Here we go again, another one lost

Hunt for prospector lost in Goldfields, The West Australian
January 18, 2013, 6:55 am


Police and State Emergency Service volunteers are searching for a 46-year-old man missing in densely wooded ironstone country in the Goldfields.

Michael Keith Graham was last seen at 10pm on Sunday while camping with friend Peter Holloway 70km north-east of Menzies.

When Mr Holloway woke the next morning, Mr Graham was not there. It is believed he wandered away from the camp during the night.

Sgt Mark Mariott said Mr Graham had not left a note saying where he was going and he had no water or navigation equipment with him.

Police are searching a 100sqkm region of undulating hills crossed with dry creek beds.

About 20 SES volunteers from Kalgoorlie, Norseman, Leonora, Laverton, Menzies and Perth have joined the search.

Department of Fire and Emergency Services liaison officer Colin Brown said sniffer dogs may also be used to track the missing man.

Sgt Mariott said a helicopter pilot contracted by the police took part in the search yesterday and six police horses were due to arrive from Perth this morning.

It is understood Mr Graham arrived in Menzies from the Eastern States earlier this month and the two men had been prospecting for gold.

Lets just hope the poor bugger can be found ay.
A word of warning! - For eastern stater's new to prospecting in WA in the crazy heat of our summers it is very dangerous, it's not like eastern heat, even in winter you have a max of 3 days without water and your gonna do a perish.
Please be very careful out there, ya get no 2nd chances over here.
Our thoughts go out to his mates and family, fingers crossed ay

I'll second that
Years ago in the eighties, when I was in Paraburdoo, a bloke died of thirst middle of winter, he hadn't told anyone where he was going, tragic
He had broken his leg and his vehicle was jammed between rock faces
Can't take any risks and there is no excuse nowadays especially with the availability of destress beacons
Don't go wandering in the bush at night without a radio (so you can contact your mate back at camp) and a light source from your camp
I really hope they find the guy, cause it is so easy to get disorientated

It's the time of year when it happens and how many reports have we seen where they don't even have a gps with them.
This will sound harsh but it's absolute stupidity to take on the WA scrub without one or water. Keeping a light going all night at least gives you idea where the camp is if you can get on some high ground.
But you have to ask yourself, why did he wander away from camp during the night ? I'll sure we will hear more.

Havent heard the latest ,hope hes ok , have done the same thing myself in flat mulga areas, pulled up in the arvo at a new spot & went for a short detect or so i planned , started heading back to where i thought the car was & it didnt happen. Cold & sleepless night with the tee shirt & no matches ,got lucky at midday next day & found the car... gps now every walk, albo.

Hope they find him soon ! Weather has been kind but heating up. Another reason to be a smoker
always have a lighter in your pocket. GPS wont help much if you have a busted leg but smoke will !

Zap.

Hi Zap & also if you do a bit of sundown / night tecting reckon its good to have the car radio up loud so you stay in range ,albo.

Good tip Albo, thanks !
Reckon I could get lost in my bedroom. Have a bad sense of direction. F#@k knows why but i'm working on it.
Some of that scrub is the same for miles. Last cheap GPS I had pointed me in the wrong direction
Zap.

Been 4 days now and tomorrow will be the 5th day for this poor chap out with no water, plenny dogs out that way too.
Lets all say a prayer for him and hope he is found but times runnin out.
Kim ,Linc & Steve (madtuna) your offer to use your 6 quads for the search is a show of what your dedication and loyalty to this game is, and i commend you as all our members do.
Fingers crossed guys as we all realize what his loved ones must be goin thru...
Micheal - you will be found mate and our prayers are with you cobber.

All of the DWAG Members and Admin

it's sad we have to be reminded off the dangers this game can throw at you by hearing story's like this.
all the best for a safe return mate.
time is ticking though.

The latest update tells us they are about to search down some old shafts, it doesn't look promising. To make things worse, I don't think the man is in good health.
This is from the Kalgoorlie Miner.

Police and State Emergency Services are searching for a 46-year-old man missing in dense bushland 70km north-east of Menzies.

Michael Keith Graham was last seen at 10pm on Sunday while camping with his friend Peter Hollaway. When Mr Hollaway woke the next morning, Mr Graham had vanished.

It is believed he wandered away during the night. He was last seen wearing a grey jumper and shorts. Incident controller Sergeant Mark Mariott said Mr Graham had left no indication of his direction of travel and had taken no water or navigation equipment.

He has had both knees replaced, a kidney removed and has been on painkillers.

He said search crews had found tissues in trees potentially indicating a trail laid by Mr Graham. Police are searching a 100sqkm region of undulating hills crossed with dry creek beds. About 20 SES volunteers have been mobilised from Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Norseman, Leonora, Laverton, Menzies and Perth.
Department of Fire and Emergency Services liaison officer Colin Brown said the operation would escalate through to the weekend and may involve up to 50 SES volunteers. [/color]

In most countries they use a helicopter with a heat sensing camera mounted on it to keep track of criminals being chased.
Can ya see where im going with this.???

