Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Distraught rescue crews come up just short

Searchers were ‘treating this like a member of our own family is missing’

For rescue workers searching desperately for James Kim, some of whom camped on the ground at night with his footprints so as not to lose the trail, the news that Kim was found dead Wednesday was a heavy blow.

Kim, his wife, Kati, and their two daughters, Penelope, 4, and Sabine, 7 months, went missing Nov. 25 when they left Portland, Ore., and headed home after a holiday trip. Sometime along the way, they missed a turnoff and got lost. Saturday, James Kim left to find help, heading about two miles down the road into a drainage area called Big Windy Creek.

Kati Kim and the girls were rescued Monday and are OK. But James Kim had been missing for a fourth day when rescuers reached his body at 12:03 p.m. PT Wednesday.

Josephine County Undersheriff Brian Anderson broke down and had to step away as he prepared to relay the news that Kim was dead, leaving the task to Lt. Gregg Hastings of the Oregon State Police.

“You have to understand, we’re treating this like a member of our own family is missing out in the wilderness,” Anderson told NBC News’ Peter Alexander.

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