Bears and Mountain Lions cache and hide killed prey and return to it later.
zzzz wrote:
Stebbins wrote:
A mountain lion would have zero interest in dragging a 160 pound man very far, and even less interest in covering its tracks.
I agree with the part.
zzzz wrote:
B Franklin wrote:
A mountain lion could have attacked him at night, but no way is a mountain lion capable of cleaning up all his remains.
It can definitely happen during the day. I've posted on the forums in the past about a close mountain lion encounter in Quicksilver Park in San Jose that happened mid-day, maybe around noon. It went right by me almost within reach, focused on my dog in front of me, before veering off at the last moment.
100 x more likely to be murder than mountain lion kill. Suicide is also WAY more likely. In fact, damned near every possibility is far more likely than a mountain lion victim.
Ernest wrote:
Bears and Mountain Lions cache and hide killed prey and return to it later.
Not very well, they don't.
Would likely drag a body off the trail and scratch a few twigs and branches on top. Not enough to keep it hidden. Not nearly enough.
1101 wrote:
zzzz wrote:
It can definitely happen during the day. I've posted on the forums in the past about a close mountain lion encounter in Quicksilver Park in San Jose that happened mid-day, maybe around noon. It went right by me almost within reach, focused on my dog in front of me, before veering off at the last moment.
100 x more likely to be murder than mountain lion kill. Suicide is also WAY more likely. In fact, damned near every possibility is far more likely than a mountain lion victim.
What's happened so far is already unlikely. Unlikely things sometimes happen. A guy running off to a different life in circumstances like how this is unfolding is also unlikely. As is all the other guesses.
Here's a mountain lion attack that occurred around noon that killed a mountain biker in Orange County. I remember the discussion when it happened:
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jan-10-me-lion10-story.htmlFrom that article about the OC mountain lion fatality: "Mountain lion experts say that while the animals generally stay away from humans, they are more likely to attack small prey, such as a person in a crouched position. To a cougar, the difference between a person bent over fixing a bicycle and a small animal may be indistinguishable. "
A possible scenario might be that this guy steps off the trail to do a #2, and then a cougar gets him while he is squatting. Unlikely but possible.
suspicious wrote:
He was an Energy Efficiency Analyst working for a government-sponsored agency, Clean Energy Solutions Center. Maybe he was murdered because of something he’d uncovered or seen. May be far fetched but so are most other scenarios. They were searching within a couple hours after he was due back and no sign at all.
This is what I was wondering. What was his work place? What was his family life? All this points to perhaps he was depended on by others, and didn't want to continue doing what he was doing. I suspect he exited the trail system to another remote area by foot and maybe took his own life. Or, more meringly, he took off to find a happier life.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Joan_Rischwuhko l wrote:
suspicious wrote:
He was an Energy Efficiency Analyst working for a government-sponsored agency, Clean Energy Solutions Center. Maybe he was murdered because of something he’d uncovered or seen. May be far fetched but so are most other scenarios. They were searching within a couple hours after he was due back and no sign at all.
This is what I was wondering. What was his work place? What was his family life? All this points to perhaps he was depended on by others, and didn't want to continue doing what he was doing. I suspect he exited the trail system to another remote area by foot and maybe took his own life. Or, more meringly, he took off to find a happier life.
No one has considered aliens sucked him into their ship for anal probing?
Hope dude is ok.
zzzz wrote:
1101 wrote:
100 x more likely to be murder than mountain lion kill. Suicide is also WAY more likely. In fact, damned near every possibility is far more likely than a mountain lion victim.
What's happened so far is already unlikely. Unlikely things sometimes happen. A guy running off to a different life in circumstances like how this is unfolding is also unlikely. As is all the other guesses.
Here's a mountain lion attack that occurred around noon that killed a mountain biker in Orange County. I remember the discussion when it happened:
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jan-10-me-lion10-story.html
I don't believe that anyone on here has claimed that it is impossible that a mountain lion got him. Just very unlikely. As such, it appears that you are arguing against an imaginary opponent.
It remains far more likely that he fell victim to a human predator than a mountain lion.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barney_and_Betty_Hillfootfaced wrote:
No one has considered aliens sucked him into their ship for anal probing?
Hope dude is ok.
1101 wrote:
I don't believe that anyone on here has claimed that it is impossible that a mountain lion got him. Just very unlikely. As such, it appears that you are arguing against an imaginary opponent.
It remains far more likely that he fell victim to a human predator than a mountain lion.
How many men are kidnapped or killed by people in a wilderness park - as opposed to city/inner city park - in the US? That's just as unlikely.
Whatever actually happened, if we ever find out, will be something that is very unlikely, but happened anyway.