They spend millions of $$ on the Elvis crane chopper to fight fires...yet we dont own them.
How many millions of $$ was spent on the boat people in 2012.???

A search like this could be done in no time if this country had a foken brain running it.
Our good ol gov went to look at the fire ravaged Coonabarabran NSW....she would have been better of using the money that it would cost for here and the rest of the crew to fly there...and giving it to the town for a new fire engine or equipment. What could possibly be gained from a fly over and a chat.???

I feel for the family of the lost fellow.......not knowing the full circumstances of why he walked off...i'll keep my feeling for him reserved.
One cant help but think of stupidity in most of these cases, it may not be the case in this instance......but lets face it, they were out there in the middle of summer...so the element is there.....?

A photo of Michael Graham has been released to the media but I won't post here. It also mentions what the painkiller was, it was some serious sh*t.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-18/grave-fears-for-prospector-missing-in-wa-goldfields/4470746

Unfortunatly we go through this ever year here in Arizona.
People go out...get lost...have no water....its sad.
I do hope they find this guy, but..he broke about every rule in the book.
ALWAYS let someone know where your going. Heck, wake up your buddy and tell him, or leave a note.
ALWAYS have water! I carry 12 gallons in the summer and 6 in the winter and then some drinking water.
AlLWAYS have a way to start a fire. Black smoke, white smoke, fire at night...all good signals.
If your lost........stay put! Burn stuff! Lay down on a bed of sticks and grass in the shade to conserve water.
Ive got tools, extra parts, extra battery, oil...all kinds of stuff in my truck along with blankets. I just plan for a breakdown.
Most of all, know your limits. This poor guy should not have been wandering around alone.
Really hope they find him but with the temps. you guys are having ...its not looking good. We loose two or three people a year out here from situations like this.
Tom H.

Narrawa wrote:In most countries they use a helicopter with a heat sensing camera mounted on it to keep track of criminals being chased.
Can ya see where im going with this.???

They spend millions of $$ on the Elvis crane chopper to fight fires...yet we dont own them.
How many millions of $$ was spent on the boat people in 2012.???

Narrawa,
Your right. We should have choppers equiped with heat sensing gear on them for just this sort of thing, not just for chasing crims.
It would make finding someone lost that much easier.
However, as you also said, there is an element of stupidity here, going out in that sort of heat ill-equipped.
I hope they find him safe.
I know the terrible feeling when you are lost, having been lost, albeit for only a few hours, in the late 70's in the NT south of Darwin, before the advent of GPS !

Cheers,
Rick

Perhaps something as low tech as a tracker dog or one of our indigenous trackers?
Really hope it's not too late for the poor bugger.

Robert

and to make matters worse the police were not allowed to use quad bikes to search because apparently they are dangerous.....so they had to fricken ship horses in from perth...total waste of time and resources.
somebody is going to get an ass kicking for this....he should have been found days ago.

Hope it's not too late for the poor bugger now.

he was an elderly man on medication. albo.

Search crews have discovered items belonging to a prospector who has been missing in the Goldfields for more than a week.

"A property owner reported the items which were found on his property, 10 days after the disappearance of 46-year-old Michael Keith Graham.

Police today described the discovery as a "significant development" in the search and said crews would shift their focus further south.

Four Tactical Response Group officers trained in bushcraft and tracking skills were flown to the search area today after the discovery.

Police officers, State Emergency Service volunteers and a helicopter were involved in today's search and a police search plane will join the crew tomorrow."

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/newshome/15934632/missing-prospectors-belongings-found/

things had gone quite in the media, i thought i did hear they were going to call search off today.
thanks for the update pete, new leads lets just hope for a miracle and micheal has found some water and is out there wandering and waiting. i know it's slim but i have a feeling after hearing the latest.
i hope they atleast get to bring him home

we all hope he comes home safe i think of him each night.
i allways think what i would do if that happened to me i allways worry about that, all you can do is make sure you have all the things you need out there to keep you safe and sound

Could still be hope for the bloke.
Pip - if nothing else comes good of this it certainly is a reminder for all of us to
be extra careful out there and to treat life as a True gift and not taken as granted

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/video/watch/70248aea-fcbf-3ff8-9558-d6d4b6772c85/sos-message-delivers-hope/thewest_news/

http://au.gwn7.yahoo.com/w2/news/a/-/local/15944843/new-hope-in-search-for-missing-prospector-michael-graham-video/

Lots of rain here in Laverton yesterday arvo so hope they got some as well down there near Menzies, the rain may help in one way but hinder in another, its alot cooler today with nice breaze.

Another update and a few tips from the pastoralist. Still holding out hope for this bloke

http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/if-hes-still-alive-hes-a-pretty-tough-guy-20130125-2db7b.html

I think someone needs to explain to Paul Murray and the Pastorlist how the 20A system works.

The Pastrolist in the interview said that out of hundreds that go on his lease only 4 or 5 report to him.