Chapter 14 12 / big storm

It is not enough to know, we must apply; it is not enough to want, we must practice. Goethe (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe) * On Wednesday, April 30th, at nine o'clock in the morning, my twenty-four hour deadline was up.Brion.Yaft walked up and down the business department of the company and said worriedly: Where is he?He paced among the racks of ski gear, snowshoes, and camping supplies, growing restless. My class started at nine o'clock, and I didn't show up or call for two days in a row.At nine-fifteen in the morning, Briand looked at his watch and decided that he could wait no longer.He went upstairs into the office and called my home on Cypress Street first to see if I was home, but no one answered.Brion knew what he had to do next when Leona, calling from Big Boulder, interrupted him.

Is he here?Leona's bluntness barely concealed her fear.Despite her efforts to calm down, her voice was still trembling.My disappearance had an emotional impact on her, leaving her exhausted on her first night in the Furlong Mountains region. No, he's not here.He should have started work twenty minutes ago.Concerned about my whereabouts, Brion's voice became tense.He was never like this, and I knew something was wrong. Leona was also sure that something was wrong.It's been long enough.We have to let his parents know. I was thinking about it just now.It's unlikely Allen called to tell his parents what happened.can you call themI'm going to get ready to open the shop in the next half hour.

Brion asked Leona for help, not just because of his sense of responsibility to Ude Corporation, but because neither he nor Leona wanted to call my parents and say their son was missing and probably in big trouble up.Leona finds a way to avoid working as a messenger.I don't have their phone number.But you have, Brion. Brion pulled out my file from his file drawer, which contained my parents' names and phone numbers, just as Leona had expected. At 9:30 in the morning, Brion called my parents' place in Denver.My dad was leading a tour in New York City, and that was day four of their trip.My mother had just returned from an errand at the post office and was sitting in her office upstairs.This room was my bedroom before I went to college, and then my mom's management consulting business office.She picked up the phone and said in a cheerful tone: Hello, this is Donna.

Hi Donna.I'm Brion Wood from Aspenwood.Yaft.I'm Alan's manager. Oh, it's Brion, how are you?When my mother came to see me in Aspen a week ago, she met Brion. I am fine, thank you.Brion replied.Knowing he was about to drop a big bomb on my mother, he hesitated, then let the words slip out of his mouth.I'm calling to find out, do you know where Alan is?Brion paused for a moment, then continued: He hasn't come to work for two days.He didn't call, and no one had seen him for almost a week. What Brion said stunned my mother.Sitting quietly in her swivel chair, she understood the meaning of the words.The dreadful nightmare she hoped would never happen, finally came.

Brion knew there was no sound on the line, indicating that Mom hadn't heard from me, but he didn't know if she was going to start crying or distress or suddenly lose control.When mom asks in a firm tone: What do you think is wrong with Ellen?Brion was relieved by her mother's composure. Brion said: "We think something happened to him. well.The activities he engages in are quite dangerous, and he often acts alone.He wouldn't go to work without a phone call, unless something serious happened.We need to find out his whereabouts.Have you taken any action?Have you talked to his roommates?

Brion was impressed by her mother's well-organized answer, and immediately felt part of the burden off her heart.He found the allies he needed to carry out the search and was quick to inform my mom of the developing situation. Mom thought it was weird that I didn't tell the roommates about the plan, but she wasn't terribly surprised.When I first started winter mountaineering, she taught me to always leave a note on my desk at Intel, or with a friend, so people would know where I was.In the beginning, I would leave the note on the dashboard of my car, but once I got farther and farther out, by the time someone happened to see my car at a particular trailhead, it could be months or weeks away It was over, so I followed my mother's advice and made it a habit to at least tell someone about my plans.During one winter climbing season, 2000-2001, every time I climbed a mountain over 4,000 meters, I would call my mom, but she wasn't that keen on hearing my amazing stories. The details of the adventure dreaded, so I turned to leaving a message to a friend.

