Larry Conn - Kings Canyon National Park - California - Locations Unknown

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Thousands of people had mysteriously vanished in America's wilderness. Join
us as we dive into the deep end of the
unexplainable and try to piece together what happened. If you
are listening to Locations.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Unknown, what's up, everybody?

Speaker 3 (00:57):
Welcome back to another episode of Locationnown. I am your
solo host once again. Mike van Bogart. Joe is out
with the flu this week, so I am manning the
ship once again on my own. Before we get going here,
just a couple of announcements. As you all know, we've
got a big live stream coming up on April twenty third.

(01:19):
It's going to start around six thirty Central Time, now PM,
and we've got some a lot of cool guests lined up.
So the host from National Park after Dark will be
joining us. Evan Stone, the extreme filmmaker we've had on
the show a couple times, will be joining us. The
hosts from Crime Off the Grid will be joining us.

(01:40):
They're both the retired Lawn Enforestment Park rangers, so I'm
sure they've got a lot of cool stories. We'll also
have some of our other network shows on. We're going
to have a live member's only video call with all
of our supporters, which will be viewable to everyone, but
you need to be a member to join that. And
we hope if we have a couple other surprises for

(02:01):
the live stream, so make sure to check out all
of our social media pages for more details on that.
And it's going to be a multi hour live stream.
We're probably going to go pretty late into the evening,
so make sure to tune into that. We'll be posting
the link to the live stream here in the next
couple of days. Check that out. If you want to
call the show or text the show, you can call

(02:22):
two eight three nine one six nine one three. You
can also check out some of the other cool shows
we have on the network, so we got Peanut Butter
and Mountain Podcast, Off the Trails, The Weirdos we Know
who runs this Park, and Crime Off the Grid. If
you want to support the show, you can head on
over to Patreon and subscribe to our patren account. There's
lots of additional content there that you can only get

(02:44):
on Patreon or YouTube memberships or premium subscriptions on Apple
or premium subscriptions on Spreaker. Outside of that, don't really
have any updates. We're hoping the best for Joe. I
spoke with him earlier today and he's pretty sick, so
way he could have made it in tonight. All right, everybody,
let's gear up and get out to explore locations unknown.

(03:19):
In October twenty twelve, an experienced hiker vanished amid an
early season snowstorm near California's remote Taboose Pass. Despite extensive
search efforts, hindered by brutal terrain, freezing temperatures, and blinding
white outs, rescuers found no trace. Months later, melting snow
exposed startling clues, raising even deeper questions about what truly

(03:42):
occurred near the alpine summit. With clear evidence of a
frantic emergency call and an abandoned tent, the mystery deepens.
Was it hypothermia, altitude sickness, or something more sinister? Join
us this week as we explore the disappearance of Larry
Khan in King's Canyon National Park. So we are headed

(04:17):
to Kings Canyon at National Park this week, another park
I have not been to yet, hoping to hike it someday.
So this park is about seven and twenty two square
miles if you want to think about that. In the
larger scheme. Of all the parks, it would be the
it's the twenty second largest park by land area. The
sub location I'm going to be talking about mostly tonight

(04:39):
is the remote high Country on the eastern Sierra Cress
near Taboos Pass. It's an elevation of about eleven thousand,
four ndred feet and we're going to be along the
Taboo's Pass Trail that connects to the Indio National Forest,
that connects Indio National Forest to the jun Your Trail.
So this is in the state of ca Alifornia. It

(05:01):
was originally established as General Grant National Park on October
first of eighteen ninety. Then the park was greatly expanded
and renamed Kings Canyon National Park on March fourth of
nineteen forty. Park sees about six hundred and ninety nine
thousand visitors a year. This was in twenty twenty four,
so this would be thirty fourth out of the sixty

(05:23):
three parks. So not one of the most popular parks
in the park system, but all the pictures I've seen
it looks really cool. I'm going to get into a
little bit of the climate here. The stretch of the
Taboo's Pass Trail where Larry went missing. Is like I said,
at eleven thousand, four hundred feet or three four and

(05:43):
eighty meters for our foreign listeners on the crest of
the Sierra Nevada, and at this elevation the climate is
a true alpine environment, so no month of the year
has a mean temperature above fifty degrees fahreneight or ten
degrees celsius, and average highs in the brief summer seldom

(06:04):
exceed fifty nine degrees fahrenheit or fifteen degrees celsius. Nights,
even in July and August, often drop below freezing, and
temperatures can swing twenty to thirty degrees fahrenheit between day
and night. Due to the thin, dry air at altitude,
Precipitation falls mostly as snow as you can imagine from
late autumn through spring. Early season storms like the one

(06:26):
in October that impacted Hilarry candebos it a foot or
more in a single event, and snowpack may linger into July.
Above ten thousand feet, summer precipitation is minimal through afternoon,
though afternoon thunderstorms are not uncommon. Winter is typically from

(06:47):
late September to May, with sub freezing daytime highs prolonged
snow cover and frequent high windstorms. Summer typically June to September,
is cool, sunny, usually fifty to sixty degrees fahrenheit, freezing nights,
and rapid weather changes, so we're talking thunderstorms, fog. The

