Ozark Hiking Trgedy

[Dr. Steve Yaney]

(Reuters) - An Illinois man and two of his sons died from exposure to freezing temperatures during a weekend hike in the Ozark Mountains in southeast Missouri, authorities said on Monday.

Rescue crews found David Decareaux, 36, and sons Dominic, 10, and Grant, 8, on a rocky bluff Sunday morning, Reynolds County Sheriff Tom Volner said.

The father was pronounced dead at the scene and the boys later died at a hospital, Volner said.

Decareaux, his wife and five children of Millstadt, Illinois, were staying at an Ozarks lodge, Volner said. They were experienced hikers, he said.

"It's just a tragic loss," Volner said. "It's really hard when you lose half of a family like that,"

The cause of death was hypothermia, said Jeff McSpadden, Reynolds County Coroner. When the three hikers left Saturday morning, the temperature was in the 50s and they were dressed in light outerwear, he said. Rain moved into the area and temperatures plunged to the mid-20s overnight.

"I guess they didn't think about the weather coming in and were not dressed for the cold," McSpadden said.

A motorist saw Decareaux and the boys in the rain early on Saturday afternoon and asked if they wanted a ride but the father declined, Volner said. The trio was reported missing about nightfall, he said.

A search by about 50 law enforcement officers, firefighters and others on foot, horseback and in vehicles failed to locate the lost hikers. The search was scaled back after midnight because of rapidly rising creeks and flash flooding, Volner said.

The trio was found on Sunday morning on a bluff on the trail, Volner said. They had missed a turn that would have returned them to the lodge, he said. CPR was performed on the boys and they were transferred to a hospital, but died, he said.

A four-month-old Labrador dog, who was on the hike, survived, Volner said.

[gma06001-]

Prayers go out to the Decareaux family. This is truly a tragedy.

[turboturtle]

Very saddening to read this. It took a moment for it to sink in. An experienced hiker at that. This brings tears to my eyes. My thoughts go out to the Mrs. She has to be devastated. Children are the hardest to lose.
We all do what we do, knowing their are risks, but we rely on our time and experience to make it through. I used to think this was a most dangerous activity, but their are none more dangerous that riding a motorcycle on the city streets. Promise that.

aka Bob

[bird dog]

Very tragic and saddening news to me, especially since I hike alone often and when you add in two young boys it is terrible. There was a point Saturday afternoon, (hiking) , before it got too late, with the bad weather in the forecast, when I decided to head back to the Bronco, I was going to error on the side
Caution and skip finding more falls, scenery etc.

[cpresoz]

Many of you may already have seen this. It adds some more information but most importantly, adds faces to a terribly tragic sad event. http://howardmeyerson.com/2013/01/15/da ... -two-sons/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Cowper]

This is very sad. I'm generally known as the guy that probably has something "extra" in his gear bag for just such events, and "everything" in my truck needed for dealing with all sorts of problems. But still I'm going to let this be a wake up call, it can happen to anybody, even the very experienced.

Looking at myself; I used to always have a "space" blanket and chemical firestarters of some type in my bag for winter kayaking. I've gotten sloppy; I'm mostly running stuff I feel very comfortable on, but the rapid seasonal changes have caught me off guard this year, and with a drysuit I don't have that stuff loaded now and haven't had any problems because of it (yet). I'll fix all that. Not everybody on every trip has a drysuit, and gaskets can fail mid trip even if they do. Not to mention the occassional "I forgot to close the zipper" incident - I see a couple of those every year.

For those who take responsibility for others in the outdoor environment, imagine how different this story would be if the Dad had dropped a Spot or other PLB into his pocket on the way out the door. (I'm very guilty of owning one but rarely carrying it, so again my intent is to motivate myself and others to do better, not to criticise with 20-20 hindsight.) BUT - if he had, this story would have a happy ending, just a sound-bite in the local news and maybe a photo or short video clip of 3 shivering people being warmed in blankets by some SAR folks.

Can pride and refusal to accept help be a problem? Yeah, that is a danger that grows as your experience grows. I can't really fault this dad - he was offered a ride only 3 hours into the hike. It hadn't gotten ugly yet, he didn't need help yet. He may have even felt it safer to not let his boys ride with strangers - too many of us think there are ax murders lurking around every corner. But it is still something we can learn from. I tried to help a motorist during the Christmas snow storm. His 2WD pickup was in the ditch, he was getting out to walk home in what for Arkansas is near blizzard conditions. He refused my offer of a ride home. Why? "I'm from Alaska, this is nothing". Pride. I'm sure he really did make it with minimal difficulty, but both of us missed the opportunity for a good conversation with friendly strangers, and for what?

Enough of that. My heart goes out to the family, and if they ever stumble across this I hope they understand that my comments come out of respect for this Dad; it is exactly because he was an experienced hiker that "this shouldn't have happened to" that this is worth discussing and learning from, to maybe prevent someone else from suffering as they are now suffering.

[737driver]

One thing to add about strangers offering a ride. Like you said, people nowadays fear that someone that pulls over to help may be a bad guy. In some cases it's true, but generally its just a concerned citizen. I have told both my wife and son that if they are ever stranded on the side of the road or such and a motorist stops to help, if they don't feel comfortable accepting a ride, they can have the motorist call me or the sheriff when back in cell service. That way at least someone knows to start to look for and help them.

[Cowper]

Good approach. I also think those who really do need a ride or some other kind of help need to consider this:

1) What is the probability that the first car that pulls over and offers help is the bad guy?
2) What is the probability that the next dozen or 100 cars that are going to pass you after that have bad guys in them?
3) If you want to improve your chances even more, take an active approach and flag down the very first car. Since more than 99% of folks are going to help in that situation, what is the chance that the very next vehicle coming down the road has a really evil person in it?

Sometimes you just have to do the math and go with your "best bet". Look 'em in the eyes, and if the first one that pulls over doesn't make your hair bristle, then go with your gut.

[Clif]

I recently stopped to help a person broke down in a known cell dead spot. I knew right away by the change in her walk I was scaring her. Offered to call for her but she..... had already crossed the hiway to avoid walking by my truck... told me she thought she could get a signal just up the hill a bit. onstar didn't help this scenario. I guess I could have kept my distance and still offered help?

apologies for straying, and had seen this on news site as well as hiking page. Prayers for the family

[hollohead]

One time couple years back, I was driving hwy21/16 and passed a fellow laying beside the Dixon Ford road with a sign that said PONCA . Anybody going to Ponca got to be a good guy, I think to myself, and pull over. Dude jumps in and my heart starts racing, looks like an ax murderer. Says he's been camping in the wilderness for 2 weeks hunting 'sang', green gold that is, Ozark remedy for all things. He then tells me he is writing a book, I breath a sigh of relief, anybody writing a book gotta be a good guy I think to myself. "What's the book about?" I ask. "Space aliens and bigfoot" he tells me, and my heart starts racing again. He can tell I am spooked, so he tells me he's not gonna kill me. WHA-WHA where did that come from? He then tells me about being surrounded by 20 bigfoot in a canyon, and all sorts of interesting tidbits. He laughed like a crazed maniac, talked like the folks on Moonshiners, and smelled like bigfoot. I let him out at the Compton store, and breathed a huge sigh of relief, it was the most intense 45 minutes of my life becouse I'm keeping the story short and there was a lot more conversation and strange behavior I'm leaving out. Will never forget it.