First, my heart goes out to James Kim's family. It's so sad to learn he lost his life to the mother nature when lost in Oregon's snow. (You can read some of the story Here).

I am not a tech person myself. I only read that the Kim's had 3 cellphones and 2 laptops with them. Cellphone signal was how the mom and kids got located after 9 days. Coincidentally, I read another article about "roving bug": how FBI taps turnoff cellphones. This got me thinking, "Can roving bug be used in this kind of scenario to find the missing persons in a much more timely manner? (I was assuming James Kim's cellphones are one of the modern models since he's the senior editor for CNET.)

Our fellow FTers are frequent warriors on the road, no matter what kind of transportation is being used. Some of our FTers are very tech knowledgeable. I am simply curious how far or how much can technology help us mankind in desperate situations like today's tragedy.

I am not an American. I am not even sure if Feds can be involved in this kind of search mission. I am sure "roving bug" will stir up discussion of privacy concerns. However, that's not why I start this thread. I want to hear from our fellow FTers how to be tech savvy when encountering the unexpected while on the road. I thought our Travel Technology Forum will be the perfect place to start my line of inquiry. If not, Mods, please move it to the proper forum. Thank you!