MISSING PERSON | Forum | Niseko, Hirafu, Kutchan

digglar 2009-02-21 12:17:15

SCOTT MCKAY 27 AUSTRALIA was last seen outside Wild Bills around 1 30 on Thursday Night. He was staying at pension Fuu near the gentem cafe and was last seen in a black DC hoodie and jeans any info is greatlt appreciated at 1 30 today we are performing another sweep and can use any and all assistance in covering as wide an area as possible please come to the safety centre for 130 ( next to siecomart) if you can assist. Please wear snow clothes. Thanks D

eLovejoy (2009-02-21 16:10:57)

http://www.hokkaido-np.co.jp/news/society/148435.html

豪スキー客不明　バーで飲酒後（02/21 08:01）

二十日午後一時半ごろ、後志管内倶知安町ひらふ地区に滞在中のオーストラリア人スキー客から、「友人と連絡が取れない」と倶知安署に届け出があった。

調べでは、行方が分からなくなっているのは同国籍の会社経営スコット・マッケイさん（２７）。二十日午前一時近くまで同地区のバーで友人二人と酒を飲み、先に一人で約一キロ離れた宿泊先のペンションに向かったという。かなり酔っていたとみられ、同署は事故に遭った可能性もあるとみて調べている。

Australian goes missing after drinking in local bar.

Some Australian guests staying in Niseko-Hirafu, unable to contact their friend, contacted the Kutchan police around 1:30am late on the evening of the 20th to file a missing person report.

Upon investigation, the missing person was identified as Australian Scott McKay. It is said that he drank until past midnight with two friends, and then left by himself to make his way back to the pension they were staying at, which is about one kilometer from the bar. He was pretty intoxicated, and the police are looking into the possibility that something happened on his way back to the pension.

tdes (2009-02-21 20:12:58)

omg I hope he's OK!

Admin (2009-02-22 20:33:40)

me too. theories are proliferating, but most involve passing out or falling asleep in the snow somewhere. wouldn't take long to suffocate in the snow or freeze to death, and snow clearing equipment may have moved a body into even deeper snow somewhere. prayers for his well-being, and if the worst should come to be, our deepest sympathies for his family.

[b]Scott McKay[/b]
[img size=300]http://niseko.kutchannel.net/images/fbfiles/images/scottmckay.jpg[/img]

If you have seen Scott somewhere, or even just suspect that you have, please contact the authorities immediately.

[url=http://www.kutchan-syo.police.pref.hokkaido.jp/index.html]Kutchan Police[/url]: 0136－22－0110

Pow!!! (2009-02-24 00:38:44)

The authorities finally have "a helicopter and visible police presence". On day 4! [edited by admin]

Bet they would have found him in 30 seconds or less if his visa had been expired. [edited by admin]

eLovejoy (2009-02-24 11:57:28)

[url=http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/queensland/missing-snow-skier-developed-snow-gps/2009/02/23/1235237545249.html]Original Article[/url]

[quote]
A Brisbane man missing at a snow town in Japan helped develop a satellite tracking device for skiers which could have led searchers straight to him.

Former colleagues say it is unlikely Scott McKay was wearing one of the Flaik transmitters, which use GPS technology that allows ski instructors to monitor up to 45,000 skiers in real time.

Mr McKay was last seen leaving a bar in the northern Japanese ski town of Niseko early on Friday morning.

When he failed to return to his accomodation a 10-minute walk away, friends alerted authorities, sparking a search which has failed to find any trace of him.

Mr McKay, 27, was the one-time vice president of Snow Sports Interactive, the Queensland company which developed the Flaik device.

The IT specialist also helped to road-test it at ski resorts overseas.

The GPS tags are not available in Japan and it is unlikely he had been wearing one at the time, his former boss told brisbanetimes.com.au yesterday.

"Scott managed the roll-out of the tags and the networks, back in 2006-2007," Flaik Inc CEO Steve Kenny said.

"He had the network know-how and the snow experience to make things work."

Mr Kenny said Mr McKay was an experienced skier, who had travelled to some of the world's best snowfields and made an annual ski pilgrimage.

"He loved the snow," Mr Kenny said.

"He loved skiing and he loved life."

Mr McKay earned a civil engineering degree from the University of Queensland and began his own IT start-up company, Wolfbyte, in 2003.

He joined Snow Sports Interactive in late 2005 to work on the Flaik project, testing it at ski resorts in North America, before returning to Brisbane in March 2007.

The concept was developed at the Queensland University of Technology's I-Lab centre for new business development.

"You couldn't have asked for a better employee," Mr Kenny said.

"He beat me into the office most days and would still be out there when I went home.

"When I spoke to him last, in November, he had big plans for Wolfbyte and the future."

Mr McKay's parents have flown to Japan, where a search of the area continues. He also has a sister living in Australia.

While little snow had fallen on the night of his disappearance there had been big falls and strong winds on the two subsequent nights, raising doubts about his chance of survival.

"At the moment, we're hoping for the best," Mr Kenny said.

"I think Scott would have thought it would have all ended a bit early."
[/quote] [img size=168]http://niseko.kutchannel.net/images/fbfiles/images/beacon.jpg[/img]

digglar (2009-02-24 14:05:48)

These guys have been working flat out since 12 hours after it was reported- earlier than anyone else would even listen to a "missing" 27 year old report.

we did 5 sweeps within the first 12 hours , involving rescue, fire and police, boith on and off duty. and combed the areas thouroughly, even though it wasnt an official search yet.

They did a good job.

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