriously went missing? I don't know - but probably not. It's an interesting situation.

[cmoulder]

Good points. It's pretty much impossible to simply disappear these days.

[4eyedbuzzard]

Good points. It's pretty much impossible to simply disappear these days.

Yeah, maybe not completely impossible technically, but so incredibly difficult to do for any length of time while staying within legal bounds. Damn near everything leaves a paper or electronic trail of some sort, and you would give up many "privileges" afforded by modern life to do so. Motor vehicle and licensing, property records, banking, and ultimately tax laws pretty much rule it out. It's not as simple as just using cash, bitcoin, or corporate shells as some think.

[Alligator]

Yeah, maybe not completely impossible technically, but so incredibly difficult to do for any length of time while staying within legal bounds. Damn near everything leaves a paper or electronic trail of some sort, and you would give up many "privileges" afforded by modern life to do so. Motor vehicle and licensing, property records, banking, and ultimately tax laws pretty much rule it out. It's not as simple as just using cash, bitcoin, or corporate shells as some think.

And then there's the Google car...

[johnnybgood]

Yeah, maybe not completely impossible technically, but so incredibly difficult to do for any length of time while staying within legal bounds. Damn near everything leaves a paper or electronic trail of some sort, and you would give up many "privileges" afforded by modern life to do so.

Indeed. Having lived basically out of my car for 11 months while saving money I still had all the necessary legal expenses; ie, car insurance and AT&T phone bill along with a bank account. I had a membership at the YMCA at the time for use of their shower facilities. Off the grid living sans anything is damn near impossible.