Aqui esta otra nota que da mas detalles.
Thursday, February 24, 2005 - Page updated at 09:57 a.m.
Couple's final photos "an echo from the grave"
By
Lornet Turnbull Seattle Times staff reporter
It was like a puzzle — these images from a broken digital camera washed up on a deserted beach in Thailand.
Christian Pilet of North Bend could not have known the power of his discovery: the last photos taken by a couple who lost their lives in the Dec. 26 tsunami and the closure the photo diary would bring to a grieving family half a world away in British Columbia. Taken in sequence, the photographs tell a gripping story: John and Jackie Knill arriving at a Khao Lak resort, happily enjoying Christmas dinner with a large group of friends and then basking in a brilliant tropical sunset.
The next day, the couple is seen hugging, smiling — radiant on the beach. Then the story turns ominous: people stroll the beach under a clear blue sky, apparently oblivious to the large wave that has formed a line across the horizon. The wave gets closer, its power more evident as it kicks up sand and mud and finally crashes onto the beach.
"We were stunned — just out of the blue, an echo from the grave," Pilet said. "What we saw in these pictures were the last five minutes of these people's lives."
Pilet knew nothing about the man and woman in these photos. But through the power of the Internet and dogged determination, he would find their family — not in Germany or Sweden as he'd originally suspected — but virtually in his own back yard.
The Knills of North Vancouver, B.C., had been on a four-month vacation in Thailand when they were caught in the deadly tsunami. The disaster killed more than 170,000 people, including about a dozen Canadians.
Well known across western B.C., John Knill was retired from an alarm company his family founded and was involved in music production; Jackie had recently sold a yacht-detailing business.
Of the photos, their son Patrick Knill, 28, said, "This is more than we could ever have asked for. It's like being there with our parents and seeing what they were seeing in those final moments.
"So many people still have no answers. It has taken so much stress off me and my brothers. It's hard not knowing anything and now we know." Pilet, a missionary with the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism, had traveled with colleagues to Southeast Asia earlier this month to assess the relief effort.
He and a friend had taken a break from the group to explore the beach. The resorts were all destroyed, he recalls. "We saw suitcases that were never claimed. Shoes. Thousands and thousands of shoes. Passports ... "
"My friend spotted the camera. One more piece of junk. It was smashed up pretty bad."
He said he popped out the digital camera's memory card and tossed the rest away.
Back at their hotel, he used his Palm Pilot to upload a flawless set of photos from the card onto his computer. "We immediately thought about how we could get them to the family," he said.
"Our guess was that they were Swedes, or German. A majority of the people in Khao Lak are Swedish. We gave it 99 percent odds of their being from a Nordic country." They visited German and Swedish embassies, which were at a loss about what to do with the photos. At home, Pilet's wife searched using Google and the key words "tsunami, missing persons, German and Sweden." She immediately found a link to a Web site with a photograph of the Knills and information about how to contact their relatives.
On Feb. 11, Pilet drove to Vancouver to deliver the memory card of photos to the Knills' children. For the Knill brothers — Christian, 32, Patrick, 28, and David, 25 — the photos brought closure to a frantic search that began as it did for so many around the globe who had relatives in Southeast Asia on Dec. 26. Their parents had planned to be in Thailand for a few months, Patrick Knill said. They'd gone there every year for the past five or six years, he said, "and had a huge love for Thailand because of the people."
His parents had e-mailed regularly and he said he missed their Christmas Day call by a few minutes.
Knill said after hearing about the direction and scope of the tsunami, he knew right away that his parents would have been in danger. At Khao Lak, there was no higher ground, "no mountain area for them to run to," he said. Cathy Smith, a family friend, said the couple had talked them out of coming to Khao Lak where the four were to have celebrated New Year's and had arranged for them to meet at a different resort.
Instead of celebrating, however, the Smiths spent days searching morgues and hospitals for their friends. Two other family members from British Columbia flew to Thailand to join the Smiths in the search. Lists of names and photos of the dead posted on bulletin boards provided no clues.
What they found instead were the couple's passports, washed up together on the beach where they had been staying.
"Even until we received the death certificates, we had hope," Patrick Knill said. "Every day gets worse. The odds get slimmer. But we all kind of knew." Two weeks ago, the family got word that the bodies of John and Jackie Knill had been positively identified through autopsies. John Knill's body had been found Dec. 31 and his wife's on Jan. 13 — on the same beach but apart from one another.
At the time Pilet presented the photos to their sons, he said he felt compelled to answer their one nagging question: Why didn't their parents just run? "I walked that beach. There was really nowhere for them to run to," he said. "Initially, it probably didn't even cross their mind to get away. At the point they took that last picture, they had to have known — but by then it was too late."
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(Traduccion)
Jueves 24 de Febrero, 2005
Las ultimas fotos de la pareja un "eco desde la tumba"
Lornet Turnbull Reportero de Seattle Times
Era como un rompecabezas, esas imagenes de una camara digital rota, que acabo en una playa desierta en Thailandia.
Christian Pilet de North Bend no podria haber sabido el poder de su descubrimiento: las ultimas fotos tomadas por una pareja que perdio su vida en el tsunami del 26 de Diciembre y un cierre que el diario fotografico le traeria a la lamentada familia en la otra mitad del mundo, en British Columbia. En una secuencia, las fotografias cuentan una conmovedora historia: John y Jackie Knill llegando al lugar de veraneo Khao Lak, disfrutando felizmente de una cena navideña con un gran grupo de amigos y luego de una brillante puesta de sol tropical.
