David Koch is Missing on a Mountain in Canada, Please Help

Sadly, It seems that hopes are fading
The weather out here has been good (cooler past couple nights, though). If he's uninjured and has water he should be fine. Let's pray that this is the case.

I live in North Vancouver and have been communicating with North Shore Search and Rescue. The weather has been good here, another mild night. The story has been all over the local news for a week, so if anyone here sees anything, they will be sure to report it. I have been communicating with Shel and have been keeping him up to date on anything I know, but nobody really knows much right now. My prayers go out to David.

Please take a moment out of your busy day and email or phone these two members of the Canadian Government and press them to increase and improve the search efforts for David Koch, last seen May 25, 2005 at 8:00 p.m. in the Chalet at the 4100 foot summit of Grouse Mountain in North
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. His survival may depend on your call. It will only take a moment of your time and time may be running out.

Provincial British Columbia Member of the Legislature for Grouse Mountain Area
E-mail: daniel.jarvis.mla@leg.bc.ca
Web site: www.danieljarvismla.bc.ca
Office:
Room 201
Parliament Buildings
Victoria, BC
V8V 1X4
Phone: 250 356-3078
Fax: 250 387-9104
Constituency:
311 - 1200 Lynn Valley Road
North Vancouver, BC
V7J 2A2
Phone: 604 775-0803
Fax: 604 775-0883

Federal Canadian Member of Parliament for Grouse Mountain Area

Don Bell

Constituency: North Vancouver

Province: British Columbia Telephone: (613) 995-1225 Fax: (613) 992-7319

Email: Bell.D@parl.gc.ca

Hill Office
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6

Constituency Office

1200 Lynn Valley Road Unit 302

North Vancouver, British
Columbia
V7J2A2

I spoke with a friend this morning who is a world class mountaineer: Kilamanjaro (Africa), Elbrus (Chechnea), Aconagua (Argentina) and I asked her whether she thought that Dave was still alive.

Although she is a tiny person less than 5 feet tall she has contributed to search and rescue efforts above 20,000 feet. She has climbed the Grouse Grind up, down and back up again in the time it takes most men to climb up. She said: You don't start or hold any preconcieved ideas about what happened or whether the person is dead or alive. You clear your mind of that. You look at all the evidence and the background and personality of the missing person. You keep your mind open to every possibility and let the evidence lead you where it will. I asked her what was the longest time she had heard of a hiker missing in the wilderness to survive and she said 35 days. We are a long way from 35 days.

Thank you for that comment. It proves that there is plenty of time for hope and plenty reason to keep searching.

I don't know David Koch, but I plan to keep posting about him because I believe that, collectively, the blogosphere can encourage Canadian officials to keep looking for as long as necessary.

This is Dave's sister Karen speaking...

I did this interview for Scott Robarts last evening please read it if you can....http://indiescribe.typepad.com/

Just want to say to the conspiracy theorists on the supposition that my brother took off, and yes we did address this in e-mail to you personally as well, (though there is a part of me that at this point would welcome the luxery of that supposition...as an "If oh God if only please let this be true" I could forgive him in a second and wrap him in my arms, if in fact it was true , at least I would be comforted by the fact that my brother was indeed alive and well)