Mom was afraid to imagine what might happen to me and tried to focus on what she was supposed to be doing.She put aside her tormenting fears and went on to discuss with Brion: Have you talked to the police? not yet.I'm going to call the police. Mom was not trained in search and rescue and had fairly little knowledge about missing persons reports.She wasn't sure when the police would begin their search, but she clearly knew what to do first.Almost half of what she said to Brion was to herself. She said: Reporting a missing person must be filed in the jurisdiction where the missing person lives. I only know so much, so it should be related to the Aspen police.I'm not too sure about the details, but I think the police will know what to do next.Could you please report to the police?

Brion agrees.I'll call them right away, and I'll call you back as soon as I'm done. Thank you Brion.I have to hang up.The world around Mom was about to crumble.She immediately called her longtime friend Michelle.Jill.Michelle was supposed to come over that morning to discuss plans for the community garden club.Mom asked Michelle to come over right away, and as soon as possible.Allen is missing.she stammered. A few minutes later, Michelle opened the front screen door to find her mother rocking back and forth on a stool at the kitchen counter, sobbing with grief and fear.They hugged and cried together for a few minutes, but with Michelle by their side, Mom cheered up and started talking about who might know my whereabouts.

For my mother, it was the most difficult moment of her life. All the assumptions that could not be expressed in words came to her mind one after another, but she still managed to think in confusion.Allen usually told someone where he was going.If he didn't say anything to his roommates, or left a note at the store or maybe he'd emailed someone and told them what he was going to do. Michelle's face lit up.So we can check his email or something? I know he has an e-mail.Mom said. Do you know his password? have no idea. Let's go online first and see what we can do.Michelle knew they could try to request a new password, access my inbox, and see what my friends and I had been writing lately.

Michelle selected the forgot password option on the account login page, and was then presented with a page to enter her email account, birthplace, and zip code.Mom and Michelle tried typing in the data together, but couldn't get in. For twenty minutes, Mom was in a daze as the two amateur hackers had to blindly figure out the relevant information I was using to get into the e-mail.While Michelle and Mom were guessing about the various combinations involving me, the phone rang. The scene goes back to the company, where things snowball after Brion and Mom get their first phone call.Just after ten o'clock in the morning, Briand called Adam.Collider and Aspen Police Department, report me missing.He explained my case, and Adam started to record, noticing that Brion was very disturbed, and entered his account on the police database at 10:27 in the morning.Adam asked Brion to continue gathering information on my whereabouts, and said he would be at the company in a few minutes to see what Brion had collected.

