So a guy is lost and has phone service? Why didn’t he just call out for help? Never mind the whole issue of not answering unknown numbers. He had service and didn’t use his phone? This whole story is BS.
Believe it or not, this is a perfect time to leave a voice mail. The not answering spam calls I am normalized with, but the refusal to use voice mail for important calls is inexcusable.
There was a time where spam calls didn't exist? I am pretty sure 2 seconds after Alexander Bell tested the first pair of phones, someone tried to sell him an extended warranty for his car.
Why didn’t they text? Cultural norms aside, texts usually go through more easily than calls in spotty areas. But yeah, I’ll take hypothermia and exposure over answering an unknown number any day.
Modern search and rescue tools actually do send a text with a link to ping your exact location. The text is intended to be customized to the situation so they know it is legit.
Clark, your mother Martha is worried about you. You are not in trouble. Please contact Metropolis PD to let us know you are safe, or click this link to share your location so we can come get you.
If I saw that show up on my phone then I would immediately assume that there's a warrant out for my arrest. That message would be more likely to get me to huck my phone in a stream than click the link.
Yep. I’m lost, 2% battery left, I aint answering a call from an unknown number. Imagining dying of thirst having wasted your last battery on a telemarketing call.
Actually, in this case, it's partially the opposite.
The Madison River Telephone Company (later CenturyLink and now Lumen) started blocked calls and services from Vonage (VOIP) in 2005 because VOIP was a threat. The FCC stepped in and ruled against Madison River in what was really the beginning of Net Neutrality legislation.
Their ruling established that phone carriers couldn't discriminate against other services accessing their network and its features. Among those features is Caller ID. Since any. VOIP phone system doesn't actually originate from a telephone exchange, so they all essentially have to "spoof" their Caller ID.
The phone companies can't block CallerID spoofing from spamme4s and scammers without violating a 20yo ruling from the FCC.
The issue is with cell phones and mobile networks. They don't all support passing CNAM (caller name delivery) between them. I worked in telecom for over 15 years, dealt with only businesses, I never met a company that didn't have CNAM set up.
Well then since they presumably got the missing person's number from someone that knows them and knows they were missing, maybe they should've called from that person's phone
Iirc He wasn't lost. Somebody told the authorities, that the guy was missing and that he wanted to go on a hike. So they called him to see if he really was lost. He didn't answer the call, so they presumed he was injured or lost his phone. With this information they declared him lost and started a search.
Then this is perfectly normal. Why would I answer a phone number I don't recognize when I'm out enjoying solitude? I imagine it was on DND and he never even saw the call.