John Doyle's Panamanian Adventure

This page is intended to provide information about the status of John Doyle, who is currently missing in the mountains of Panama.

Current Status (18:00 PDT 2007-08-27)

Update from Hall Daily: Sen. Chambliss' staff talked to Mike Hammett, American Citizen's Services Chief a moment ago. The rule is that they normally wait 24 hours to search and 72 to do a massive search but they have moved that up and a massive search is underway. They contacted the Defense Corp and they agreed to send up helicopters however, they only have about an hour of daylight left. They will resume the search effort in the morning. The hotel that Dr. Csete is staying at agreed to put the pilots up free of charge. Mr. Hammett said there are many different groups conducting a foot search.

Other actions that have been taken:

• Caltech has contacted Congressman Schiff's office, who immediately contacted the US Embassy in Panama. They have assured us that all available resources will be made used to find John.

• Jean-Lou Chameau, Ed Stolper, Dave Rutledge, Hall Daily (Government Relations) and others at Caltech have been informed of the situation and are working to insure that all available resources are available to help find John.

What Happened

John and Marie were on vacation in El Valle, Panama. John went for a run on a trail yesterday (Sun) at 3 pm and was supposed to be back by 5 pm. When he wasn't back by 7 pm, they knew something was wrong and they started looking for him shortly after that. They searched until 1 am, but had to call off the search due to rain and clouds (plus darkness). They began the search again this morning, but they have not found him yet (its now 5 pm in Panama).

The area is a settled location, which includes quite a few Americans, but it is relatively wild in flora/fauna.

Past Updates

• Monday, 4:00 pm (from Hall Daily): The fog reportedly rolled back into the area before helicopter(s) could be deployed today. If weather permits, they'll try again in the morning. An additional search party, however, was sent into the area within the last hour or so.

• Mon, 3:30 pm: Richard talked to Marie at ~3:00 pm (5:00 pm in Panama). They have not found John yet and the fog is starting to come back in, so the search crews will have to return home. There is a Panamanian Navy helicopter that is scheduled to help, but can't come in because of weather. There are apparently also US Navy helicopters a few hours away (according to Marie) and they should be able to join the search as soon as the weather permits (might be tomorrow at this point). Marie's brother will fly out Tue or Wed (not sure which) to join her.

• Mon, 2 pm: John and Marie are in Panama on vacation and John is missing in the mountains. He went for a run on a trail yesterday (Sun) at 3 pm and was supposed to be back by 5 pm. When he wasn't back by 7 pm, they knew something was wrong and they started looking for him shortly after that. They searched until 1 am, but had to call off the search due to rain and clouds (plus darkness). They began search again this morning, but they have not found him yet.

Region information

La Casa De Lourdes is the hotel where they started. It's apparently 97 km from Panama City. We're trying to get GPS coordinates for the place. (mhucka 2007-08-27 18:11 PDT)

(2007-08-27 3:55PM mhucka) As of right now, we don't seem to have specific GPS coordinates for where John and Marie are, however, after a bit of Googling around for the general region, I came up with the following coordinates for locations in El Valle de Anton. This should at least get us nearby. Unfortunately, it seems the only thing visible at the time Google Maps got this image was cloud cover. Update: Google Earth doesn't do any better -- it's all clouds there too.

 N8 36.503 W80 07.122 Google maps

 N8 36.604 W80 06.654 Google maps

General region descriptions taken from different places:

• "El Valle De Anton is one of the most sought after locations for Expats relocating to Panama. The year-round average high temperature is 20° C (68° F), and the average nighttime minimum is a comfortable 16° C (61° F), there is little variation between summer and winter temperatures, the major difference being the amount of wind and rain from season to season. At an altitude of 2200 meters (7217.85 ft) El Valle is nestled in the long extinct second largest volcanic crater in the world (three by five mile crater). When you begin your descend into the crater from the rim you will notice that it is indeed situated in a round bowl of jagged mountain peaks. You will also notice an overall green appearance to the area due to the richness of the volcanic soil lending itself to the abundance of flowers that bloom there year round. It is very refreshing in contrast to Panama City where the building and houses fill the lots from corner to corner barely allowing sunlight to pass between them. El Valle is spread out with large lots; an abundance of trees and grass separating the well maintained houses. Many of homes are owned by local residents whose names could make up a Who's Who of Panama book." Source

• "in the province of Cocle. According to geologists, El Valle is the crater of a dormant volcano, probably the largest in Central America. With a cool and pleasant climate, his picturesque valley rises 600 meters above sea level. This small town has a great variety of attractions such as Indian petroglyphs, hot springs, waterfalls, rock climbing and a variety of hikes for all abilities." Source

• More descriptions of the region and more pictures available here: http://www.panama-guide.com/article.php/20070617151703712