(07:07):
shoulder seasons, spring and fall. Highly variable warm spells can
be followed by sudden snow or sub freezing nights. Getting
into a little bit of the train here, So this
stretch where Larry went missing features dramatically varied high alpine terrain.
The trail begins at Owen's Valley desert floor in black

(07:28):
lava rock and sage bush, then follows Tabooze Creek up
a steep, narrow canyon flanked by towering granite walls. You'll
cross small cascades and two creek fords, then switch back
relentlessly as you gain over four thousand feet in under
six miles, So pretty brutal trail. You better be in
good shape if you're gonna do it. You then have

(07:50):
subalpine forest band, which is about nine thousand feet to
ten thousand, five hundred feet above the creek canyon, Sparse
stands of white bark pine and limber pine, thin out,
giving way to crummels, stunted wind, gnarled trees hugging rocky slopes.
Talus fields litter the trail, requiring careful footing, and if

(08:11):
anyone's ever hiked on talus, it's you can twist an
ankle pretty easily if you're not paying attention. Then finally
you have the Alpine Pass summit, which is around eleven thousand,
four undred feet, so crossing the Taboo's Pass deposits you
on a boulder strewn plateau etched with glacial creations in

(08:33):
the granite vegetation is minimal, low alpine grasses and wildflowers
in protected pockets, but the ground is mostly loose scree
and exposed slabs. The pass itself is a wide, windswept saddle,
offering only scarce shelter somewhere you do not want to
be caught in a storm. Then on the west side
we've got the high Country basin, so this is descending

(08:56):
into Kings Canyon National Park. You enter an open area
of turn fed meadows with lakes such as Bench and
Marjorie Lake, tucked beneath thirteen thousand foot peaks. The terrain
alternates between tallislopes rocky ridges and grassy campsites, but remains
steep and unforgiving. Trail grades often exceed fifteen or twenty percent,

(09:19):
which is a pretty gnarly slope, especially if you've got
a big backpack on your back. Whenever I'm hiking, I
always feel like you always think going downhill is gonna
be easier than going up, But going downhill really puts
a number on your knees and your toes, at least
that's what I found some of the danger's presence in

(09:41):
this area where he was hiking. So animals up at
this altitude, you're actually not gonna have a ton of
animals that you're gonna be contending with. You are gonna
have black bears and mule deer. They do frequent the
nine thousand to ten five hundred foot zone just below
the pass, but they are seldom above the tree line,
and why would they They want to stay where the
food is. You do have some reptiles, but virtually none

(10:04):
at the elevation of the past. Most snake and lizard
species occur well below ten thousand feet. You will find
Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep, which are an endangered species, and
there's some white tailed jack rabbits and yellow bellied marmots
some of the other dangers Larry would have faced, or
anyone listening if they decide to hike this route are

(10:26):
going to face. One of the biggest ones is going
to be hypothermia and exposure. Even experienced hikers can succumb
to hypothermia when wet, cold winds, and rapidly dropping temperatures
overwhelm your body's ability to stay warm, and above ten
thousand feet, a single raintern snow event can zap the
heat right out of you in minutes, especially if your

(10:47):
layers become soaked. And I've personally experienced this hiking mountaineer,
and I had all of the rein gear, and I
thought I was good to go, and we experienced sideways
round for an entire night and actually had to call
the trip off due to hypothermia scares and it's not
worth risking your life. And the rain went right through

(11:09):
all of my rain gear cold gear, and I had
spare clothes in dry sacks, and as soon as you
open those up to change their soak too, so you
can get cold and wet very quickly. Another issue you're
going to face is acute mountains Acute mountain sickness, so
above five eight thousand feet, reduced oxygen can trigger headaches, nausea, dizziness,

(11:30):
and fatigue, symptoms that impair judgment and physical performance. Rapid
ascent without adequate climatization raises the risk of ms hece
HAC or even threatening pulmary endema. So Joe and I
have both experienced this in hiking parties. One of my

(11:50):
buddies when we were hiking to the summit of Mana
Loa in Hawaii, got really bad altitude sickness, and Joe
was hiking with a guy in Colorado who got almost
delirious and was trying to head back down to their car,
which was probably a several day hike away, so very dangerous.

(12:11):
Think it can set in quickly. Another danger you're going
to face in this area's avalanche and slab slide risks.
So early season storms deposit unstable snow layers over old,
harder snow or rock. Wind drifted slabs on leeward slot.
Leeward slopes like those above to Boose Creek can release

(12:31):
even under a hiker's weight. Avalanches and steep colliers and
windloaded gullies are a known threat in the October to
November transition. Another danger you're gonna have is rockfall and
loose talus, so the freeze and though cycles really loose
and boulders and screen fields, creating constant rock fall danger
on the slopes and under cliffs. A single dislodged stone

(12:55):
can trigger a cascade of debris down into a hiker's route.
And I've if you've ever seen some of these videos
on YouTube, they're absolutely wild. There's one I saw that happened,
I think on Mount Everest, and it starts with just
you see a couple boulders or a couple pebbles rolling down,
and then it turns into people dodging massive boulders coming

