Monthly Archives: May 2013

Final update for Friday

The day is basically spent now, and we still have not found Jay.

Again, my information on what has happened and what the plans are is incomplete – but I’ll still try to give my best review of what we know, what’s happened and what is planned. [This is a longish post.]

First, let me address some topics I’ve seen tossed around, with a lot of bad / wrong / misunderstood information mixed in.

1) We are not aware of any coerced ATM or other bank transactions. Yes, he did make an ATM withdrawal shortly after he left for his walk Tuesday morning. It was for a very moderate amount of money, and the camera footage of him making the withdrawal does not show anyone with him. It doesn’t appear to show him in any distress or being coerced

No bank transactions have been attempted, related to Jay, since he disappeared

2) We are not aware of any possibility that he was kidnapped or otherwise taken by anyone. That doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened, but there certainly isn’t any evidence, I’m aware of, that he was.

3) The US embassy staff and US State Department have been very helpful and are working with us and the people in-country to do the most they can. We’re impressed.

4) The Ukrainian Union and officials, as well as many private individuals HAVE been helping, and doing a lot. However, there is always misunderstandings and the knowledge between parties isn’t perfect. We’re very grateful for the assistance we’ve received and we know that each person and group is doing as much and as well as they can.

Again, misunderstandings do occur. Here’s an example.
On Thursday, we had intended to search the park, using a grid search. [You break the area to be searched into smaller blocks and have a group of people search each block, every section carefully. You repeat this for the whole space you are interested in searching.]

As the day progressed, we were discouraged since no-one showed up to help Jeff and Ron search. As we inquired at the end of the day – we were told that a lot of students DID show up. But we were really confused – because we hadn’t seen them.

Well, with some wonderful help [Thanks Natasha I. and Marina K-G.] communicating with the people in Ukraine we found out the following: The students and others did come on Thursday. Since they [or someone] felt the park was searched on Tues and Wed, they decided to hand out flyers and make contacts around the Union office and locales. While this probably isn’t what we would have had them doing had we known – it’s not like no-one was volunteering to help. So through misunderstanding and language barriers, the efforts were not coordinated. But everyone was doing what they thought best and all working hard.

So, there’s no criticism for the hearts of the people. They’re doing their best, just like we are. Sometimes it’s not what we’d pick, and I’m sure they have felt the same way about our choices. But we all do our best.


However, Friday has been a far different picture. We have some additional resources that came in overnight Thursday night, and those people have been extremely helpful in making the search more organized and more effective. Nothing changed in the willingness to help, just the effectiveness and organization got a lot better.


So, to recap today’s outcome:

The search of the park is done, and we found no sign of Jay. It’s hard to think there’s any possibility he’s laying out there in the park somewhere and we missed him – the entire park was searched very thoroughly.

This takes away what we considered as the most probable situation – that Jay had suffered a fall, or other catastrophic health problem, was assaulted or something similar, and was lying out in the thick growth somewhere in the park.

But given the results [or lack of results] from the search, we feel like we must assume he’s not laying in the park somewhere.

This leaves us with a lot of questions:
If he’s not laying in the park, where is he? What other things should we do to continue to search in the most productive way?
What to try next?

The answers to those questions are ones that we and the experts are considering now and working to formulate a plan for tomorrow.

I know we’ll be talking to people who regularly visit the park, tomorrow. We’ll ask them what they recall about last Tuesday and if they might have seen Jay in any particular portion of the park, or if he was interacting with anyone etc.

We haven’t had an update from the expert on-site who is coordinating and directing the search since the end of the day Friday, so we don’t have much more in the way of a “plan” for tomorrow. I’m sure there IS a plan, we’re just not quite aware of it yet.

As always, being thousands of miles away is hard. We always want more information than we have, and we are tempted to believe that we know better, or have things in mind that haven’t been tried. Occasionally that’s true – but most often it’s not.

I think we must be as “patient” as possible and work with the very kind, helpful and wonderful people who have come to our aid in finding Jay. We will continue to ask for God’s protection and care for all involved and ask that this saga ends well.