At ten nineteen in the morning, Brion called my roommate Elliott.Elliott was alone at home, and Brion told him to look for any information that might reveal my whereabouts.Elliot went into my bedroom to look for some written material.He found a fair amount of written material, but the first thing he saw was a pile of things on a shelf, with itinerary sheets and folded photocopies of maps.Although the pile looked promising at first, Elliott quickly determined from the worn creases that it was all left over from previous journeys. Elliott hastily searched through the many files in my room, folders full of personal letters, old bills, and tax returns.Half an hour later, he found an orange folder under my coat hanger with a label that read: 2002 Denali.There were names and phone numbers on paper printed from old e-mails, but after finding my application for a climbing permit from April 2002, he didn't call any of my old teammates.Elliott thought: The National Park Service should have a new team profile for Allen. He immediately took out his cell phone and called the Denali National Park Service in Alaska.But despite Elliott's account of what happened, National Park Service personnel declined to release any names or phone numbers. Elliott understood the government's position and wondered whether to call the Aspen police.Time slipped away, and during the few hours when everyone was separately trying to find a way, Brion found a favorable clue.I found folders in Allen's locker and I already had the files.At 10:48, Brion sent an e-mail to my Denali mountain buddies, calling their attention to my disappearance and hoping to provide information. At that time, although Brion had made good initial progress, he was going to Australia for a few weeks vacation tomorrow, and he had to hand over the command to someone else, so he asked Elliott as backup. After eleven o'clock in the morning, Brion called her mother, interrupting her and Michelle's decoding work.Mom was heartened to hear about Brion's contacts with the police and the progress of the emails to my teammates.Brion asked my mother if she had my license plate.She went downstairs to find the make, model, year and license plate number of my truck.That was the information she asked me for at Christmas 2000 when I was at home, before climbing a mountain over 4,000 meters solo.At the time, I just told her hastily from memory, so she unknowingly gave Brion the wrong information. When my mom finished confirming the truck details and license plate, she went on to decode it.At this time, the computer screen finally changed.Michelle and her mother shouted at the same time: We found it!We found it!The two embraced each other excitedly. What's wrong?What happened?Brion asked when Mom was back on the line. We've been trying to get into Ellen's e-mail for the past hour.Just finally made it.We're going to go to his letters to see if there's any news, or ask his friends for help. Of course, that's a good idea.Brion replied.My mom gave Brion the new password, and decided he would send the search letter while she and Michelle read my mail.After Brion hung up the phone, he also called the Aspen Police Department immediately and forwarded the truck information and license plate number to him. After her mother passed the password to Brion, Michelle also went home to pack and was going to travel with her husband.So, mom was left alone again, and she called her sister, Sanja, in Lubbock, a senior in the Texas Tech Honors College.Sanja, I just found out this morning that your brother has been away from work for two days.Do you know where he went? Sanja was very calm. She didn't really know much about my recent travel plans because we hadn't spoken in weeks.I don't know where he went. Mom, how are you?do you want me to go home No, stay there and finish your dissertation, I'll tell you what happened, don't let this distract you. Despite Mom's wishes, it was a major disruption to her or her sister's routine. Just after twelve o'clock, Elliott arrived at Ude's company.Briand briefly described to him what had just happened.Here is the profile of mountain buddies who are going to Denali with Allen.I have heard back from several of them and have spoken to one of them named Jason.Halliday talked about it.Ellen's mother's phone was in there too.Also, here's his email account and password.His mom wants us to send a letter to everyone in his address book. Elliot sat at Brion's cluttered desk, mulling over what to do next, while Brion walked around the store, manning the company's staff to make up for the shortfall. Among the pile of e-mails that Briand handed to Elliott that morning was one from Jason.Halladay's reply.He said he hadn't heard from me since last week.Half an hour later, Jason sent another letter, excerpting from an email I wrote him in January, in which I invited him to join me on a trip to several slot canyons, along with Dennay Lee's expedition. Brion returns to the office and discusses with Elliott who to call next.Brion said: As far as I know, Brad was the last person to see Ellen.But I don't know how to contact him. Elliot yelled: Ah!I have his cell phone number!Elliott hurriedly