Originally published December 8, 2006 at 12:00 AM | Page modified December 8, 2006 at 12:14 PM
Copter pilot who followed a hunch spotted Kati Kim waving for help
John Rachor was up in the Cascade Range with his grandkids last weekend getting a Christmas tree when he read in the newspaper that a San...
The Associated Press
GRANTS PASS, Ore. — John Rachor was up in the Cascade Range with his grandkids last weekend getting a Christmas tree when he read in the newspaper that a San Francisco family had disappeared while headed to the coast for a night in a lodge along the Rogue River.
An owner of eight Burger King restaurants and a longtime pilot who regularly flies his helicopter over the rugged Rogue River Canyon, Rachor got a hunch that James and Kati Kim and their two young daughters had made an all-too-common mistake and taken the Bear Camp Road as a shortcut. In winter, the road can be blocked by snow.
A one-lane blacktop logging road through the Siskiyou National Forest, Bear Camp Road is regularly used in summer by rafters on the Rogue River to shuttle their vehicles, and in winter by hunters, cross-country skiers and families hunting Christmas trees.
"On Sunday I went out looking for them," Rachor said from his home in Central Point on Thursday. "I did see suspicious tire tracks Sunday that went down that road. I couldn't ever see where they came back."
He got low on fuel Sunday, returned to Medford and decided to fly again on Monday to the Bear Camp Road area.
"I went out in the same general area," he said. "I just started hovering over all those roads. There must be 50 miles in that road system. There were a lot of tracks on the roads, but they were all bear tracks. I spotted one set of tracks that were human tracks. They're longer and narrower. I hovered over them to verify they were human tracks."
Three helicopters hired by the Kim family were working the area, too, said Joseph Rice, operations manager for Carson Helicopters Services.
After a cellphone company discovered that a text message had pinged off a tower near Glendale and hit one of the Kims' cellphones somewhere to the west, they and Josephine County Search and Rescue had been working the Bear Camp Road area, Rice said.
On Monday, after a pair of searchers on ATVs reached the tracks left Saturday by James Kim when he walked out for help, Rachor said he followed them down the road several miles.
"I spotted her waving the umbrella and running around the road" next to their silver Saab station wagon, Rachor said of Kati Kim.
Someone had stamped out "SOS" and "Out of gas" in the snow.
Rachor said he radioed in her position.
Within minutes, Rice said, the three Carson helicopters were there. One crew dropped food, and a smaller one was able to land and pick them up.
UPDATE - 09:46 AM
Exxon Mobil wins ruling in Alaska oil spill case
NEW - 7:51 AM
Longview man says he was tortured with hot knife
Longview man says he was tortured with hot knife
Longview mill spills bleach into Columbia River
NEW - 8:00 AM
More extensive TSA searches in Sea-Tac Airport rattle some travelers
![]()

Entertainment | Top Video | World | Offbeat Video | Sci-Tech
nwautos
Turismo upgrade "Gran Turismo 5: XL Edition" for PlayStation 3 has features such as new car-tuning settings, new NASCAR vehicles, better replay video...
Post a comment
- Lakewood cop accused of embezzling $150K meant for slain officers' families
- 3 big health insurers stockpile $2.4 billion as rates keep rising
- Council members get briefing on arena proposal, minus details
- Social worker recounts minutes before Powell fire
- Agency set to investigate handling of 911 call about Josh Powell
- Quick decisions: How Washington hired its new football staff
- Historic day for gay marriage as another fight looms
- Justin Wilcox's versatile defensive style is the right fit for Huskies | Jerry Brewer
- Washington men walloped by Oregon, 82-57
- It's Terrence Time: Enigmatic Ross leads Huskies
- Gay-marriage bill passes House, awaits Gregoire's signature
507 - Wanted in Seattle classrooms: more teachers of color
406 - AP Source: Obama to change birth control rule
377 - Council members get briefing on arena proposal, minus details
366 - Oregon live game thread
155 - Worker: Josh Powell told son he had 'surprise'
114 - Rough road again
108 - A few late-night notes
96 - USA Today further spells out how Mariners, handful of clubs next in line for huge cash windfall
76 - Marijuana legalization initiative set to go on Nov. ballot
74
- Wanted in Seattle classrooms: more teachers of color
- State Medicaid program to stop paying for unneeded ER visits
- 3 big health insurers stockpile $2.4 billion as rates keep rising
- Economy, blogs give survivalists new reason to look to Northwest
- State's share of mortgage settlement: $648 million
- Bellevue College adds a third bachelor's degree program
- Darren Berg gets 18-year sentence for Ponzi scheme
- One man's audacious pursuit of sailing history
- $25B settlement reached over foreclosure abuses
- 'Gauguin and Polynesia': dazzling mix-and-match | Art review