(13:16):
down the mountain, so it can be very dangerous. Another
danger in the area is treacherous creek crossings. Taboo's Creek
and its tributaries can swell dramatically in spring melt or
during sudden thaws, turning small crossings into swift, wasted deep
torrents that can sweep a person downstream. And it does
not take a lot of water to overpower you. Just

(13:39):
even enough water up to your knees can be more
than you're gonna be able to handle, so make sure
to be cautious when crossing any streams or rivers. Another
issue he would have faced is poor visibility and navigation areas,
so blowing snow, fog and pre dawn darkness in a
glacial basin with few landmarks can cause white out, masking

(14:01):
the trail, confusing orientation and leading to cliff edge or
cornice accidents, So you gotta be real careful and try
to just not In general, try to not hike in
those conditions would be the optimal thing to do. Another
risk you're going to have is lightning in sudden storms,
though this would have been less common in October, afternoon,

(14:23):
thunder squalls can develop rapidly, bringing lightning strikes, hail, and
heavy rain. Exposed ridges and pass saddles offer no protection,
turning a simple crossing into a deadly lightning rod. That
is the one thing you don't want to do is
get stuck on the top of a mountain or above
the tree line in a thunderstorm. You are now the

(14:43):
tallest point to the clouds. Finally, you're going to have
altitude related exhaustion and dehydration, So anyone that's hiked in
high altitude environments. No, the thin air SAPs endurance. Even
modern exertion produces disproportionate fatigue and fluid loss. Dehydration reduces
circulation and heat retention, compounding the hypothermia risk. Another thing

(15:09):
I've always found too hiking in mountainous environments is I'm
never hungry. I don't know, if you're listening, let me
know in the comments if you've experienced that too. I've
had hikes where I've we've hiked all day and you
would normally be just ravenous and it's night and we're
getting our tents out and not hungry. I don't know,
maybe it's just me, but whenever I'm hiking in alpine environments,

(15:31):
I'm never hungry. So maybe a good weight loss tip
just hike a lot in the mountains quickly. Before I
get into character profile, we're just gonna I'm just going
to go over the difficulty in general of the route
Larry took. This is a pretty gnarly trail that he
was on. So the route Larry took over to Boose
Pass is universally rated as strenuous to extra difficult, which

(15:54):
would challenge even the most seasoned Sierra backpackers. So from
the Tabooze trailhead, which is about fifty five hundred feet
up to the pass eleven thousand, four hundred feet, is
roughly eight to nine miles one way and climbs six
thousand feet, so that is some demanding trail that you're

(16:16):
gonna have to hike. There's lots of steep switchbacks through narrow,
granite walled canyons, gaining four thousand feet in the first
six miles. Then you've got talus and screen fields above
nine thousand feet, which we already talked about requires very
careful footing. You're gonna have very minimal vegetation and few
reliable water sources above the creete crossings, and then once

(16:39):
you get up to the saddle, you're gonna be completely
exposed with no natural shelter. So that's somewhere you really
don't want to be crossing in any kind of storm.
All trails rates this as extra difficult and high altitude effects.
Like we talked about, the altitude sickness can start around
eight thousand feet, So this trail that Larry took really

(17:02):
requires good navigational skills. The trail is often going to
be obscured by snow and drifted tallis. Like I said earlier,
snow can remain in the higher elevations into July, so
there's a good chance if you're hiking this, the trail
at some point is going to be completely obscured by snow.
So you really need to check the maps and make

(17:22):
sure you've got this all mapped out ahead of time
so you're not going off trail and getting lost. Most
parties do try to tackle the route he took in
a one to two day backpack camping at one of
the four primium sites on the ascent, and you want
to start early, right at dawn is essential to avoid
the afternoon thunderstorms and ensure daylight for the steep climb. So,

(17:46):
in short, this Taboose Pass is among one of the
tougher Eastern Sierra crossings. It's long, relentlessly steep, high in altitude,
and highly exposed, and this is well beyond a moderate
or casual day hike. This is something that you should
be experienced in this kind of hiking and really plan
out your hike so you don't end up lost. All right,

(18:09):
let's jump right into character profile. So tonight's character His
name was Lawrence, but he went by Larry Kahn. State
of birth was approximately nineteen fifty nine based on his age.
He went missing on October nineteenth of twenty twelve. His
remains were found. I mean, one second here, I think

(18:31):
I got something wrong. So his remains were found. We'll
get into when they were found in one second here
and to make sure I have the date right. Okay,
His remains are found in June of twenty thirteen. The
person who did my notes, which was me, wrote twenty
twenty three. So remains were found on June twenty thirteen.

(18:54):
He was a male, age fifty three. He was five
foot ten, weighed one hundred and sixty pounds. He had
short black hair with some grain. Don't know his eye color,
other features. He did have a mustache and goatee, beard,
Clothing and gear he was last seen in so he
had dark clothing, possibly a red or yellow bandana, dark
gray or blue backpack. He had a tan red dome tent.

