Recovered smartwatch may help determine how runner died.
Smartwatch may yield Berkeley man’s time of death
Law enforcement officials searching for Philip Kreycik in recent weeks came within just a few hundred yards of where what’s believed to be the Berkeley man’s body was finally found, Pleasanton police said Wednesday.
A smartwatch was also recovered that’s now undergoing electronic analysis for clues, including biometric data and possibly the times when his run started and ended.
“The watch should give us his last heartbeat,” said Sgt. Ray Kelly with the Alameda County Sheriff ’s Office. “So we likely will have a time of death.”
Investigators don’t believe the watch had GPS capabilities, so tracing the precise route Kreycik took could prove elusive. Kreycik did not take his cell phone with him on his run, but he was found wearing his wedding ring.
Kreycik’s wife reported him missing on July 10, the day he went for a run on a day when temperatures in the area reached 106 degrees. He was found Tuesday by a volunteer searcher on a trail usually used by animals.
Lt. Erik Silacci of the
“The watch should give us his last heartbeat.”
Sgt. Ray Kelly, Alameda County Sheriff ’s Office
Pleasanton Police Department said law enforcement officials combed the area near where Kreycik was found — at least twice.
“We went back and looked at the ridge and on one of the subsequent searches they came within a few hundred yards of where that individual was found,” Silacci said. “That area had been searched but due to the terrain you would have to be very close to that individual to spot him.”
The remains discovered Tuesday are presumed to be those of Kreycik because of items he was wearing, including distinctive shoes and the smartwatch.
But it is still a missing person investigation until the Alameda County Coroner’s
Bureau positively identifies the body, a process that could take weeks or months, Silacci said.
The search for Kreycik was coordinated by the Alameda County Sheriff ’s Department but now that the body has been found, the case will be taken over by Pleasanton police.
Most of the clothing worn by the victim had decomposed into the remains and is in possession of the coroner, Silacci said. But Pleasanton police hope that analysis of the watch found on the body will indicate the route taken by Kreycik that day and how he wound up where he did.
Kreycik had mapped his run on Strava, a popular app for runners, and searchers used the route as a guide early on during search and rescue efforts.
“Based on the map it looks as though he was supposed to make a turn to head down to the parking lot and went off trail,” Silacci said. The remains presumed to be Kreycik were found Tuesday afternoon by a volunteer searcher who was familiar with the area and was working the game trail, Silacci said.
Even after the sheriff had suspended the search for Kreycik, hundreds of runners and hikers kept looking on their own.
“The outpouring of support from all the volunteers, both on the ground and remotely, demonstrates how positively Philip impacted the lives of people he knew,” said Egan Waggoner, a friend and former work colleague in renewable energy and sustainability who flew out from Brooklyn to join the search in July.
Waggoner described Kreycik as “a kind and affable human being.”