You're here: MiBSAR's home page :: SAR operations log page :: SAR op photo-journal page
Michigan
Backcountry Search and Rescue (MiBSAR)
SAR Op No. 5 photo-journal:
Joe Clewley missing-person investigation
By
Michael Neiger
Marquette, Michigan
© Copyright 2008
Duration & date: Agency assisted:
Sault Ste. Marie, MichiganTownship & County: Nearest place-name: General location: Tahquamenon Falls State Park in the eastern Upper Peninsula Trail: Victim: Joseph Robert Clewley
White male; age 73; 5'-10"; 150 lbsCase summary: Joe Clewley and his dog Chip went missing on July 13, 2008. His van was found parked at the North Country Trail (NCT) trailhead along the Tahqua Trail in the eastern reaches of Tahquamenon Falls State Park. Joe owned a log cabin in the area and enjoyed hiking off-trail in the park. SAR op mission: MiBSAR team members: Partner SAR teams & assets: SAR op results: Joe Clewley was not located Additional resources: • Learn more about this investigation
• View official, Sheriff's Office-provided Web site for victim
• View MiBSAR-provided Web site and Internet blog for victim
Friday, August 22
Newspaper reporter visits Joe's Country
After suggesting the Mining Journal (Marquette, Michigan) assign a reporter to cover the Clewley investigation a couple weeks ago, I was very pleased to learn that John Pepin would be doing an in-depth story on this protracted case.
Having made arrangements for interviews with key family members and sheriff's office personnel, John and I met with members of the Clewley family at their camp, shortly after lunch. A couple hours later, pictures and interviews in hand, John departed the Clewley camp to do some telephone interviews before filing his story, which he hoped would be prominently featured in the paper's Sunday edition.
The half-page-plus article, accompanied by four color photographs, was in fact featured on the front page of Sunday's paper...
PARADISE - What has become of Joseph Robert Clewley, an elderly retiree who mysteriously vanished six weeks ago near his cabin at Tahquamenon Falls State Park?
So far, the answer to that question has escaped the best efforts of what sheriff's deputies are calling the largest missing persons manhunt in the history of Chippewa County.
"You never know what could have happened. He was 73 and had health issues," said his son Joe Clewley Jr. of downstate Mason. "We're missing a piece here somewhere. We need new clues. Any information is good information, anything that could help."............................read the full story
With the interviews done, I departed the Clewley cabin and headed for the Timberlost Road, an old railroad grade turned sandy two-track, to begin searching the Camp 10 Lakes area for any sign of Joe's whereabouts.
After shouldering my ruck at the point where the Camp 10 trail joins the Timberlost Trail, I spent some time exploring the remnants of Camp 10. Situated adjacent to several old railroad grades, it was almost certainly associated with the original logging of old-growth eastern white pines in the area.
I spotted numerous iron artifacts in the small clearing, including...
Iron artifacts found along the railroad grades at Camp 10. Click on photo for high-resolution imagery. (Photo by Michael Neiger)
At the point where the Camp 10 Trail ended along the north shore of Lake 708, I found part of an old woodstove...
The top, business surface of an old wood stove found along the north shore of Lake 708 in the chain of lakes known as the Camp 10 Lakes. Click on photo for high-resolution imagery. (Photo by Michael Neiger)
Saturday, August
23
The Tahqua Trail Run
I arose early--5:00 a.m.--as I planned to participate in the second-annual, 25-kilometer Tahqua Trail Run along the North Country Trail (NCT). Scheduled to start at 8:00 a.m., rain or shine, the race would begin within a mile of the Clewley cabin and traverse a portion of the NCT that ran through the heart of Joe's Country. Seemed only fitting.
Sponsored by Great Lakes Endurance, LLC, thunder, lightning, and heavy rain greeted us about 15 minutes before race director Jeff Crumbaugh gave us the start signal, and stayed with us for the first hour of the race. Light rain continued during the second and third hours.
The constant rain flooded portions of the NCT, forcing us to run through ankle-deep water and long sections of deep, slippery mud.
Just after the race ended, the sky began to clear and everyone welcomed the warmth of the sun.
With the trail run completed, I returned to the Camp 10 Lakes area and picked up the search effort where I left off on Friday. I worked my way around the margins of Lake 708 on some beautiful, pine-studded ridges...
