Mike Camellitti (MikeCam) is MISSING in WV Forest
Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 12:24 pm
All;
On the local Roanoke, VA news Saturday night July 2, 2011 there was a very brief missing persons report at the end of the newscast that caught my ear. I am sorry to bring you this news but I thought that it was appropriate that I share this with you since we all care so much for Mike Camellitti (MikeCam) and he has so many Friends on this Forum. After hearing this news I spoke with Dave McClain (Beemeridian -we went riding yesterday and actually spoke about Mike) and he found after a few calls that the missing persons report was filed in Pocahontas County, WV, where Mike was last seen and where his vehicle was found. After I called the local TV station here in Roanoke who carried the news I was referred to the article published in the Charleston Gazette (WV) on Sat, Jul 2. After getting to their web site and buying the article you have it below. The net out is that this is NOT good news any way that you may wish to look at it. If anyone on this Forum has any information on Mike that may assist the police please call them- (contact info in this article).The bigger picture here is what can we do to assist in the search and recovery, if anything. I will look into that on Tuesday and Repost to this thread. If there is some way that we may be able to assist with the search we could certainly rally MANY riders to that cause.
Best Regards to all of you;
Paul Radike
The article below has all of the facts and seems to be well-researched and the Charleston Gazette is WV largest newspaper.
VIRGINIA HIKER, 56, MISSING SINCE MAY IN CRANBERRY WILDS
Publication: THE CHARLESTON GAZETTE
Published: Saturday, July 02, 2011
Page: 1A
Byline: MACKENZIE MAYS STAFF WRITER
Michael Camellitti entered the Cranberry Wilderness on May 23. He parked his vehicle nearby and left a note inside that said he was hiking the North-South Trail and would return four days later. He did not return.
The West Virginia State Police discovered the vehicle, parked off Williams River Road in Marlinton, Monday afternoon. Camellitti, of Stanardsville, Va., had been declared missing on June 12. "A note in his car specified he planned on coming out on May 27. By all indications, if he did make it into the wilderness, he's been in there for about a month now," said State Police Sgt. Glen Galloway of the Marlinton detachment.
Family members have told police that Camellitti, 56, is experienced in hiking and caving, and unaccompanied trips have not been out of the ordinary. "He was into this type of thing. He had just done a hike in Texas, where he survived without his own supply of food and water for four days," Galloway said.
About 20 searchers from the State Police, Pocahontas County Emergency Services and Shavers Fork Fire Rescue were divided into pairs to search the 50,000-acre wilderness for Camellitti on Tuesday. The next day, a cadaver-dog team from the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management joined a 12-member crew to follow up on any trails that were left unsearched. Galloway said the search and rescue teams covered 100 miles of trails but found no signs of Camellitti. "Some of these trails are unmarked and washed out," Galloway said. "We are still investigating at this point."
Melvin Martin, Pocahontas County Emergency Services director, said the county's search and rescue team does about four rescues a year. This case isn't like those, he said, because of the time between the date on Camellitti's note and the discovery of his vehicle. "This is different from most search and rescues," Martin said. "It's more of a search and discovery - because it's about 30 days overdue." Martin described the Cranberry woods as "a treacherous area," recalling wreckage from an airplane that took more than a decade to recover. "It's a very densely wooded area. Because there are so many trees, even if we did use an aircraft to search, you wouldn't be able to spot anything," Martin said. "Options are very limited when dealing with something like this." The recent searches illustrated some potential problems, he said. "In some parts, the forest is so dense you can't see past the trail. So, if he's camping off-trail, we wouldn't know. One team reported a trail was so hard to walk on that they almost fell into the river. When we get a lot of rain, the river rises and it's dangerous," Martin said. "Right now, it's all speculation."
Martin said the Pocahontas team and the others are working hard to locate the missing man. "We've done, and are continuing to do, everything humanly possible with the resources we've got," he said. "You don't really ever end a search like this. You're pretty much suspended until you find another lead to go on."
Anyone with information about Camellitti should call the State Police, at 304-799-4101.