(19:18):
He did have five days of food with him and
water warm clothing tent. And he had an iPhone which
very important key there is had that iPhone that he
had with him will provide some evidence of where he
was during his hike. Personality, he was very methodical and
well prepared. He demonstrated careful planning and self sufficiency as

(19:40):
an experienced backpacker experience in the wilderness. He's a seasoned
seer in Nevada hiker, very familiar with multi day high
elevation trips and prepared for winter conditions, and experienced at
this location. So he planned the to whose Pass to
John Mira trail route, indicating it some prior familiarity with

(20:02):
the Southern Sierra Nevada trane, though we're not sure exactly
if he had done this route before, but from everything
I read, he was a very seasoned hiker, backpacker, and
he's done a lot of this in elevations, a person
that you would expect to be able to handle a
hike like this. Jumping right into timeline, so our timeline

(20:26):
starts October nineteenth of twenty twelve. This is a Friday.
Larry embarked on his backpacking trip via the Taboose Pass trail.
An outbound hiker crossing the pass saw him on this day,
which was the last known sighting of him, so we
have additional information. Like I said, he was carrying an iPhone,
and later in the search they actually ended up finding

(20:48):
the iPhone and we're able to still get it to work,
and got a GPS log of locations that he was at,
so we do know where he was for some of this.
So he left the Taboo's Creek trailhead and gained roughly
six thousand feet over the day to camp at about
nine thousand, six hundred feet on the eastern approach to

(21:10):
the pass. Like I said, this was per his GPS
log in the phone. Whether on the nineteenth was seasonably
mild for this altitude, but a significant change was forecasted.
Larry had set up camp in the high country as
he began the ascent towards the pass, which like I said,
rises to eleven thousand, four hundred feet. On October twentieth

(21:33):
of twenty twelve, which is a Saturday, this is when
the major storm hit and I have shocked that someone
of his experience would have picked to do this type
of hike, knowing that there was a chance for a
major winter storm to move through the area. I would personally,
if I saw the forecast, I would say, let's try

(21:56):
it again next week. I'm not hiking in that. So
this kind of shocked me that he would have attempted
something this difficult with that type of storm on the horizon.

Speaker 2 (22:07):
But he did.

Speaker 3 (22:09):
A strong early season winter storm struck the Sierra Nevada
on the night of October twentieth. By Sunday morning, up
to twelve inches of snow had been deposited in the
high elevations on Larry's route. So on this day he
had descended slightly to one of the lakes, which was
at eleven five hundred ninety eight feet. He spent the

(22:31):
night there. That evening, the winter storm swept in, dropping
up to a foot of snow. Like I said, so
not only did this storm bring a ton of snow,
but it brought high winds and plummeting temperatures, creating hazardous conditions.
It is believed that Larry was caught in this storm
while in the backcountry, and we do know this now

(22:52):
because of his cell phone GPS LUG. And this was
Saturday again, so October twentieth. Night of October twentieth, so
to recap he started hiking from the Tabooze Creek trailhead.
He went up six thousand feet camped at ninety six
hundred feet on the eastern approach to the pass, and

(23:14):
that was the night Friday night, so the nineteenth, and
then on the twentieth, which was a Saturday, the winter
storm rolled in that night. He was camping, like I said,
at a lake around eleven five ninety eight, and this
would be west of Split Mountain. It's now Sunday, October

(23:34):
twenty first of twenty twelve. In the storm's aftermath, the
high Wilderness was blanketed in deep snow. Daytime weather began
to clear, but snowcover persisted and nighttime temperatures fell well
below freezing. Given these conditions, travel would have been extremely difficult.
You're gonna have lots of snow drifts, all the trail
markers are going to be covered. But because of the

(23:59):
gps US, we do know what Larry did. So in
clear weather overnight, Larry climbed the north slope route towards
Split Mountain rid towards Split Mountain, though he never summitted
and there were no records of a registry entry orse
and no photos on his phone. He then descended to
Marjorie Lake on the John Muir trail and camp there.

(24:22):
That's the fact that he did all this with that
kind of snow on the ground is pretty impressive, and
he was also scheduled to exit the wilderness the next day,
but it's possible point became immobilized or lost. So it's
now October twenty second, twenty twelve, which is a Monday.
This would have been the day he was scheduled to return,

(24:44):
and he was supposed to hike out and drive home.
Clear weather likely prevailed on Monday, but temperatures remain cold.
The high is only a few degrees above freezing at
ten to twelve thousand feet, and obviously very cold nights.
So we do know during this time, during the intermittent snow,
his phone logged him traveling from Marjorie Lake up to

(25:06):
the John Muir Trail to Bench Lake Junction, then climbing
three more miles to the southern end of the pass,
arriving around noon. We also know at this point emergency
calls were attempted on his iPhone near the pass, indicating
there must have been sub signal availability even as visibility

(25:28):
fell to fifty to seventy five feet and blowing snow. Obviously,
Larry did not return to the Taboose Creek trailhead as planned,
family and friends grew concerned when he failed to show up.
By Monday night, there was still no sign of him,
but it was possible he had been delayed by the storm.
No report had been filed yet at this time, as

