Friends Continue Search for Family Missing More Than a Week

Dec. 4, 2006 — -- James Kim lives and breathes the latest portable gadgets, and as a result is always in touch, his family says.

But a week ago, the 35-year-old technology writer, his wife and their 4-year-old and 7-month-old daughters dropped out of sight while driving through a remote part of southwestern Oregon.

In the last 24 hours, friends of the Kims have flown in from across the country to conduct their own search.

"We're going around hanging up fliers, talking to local businesses, talking to people along the route," said family friend Jason Zemlicka.

As a senior editor at CNET.com, Kim makes a living reviewing the latest high-tech gadgets and trends, and is a familiar name in the tech world.

The family of four was returning from a Thanksgiving road trip from their home in San Francisco to Seattle, and were driving through Oregon when they disappeared.

Their last-known phone call was to an oceanfront lodge a week ago during terrible weather.

Kim's wife, Kati, called to say they would be late.

"Kati called, said they were gonna press on, and yes, they would be here," said Terri Stone, the innkeeper of the lodge.

They never arrived.

Police said witnesses and a credit card receipt put the family's last-known location at a Denny's restaurant in the small town of Roseburg, Ore.

Friends have concentrated their efforts in this area, even renting a helicopter to search the vast forest filled with windy roads, rugged terrain and often spotty cell phone service.

They've also gone online, posting their own stories and videos on YouTube in the hopes that someone will help find the lost family of four.

"I am worried about my brother and his wife, but it just seems really unfair … um, that the girls are there, and just may be suffering," said Kim's sister Eva.