Reach Mackenzie Mays at [email protected] or 304-348-5100
On the local Roanoke, VA news Saturday night July 2, 2011 there was a very brief missing persons report at the end of the newscast that caught my ear. I am sorry to bring you this news but I thought that it was appropriate that I share this with you since we all care so much for Mike Camellitti (MikeCam) and he has so many Friends on this Forum. After hearing this news I spoke with Dave McClain (Beemeridian -we went riding yesterday and actually spoke about Mike) and he found after a few calls that the missing persons report was filed in Pocahontas County, WV, where Mike was last seen and where his vehicle was found. After I called the local TV station here in Roanoke who carried the news I was referred to the article published in the Charleston Gazette (WV) on Sat, Jul 2. After getting to their web site and buying the article you have it below. The net out is that this is NOT good news any way that you may wish to look at it. If anyone on this Forum has any information on Mike that may assist the police please call them- (contact info in this article).The bigger picture here is what can we do to assist in the search and recovery, if anything. I will look into that on Tuesday and Repost to this thread. If there is some way that we may be able to assist with the search we could certainly rally MANY riders to that cause.
Best Regards to all of you;
Paul Radike
The article below has all of the facts and seems to be well-researched and the Charleston Gazette is WV largest newspaper.
VIRGINIA HIKER, 56, MISSING SINCE MAY IN CRANBERRY WILDS
Publication: THE CHARLESTON GAZETTE
Published: Saturday, July 02, 2011
Page: 1A
Byline: MACKENZIE MAYS STAFF WRITER
Michael Camellitti entered the Cranberry Wilderness on May 23. He parked his vehicle nearby and left a note inside that said he was hiking the North-South Trail and would return four days later. He did not return.
The West Virginia State Police discovered the vehicle, parked off Williams River Road in Marlinton, Monday afternoon. Camellitti, of Stanardsville, Va., had been declared missing on June 12. "A note in his car specified he planned on coming out on May 27. By all indications, if he did make it into the wilderness, he's been in there for about a month now," said State Police Sgt. Glen Galloway of the Marlinton detachment.
Family members have told police that Camellitti, 56, is experienced in hiking and caving, and unaccompanied trips have not been out of the ordinary. "He was into this type of thing. He had just done a hike in Texas, where he survived without his own supply of food and water for four days," Galloway said.
About 20 searchers from the State Police, Pocahontas County Emergency Services and Shavers Fork Fire Rescue were divided into pairs to search the 50,000-acre wilderness for Camellitti on Tuesday. The next day, a cadaver-dog team from the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management joined a 12-member crew to follow up on any trails that were left unsearched. Galloway said the search and rescue teams covered 100 miles of trails but found no signs of Camellitti. "Some of these trails are unmarked and washed out," Galloway said. "We are still investigating at this point."
Melvin Martin, Pocahontas County Emergency Services director, said the county's search and rescue team does about four rescues a year. This case isn't like those, he said, because of the time between the date on Camellitti's note and the discovery of his vehicle. "This is different from most search and rescues," Martin said. "It's more of a search and discovery - because it's about 30 days overdue." Martin described the Cranberry woods as "a treacherous area," recalling wreckage from an airplane that took more than a decade to recover. "It's a very densely wooded area. Because there are so many trees, even if we did use an aircraft to search, you wouldn't be able to spot anything," Martin said. "Options are very limited when dealing with something like this." The recent searches illustrated some potential problems, he said. "In some parts, the forest is so dense you can't see past the trail. So, if he's camping off-trail, we wouldn't know. One team reported a trail was so hard to walk on that they almost fell into the river. When we get a lot of rain, the river rises and it's dangerous," Martin said. "Right now, it's all speculation."
Martin said the Pocahontas team and the others are working hard to locate the missing man. "We've done, and are continuing to do, everything humanly possible with the resources we've got," he said. "You don't really ever end a search like this. You're pretty much suspended until you find another lead to go on."
Anyone with information about Camellitti should call the State Police, at 304-799-4101.
Reach Mackenzie Mays at [email protected] or 304-348-5100
