Thorn Tree travel forum

1

Thanks Kira (for taking this appeal to the Missing Travellers-thread).

Heather,
Can you please confirm that the Australian Embassy (Consulate) in Beijing was notified? If so, what are their actions currently? And does the police in Australia (already) treat this as a true missing person case, and in the event they do: did they liaise with Chinese officials?
Please don't feel offended, but I'm asking just to make sure this appeal is no "hoax". Occasionally there've been fake missing person-appeals on TT in the past, you see. On the other hand, since Mr. Lindenmayer was or is one of LP's authors, we should probably expect Lonely Planet as well to initiate some help and action soon now.

Did he travel alone? Were there any friends / trekkingpartners with him out there that you know of? Can they be contacted (by the police and/or the parents)? Did someone already check on his bankaccount, to see what happened in there and when he himself last used it? Same for his e-mail account? Did you or others check with other relatives and (close) friends of his, to find out when he last made contact with them? What was his itinerary for the days after Mount Gongga?
Did he do this more often in the past: staying out of touch for a considerable period of time (also taking into account the environment, itinerary, political situation et cetera)? Or is he reliable in dropping a note on a regular basis?

Many questions, that's true. But depending on whether or not something bad happened, they're relevant now.
Just keep in mind please this is a public board, so if you post a reply don't post too many personal details.

2

Here are the links to several photos of missing Clem Lindenmayer, also outdoors photos and a picture of the tent he brought with him.

missing Clem Lindenmayer, 3 photos

Clem Lindenmayer in cold weather

Clem in hiking gear and with his backpack (2 pics)

Clem's tent


Did you see him out there last month? Click for full-size pictures on any of those 4 pages on the hosting-site imajr.com

3

And Heather, perhaps you should ask around for some weather reports of that area of the first week (or the first half) of May.

As in a great many more places, nasty things can happen out there. Avalanches that sweep climbers and trekkers away, or landslides such as the one in that news-example, 11 months earlier.

4

Thanks Mieke. I am Clem's father, and Heather is a family member. I assure you this is not a hoax. We have done all the appropriate reporting but have heard nothing yet. Clem normally replies to our emails, but does not give details of his treks (other than where and about how long) until he returns. He has not replied to recent emails, including some about matters that we handle on his behalf.

gremlin

5

I'm sorry I can't be of help, but you have my best wishes. I hope you find him soon.
Cheers!

6

Hello Graeme,
Thanks for clarifying, and please allow me to apologise for bringing up the possibility of a hoax posting.

I'm asking the TT moderators to make this appeal a "sticky" post, i.e. visible in the top of forumpage 1, both on the entire NE Asia forum as well as this sub-one for China. So as many TT-visitors as possible will spot it, and post their tips and ideas.
And also I mailed a link to Heather's post here to several contacts who may have direct contacts of their own in or regarding the Sichuan/Kanding region. As soon as the word starts spreading, you ought to receive some helpful advice.

Meanwhile, keep strong. And try to find out more about your son's itinerary, if possible, and his contacts out there. I would assume you have also contacted Lonely Planet headquarters directly, to see what they can find out for you through their own channels?

take care

7

Graeme and Heather,
In case you were not too experienced in using these forums: other TT-users, instead of posting a reply in this thread, can also send you a private message ("PM"). If you have received PM's, their number will show up in the top right corner of any TT page soon as you log in. Click on that number (or the link in the words private messages), and it will take you to your PM-inbox where you click "read" to read them.

Someone is currently spamming TT-ers with one of those famous offers to earn millions by joining some Nigerian or Ivory Coast "deal". You may receive that kind of PM's or e-mails now too; just ignore and delete them.

~ ~ ~

There is a report about the weather in Sichuan province on May 2, with a NASA satellite photo.
Quote: On May 2, 2007, a pocket of thick haze formed over Sichuan Province in central China. The MODIS on NASA’s Terra satellite took this picture the same day. In this image, haze forms between the Longmen Shan and Xiaoxiang Ling mountain ranges in the west, and the Dalou Shan mountains in the east.

I'm assuming the photo is of May 2, Chinese time and not Houston-time. The report doesn't specify how far ground-sight would still have been under that haze. And the relatives don't know at what altitude Clem was around the time the photo was taken. The hazy period sort of coincided with snowfall in some of Siguan's mountainous areas, and was then followed by high temperatures.

Gongga Shan is said to be approx. 7.590 m' tall. But Clem made no summit attempt, he was just trekking the lower parts of the mountain (the way I understand it). Could it have been pretty foggy suddenly, so he lost his way? Where exactly did he e-mail his father from? How long from there would it take to reach the trekkingroute (path)? (He either wrote where exactly he was, or it could be established by experts checking on the IP-address that his e-mail was sent from).

Or could he f.e. take an interest in temples, so the Gongga Temple was a sure destination too. What other important (religious) sites are there in the area, and can they be contacted by e-mail to show a photo, ask for cooperation and ask locals out there to help spread the word, print missing person posters and put them up in the most appropriate places?

What about media outlets there? Papers, radio, TV. Any names, any contact details (in English)?

Anyone, any ideas, Thorn Tree?

8

The most important thing to do now is to inform Chinese Authorities and media, including Local travel bureau, newspaper, etc

9

Also in the golden week( May1st-7th), there were some avalance/land slide accidents in Sichuan area which resulted in several tourist casulties. so try to talk to local authorities

10

If he's the sort of people who prefer hostels to hotels, he might have stayed at Black Tent in Kangding. There are just a few similar places to stay that are recommended in guidebooks and Black Tent, though I wouldn't recommend it at all, is quite popular.

Does anyone have Black Tent's number?

The 2 girls who work there speak some English. If you decide to call them but don't speak Chinese I could call them for you. I'll try to remember to check here again.

Han Girl

11

Hope this is OK with family, I've now cut & pasted this on other travel forums:
The HUBB - Horizons Unlimited
VoyageForum - in French

Kira

Life is what you make it
Travels & Thoughts on W.Africa
Cote d'Ivoire & beyond (unfinished blog) 07-08
Guinea/G.Bissau/Senegal 06-07
Intended passenger carrying trip France-Cote d'Ivoire December 09!

12

Forget the second link, the 'charming' mods on there have already deleted it!

Kira

Life is what you make it
Travels & Thoughts on W.Africa
Cote d'Ivoire & beyond (unfinished blog) 07-08
Guinea/G.Bissau/Senegal 06-07
Intended passenger carrying trip France-Cote d'Ivoire December 09!

13

Kira, that's the trouble that comes with 'competition', I suppose. I've had the same problem with some other boards in the past, when someone was missing. I'm in favour of international law against such mean practices!

@ Han Girl and other people who can read & write Chinese (Mandarin?)

If you go to the main website www.lonelyplanet.com , down below in the left corner it has links to separate messageboards in a couple of languages. It seems to me there is a special board for China/in the Chinese language. Could someone perhaps copy the above appeal + a link to the photo, and post it there?

And if someone did, please confirm here in this thread.

14

I'm sorry to hear about Clem's disappearance. I don't have any info regarding him, however I was involved in a similar search recently in the same region. I am PM-ing heathertea now with some hopefully useful information.

Cheers, chengdugirl1