pulled out his cell phone, looked for Brad's number, and called him from his office phone.The Brads are at the Denver airport, getting ready to board a plane to Atlanta. Hey Brad.Alan hasn't come to work for two days and we're worried about him.You seem to be the last person to see him.Do you know where he went?Did you get any news when you talked? Brad told Elliott about the ski trip at Sopress Mountain, about my truck getting stuck in the mud as it was about to pull out, and about my departure for the desert, but I didn't make it clear to him that I destination. We expected to hear from Alan before the Sunday party, but he didn't call and we didn't go to the party. good.Do you remember what was in his truck? He has trail bikes and snowboards on his roof rack, and he packs hiking and skiing as well as camping gear. Is he going to go skiing? No, I'm pretty sure he's off to canyoning. Police wanted to know the color of his backpack and the style of his coat. I don't remember I got on the plane and I have to hang up.I'll think about it and call you when I get to Charlotte. On the plane, Brad pulls out his digital camera, goes back to the photos taken on Sopress Mountain, looks at which backpack I was carrying that day, and which coat I was wearing, and jots down some stuff to tell Elliott when he lands. Before her mother spoke to her sister, she sent a letter from her account to Denali's teammates, asking for any information they had.Jason.Holiday called her mother from Los Alamos to tell her the information he had sent Brion.Mom found a road map and marked Zion National Park and San Rafael Hill on the map.Jason tried to assist her as much as possible, but he didn't know the exact location of several canyons.He needs his canyoneering guidebook, but it's at home. Elliott forwarded the last known whereabouts to Adam of the Aspen Police Department.When Adam asked if there was a more specific location, Elliott took out the list of possible Utah destinations provided by Jason and read it to Adam.Adam recognized Zion National Park from the list and, on a map of Utah, located San Rafael Mound.Although this clue came from an unconfirmed email from three months ago, it is the only clear information in the investigation so far, and Adam is trying to keep up with the progress.He sent an email to the sheriff's offices in Washington, Glen and Emory counties, followed by calls to Glen County and Zion to make sure the national parks got the message. Glen County is the base for two of the most popular national parks in the western United States, Canyonlands and Arches National Park.Since a single bike trip, four-wheel drive excursion, or day hike may cross three, four, or even six boundaries, the National Park Service, Forest Service, Utah State Parks, and The Bureau of Land Management are all centralized in Moab and share a joint control and visitor information centre.With Adam's actions, almost all relevant government departments have my car information.While they don't have anyone actively searching yet, it's too costly to track every vehicle that's in or out of state, but they're on the alert and if they find my truck, they'll call the Aspen police. Elliott began actively informing my friends in the US area of ​​my disappearance.He checked my e-mail on Brion's computer, scrolling through letters from my flustered friends.Elliott gleaned a few leads by exchanging emails, but mostly only concerned replies.One noteworthy letter from my friend Dan directed Elliott's search toward Mount Sopress and Mount Holy Cross in Colorado rather than Utah. Although the message was contrary to what I had told Brad, Dan provided the only travel itinerary I had written in my own hand, and Elliott knew he had to give the Mount Holy Cross lead to the Aspen police.After they spoke at 1 p.m., Adam called the Minton Township police station.Minton was the closest entrance to Holy Cross, and Adam asked them to check for my car on Tiki Bend. However, Adam informed Elliott.The license plate information you gave me is inconsistent. Although we know it is a Toyota model, we need to get the correct license plate. Elliott said he would call my mom to double check the license plate number. My mom was too worried to eat lunch, and while she sat at her desk arranging some papers, I'm sure some scary thought was driving her to the breaking point.It's just that she held back.Mom shrugged off a sense of helplessness that welled up in her heart, dropped the file and said aloud: I have to do something to help Ellen. To Mom, it seemed like my life was being saved right now by her actions.She doesn't want to sit around and wait for someone to tell her how things are going.That's not her style. Mom tried calling Dad in New York twice, but Dad's cell phone was turned off and he wasn't in the hotel room, so Mom had to leave a message.Mom, relying on the information she'd gotten from Jason, had come up with a list of contacts on her own: Aspen police, Bled, the Utah Highway Police Patrol, and Zion National Park. When my mother was about to make a call, the phone rang.It was Elliott, calling to inform her that the license plate information was incorrect.She took out the