Missing Off Roader...

Inc · **Posted:** Thu Dec 10, 2009 10:20 pm

My friend ask me to put this on some other forums.

Bryan has been missing since last week. If you can, please help post this and pass this around or on other forums.

http://briancrichardson.blogspot.com...afontaine.html

He was last seen driving from Boomtown nevada to Death Valley on 11/27, driving a Jeep Rubicon - black, no doors.

Additional info on the link.

Diggerfreek · **Posted:** Thu Dec 10, 2009 10:23 pm

The link is bad INC

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Thu Dec 10, 2009 10:28 pm

Does this work
http://briancrichardson.blogspot.com/2009/12/missing-person-jay-lafontaine.html

Diggerfreek · **Posted:** Thu Dec 10, 2009 10:37 pm

That one works.... Thanks!

Crap, He is from Steamboat Springs :shock:

Right from my back yard

Inc · **Posted:** Thu Dec 10, 2009 10:49 pm

ATXKJ wrote:

Does this work
http://briancrichardson.blogspot.com/2009/12/missing-person-jay-lafontaine.html

Thanks.

Inc · **Posted:** Thu Dec 10, 2009 11:04 pm

update off Pirate...

http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=844594

Diggerfreek · **Posted:** Thu Dec 10, 2009 11:08 pm

Total bummer

Inc · **Posted:** Thu Dec 10, 2009 11:24 pm

Diggerfreek wrote:

Total bummer

Yeah, it is especially around this time of year.

Inc · **Posted:** Fri Dec 11, 2009 5:58 pm

...
A Pleasanton, Calif., man was found dead 2.5 miles from his abandoned vehicle in the mountains around Bodie on Thursday.

Jay Lafontaine, 49, was reported overdue from a camping trip to Bodie and Death Valley on Dec. 2.

According to the Mono County Sheriff's Office, he last spoke to his wife on Nov. 27 and said he was going to spend the night in Bodie and then continue to Death Valley.

Pleasanton Police contacted Mono County authorities when LaFontaine didn't check in. Deputies conducted a search by vehicle at the time, but didn't locate either Lafontaine or the black Jeep Wrangler he was driving.

On Dec. 10 Mono searchers aided by a California Highway Patrol helicopter discovered the abandoned Jeep stuck in the snow on a U.S. Forest Service road.

Searchers took to snowmobiles to find Lafontaine and located his body. Authorities said he appeared to be the victim of hypothermia, but his death is still under investigation.

http://www.recordcourier.com/article/20 ... ofile=1049

Inc · **Posted:** Fri Dec 11, 2009 6:43 pm

An extremely terrible thing to happen to a family, especially during this time of year.

Everyone be safe out there. Accidents can happen to anyone, even the most prepared.

oddball · **Posted:** Fri Dec 11, 2009 7:36 pm

Survival 101 - NEVER LEAVE YOUR VEHICLE unless the vehicle is subject to a life threatening situation. ie; balancing on a cliff edge, explosion, etc. It is much easier and quicker for rescue teams whether they're on the ground or in the air, to spot a vehicle, than it is the human body.

One should always be prepared for survival no matter where you are - or how long you plan to be out. Water (nothing is more important), a thermo space blanket or sleeping bag, first aid, survival food, among other items. Very few people know or realize there is really no place in the continental United States that can't be covered by rescue teams within four to five days.

None the less, a sad story.

nightdrv · **Posted:** Sun Dec 13, 2009 5:08 am

That's a cold breeze of reality. Gotta be prepared.

<<always keeps multiple space blankets, flares, water, radios, etc.

Rule of Thumb: Try to keep more than just enough for yourself. You never know who YOU might save - Or be stuck with!

This guy I would have recommended (assuming he used up all other options) a cell phone, or a cb, or at very last a signal fire.

Budke · **Posted:** Sun Dec 13, 2009 9:07 am

Man, that really sucks.
Why would he have left his jeep?
He should have bundled up in his jeep and stay out of the elements.
Maybe he went to find food/water and fell victim to the cold.

Whatever the situation was, its still very sa to hear.

oddball · **Posted:** Sun Dec 13, 2009 10:20 am

nightdrv wrote:

That's a cold breeze of reality. Gotta be prepared.

<<always keeps multiple space blankets, flares, water, radios, etc.

Rule of Thumb: Try to keep more than just enough for yourself. You never know who YOU might save - Or be stuck with!

This guy I would have recommended (assuming he used up all other options) a cell phone, or a cb, or at very last a signal fire.

Sadly, about the only thing he did right was leave info of where he would be and when he would return home (in this case his wife).

You should always do just that with someone trusted who will most likely be around to realize your not back home when you said you'd be.

Inc · **Posted:** Sun Dec 13, 2009 11:43 am

I know he didn't have a top on his jeep, so he most likely left looking for shelter.

JJsTJ · **Posted:** Sun Dec 13, 2009 11:57 am

Sad. Still amazes me that people go out alone to such remote locations in challenging weather at times of the year like this. I hope others learn from his mistake.

Albert · **Posted:** Tue Dec 15, 2009 3:12 am

A sad story for sure. The desert is a real extra tough place.

I carry so much crap in my jeep that when the GF wants to go shopping we usually take her car...

FreedomKJ · **Posted:** Thu Dec 17, 2009 2:06 am

JJ hinted at it, but it bears saying straight out.

Never wheel alone!

Especially not if you're somewhere that isn't frequently trafficked, and that goes double when it's either very cold or very hot out.

It doesn't matter how familiar you are with the terrain or how well prepared you think you are. You never know what might happen.

JeepBumm68 · **Posted:** Thu Dec 17, 2009 10:26 am

man that is sad. what a bad time of year for something like this to happen.

ihatemybike · **Posted:** Thu Dec 17, 2009 2:10 pm

Based on this thread and a related search for space blankets I came across
http://www.traditionalmountaineering.org
and this story of someone surviving stranded for two weeks in his XJ
http://www.traditionalmountaineering.or ... lJanes.htm

Stay safe out there.

Missing Off Roader...

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