(25:48):
a one day delay in such conditions might not be
entirely unexpected. It's now October twenty third of twenty twelve.
This is Tuesday. This is when the over hiker report
was filed. So when Larry still had not appeared or
communicated by Tuesday, he was officially reported as overdue to

(26:09):
the authorities. On the evening of October twenty third, Larry's
family contacted the Inyo County Sheriff's apartment to report a
missing Deputies confirmed that his vehicle was still parked at
the trailhead, indicating he had not come out of the
wilderness at this point. With a major storm having impacted
the area and Larry overdue by more than a day,

(26:30):
a search and rescue operation was initiated. So it's now
October twenty fourth of twenty twelve. This is a Wednesday.
This is when the search and rescue operation really kicked off.
So early on October twenty fourth, Inyo County authorities notified
the National Park Service that a hiker was missing in
King's Canyon backcountry. A coordinated search effort began that day

(26:52):
in King's Canyon National Park, focusing on Larry's probable route
from Taboose Creek towards the John Muir Trail. Approximately twelve
personnel from Sequoia and King's Canyon National Parks and Inyo
County Sheriff's Office were deployed, supported by two helicopters. Search
efforts on the twenty fourth were hampered by the previous

(27:12):
day's snow and ongoing high winds, which limited visibility from
the air and made travel on foot treacherous. Despite the
challenging conditions, rescuers managed to search likely areas near the
trail and pass, but no sign of Larry was found
on this day. It's now October twenty fifth of twenty twelve,
a Thursday. The search and rescue mission really intensified by

(27:37):
this point, so the search operation ramped up with additional resources.
A total of about twenty personnel from the National Park
Service and Inyo County Sheriff's Department were now involved in
the search. Three helicopters were utilized, including one equipped with
thermal imaging to scan for heat signatures. At night. Ground
teams and air crews continued to cover the routes around

(27:59):
Taboose Pass and along the John Miirtrail corridor. The search
area was blanketed by one to one and a half
feet of snow, which made locating tracks or campsites difficult.
And talk about a really tough search for the search
and rescue teams. You've got almost two feet of snow

(28:20):
on the ground that is going to cover up pretty
much any evidence of anyone hiking out there. So just
some really difficult conditions. And I can't state enough when
we talk about these cases. I can't. I got to
give every so much props to the search and rescue
teams who go out there and do this case after case.

(28:41):
They don't know these people, they might they probably never
will know them, and they don't care. They risk their
own lives to go out there and search for them.
So really got to give them a pat on the
back for what they're doing. It's truly amazing that there's
people out there that will do this. So daytime high
temperatures were only in the mid thirties, and nights dropped
into low twenties, so if Larry was still alive, he

(29:03):
faced incredibly harsh exposure conditions and unfortunately, no clues were
discovered on this day, but rescuers remained hopeful as they
expanded the search grid. It's now October twenty sixth of
twenty twelve. It to Friday, the search and rescue operation continued.
The multi day or a multi agency search continued into

(29:27):
Friday with similar force. Additional park rangers, volunteer search and
rescue teams, and dog teams joined the effort as weather permitted.
Snow remained on the ground, although sunny periods during the
day began melting some snow at lower elevations. Crews probably
revisited high probability spots and began widening the search beyond

(29:47):
Larry's intended route in case he had detoured or attempted
to descend a different way. By the end of October
twenty six there was still no significant leads or evidence
of where Larry was. It's now October twenty seventh of
twenty twelve. This is a Saturday, so going into the weekend.
The search effort reached one of its peak levels. On

(30:09):
the twenty seventh, over three dozen searchers, so forty plus
people were in the field combing the rugged terrain. The
team now included thirteen specialized ground search teams and three
search dogs drawn from multiple SAR organizations. So we've got Sequoia,
Kings Canyon, Kern County, Sierra Madre, Yosemite, and the volunteer

(30:32):
Yodog's canine team, so a lot of people out there.
They also had two contract helicopters who were also deployed,
an Astarb three and a BELL two six to AL
FOURD to ferry teams in search from above. Efforts on
this day focused on high probability areas along Larry's likely
route around the Taboo's Pass, the basins and travel corridors

(30:55):
near a pass to the south, and the slopes of
Split Mountain to the north. These areas included likely camping
spots or routes Larry might have taken. But despite these
intensive searching, Despite intensive searching of these zones, including aerial
observation and dog tracking, no clues so no footprints, discarded gear,

(31:16):
or campermins were found. On the twenty seventh, the accumulated snow,
which was estimated at eighteen inches on the ground at
higher elevations continued to complicate the search. It's now October
twenty eighth, which is a Sunday search. Operations continued through
Sunday as teams revisited difficult train and widened their perimeter.

