Interesting Man Found Dead in Missouri Woods

Source
Source 2

David Decareaux and his family went on vacation to the Mark Twain National Forest. He and his two sons went for a hike.

Searchers found the soaked bodies of 36-year-old David Decareaux and the two boys – ages 8 and 10 – on the Ozark Trail on Sunday, a day after Decareaux declined a passerby's offer of a ride back to the lodge where they had been staying, Reynolds County Sheriff Tom Volner said. The cold had killed them, he said.

The three were found along the trail, about thirty miles from the lodge owner’s home. Police say the father had several wounds on his legs, and speculate that he had become confused with hypothermia and may have fallen several times.

So what makes this any different than every other case like this?

Hartrum described Decareaux, who lived in Millstadt, Ill., as a doting father and spiritual man who had retired from the Air Force in recent years and was working with the Defense Department in a job he couldn't discuss, even privately. Karen Petitt, a spokeswoman at southwestern Illinois' Scott Air Force Base, said Decareaux worked there for the Pentagon's Defense Information Systems Agency.

Decareaux is said to have been an experienced hiker.

Maybe this is nothing, but it caught my interest. I'm trying to research this guy a little bit but I haven't found anything of value as of yet. Would love to hear what you all think.

I read about this earlier today.. Its really strange that all three of them died after one night in the elements

Why. No. Autopsies?

This one smells bad.

Classified defense work.

Why did the kids have to pay for it?

How do they know he was interesting? He didn't talk about his work...
I think the circumstances are really what's interesting here.

Originally posted by Juggernog
I read about this earlier today.. Its really strange that all three of them died after one night in the elements

Yes, and yet their dog was just fine?

I mean, it is possible. Forty degrees and rain can be pretty cold, but it just seems off to me.

If it were hypothermia, most likely he would have tried to take off his close because he was burning up. (Quite the opposite effect when your really cold)

Originally posted by Obsrvr
Why. No. Autopsies?

This one smells bad.

Classified defense work.

Why did the kids have to pay for it?

edit on 1/14/13 by Obsrvr because: (no reason given)

Huffington is saying no autopsies yet ABC is saying they are going to do autopsies.

Not exactly sure which one is true at this point.

So you're suggesting there's more to it due to the fact he worked with classified information... you also noted he's spiritual. Not sure if that would play a big part in it; unless that aspect of him got his conscience in a twist. Completely speculative though.

It is rather strange how this could happen to an experienced hiker. It's possible that while hiking he fell & hurt himself; and while unconscious they began to freeze. Obviously the children wouldn't leave his side, and even if they wanted to it would be difficult to find their way back.

In any case I don't think you could begin to fully speculate until an autopsy was done to determine exactly what type of wounds he had, and the exact cause of death. His children may have frozen to death after he had already passed.

Huffington is saying no autopsies yet ABC is saying they are going to do autopsies.

To be consistent here, if his death had something "more" to it, either the autopsy results would be tampered with, or his cause of death would be given the appearance of having been an accident. So most likely we'd never know.

Originally posted by hhcore
How do they know he was interesting? He didn't talk about his work...
I think the circumstances are really what's interesting here.

He just put the comma in the wrong place in the headline.

Originally posted by Obsrvr

Originally posted by hhcore
How do they know he was interesting? He didn't talk about his work...
I think the circumstances are really what's interesting here.

He just put the comma in the wrong place in the headline.

Actually, I was calling him an "interesting man" because of his job description.

I'm a bad title writer

And I'm a she.

Millstadt is the town over from me and where the dad worked is where my husband works. Lots of talk about this .. everyone says he was very experienced and a good guy. However, the temp dropped fast and hard around here and in Mo at that time.. and then ice. I guess like we all know, autopsies will tell all... but there are many many DoD workers here in this area due to the base.. if they had to knock them all off for knowing something, we'd be tripping over their bodies.

Originally posted by Advantage
Millstadt is the town over from me and where the dad worked is where my husband works. Lots of talk about this .. everyone says he was very experienced and a good guy. However, the temp dropped fast and hard around here and in Mo at that time.. and then ice. I guess like we all know, autopsies will tell all... but there are many many DoD workers here in this area due to the base.. if they had to knock them all off for knowing something, we'd be tripping over their bodies.

I'm in Missouri but nowhere near this area. Thank you for the info!

