Missing couple’s son says there is ‘no way they’re going to reappear’
As the search enters its fifth day in Inverness, authorities are declaring search ‘recovery mission’
Jonas Irwin still cannot grasp that his parents simply disappeared without a trace.
The son of the missing Palo Alto couple last seen at their vacation rental in Inverness on Valentine’s Day said nothing adds up about their mysterious disappearance.
“It’s not reasonable given who they were,” Irwin said. “They did not disappear. That’s not in character. It’s not who they were. They’re very connected and responsible people. They had every intention of coming back.”
Irwin and his family have been reeling ever since their parents — Ian Irwin, 72, and
Carol Kiparsky, 77 — have been missing, leaving authorities baffled and a grieving family with few answers. Jonas Irwin fears the worst. “There’s no way they’re going to reappear at this point,” he said. “I mean, you don’t know until you have them physically. But the prospect of us never getting that closure is really going to be bad.”
His parents were supposed to take a quick Valentine’s Day trip to the area around Point Reyes Station at a cottage on Via de la Vista Road in Inverness, just up the mountain from Shell Beach, where authorities say witnesses last saw them.
The couple never checked out of their cottage Saturday. They didn’t show up for an appointment Sunday and missed a play they bought tickets for that evening. And authorities who went through the cot tage found all their belongings still there — phones, wallets and their vehicle — and no signs of foul play.
The Marin County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday said the extensive search efforts over the past week, with every resource that has been available, “would have located Carol and Ian if they were responsive or in an area accessible by foot on land.”
After combing through all leads and areas surrounding the couple’s vacation rental,
the Sheriff’s Office now is calling the operation a “recovery mission” and plan to search for the pair for at least four more days with help from the U. S. Coast Guard, the National Park Service and the same resources they have been using so far.
As for the family, they’ve laughed and cried and gone “through every emotion you can think of” together, Jonas Irwin said. In some ways, the disappearance of his father and his stepmother have brought the blended family closer together as it tries to absorb what happened to the parents. What’s most surprising to Jonas Irwin, he said, is that the couple got lost hiking, something they’d do together frequently.
He recounted fondmemories of hiking, camping and singing with his father in the country and described him as an avid outdoorsman, a huge hiker and a rock climber with lots of gear he no longer used.
Jonas Irwin said his father — a scientist with more than 25 years of experience in Parkinson’s research — always felt comfortable going into the back country and used to travel dozens of miles off trail. He also said he doesn’t think it odd that they left all of their belongings, as his dad was “always kind of leaving keys and wallets everywhere” but “had an active mind and focused on solving complex problems.”
The son said he also wants his parents to be remembered the way somany Palo Alto residents saw them.
“They are obviously pretty hippie- dippie,” he said, adding that it extended to their politics, something that frequently came up at the dinner table. “They’ve been like these left activist type people. They think a lot about social causes and are active in their community.”
Trying to keep Palo Alto from “overgentrifying” with massive developments, Jonas Irwin said his parents frequently attended council and community meetings and belonged to a climate change team focused on keeping the city’s character intact. “It’s just who they are,” he said.
Jonas Irwinsaidhis stepmother — a prominent linguist and author of books on languages who married his father after divorcing Paul Kiparsky — was “put on this Earth to nurture and care and give.”
He described her as “smart as hell,” with an IQ level likely “off the charts.”
She left his father starstruck and in love when they met after picking up their kids at summer camp, Jonas Irwin said.
He and stepbrother Michael Kiparsky became best friends at that camp, and when Jonas Irwin’s father picked him up, “Carol was there looking young and pretty, with pretty, long hair, and it was just fireworks.”
“( Michael) was my best friend,” Jonas Irwin said. “And over time he turned into my stepbrother.”
For now, Jonas Irwin said the family’s focus is still on finding them. He just wishes there was someone to guide the family through the nightmare it’s living.
“We wish we had someone to just come in and say, ‘Here’s what we do and here’s the next steps,’ ” Jonas Irwin said. “To tell us, ‘Don’t worry about this, or that.’ ”
But through all the tears and worry, Jonas Irwin still sees the bright side.
“They were together, two peas in a pod,” he said. “And another thing is that wewon’t have to go through the dementia, the deterioration as they get older. (Ian’s) health has gone down. It could be a lot worse. My family is also bonding in a way we never would have otherwise, and that’s making us feel good. There’s some silver lining there, I think.”