(31:38):
Searchers were scheduled to return to the high country again
on Sunday for further efforts. By this time, the search
had been ongoing for four full days, so it started
October twenty fourth with no results. No new clues had
turned up since the search began on Wednesday. The lack
of evidence so no footprints, campfire smoke, no gear, was

(32:00):
disheartening to the crew. However, weather conditions were slowly improving
daytime and temperatures rose into the forties as the sun
melted snow, but at night it was still incredibly cold,
low twenties, and the melt and refree cycle started to
create crusty ice services on the snow, further masking tracks
that might have been initially left sour. Teams carefully probed

(32:23):
areas of deeper snow and search beneath trees and sheltering
boulders in case Larry had hunkered down. By Sunday night,
managers began considering how long to continue the intensive search
if no evidence was found. So sadly, this comes up
in every search we've covered. There's a point in the
search where you have to be realistic about the expenditure

(32:46):
of resources, so not only money, but people and the
canine teams. At some point, if you don't find any evidence,
you can't just keep everyone out there. The longer people
are out there looking for him, especially in really rugged
terrain like this, you're risking injury to the searchers or

(33:06):
the canine units. So sadly, the managers have to at
some point make the call, and it's a tough one
because the searchers want to They want to come home,
either finding him alive or his remains, to give the
family closure. And it is very disheartening one they give it.
They're all and days go by not even piece of

(33:27):
gear is found, or tracks or a cent or anything.
So I feel they're angst when every case we cover,
when we talk about the search getting called off, I
feel it because I can just imagine what they're thinking.
It's now October twenty ninth, twenty twelve. It's a Monday,
so the search operation was still in full force at

(33:48):
this time. With about forty five personnel deployed in the field,
Thirteen ground teams fanned out over the search zone, accompanied
by three canine teams. The focus remained around these pass
and split mountain, including likely travel routes and potential complications.
Two helicopters continued to provide air support and inserted teams

(34:08):
into remote areas. However, conditions did remain challenging. Snow was
melting during the day and then refreezing at night. This
created a lot of icy patches and snow was drifting,
so you had a lot of deeply sheltered areas. Daytime
heiser reaching the mid forties, which isn't bad, but at
night they were still going below low twenties. The high

(34:31):
elevations so eighty thirteen thousand feet in the search zone,
made physical exertion difficult for ground searchers. In fact, over
the course of the search, two rescuers had to be
evacuated by helicopter due to medical concerns related to the
harsh environmental conditions. So we're talking altitude and cold exposure.
Just like I talked about, the longer you're keeping searchers

(34:52):
in these environments, the more you risk injury. To your
search teams. So unfortunately, Mondays extensive search efforts again yielded
no trace of Larry. By the end of October twenty ninth,
incident commanders had to evaluate how to proceed. Given the
lack of results. Plans were made to continue searching into Tuesday,

(35:12):
while also preparing to scale back operations of no clues emerged.
It's now October thirtieth, twenty twelve. The search entered its
seventh day. By now, all high probabilities areas had been
scoured multiple times with no success. Ground teams likely revisited
sections of the John Muir Trail and drainages on either

(35:33):
side of the pass, while helicopters performed one more overflight
looking for anything unusual against the snow covered landscape. Weather
remained cold but mostly clear. With daylight hours shrinking and
rescuers facing fatigue and persistent dangerous editions, officials started making
the difficult the difficult decision to suspend the large scale search.

(35:58):
By Tuesday evening, no evidence of Larry had been found
and the operation had reached the point of diminishing returns.
It's now October thirty, first of twenty twelve. The intensive
search effort in King's Canyon was carried through October thirty first,
marking eight days of continuous operations since the rescue was launched.

(36:20):
By this point, approximately fifty six personnel from multiple agencies
had participated. They deployed on foot, by helicopter, and they
had canine teams. The search had covered a vast area
of about forty eight square miles of rugged terrain, ranging
from about eight thousand feet to fourteen thousand feet in elevation.
That is just mind blowing forty eight square miles in

(36:43):
this kind of terrain. Props to the search and rescue team.
Despite this exhaustive effort, not a single clue, item, clue,
or item was linked to Larry. On the evening in
October thirty first, the Incidant management team, in consultation with
the state Search and Rescue Coordinator, decided to suspend major

(37:04):
search operations. The combination of zero results, worsening winter conditions,
and growing risk to the searchers led to the decision.
Incident Commander Dave Fox praised the massive interagency effort and
noted the challenging search conditions, stating that we have followed
up on all potential clues, but there is little information

(37:25):
left to direct search operations. He emphasized that the MPs
and partner agencies would remain a learnt for any new
information and would rescue or would resume active searching if
credible leads surfaced. Unfortunately, on November one of twenty twelve,
which is a Thursday, the search was suspended. On November first,

(37:46):
park officials publicly announced that the active search for Larry
had been suspended after intensive eight day effort. A press
release summarized operations so October twenty four, twenty fourth to
October thirty first, dozens of personnel, at times up to
fifty or sixty people had scoured the area using ten
ground teams, three dog teams, and five helicopters. In total,

(38:09):
rescuers had endured severe conditions more than a foot of snow,
knights as cold as fifteen degrees, fair night, high winds,
and dangerous train The search found no trace of Larry.
The NPS statement echoed Dave Fox's comments that any new
clues would prompt renewed efforts, but unfortunately none were immediately
forthcoming family and friends were notified of the search suspension,