note she had been referring to earlier, and read it to Elliot word by word. Another half hour later, Elliott called my mom back and the Aspen police told him that wasn't my license plate number either.Elliott took the initiative to call the New Mexico Department of Motor Vehicles and try to get them to look up the correct license plate number using the type of truck and my name, but they couldn't help him.Unfortunately, my mother has no way to know the correct car number. A few minutes later, at 3:45 in the afternoon, the home phone rang again.It was my dad calling from New York. My dad was shocked by the news and started thinking about what might have happened to me.Panic as he was, he knew they needed to deal with the problem at hand before letting their emotions out. Mom told Dad what was going on.Dad asked a few questions about everything she did, trying to figure out if he missed an important clue, but Mom had done everything she could.Still, Dad wanted to be home right away. Mom replied: No, you will go home in three days.By the time they get someone to cover your shift, it'll be Saturday night and you'll be back on Sunday, and there's nothing you can do here anyway. Dad tried his best to comfort Mom from the far side, knowing that she needed someone to be with, especially when things got stuck.You promise me to call the church and ask someone to come and stay with you. Mom resisted the idea of ​​asking for help, but Dad finally convinced her. Finally, Dad suggested: You must write everything down, and you can refer to it when you make follow-up contacts. I've started making phone records.Mom said.They have learned from their experience in dealing with government agencies that it is important to record who said what and when, so that when their mother calls and a different person answers the phone next time, they can still communicate efficiently with the other party. Coming to the end, all the other possible explanations for my disappearance: like I might have lost track of time camping with friends by a creek, or I was irresponsible and didn't let anyone know that I decided to extend my vacation were all used up.There is no reason for my disappearance.As his worry grew, Dad felt a sharp pain in his stomach, and he felt like he had been shot in the stomach. Mom didn't fare any better, as the call to church turned out to be one of the most emotionally challenging calls she'd made all day.A strong-willed person like her is not used to asking for help.However, when her best friend Ann called back a few minutes later to say she would be home at 7:00 p.m., Mom was delighted, because the warmth of a friend does bring a little peace of mind. At 5:23 p.m., Mom started calling the contacts, starting with the Aspen police, and she spoke for two hours with law enforcement representatives across Utah, starting with two dispatchers at the Department of Public Safety. , then spoke to the two dispatchers from the Zion National Park Police, who my mom repeatedly asked for emergency assistance.Every time mom hangs up, she asks: who else can I call? Through the Internet connection of mountain friends and search and rescue colleagues, Steve.Patchett received a forwarded email from me that I had written to Jason about four Utah canyons I wanted to visit.As the leader of the Albuquerque Mountain Rescue Coalition and my mentor and friend, Steve sensed that time was running out. The first twenty-four hours of a search are usually the most critical.Steve called Mark from his home in Los Alamos.Fan.Iwut, they were talking about the canyon list at 3:38 p.m., trying to make sense of the ambiguous canyon locations.Mark searched the canyons online and found a copy of Tom's Utah Canyoning Guide.Mark read the full description online, including directions and a topographic map of the canyon.On the other end of the phone, Steve put an X in the middle of Wayne County on the Utah Road Atlas and followed the directions Mark read to him. The southern tip of Raphael's Rock. Steve then called Ude and talked with Elliott for about 25 minutes. Steve said that he would contact various government agencies in Colorado and Utah.Elliott received a letter from my mountain friend Wolfgang.Stiller's email, confirmed by a short chat: Due to avalanche conditions, mountaineers have canceled their trip to Santa Croce.However, Wolfgang thought it possible that I would go myself. Elliott passed the news to Steve.Steve said he would call the Eagle County Sheriff to deal with the Mount Holy Cross lead, and told Elliott that he was going to focus on Utah next. Between 4:15 and 5:00 p.m., Steve called the Zion National Park Police and the Emory County Sheriff's Office based in Castle Valley, Utah, and police went to Virgin River and San Rafael Goal's black box trailhead, began search operations.The Zion police said they would watch out for my car during the night patrol at the trailhead.Steve was on the phone with Capt. Aika of the Emory County Sheriff's Office at 5:19 p.m. Captain Aika was in his office, took Steve's information, and asked the office dispatcher to key in missing Population reporting, including a consolidated bulletin for my truck. In