JESSE CAPEN ; What lead him to his search area?

[mrs.oroblanco]

Cubfan is correct. Rick was the guy who found the first two - along with the umbrellas they had been carrying. At the rendezvous that year, he showed us the pictures that made him (and those who saw the pictures) believe that there were gunshots involved. Rick found the first two, and search and rescue found the third.

There is also a documentary with Rick telling about how he found them, and about the gunshots, which has been on TV. Here is the link.

Monsters and Mysteries in America: Lost Dutchman's Gold : Destination America


Mrs.O

 

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[cactusjumper]

Cubfan is correct. Rick was the guy who found the first two - along with the umbrellas they had been carrying. At the rendezvous that year, he showed us the pictures that made him (and those who saw the pictures) believe that there were gunshots involved. Rick found the first two, and search and rescue found the third.

There is also a documentary with Rick telling about how he found them, and about the gunshots, which has been on TV. Here is the link.

Monsters and Mysteries in America: Lost Dutchman's Gold : Destination America


Mrs.O

Beth,

Rick is the one who told me about the gunshot wounds.....at the Rendezvous. Couldn't remember exactly how many he found, but he has told a lot of folks about the bullet wounds. I'm sure you have the straight scoop.

Hope you, Roy and the pups are all doing well. Hope to see you at the Rendezvous.

Take care,

Joe

 

[Oroblanco]

Kraig is correct....That is where they found Jesse C......Oro's.... who has been telling you all these stories? The Utah men who where found by Rick G did not have bullet holes in there head...LMAO

Kurt Painter

If you had attended the last two years rendezvous, you could have talked to several of the same people, including Rick Gwynne, and the SAR members with whom I have spoken. We are friends with Jesse Capen's mother, and have been to her house in Denver. Some of the photos of the Utah men, Jesse's camp etc have been posted here on T-net, you should still be able to find most of them. Rick Gwynne is a member here, you can contact him easily. There are other sources as well, but you would need to talk to the Maricopa county sheriff's dept, and the US FS district investigator, they would be able to fill in any gaps you are curious about, and some info I have seen with my own eyes, as we did go look for Jesse ourselves. Stories indeed.
Oroblanco

 

[Bobp]

I was alerted of this thread and I decided to register so I could reply. Bear with me as its my first post. My name is Bob Pelikan and I found Jesse's pack while searching for Jesse. I was invited by friends (non official searchers) who were the ones that had found that Jesse had signed the register on Tortilla Peak which was basically the only real clue in the first 2 years.. They had been on several searches previously. It was my first search of the area. We were a group of 5 avid hikers. To make a few corrections to what people have written here, I did not find the body. I also did not remove the pack from the area. We took gps co-ordinates and my friends relayed the info to others. The next day Jesse's remains were found in the cliffs above within 50 feet of the co-ordinates we provided. His body was discoved approximately .65 miles from his camp. I will go thru my notes in the next few days and will fill in the times dates and add more details.

 

[393stroker]

Thanks for posting Bob, and welcome to TN. Most of us here just want to know the truth. Would it be asking too much to post the co-ordinates where you found Jesse`s back pack? Chuck

 

[roadrunner]

Welcome Bobp.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[Bobp]

I will add co-ordinates when I find them. Here is the picture of the pack. The picture is dated 11/23/2012 and the time was 9:08am a few minutes after the pack was discovered

 

[393stroker]

I notice the gloves and the hole in the side of the pack, and the rock on top of the strap. Or maybe it`s part of the pack that looks like gloves.

 

[Bobp]

maybe it`s part of the pack that looks like gloves.

There weren't any gloves...what you are seeing is the mesh side pocket. The broken camera was in one of those side mesh pockets.

 

[Bobp]

Thanks for posting Bob, and welcome to TN. Most of us here just want to know the truth. Would it be asking too much to post the co-ordinates where you found Jesse`s back pack? Chuck

The GPS points are 33.475783N, 111.317916W.

 

[somehiker]

Thanks Bob:
I was just about to post this G/E view with what I had marked as the probable location where Jesse had been found.
It doesn't look to me that he was headed for his truck. Also, it appears as though he was found far from the area where Roy and Beth said that a fire had been set, at Tortilla Trailhead as I recall. Seems he may have been trying to find a way down from that ridge line, perhaps to Peter's Trail down below.

Regards:SH.

View attachment Tortilla Area.bmp

 

[cactusjumper]

View attachment 858107

Oro and Mrs. Oro,

Not disagreeing with you on much of what you say. I have a good idea who that mystery person is but the Sheriff is handling it so I don't need to get in their way. I don't believe there was any foul play, Jesse just fell and thats my personal opinion. I'm not saying there aren't a lot of strange things surrounding his last days, there certainly are.

The above map shows the location where Jesse was found. Bob Pelikan was the man who found Jesse. He marked that map and I have been to the place where Jesse's remains were recovered. There is something left there that marks the spot. If someone told you he was found in a different location, they have given you some false information. There is no doubt or confusion about the site. I wish I had the answers to the other questions. Maybe one day we will learn the whole story.

Matthew

Kraig,

Always a surprise when you are wrong, when dealing with "facts". On the other hand, it was because of Mr. Pelikan that Jessie was found by the searchers. He gets serious props for that.

Joe Ribaudo

 

[Matthew Roberts]

Kraig,

Always a surprise when you are wrong, when dealing with "facts". On the other hand, it was because of Mr. Pelikan that Jessie was found by the searchers. He gets serious props for that.

