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The body of a 5-year-old boy was discovered near an Alaskan trail after his mother said they got lost during a hike.
A ground search team found the child, Jaxson Brown, around 2:45 p.m. on Saturday, three days after he and his mother went for a hike along Lunch Creek Trail in Ketchikan.
The boy's mother, Jennifer Treat, told Alaska State Troopers that she and Jaxson went on a hike Wednesday afternoon.
I disagree. It sounds like she had a hard decision to make, because the boy couldn't hike anymore, but he was too big for her to carry him on her back, probably. So she took off to try to find help (which doesn't quite make sense, since the report said she'd become disoriented already the day before; how would she know which direction help was located in?), then injured herself. That poor mom. RIP, kiddie.
It goes to show, that the age-old advice in such a situation, to simply stay in place and stop moving around, so that rescuers can find you, is valid. I'm amazed, that they survived one night out there, without any way to keep warm. It's still winter in AK, isn't it? But they're from the Ketchikan area, which is more Seattle-type weather (cold, generally rainy winters), I guess.
Anyone know if AK is under shelter-in-place orders?
I disagree. It sounds like she had a hard decision to make, because the boy couldn't hike anymore, but he was too big for her to carry him on her back, probably. So she took off to try to find help (which doesn't quite make sense, since the report said she'd become disoriented already the day before; how would she know which direction help was located in?), then injured herself. That poor mom. RIP, kiddie.
It goes to show, that the age-old advice in such a situation, to simply stay in place and stop moving around, so that rescuers can find you, is valid. I'm amazed, that they survived one night out there, without any way to keep warm. It's still winter in AK, isn't it? But they're from the Ketchikan area, which is more Seattle-type weather (cold, generally rainy winters), I guess.
Anyone know if AK is under shelter-in-place orders?
I don't know of any states that are restricting outdoor recreational activities. I agree there is nothing suspicious about this case. It's just another lost hiker case with an unfortunate outcome.
I disagree. It sounds like she had a hard decision to make, because the boy couldn't hike anymore, but he was too big for her to carry him on her back, probably. So she took off to try to find help (which doesn't quite make sense, since the report said she'd become disoriented already the day before; how would she know which direction help was located in?), then injured herself. That poor mom. RIP, kiddie.
It goes to show, that the age-old advice in such a situation, to simply stay in place and stop moving around, so that rescuers can find you, is valid. I'm amazed, that they survived one night out there, without any way to keep warm. It's still winter in AK, isn't it? But they're from the Ketchikan area, which is more Seattle-type weather (cold, generally rainy winters), I guess.
Anyone know if AK is under shelter-in-place orders?
I've hiked that trail. How anyone could get "disoriented" on it escapes me. There are sections I wouldn't choose to haul a 5 year old on. Sure, the trail may look relatively faint this early in the season due to effects of melting snow, rain, a new layer of conifer needles, twigs, leaves but there should still be traces of such a well traveled route that close to town. One of the classic pieces of advice to keep yourself "found" in a new place is to stop, turn around, and look back in the direction you came from periodically. You keep yourself familiar with what it will look like if you need to retrace your steps. If you realize you are losing track of a trail you STOP!
Its not really winter now, especially in Ketchikan. Doesn't matter though. Technically, you can become hypothermic in very mild conditions...even the low 60s. Add exhaustion, hunger, dehydration, or soaked clothing to the mix it can happen faster than you realize. I have a little sympathy but not much. You don't leave a small tired child behind. All that will do is ensure they get chilled even faster. You stay together, hunker down, and conserve heat. Bad things can happen to anyone but there were ways to prevent this from happening before they even left the car.
Just last Friday the state issued a "shelter in place" order and prohibitions on instate travel between communities (many communities are dependent on small aircraft to get in or out), but they don't prohibit residents from being outdoors. What an individual city might have done...? Ketchikan is one of the few that has active cases.
Last edited by Parnassia; 03-31-2020 at 01:43 PM..
You are so cynical, always looking at the bad angle on every tragedy. What a sad way to go through life.
You may be right of course but it's also perfectly understandable that after spending the night outdoors in Alaska this time of year the mother would take off on her own to seek help.
What dumb (and unprepared) hikers take 5 year olds to this kind of trails?
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