It is important to learn from experiences that do not turn out well.

It seems to me the real problem here was that somehow the SAR teams chose to search an area where the victims were not located. No matter how hard you search such an area, you won't find them.

I have often gone a little off trail when out hiking and it has occurred to me that even if my cell phone worked and I was able to call for help there are some places I could end up where I would be very hard to find, at least quickly.

A few weeks ago a guy offed himself not far from here. Hundreds of volunteers searched the area where he was known to be shortly before he vanished. He did not hide himself or anything. The outdoors is just immensely large and if you do not get a pair of eyes close enough to see the guy, you will miss him. Often you can't see 10 feet in some places. Searching such an area is tedious and very time consuming.

A couple of years ago a guy went missing here. He was gone for several weeks before being found. His car had run off a road and into a patch of woods. He was only about 30 feet off this very busy road that I drive on twice a day. I never saw his car. He was maybe 150 feet from an occupied house. They never noticed him. I don't recall how he got found, but it was random chance. He died of a heart attack IIRC.