I hope to have more detailed information as time goes on and a more clear view of where we go from here. But at the moment, it’s time to re-group and gather some more ideas and information to see what makes the most sense to do next. When I know that, and can share, I will.

Thanks again to all those expressing their care, and sympathy. You’re awesome.

Lots of thanks to all the wonderful people of the Union office, and the volunteers in Ukraine who have taken days of their lives to come and search for, as Jay is called – “the grandfather with the red suspenders.”

Personal thanks to Marina and Natasha [And Shaundi who got me in touch with them.] They have been awesome and funny, and great to work with. Thanks, so very much! There would be a lot more unresolved misunderstandings without you!

We will give more as we know it.

Update…near end of day Friday, Kiev time

I’ve only been up an hour or so… I’d been up more than 40 hours with only an hour or two of sleep – so as the day got started in Kiev on Friday I decided to get some sleep.

So, while I really don’t have all the information available yet – I’ll give you what I have.

Today has been a much better day. We have staff from Adventist Risk Management as well as a person who, as I understand it, was the Union president some years ago on the ground managing the search and organizing things.

The search has had many more people available to help, and all on the same task. I’m told [though this could certainly turn out not to be the case] that they think they will have thoroughly searched the park area by the end of the day today. [Kiev is 10 hours ahead of us here on the US West coast. So, right this minute it’s 8p in Kiev.]

The latest word I have is that Jay has not been found, but things have been really making dramatic progress today.

Unfortunately, dramatic progress may well not mean we’ve found him – but I’m highly encouraged.

Finally, we want to give the highest thanks for Sergi [the Union Health Ministries director], as well as the many, many others who are taking their time and energy to assist. We are exceptionally grateful. Thanks!

Please keep everyone, the family, the searchers and particularly Jay, in your prayers.

I’ll update more as the day ends and as we know our situation and needs for tomorrow.

Помогите в поиске Джея Слупа / Help find Jay Sloop

Russian [English follows]

Если вы пропустите время 8а, наступит тогда, когда вы можете!
Помогите в поиске Джея Слупа
Пятница, 17 мая
Время: 8 утра
Где: офис Униона на Лукьяновской
Адрес: ул. Лукьяновская 9/10А (также известна как ул. Лукьяновская, 9Б)

Пожалуйста, помогите в поиске Джея Слупа – примите участие в прочесывании территории вокруг Замковой Горы на Подоле. Место организационного сбора – 8:00 в пятницу 17 мая возле Унона.

Если возможно, пожалуйста, планируете остаться на весь день, пока поиск не закончится. Возьмите с собой еду и воду. Оденьтесь в удобную одежду для прохождения сквозь парковые рощи и заросли. Мы планируем прочесать Замковую Гору опять – каждый участок и очень тщательно.

После просмотра камер видеонаблюдения – очевидно, что Джей вошел на территорию во вторник утром и так и не вышел (ни тем же путем, ни с другой стороны).

Прочесывание этой территории на данный момент – лучший вариант. Милиция не сбирается привлекать службы спасения, поэтому это единственная надежда и шанс найти Джея живым. Пожалуйста, придите, помогите!

Если будут какие-нибудь изменения, мы сообщим об этом здесь в блоге, чтобы держать вас в курсе дела. И если только вы не прочтете здесь, что поиск отменяется, знайте – мы очень в вас нуждаемся. Пожалуйста, придите!


English version:
Come help search for Jay Sloop
Friday, May 17
Time: 8 AM
Where: SDA union office
Please meet on Friday morning 8a.
Meet at the Union Office, Luk’yanovskaya ulitsa, 9/10B

If possible, please plan to stay all day.
Bring food and water for the day.
Be dressed to walk through wooded areas during the search.
We are planning to search Zamkova gora park again – every part, very carefully,

After reviewing security cameras – they show Jay entering park on Tuesday morning and do not show him leaving.

Searching here is the best option available. Police will not call out emergency services, so this is one of the last best hopes to find Jay alive. Please come.

If conditions change, we will update this blog to let you know we don’t need you. Unless you read specific instructions here asking you not to come, please assume your help is needed.