(38:33):
facing the grim uncertainty about Larry's fate. The case remained
open as a missing person's investigation, pending future discoveries. It's
now November seventeenth, twenty twelve. Several weeks later, with winter
setting in, officials continued limited efforts to locate Larry. The
National Park Service reissued a missing hiker flyer and update

(38:55):
about Larry around mid November. King's Canyon spokesperson Dana Dirk's
highlighted the extreme difficulties the search teams had faced. There
have been two or three snowstorms in the High Seas
High Sierras, which makes it a very difficult place to search,
she explained, noting that the short daylight hours and snow

(39:18):
cover meant any remaining clues could be buried and hard
to find. The Park urged anyone with information on Larry's
whereabouts to contact authorities, keeping the search for answers alive,
even as heavy snows would soon blanket the area for
the winter. No substantiate, substantive leads came in during the
subsequent months. Winter went by, Spring went by, nothing new,

(39:41):
no new leads, no evidence, and then all of a sudden,
in early to mid June, they made a big discovery
in the area and sadly. Obviously it's no secret, but
his remains were found near the Taboo's Pass, so eight
months after Larry's disappearance, a breakthrough occurred the following summer,

(40:05):
as the snow melted in the high country, Larry's personal
belongings were discovered in remote Tabu's Pass area of King's Canyon,
alongside human remains. An off duty trail crew, as some
new sources actually say it was hikers, located one of
Larry's boots near the pass. A few days later, a
tattered dome, tent, plus backpack, clothing and other items turned

(40:27):
up off the trail at eleven thousand, four hundred feet
near a park boundary sign. Small bones and teeth were
found alongside Larry's cell phone, and the iPhone would go
on to confirm his identity by its metadata and corroborated
his campsites and final movements. Like I said earlier, the
items were identified as belonging to Larry's strongly indicating that

(40:51):
the remains were his. The discovery near the pass effectively
solved the mystery of what happened, but it didn't really
it solved the mystery of where his remains were. But
I don't think it really solved the mystery of actually
what happened to Larry. We'll go into my theory of
what happened at the end. So the Ineo County's the
Inio County Corner's office was called in to recover and

(41:13):
identify the remains. News reports at the time noted that
the find was made by, like I said, off trail
crew members hiking in the area. The location of the
remains suggested that Larry had succumb in the vicinity of
the past, likely due to exposure or an accident during
the fierce storm. While specific details of his death were

(41:33):
not released, the recovery of his body brought closure to
the search. Officials noted that the rugged train and winter
weather had severely hindered earlier search efforts, as evidence by
how close Larry's remains were to his route yet remained
undetected under the snow. So that goes back to how

(41:54):
bad the conditions were during the search. That when you
have foot half to two feet of snow on the ground,
it's going to be nearly a possible to find anything.
With the Corner's confirmation, the multi agency search operation that
begun on October twenty twelve, officially concluded in mid twenty thirteen,
providing some answers to Khan's family and the search teams

(42:15):
who had really given it there all to find him.
So getting into likely theories of what they think happened
to Larry, the biggest theory and the one I think
holds the most water, is hypothermia due to the severe weathers.
Like I said, we had a sudden storm impact the
area on October twentieth, twenty twelve. It brought up to

(42:37):
twelve inches of snow and temperatures dropped down to fifteen
degrees fahreneit Conditions like that are going to I don't
care how well prepared you are, you're gonna that can
lead to hypothermia pretty quick, especially if you're wet or
fatigued or unable to find any shelter, which if you're
up on that pass, shelter is gonna be tough. So

(42:57):
the leading theory is he had some kind of he
was suffering from hypothermia. Coupled with hypothermia, he could have
had navigation challenges. So the storm most likely called white
out conditions, basically reducing visibility to pretty much as far
as you can stretch your arm, and this can cause

(43:18):
even the most experienced hikers to become lost. And he
may have lost his bearings, led him off trail into
more hazardous train and it would have complicated his situation
even further, and coupled with hypothermia being lost, he could
have been suffering from altitude related sickness. This passes at

(43:38):
about eleven four hundred feet. You definitely can get altitude
sickness of that elevation, and it can impair judgment and
physical ability. So I know he was a very experienced
alpine back country hiker, but even the best of us
can suffer from altitude sickness if you're up there long enough.
Another theory he could have suffered some kind of accident

(44:03):
due to terrain hazards. So the area around this pass
is characterized by steep, rocky terrain with loose screen Tallas fields,
it would not be a stretch to conclude he might
have fallen or was in a rockslide, or something happened
that prevented him from seeking further shelter or signaling for help.

(44:23):
Less likely is probably wildlife encounter. I did say there
were bears up there, but they're not going to be
above the tree line, and black bears are going to
be less of a concern than if you're hiking somewhere
with grizzlies. I'm not going to give wildlife encounter much airtime.
I don't think that's what happened here. So what do

(44:45):
I think happened to Larry? I think Larry exhausted from
climbing in deteriorating conditions. Just imagine he's gone up, He's
hiking up trails where he's gaining six thousand feet in
elevation through really nasty switchbacks, and the next day he's
hiking in a foot of snow. I mean that that

(45:09):
drains even the most conditioned alpine hiker. That's really tough
to hike in. So I think he was exhausted from
his trip. He attempted shelter near the pass. Hypothermia quickly
set in due to the cold temperatures, exposure, damp clothing.