The marsh at the west end of Lake 708 in the chain of lakes known as the Camp 10 Lakes. Click on photo for high-resolution imagery. (Photo by Michael Neiger)
The west end of Lake 708 in the chain of lakes known as the Camp 10 Lakes. Click on photo for high-resolution imagery. (Photo by Michael Neiger)
The marsh between the north shore of Lake 708, in the chain of lakes known as the Camp 10 Lakes, and the lake's only island. Click on photo for high-resolution imagery. (Photo by Michael Neiger)
At one point, I came across a very odd find: an old, collapsed bunker. Two, huge rotten upright poles--V-notched to support roof members--stood facing the business side of the structure, which overlooked a clearing below the ridgetop. An old stove pipe, rain cap still in place, indicated it was heated with a wood stove at one time. A bit of probing with my walking stick showed that hollow cavities remained below the collapsed rubble.
An old, collapsed bunker with a woodstove found atop a ridgeline just south of the Camp 10 Lakes Road, north of Lake 708. Click on photo for high-resolution imagery. (Photo by Michael Neiger)
On another ridge further north, I came upon a small cranial fragment, probably from an animal...
A small, weathered fragment (underside and outside, respectively) of a skull--probably animal in origin-- found atop a ridgeline north of the Camp 10 Lakes Road. Note suture (furrow) line visible in the outer view of cranium fragment. Scale in inches. Click on photos for high-resolution imagery. (Photo by Michael Neiger)
Before long, I was working the ridgelines west of Lake 716...
The marshy bay at the west end of Lake 716 in the chain of lakes known as the Camp 10 Lakes. Click on photo for high-resolution imagery. (Photo by Michael Neiger)
Lake 716 in the chain of lakes known as the Camp 10 Lakes. Click on photos for high-resolution imagery. (Photo by Michael Neiger)
As the sun began to set behind the ridgelines west of Lake 716, I enjoyed a carb-laden dinner before crawling into my bivy sack. Before I fell asleep, I watched a bald eagle cruise the length of the lake twice, listened to the cries of a resident loon, and heard several sandhill cranes in the distance.
Sunday, August 24
Clearing ridgelines west of the Camp
10 Lakes
Thanks to a pair of sandhill cranes, I awoke to find the sun rising over Joe's Country...
Sunrise over Lake 716 in the chain of lakes known as the Camp 10 Lakes. Click on photo for high-resolution imagery. (Photo by Michael Neiger)
After a hearty breakfast, I feasted on handfuls of blueberries...
The blueberries in Joe's Country are ripe and plentiful. Click on photo for high-resolution imagery. (Photo by Michael Neiger)
About mid-afternoon, I arrived back at my vehicle, frustrated by my inability to find any sign of the whereabouts of Joe. During the 2.5-hour drive home, I worked on the plan for Search Op No. 6, which would be conducted over the Labor Day Holiday weekend.
1:24,000 USGS quad showing areas searched (in red) by the Michigan Backcountry Search and Rescue Team during Clewley SAR Op No. 5, August 22-24, 2008. (Graphic by Michael Neiger)
Return to top of page :: Return to home page
In God's wilderness
lies the hope of the world,
the great, fresh, unblighted,
unredeemed wilderness.
—
John Muir, 1838-1914
Alaska Wilderness, 1890
If
you've been able to read this Web page...
thank a Teacher;
If you've been able to read this Web page in English...
thank a Veteran.
—Author
unknown
•
Copyright notice •
Content Copyright © 1984 --
2009-09-16
by Michael A. Neiger
• All rights reserved •
No part of this Web page or this Web site protected by copyright law may be reproduced, transmitted, or used in any form--including graphic, electronic, Web, mechanical or other form--or by any means--including photocopying, recording, taping, Internet distribution, information storage retrieval system, or by other means--for any purpose, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages, without the prior, express, written permission of the author.
Comments?
Suggestions?
Dead links? Inaccurate info?
Contact the WebMaster, Michael A. Neiger, at mneiger@hotmail.com
Web site URL: www.MibSAR.com
Return to top of page :: Return to home page
You're here: MiBSAR's home page :: SAR operations log page :: SAR op photo-journal page