El siguiente dia, se ve a la pareja abrazandose y sonriendo, radiantes en la playa. Luego la historia se vuelve ominosa: la gente camina por la playa bajo el cielo azul, aparentemente sin darse cuenta que una gran ola se esta formado en el horizonte.
La ola se acerca y su poder se hace mas evidente cuando levanta arena y barro antes de alcanzar la playa.
"Estabamos impactados, de la nada llega, un eco de la tumba" Pilet dijo "Lo que vimos en esas fotos fueron los ultimos 5 minutos de la vida de esa pareja"
Pilet no sabia nada del hombre y la mujer de esas fotos. Pero a traves de Internet y una obstinada determinacion, encontraria a la familia, no en Alemania o en Suecia como el originalmente sospecho pero virtualmente en el propio fondo de su casa.
Los Knills del Norte de Vancouver, B.C. habian estado de vacaciones por 4 meses en Thailandia cuando fueron atrapados por el fatal tsunami. El desastre mato a mas de 170.000 personas incluyendo una docena de Canadienses.
Bien conocido a traves del oeste de B.C., John Knill se habia retirado de una compañia de alarmas que su familia fundo y luego se involucro en la produccion de musica. Jackie habia vendido recientemente un negocio de detallado de yachts.
De las fotos, su hijo Patrick Knill, 28, dijo, "Esto es mas de lo que hubiesemos podido pedir. Es como estar ahi con nuestros padres y viendo lo que ellos estaban viendo en esos momentos finales"
"Tanta gente todavia no tiene respuestas. Ha tomado tanto stress de mi y mis hermanos, es tan dificil no saber nada y ahora sabemos." Pilet, un misionario de la Asociacion de Bautistas del Mundo de Evangelismo ha viajado con sus colegas al sureste asiatico al principio de este mes para colaborar.
El y un amigo se habian separado del grupo para explorar la playa.
Los lugares de temporada estaban todos destruidos, recuerda "Vimos valijas que nunca fueron reclamadas. Zapatos, miles y miles de zapatos. Pasaportes..."
"Mi amigo vio la camara. Un pedazo mas de basura. Estaba bastante aplastada" Dice que saco la tarjeta de memoria de la camara digital y tiro el resto.
De vuelta al hotel, uso su PC de mano Palm Pilot para subir las fotos en perfecto estado a su computadora.
"Inmediatamente pensamos en como podriamos darselas a la familia"
"Creiamos que eran suecos o alemanes. La mayoria de la gente en Khao Lak eran suecos. Creimos en un 99% que eran de algun pais nordico."
Visitaron embajadas alemanas y suecas, que no sabian que hacer con las fotos. Y de vuelta a casa, la esposa de Pilet busco en Internet usando Google y con las palabras claves "tsunami, desaparecidos, Alemania, Suecia". Inmediatamente encontro un link a un sitio Web con la foto de los Knills e informacion de como contactar a los familiares.
El 11 de Febrero, Pilet manejo hasta Vancouver para llevar la tarjeta de memoria a los hijos de los Knills. Para los hermanos Knill — Christian, 32, Patrick, 28, y David, 25 — las fotos les trajo un cierre a su busqueda desesperada que comenzo para tantos alrededor del mundo que tenian familiares en el sureste de Asia el 26 de Diciembre. Sus padres habian planeado pasar unos meses en Thailandia, dijo Patrick Knill. Ellos iban todos los años durante los ultimos 5 o 6 años, "tenian un gran cariño por Thailandia, por la gente"
Sus padres les enviaban mensajes de correo electronico regularmente y dice que se perdio el llamado de Navidad por unos minutos.
Knill dijo que despues de escuchar sobre el lugar y alcance del tsunami, supo inmediatamente que sus padres podrian haber estado en peligro. En Khao Lak, no habia una tierra mas alta, ninguna montaña a la cual pudieran correr"
Cathy Smith, una amiga de la familia, dijo que los Knills los convencio para que fueran a Khao Lak donde los cuatro iban a celebrar Año Nuevo y arreglaron para encontrarse en otro lugar de veraneo.
En vez de celebrar, los Smiths pasaron dias buscando en morgues y hospitales a sus amigos.
Otros dos familiares de British Columbia volaron a Thailandia para unirse a los Smiths en su busqueda. Las listas de nombres y fotos de los muertos que estaban en los boletines no les dio ninguna pista.
Lo que encontraron fueron los pasaportes de la pareja, en la playa donde ellos habian estado.
"Hasta el momento que recibimos los certificados de muerte, tuvimos fe" Patrick Knill dijo. "Cada dia es peor, las posibilidades se hacen mas pequeñas. Pero es como que todos sabiamos."
Hace dos semanas, la familia recibio la informacion de que los cuerpos de John y Jackie Knill fueron identificados en las autopsias. El cuerpo de John Knill fue encontrado el 31 de Diciembre y el de su esposa el 13 de Enero en la misma playa pero apartados uno del otro.
En el momento que Pilet le mostro las fotos a los hijos Knill, dijo que se sintio obligado a responder la pregunta : Por que sus padres no corrieron?
"Camine por esa playa. No habia adonde pudieran correr" dijo "Al principio, probablemente ni cruzo por sus mentes la idea de escapar. En el momento que tomaron esa ultima foto, deben haber sabido— pero ya era muy tarde."