Final notes, day three

So, our third-hand reports of Kiev police and volunteers searching were wrong.

Yesterday Sergi, Jeff and Ron were the only people searching in Zamkova gora park, that we are aware of. The Kiev police were, I’m told, supposed to come search, but didn’t.

So, going forward I think this would be the best solution:
If you know any of the local pastors or church members in and around Kiev, could you please call and plead with them to ask church members to come out and assist in the search tomorrow.

They should plan to meet at the Union office
Meet here: Luk’yanovskaya ulitsa, 9/10B – (ул. Лукьяновская 9Б)
Time 8a

At the Union office, please talk to one of the following people:
Sergi Lutsyi
Vladimir Krupskyi
Jens Serup
Jeff Sloop

These people are the people in charge of organizing and running the search parties.

I’ll update this as I have more information.

-Greg

Day three…

SloopJayHighRes-200x300
Jay Sloop, Missing
Kiev, Ukraine 2013/05/13

While I don’t have much updated information about the search today I’ll simply start with what I know and come back and update as we know more and/or have confirmation of what happened so far today.

It’s about 5p in Kiev as I write this. I think we have a few hours of light left.

The intent was to search the park and see if Jay was somewhere in an inaccessible part of the park, or had fallen etc.

The reason we felt it was wise to search the park more carefully is that it appears as though multiple security cameras showed Jay walking toward this park, and going in, and not coming back out past the same cameras. This park is also a place where Jay and locals and friends would regularly walk. I know first-hand that Jay, at the weekend, walked through the park with friends.

The day started off fairly dreary – rain. Jeff was discouraged because it appeared that no one was coming to assist the search. But I’ve seen conflicting reports of who and how many people were out searching today. Until I know something more certain, we’ll just say that what has occurred today isn’t clear from here. We’re just not sure at the moment how many people turned up to assist.

I’ve also had word that the local Police was also involved in the search.

If we did get local help and if the police did expend substantial resources on the search that would be a very good thing.

I’ve heard from numerous sources that the coverage has been substantial: TV, radio, posters etc. I think a lot of hard work is going on in difficult circumstances and we truly appreciate all the effort being put forth from everyone there.

Jeff, because it was raining, doesn’t have his phone with him. We have not yet heard back from him.

So, we’re essentially waiting to hear from someone first-hand what has transpired today. The minute we know more that isn’t rumor or third-hand information, we’ll be sure to update and let you know.

For now all we can do is wait and ask for God’s care, patience and peace.

-Greg

How you can help…

After a lot of updates and information today, it seems like the most likely place Jay might be, and the best use of resources is to search a local hill and surrounding areas.

The park, is Zamkova Gora. Evidently there are very steep sections of the park and it is hard to effectively search the area. They would like to to a very through search – if possible, what we’d call a grid search.

But to do this, they will need as many people as possible. Jeff Sloop [Jay’s Grandson] would ask that everyone that can, please come to the Union office in Kiev, at Luk’yanovskaya ulitsa, 9/10B – (ул. Лукьяновская 9Б). (Phone: 467-50-49) He would like to keep people as safe as possible and not have anyone get injured while searching, so please use good judgement both in deciding if you can help, as well as when you are searching.

Even more helpful would be mountaineering people who might have ropes, harnesses and rock-climbing experience to search areas that are less accessible.

With both kinds of people we can have people searching the areas they are most capable of searching without having anyone in a place they won’t be safe in.

So, could you please contact any friends you may have in Kiev and the surrounding areas that could possibly take some time to search for Jay.

Again – I’m reachable via phone or email should you have questions or comments.

So, again – the request is this:

      Ask anyone you know in Kiev to come out and search for Jay

 

      When: 8a local time on Thursday, May 16, 2013

 

      Where: Meet at : SDA Union Office: Luk’yanovskaya ulitsa, 9/10B [ул. Лукьяновская 9/10А / ул. Лукьяновская 9Б]

 

      Google maps link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=50.464012,+30.505832+&hl=en&sll=50.463477,30.505224&sspn=0.003118,0.005761&t=h&z=16

 

      What: They will be searching this area: Zamkova Gora [or Zamkova Hora]

 

    Google maps link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=50.464012,+30.505832+&hl=en&ll=50.462183,30.511597&spn=0.006236,0.011523&sll=50.463477,30.505224&sspn=0.003118,0.005761&t=h&z=17

Also, if you or anyone there knows someone with ropes and harnesses and experience, please bring them. There are areas to search where these will be useful, perhaps necessary.
Thanks so much.