Do most of the people at your husband's work believe he died from the cold, I guess?

reply to post by tport17


Hes just an airforce vet right? You do know that the AF's basic training is considered the easiest, unless he was a PJ?

What makes less sense is why an experienced hiker would take children 30 miles from their cabin, knowing full well what the weather for at least a week, let alone that day, was expected to be. 30 miles is a looong way for kids, I don't care who you are.

Originally posted by Juggernog
reply to post by tport17

 

Hes just an airforce vet right? You do know that the AF's basic training is considered the easiest, unless he was a PJ?

He is an Air Force vet, yes, but he also worked for the Defense Department doing a job that could not be talked about. Which, could mean any number of things I suppose.

"David Decareaux, who was born in Louisiana, recently joined the DOD at Scott Air Force Base following a 10-year career in the Air Force. The family has three other children, ages 11, 4 and 2." www.stltoday.com... ml

this guy did 10 years in the Air Force and has no idea how to take a safe hike? If they had planned on it being for a weekend as some news says..why were they wearing light clothing and no gear? So we are to assume they had already checked in and their 'stuff' would be at the cabin (the anniversary gift, so likely not a cheap place either).

"The cause of death was hypothermia, said Jeff McSpadden, Reynolds County Coroner. When the three hikers left Saturday morning, the temperature was in the 50s and they were dressed in light outerwear, he said. Rain moved into the area and temperatures plunged to the mid-20s overnight. " cnews.canoe.ca...

Even a fool knows that even if you are going hiking in the woods (omg especially with kids) to bring food, water, shelter, extra clothes).

What exactly did he do at / for Scott, and where was he before? "The family recently bought a home in Millstadt to be close to his job after living on-and-off in Germany for the past decade, Hartrum said."

" e Decareaux family had recently moved to Millstadt, Illinois. Decareaux moved here with his family to work as an information specialist with the defense information systems agency at Scott Air Force Base." www.ksdk.com...

Did he perhaps see or hear something (that is not in the best interest of defending the US) upcoming (about gun confiscation, gun law, martial law, etc). Or perhaps heard something about the defense mashup on the day of 9-11?

Originally posted by tport17

Originally posted by Advantage
Millstadt is the town over from me and where the dad worked is where my husband works. Lots of talk about this .. everyone says he was very experienced and a good guy. However, the temp dropped fast and hard around here and in Mo at that time.. and then ice. I guess like we all know, autopsies will tell all... but there are many many DoD workers here in this area due to the base.. if they had to knock them all off for knowing something, we'd be tripping over their bodies.

I'm in Missouri but nowhere near this area. Thank you for the info!

Do most of the people at your husband's work believe he died from the cold, I guess?

Friends at work and the mutual friends from the area think so. Just a horrible circumstance. They changed our forecast at the last minute as well that night. I never met him, but you have to consider, DoD jobs have many different security clearances... or lack of... even within the same job description depending on what contract youre working on and what your job description is. I mean as a DoD employee.. he could have been a help desk guy.. and even civilians work within the jobs depending on what they are. I understand that mentioning DoD gets the attention, but its not always as glamorous as some believe it is in every case.

reply to post by Advantage


Hmm, thank you for that. I never would have known or thought about that.

Good to know how his co-workers feel about the incident.

Originally posted by Libertygal
What makes less sense is why an experienced hiker would take children 30 miles from their cabin, knowing full well what the weather for at least a week, let alone that day, was expected to be. 30 miles is a looong way for kids, I don't care who you are.

The three were found along the trail, about thirty miles from the lodge owner’s home.

The news report states they were found 30 miles from the lodge owner's home, not 30 miles away from the lodge they were staying at.

Boy Scouts of America, Lewis & Clark Council of Belleville have released this statement:

“We offer our heartfelt condolences to the Decareaux family and all the Scouts and Scouters in Pack 323 for the tragic loss this past weekend. David Decareaux was a den leader and Dominic (10) and Grant (8) were both Cub Scouts. As a Scouting family, we will keep them in our thoughts and prayers.”

What bothers me is that a den leader didn't follow the motto of 'be prepared'. Whenever I go for a hike, no matter how short or how long, if I am in familiar territory, or new ground, there are always two things in my pack - a first aid kit, and my survival kit. I never want to use them, but I always have them with me.

reply to post by dianashay


You do realize that not all people that work for the DoD are some kind of superman right?
I contracted for the DoD or about a year but I worked in a cubicle as a systems analyst and they
didnt give me any survivalist training