My brother had been to Grouse Mountain before, he gets to Vancouver maybe twice a year due to his route on buisness...and has even been there, to Grouse Mountain, by himself and with his wife Suzanne previously when they both came to visit Vancouver. This particular instance he was traveling between buisness locations, that being Seattle which he left Wednesday...and towards Vancouver Wednesday evening. He crossed the border into Canada at 6:30pm...stopped briefly and purchased a drink and a snack along the way..arrived at Grouse Mountain at 8:00pm, and rode the tram at 8:30pm...I know in my mind that he had already envisioned having been at Grouse Mountain before, which path he was probably going to travel, regardless of time but ohh he probaly could make it if he hurried..It would be a path that he had not taken before to see something new (to get the most bang for his buck so to speak, making the most of his time, rather than see an area or take a trail he had traversed before)...(my dad always took the scenic route when we traveled growing up...it was always about seeing something new that you had not seen before along the way) (Why he did not check into his hotel first, is that he would have never made it back to the mountain in time to sight see while he was there in Vancouver as he had 2 buiness meetings the next day and his plane was to leave Thursday evening, and had spent a few hours driving in the car what better way to stretch one's legs..(and yes my brother would rather be with nature, than go out for a beer, or a round of golf, or sit alone in a hotel room in order to center himself)(He spent part of this recent Easter weekend taking my sister Kisten and his nephew canoeing in fact) You see him in the video footage taking long and puposefull strides, knowing he would have to hurry to make his desired destination as he glances at the clock to check the time, my brother was double checking the time, locking it in his mind as he never carries a watch, (it bothers his wrist he says)The clock is also located where the suvellience camera is kept so perhaps making it seem like he is glancing around, when in fact he is looking directly at the clock. He hurries off to his desired destination, a mental goal he is off to conquer in a way...My guess was Dam Mountain as he probaly not gotten that far on previous visits to Grouse Mountain..

This is about all the energy I have to respond to for now, please look at the interview I did for Scott's blog as well.

http://indiescribe.typepad.com/

God please keep my brother safe, and please bless all those that have searched for my brother these past very long days and to those that go out tomorrow as well to search for him...A heartfelt thanks to all the outpouring of support to my family (For Dave especially, as well as my mom (Ardell Koch), Dave's siblings..including myself (his sister Karen), his sister Kisten, brother Erik, my sister Korrine, (and his 5 nieces and nephews who adore him so much) and importantly Dave's wife Suzanne who truly is a sister to me...your well wishes are truly heard by us...

Pray also for my Mother whose birthday is tomorrow, Monday June 6th...

Thank you all so much Karen Koch sirenlips@yahoo.com

Posted by: Karen Koch, Dave's sister on June 5, 2005 05:51 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Karen: I just came back from David's SAR camp on Capilano road near the fish hatchery on the way to Grouse Mountain. I couldn't believe how big and well organized it was. There were SAR vehicles from Washington, Coquitlam, North Shore Search and Rescue etc.

There were only four people in the camp to greet me because everyone else, over 100 searchers and fifteen family members were out on Grouse mountain finding your brother Dave.

It is driving with rain, which is a very good thing because that will wash away the scents of other hikers who have been on the mountain and leave only Dave's scent.

I dropped off 15 dozen Tim Horton's assorted doughnuts for the searchers to make up for my attitude last week. Tim Horton's doughnuts are to Canadians what crack cocaine is to crack addicts. But I digress.

You would have been so impressed by the setup of the SAR. It was like a big mobile army unit. The people there were so kind to me that I started to cry because I remembered how indebted to them for saving my beloved son six years ago. If I had lost my son I would be a different person today. My son's life has a price above rubies.

When I dropped off the doughnuts at the SAR camp I became very emotional for that reason and started to cry. I so want those searchers to find your Dave alive.

One last point, about two years ago I was hiking up Seymour Mountain in winter. I thought that I was okay because I thought that I had left my headlamp in my parka pocket because I could feel something like a headlamp. When I got to the top of the mountain in the dark I reached for the headlamp and found a shower head that I had put there to remind me that it needed to be replaced. No one knew where I was and if I had slipped I don't think I would have been easily found. People do stupid things like that.

So Dave probably made a stupid decision like I did and got lost. But like me, I am sure that he is a survivor.

We do not have the luxury of believing that Dave voluntarily left the mountain. There are years down the road when we can sort out that scenario.

Right now we have to focus on the possibility that he is alive and waiting desperately for rescue because that is the time limited scenario.

I am praying like crazy for you and your family and for Dave's save return.

Your friend, Kathleen