Joe Ribaudo

Hardly anyone doesn't credit Bob as being the man who discovered Jesse. Had it not been for Bob, Jesse would still be laying out there on that ledge. He and his partners deserve 99% of the credit for the excellent job they did.

Here is my post from page two of this thread:

Oroblanco,

I wouldn't go so far as to say Jesse had a "partner". Certainly there is some evidence to support he had been in the company of someone else at least while in Apache Junction. Who this was and why no one knows them or can even describe them is reason for concerns.

So as not to get the wrong idea, Jesse WAS found on almost a direct line between Tortilla Peak and his CAMP. In fact this is how Bob Pelikan and his partner found Jesse. After everything else had failed, Bob decided to draw a straight line between Jesse's Camp west of Kane Spring and the top of Tortilla Mountain (Tortilla Peak) as those were both places they knew Jesse had been. Bob and his partner decided to start at Jesse's camp and work their way up onto the SW end of Tortilla toward the Peak following this line as closely as they could and fan out along the way looking for anything Jesse may have dropped or lost. They would go until the cliffs cut them off then try from the Peak down at another day.

When they got to the cliffs, Bob noticed a pack in the brush at the base of a cliff almost on the line they had been following. A camera was also laying there. He opened the pack and things inside showed it belonged to Jesse. Bob and his partner however could not see Jesse, he was 30-40 feet above them on a ledge. I posted a topo map here earlier and the spot within a few yards of where Jesse's body was found.

Bob turned the things they found over to a SAR group headed by Cooper. Cooper went out the next day and could find no more of Jesse's items. Someone looked up and saw what they thought was a boot sticking partially out from the ledge above. The boot was Jesse. His body was then recovered from the ledge by Sheriffs deputies and SAR.

Stories circulating about what was found on Jesse and what were found at his tent are not 100% reliable. Surely there are some questions the Sheriff would like answered that would tell the whole story. The Sheriff has not released all the information concerning Jesse's items and they do not suspect foul play but if anyone knows who the mystery person might be, they would like to know.

Matthew

It looks like I wasn't wrong after all. Imagine that.

I can see your point though, it's always easiest to just put your own interpretation onto what someone else wrote and declare it to be what the person actually said.

Matthew

 

[cactusjumper]

Kraig,

"Hardly anyone doesn't credit Bob as being the man who discovered Jesse. Had it not been for Bob, Jesse would still be laying out there on that ledge. He and his partners deserve 99% of the credit for the excellent job they did."

Nice spin on what I wrote. Here it is:

[Kraig,

Always a surprise when you are wrong, when dealing with "facts". On the other hand, it was because of Mr. Pelikan that Jessie was found by the searchers. He gets serious props for that.]

I gave him credit, but he did not find Jessie. Here is a direct quote from Mr. Pelikan:

"To make a few corrections to what people have written here, I did not find the body."
_________________________________________

"It looks like I wasn't wrong after all. Imagine that.

I can see your point though, it's always easiest to just put your own interpretation onto what someone else wrote and declare it to be what the person actually said."
___________________________________

I did not interpret anything. I was simply making a true statement on what you had written. I might imagine that you weren't wrong in writing that Mr. Pelikan had found Jessie's body, but my imagination is just not that good. It helps tremendously to be able to read, and understand what I read.

Joe Ribaudo

 

[393stroker]

The GPS points are 33.475783N, 111.317916W.

Hey Bob, are those numbers right or am I doing something wrong?

 

[sgtfda]

The answer to the thread title question is the LDM legend. If not for that he would not have been in the mountains. Cause of death? Apparently the fall. How he fell ? Damage to a body from a fall if that type can be extreme. Years ago I investigated a case where a man fell off a very high railroad bridge. Broke every bone in his body. Every little tree limb he hit took a large chunk of flesh out of his body. If Jesse had a unusual injury it could be caused by hitting something on the way down. Exposure to the elements only complicates things.

 

[roadrunner]

Hey Bob, are those numbers right or am I doing something wrong?

Chuck,take the comma out from behind the N.
Copy and paste mine in below.
33.475783N 111.317916W

 

[393stroker]

Chuck,take the comma out from behind the N.
Copy and paste mine in below.
33.475783N 111.317916W

Thanks Matt, that took me right to the spot. I just don`t know why the co`s don`t jive with the ones on the bottom of the screen. Wrong setting?

 

[Oroblanco]

The answer to the thread title question is the LDM legend. If not for that he would not have been in the mountains. Cause of death? Apparently the fall. How he fell ? Damage to a body from a fall if that type can be extreme. Years ago I investigated a case where a man fell off a very high railroad bridge. Broke every bone in his body. Every little tree limb he hit took a large chunk of flesh out of his body. If Jesse had a unusual injury it could be caused by hitting something on the way down. Exposure to the elements only complicates things.

We were not there when he fell, so can not say what injuries he incurred from the fall. However Jesse had damage that did not make sense for his fall, to his face, as he landed on his back. As to the "reports" of what was found in his camp, photos were posted, judge for yourselves.

Those who would dismiss the incident entirely as pure accident are welcome and free to do so, believe what you will.

Good luck and good hunting, I hope you find the treasures that you seek.
Oroblanco

 

[somehiker]

I would think that if Jesse did,in fact, pay for his "partner" s room at the AJ motel, as Roy has stated in a previous post, then this person would have become an important witness very early in the investigation. The name, address,etc. would have been known from the register at the motel. This also makes it likely that the person was not from the AJ area.