addition, Captain Aika asked local search and rescue volunteers to drive to various trailheads.By 6:07 p.m., deputies and search and rescue personnel were on their way to the Swing Bridge, the Valley of Joe, and the upper and lower black boxes.By 6:51 p.m., four districts had reported that they were searching for my car on remote trailheads in San Rafael, and also brought in ATVs to check out trailheads normally only accessible by dirt bike or on foot. . After filing with the other counties, Steve called Mom at 6:38 p.m. to let her know about the trailhead patrol.While Steve was hiding the name and phone number from his list, Mom discovered that Emory County was also on her list.As soon as she hung up on Steve, she immediately called Emory County and learned that there was no news of her whereabouts. My mother insisted on continuing the search and rescue after dark, but the dispatcher said it was difficult. Sometimes climbers lost their way temporarily and couldn't find their way.After a few days, I found my way back by myself. This man clearly doesn't know my son.Mother thought to herself, and she insisted: My son is not lost, something happened to him.But she acknowledged that the manpower situation did not allow the sheriff to devote all of his night patrol officers to finding my truck.Mom ends the conversation politely and then thinks carefully about what to do next. For the next ten minutes, she and Aspen police officer Eric.Ross calls.Eric takes over Adam's job during the sheriff's shift.Eric thought he should go to my house in town and look for useful information like credit cards, so Mom called Elliott for help.With Elliott's assistance, Eric located my checkbook and other available financial transactions. After a tiring day, Elliott was about to go to bed, and he wrote a note and taped it on my door: Ellen, you are missing.Everyone is looking for you.Knock on my door or hit me as soon as you see this note.Then he went to bed. Mom called Dad again at nine o'clock in the evening to explain the progress of the search.This second call had Dad pacing the hotel room, convinced there must be something that would keep me from coming back.He knew I wasn't going to just rest or disappear, the only thing he could think of was that I'd fall down the hill and break my leg, or get trapped by a rockfall on the side of the hill.He prayed: hold on, Ellen, keep going. Dad knew, or wished to believe, that I was alive, hurt though I might be.It hurt him to know I was suffering, but it was a little better than the other possibilities. Leona, far away in Big Boulder, got into her aunt's car after class. She closed her eyes and strongly felt a strange connection, something calling her, and then a vague phantom appeared, like like a dream.She seemed to see my soul, clearly from the waist up.She recognized me, but couldn't see where I was.She knew I was alive and safe, but was terrified.She saw me clasped my arms across my chest as if hurt, and I was standing in a small dark place, wearing a green shirt.Leona sensed that I was aware of her presence and was terrified, not of her presence but of my surroundings.She saw herself reaching out her arms to comfort me, but when she reached out she froze herself so she couldn't touch me.Leona's empathy heightens the feelings that accompany the apparition: she too feels cold, thirsty, and utterly exhausted. Leona wakes from hypnosis feeling exhausted, as if she had just run a dozen kilometers.She knew they were home, but she couldn't remember the fifteen-minute drive home from school.Leona followed her aunt into the house, drank three liters of water, then went to bed, clasped her hands and prayed for my safe return. At 10:20 in the middle of the night, my mother and sister went to bed immediately after talking on the phone.But she only woke up after about an hour of sleep.In the middle of the night, she lay in bed with wide-eyed eyes, thinking of me.At two o'clock in the morning, the sleepless mother anxiously waited for the shift change.She called the Aspen police and was told that the search had been slowed down due to a lack of information about my use of the credit card. Apparently since Thursday, April 24, after I used my credit card for gas at Glenwood Springs, I haven't been there since. Did not swipe the card.There was no sign of me leaving Eagle County.But the trickiest part was the license plates, and when police made inquiries, none of the license plate numbers were correct.Eric had asked the New Mexico State Police to look up the 24-hour Automobile Repairs help line, but it would have to ask Mom to do it.Mom told Eric that she could call and get the correct license information, and she was excited and relieved to finally have something to do again. At 2:45 in the morning, she called and confirmed that my license plate number was NM846︱MMY, and passed this information on to Sergeant Eric.It was the best moment she had felt in the sixteen hours since she logged into my e-mail.Mom sat on the carpeted steps while her friend Ann slept in the upstairs guest room.For the next three hours, Mom stayed alone at the vigil, silently praying for me: Hold on, kid.Here we are, Ellen, keep it up.