Stebbins wrote:
Based on his Strava data, Philip was/is a legitimate local trail runner. I haven't checked any races he did, but in the few runs preceding his disappearance, he broke a respectable segment record and was top 10 on a couple of others.
The thing I still don't understand is why he chose what would have been about a 90 min round trip drive for an 8 mile run, leaving behind a network of better trails near him and temperatures that were 30 degrees cooler in Berkeley. I'm curious if he said anything to his wife about why he chose that particular park- heat training? Change of scenery? He could easily have run into Tilden or Wildcat Canyon or any of the other large parks that were closer to him.
I'm not familiar with the trails at the park they're searching, but based on the description of their search for him it would seem that if he's still in the park, he must have become disoriented after suffering heat exhaustion or stroke and wandered more than 100m off the trail in search of water or shade/shelter. If he tucked under something to try and stay cool (ie, he's out of plain sight) and it's far enough away from the main trails they searched, he likely won't be found for a while. It seems safe to assume at this point that he went a good distance away from whatever trail he was initially planning to run on, and is probably a ways off from any trail at all. Assuming he's still in the park.
Pretty heartbreaking if he's still somewhere out in that park, and heartbreaking for other reasons if he's not. Wishing him and his family well despite the long odds.
Interesting post.
What's also odd is to think if he wanted to disappear, he's likely reading this thread.
zzzz wrote:
1101 wrote:
I don't believe that anyone on here has claimed that it is impossible that a mountain lion got him. Just very unlikely. As such, it appears that you are arguing against an imaginary opponent.
It remains far more likely that he fell victim to a human predator than a mountain lion.
How many men are kidnapped or killed by people in a wilderness park - as opposed to city/inner city park - in the US? That's just as unlikely.
Whatever actually happened, if we ever find out, will be something that is very unlikely, but happened anyway.
Trail rage, He got in a fight with a mountain biker and the Mountain biker killed him and hid his body.
Stebbins wrote:
Here is some drone footage taken yesterday of the area. I appreciate that the search party has been looking up to 100m off trails, but unless you're checking under every single one of these scrub bushes and trees, it seems to me that it could be very hard to find someone curled up in a fetal position who wandered way off course looking for water/shade/help.
But wouldn't you smell him? When does a body start to smell?
This post was removed.
Random thought. Could his gps watch activity during the 8 mile run be traced back to his whereabouts somehow?
RiyadhRunner wrote:
I find running 6-8 miles around 9-10am when it's 110 out to be much more palatable then when I was running in DC and FL, when temps may have only been 90 but humid. I'd take a dry 110 all day, every day over DC and FL temps.
Sorry but I've been out in these "hot/humid" places and it's a myth. They are hot at peak temperature and then humid at night when it cools off. This gets blurred in people's minds. It's rare for 90 or over to coincide with humidity above 50%.
You may not sweat quite as fast at 90 as 110, but at temperature below 98.6 you don't need to. Just run different.
110 is nuts, dry or not... if you don't know exactly what you're doing it can kill you quick. Evaporation of water is your lifeline then.
Not random at all. Literally every other idiot has asked this same question for the past 6 days, but you get a gold star for waiting until a week to ask it.
I think this link should take you to a map on the facebook page which shows the area that has been searched so far. Seems safe to say that at this point he's not in the main part of the park by the trails- that's been searched thoroughly by people, hounds, and drones. There is still that huge open space to the west and south. I'm not at all familiar with that terrain but there doesn't seem to be much of a trail network there... the formal search party seems to have moved on without giving that area much consideration. I wonder why- maybe limited resources or some other info.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/227893015854510/permalink/230486602261818/
One recent development is that another runner allegedly saw Philip on the trail that day- this other runner apparently identified Philip based on his outfit. It's very strange though... the other runner apparently talked with a park employee on Tuesday, who advised the runner to contact police. Officials are saying they don't know the name of the other runner and the park employee is "not reachable." Wtf?
How many times have you ever headed onto the trails with one run planned, and then changed course part way in? For me, it's countless times. But what doesn't add up here is that they seem certain he was just planning to do the 8 mile loop, and then he was supposed to be somewhere afterwards (to pick up family). A very finite course with a deadline. It's not like he was going out for a half day long run. Weird scenes inside the gold mine.
Stebbins wrote:
I think this link should take you to a map on the facebook page which shows the area that has been searched so far. Seems safe to say that at this point he's not in the main part of the park by the trails- that's been searched thoroughly by people, hounds, and drones. There is still that huge open space to the west and south. I'm not at all familiar with that terrain but there doesn't seem to be much of a trail network there... the formal search party seems to have moved on without giving that area much consideration. I wonder why- maybe limited resources or some other info.
I believe a lot of that area to the west is fenced off and private property which would explain the absence of trails. If Philip did go into that area it will be a lot less likely that he will be found.