(45:30):
He got disorientated by the worstening conditions. His mental state
probably declined rapidly, and eventually he became potentially incapacitated in
or near his tent, and sadly, he probably likely passed
away shortly thereafter. And then his remains might have been

(45:51):
scattered later by animals or the seasonal weather. And what
really I feel like backs up this theory is the following.
So well, he had the sudden severe weather come in quick.
An unexpected winter storm hits between October twentieth and twenty
October twentieth and twenty second, and it deposits up to

(46:11):
a foot of snow. At this altitude, it would have
rapidly caused severe cold stress, especially without the ability to
create any warmth, so no fires, no hot food. He
also probably would have been disorientated. He had limited visibility
fifty to seventy five feet at most, and it would

(46:32):
just spend whiteout conditions. Can you imagine that much snow
coming down the wind is just howling. It would be
really tough to see. And I think the attempts that
we saw on his phone emergency calls that he tried
to make, probably indicate he knew at some point before
it was too late, that he needed help. Another thing

(46:53):
I think that ties all this together is he probably was,
like I said, exhausted and experiencing altitude sick. He gained
a six thousand feet of elevation gain, and that would
sap the energy out of you, that would dehydrate you,
that would reduce your body's ability to maintain warmth. I

(47:14):
think all of this kind of factors into what happened
to him. He also had limited supplies, so he had
minimal food and did not carry equipment suitable for extended
periods in severe cold. We're thinking a stove, extra fuel,
extensive thermal insulation. One of the things you'd want to
carry with you if you're going to spend extensive time

(47:35):
up in an environment like that is something to warm
you back up, So you would want a stove or
some kind of device that's going to be able to
keep you warm, and he didn't have that with him,
So once you're cold and what, there's no coming back
from that. And finally, the position of the remains and items.
Discovery of his blongings and bones scattered near the pass

(47:56):
suggests he attempted to shelter in his tent, likely attempting
to wade out the storm and possibly ventured briefly outside
before succumbing to exposure. And animal activity and subsequent winter
storms might have dispersed remains from their original location. So sadly,

(48:17):
I think there was a kind of a cascating, cascating
things that caused sadly lay to pass away. I think
the sudden severe storm hypothermy exposure. He probably got lost,
He probably was suffering from altitude sickness based on just

(48:37):
the crazy hike he had to do to get up there.
He had limited supplies and he had nothing to heat
himself back up, so we probably got wet and cold,
and there he had no way to get warm again,
So it's a sad situation. He seemed like a very
experienced backcountry alpine hiker, which again goes back to I'm

(49:00):
still struggling to understand why weather forecasts are pretty accurate.
Going out a few days, there's a good chance he
knew the potential for a bad winter storm coming in,
which raises the question to me is why would you continue?
Why would you continue your trip if you knew that
storm was coming and I would cancel my trip. I

(49:22):
would come back another time when I knew I had
a couple days of clear weather, Because I can tell
you I'm not I don't want to hike in something
like this. It sounds this trail that he did sounds
absolutely crazy. In the best weather, it sounds really cool.
Maybe when I was younger, I would have done it.
But I can't imagine doing what he did in that

(49:46):
kind of weather. That's just insane, that would it doesn't
even sound fun. I like to go hiking because it's fun,
so I don't know that i'd want to do this.
But he did chose to go out there and hike this,
and I will he made it. You could tell he
was experience because he did make it several days in
these conditions, which are in terrible conditions, so end of

(50:10):
the day, a really sad situation. I do feel I'm
glad that they were able to recover his remains. That
does give his family closure. In a lot of these cases,
the families just left with never any question of what
happened to my loved one? Where did they go? And
that's just an unsettling feeling never knowing what happened. At

(50:33):
least in this case, he sadly did pass away, but
the family got closure and they were able to recover
the remains, So in a way, I guess that's the
silver lining of a really tragic case. So let me
know what you think about this case. We haven't covered
a lot of cases where remains are found but this one.

(50:54):
And this was interesting because his GPS was able to
log some of the places that he went, so it
was able to give people an idea after the fact
of what happened to them, So it's interesting. We don't
always have that. And hey, an iPhone lasted out in
alpine environments for eight months and they were able to

(51:15):
turn back on and that's pretty interesting too that a
piece of technology could survive up there like that as well.
So interesting in that regard. So yeah, let me know
what you think of the case. Remember to tune in
on the twenty third. This will be our last normal
episode before the live stream, so I really hope that
everyone listening tunes in. It should be a really fun
time and we've got a lot of fun guests. Might

(51:40):
have a couple surprises too coming along. We're still working
a few things out with some other people, so stay
tuned for more details. And as always, when you are
enjoying the majesty of nature in our national park system,
always remember to leave no trace. Thank you and we
will see you again next.

Speaker 4 (51:59):
Time at anything. I wanna know you

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Larry Conn - Kings Canyon National Park - California

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