Please forward via email, facebook, twitter etc. We would really like to get as much participation as possible. Every hour that passes may be critical. Certainly things become more and more dire the more time that goes by that Jay isn’t found.

-Greg

Updates, day two.

I understand that both today and yesterday there were numerous people out looking for Jay – they had pictures/flyers of him and were canvassing the area.

There has been efforts to search some of the places he regularly walked, and trying to determine if he fell or somehow had a physical mishap.

I know that the embassy/consulate has been contacted and more contact occurred with the police.

Unfortunately, he is still missing and no promising leads on where he might be.

It is now well past dark in Kiev, ending the second day about 40 hours since anyone we know last saw him.

I don’t have much more to add, and I’m very busy communicating with people here in the US and with people on the ground.

Thanks again for your thought and concerns. We’ll update you as we can. [Sorry, but updating you comes second after finding Jay. 🙂 ]

-Greg

Jay Sloop, missing – Kiev Ukraine, 2013-05-14

SloopJayHighRes-200x300
Jay Sloop

You’re probably here because you’ve heard that Jay Sloop went missing May 14, 2013 in Kiev Ukraine.

The details I have at this moment are thin.

He evidently went for a morning walk, by himself around 7a local time, intending to return shortly to eat breakfast with friends.

He did not return and we have no information as to where he might be.

As of 2013/05/14 3p Pacific Time  [1a Wed, Kiev time] he has not been found.

If you know friends in Kiev or the surrounding community, we would greatly appreciate your help in looking for him and attempting to locate him.

This post is being written from the US, but we can put you in contact with someone in the Ukraine rather than contacting us.

If you have information or want to contact me, please use the following contact information.

Greg Sloop,
gregs@sloop.net,
503.251.0452 x121 [USA phone number]
Google talk: gsloop.treo@gmail.com


Update May 14 – 5.30p Pacific / May 15 – 3.30a Kiev time

Still no word on Jay Sloop’s location or where he might have gone missing. He has not been heard from since he disappeared nearly 24 hours ago.

Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

If you have contacts in the Ukraine that you believe might be helpful, please communicate those contacts to the contact information above.

 

Thanks!

Another day…

SloopJayHighRes-200x300

Jay Sloop
Dissapeared 2013/05/14, Kiev Ukraine

The day is ending here, and starting in Ukraine.

I’ve had calls, and emails from numerous friends and family. [Josh L, John F. Greg P. George G. J&J W. Arrah, Heidi R, SKRD, Dephena M, and others – I’m sure I’ve forgotten some and others I’m unaware of…]

We’ve had texts from more and we know there are many who are praying. Thanks!

We truly appreciate your thoughts, cares and hopes for a good resolution to this frightful event. We hope so too. [Boy, do we ever hope so.]

Since many ask, let me tell you what I know we’ve done…
The hospitals have been checked and, to our knowledge, there hasn’t been any sign. The police have been contacted, in both countries. I believe we’ve made contact with the embassy/consular staff too. We still have no idea what may have happened. 

I know that today [Wed] in Ukraine there are supposed to be more people involved in searching/contacting authorities and checking more potential ideas. We truly appreciate the efforts made on Dad’s behalf. Again, let me say “Thank you.”

But a few people can’t do it all themselves. So if you have friends who might have resources available that could help, we would greatly appreciate their assistance. Again, the best point of contact at the moment is myself. I’ll repost that at the end. Feel free to contact me if you have some assistance you might offer.

Finally, please continue to keep all of us in your prayers. 

Greg Sloop
503.251.0452 x121
gregs@sloop.net
Google talk: gsloop.treo@gmail.com

Link to inital post: http://www.sloop.net/wordpress/?p=5