[A local Iraqi police chief] directed us to the spot where Kirk had vanished. It was near the brow of a long, winding hilltop road, miles from anywhere and surrounded by rocky outcrops. A long way from any help if you got yourself in a tight spot. At the bottom of the other side of the hill, there was a US Army checkpoint, where Dawkins had handed over a copy of Kirk's photograph.
So far, no luck in confirming the photos linked to below are in fact of the road between Tikrit and Kirkuk through the Jabal Hamrin mountains. I also haven't been able to get in touch with anyone for permission to post the photos here at the Missing Man. I'll keep trying though.
The first of the photos were posted at webshots.com by elpastorek in a folder called #2 Iraq-Camp Danger/Tikrit uploaded July 2, 2005. Of particular interest is Photo 020.
The next photo was posted at TravelPod.com by TeamKnell in a folder called Album #2 uploaded February 16, 2008
Given the landscape in photos, would you drive through this area with a tire problem?
Original source and additional photos by elpastorek: Photo 020
Those were fascinating. What's funny to me is how much they look like the area Kirk and I grew up in. We both spent a lot of time driving around desert nearly identical (the exception being the nice green fields in the background of a couple of shots).
ReplyDeleteLooking at those escarpments and the multiple places for someone to hide... well, no I can't imaging choosing to drive through there on a dodgy tire.
Great read thank you.
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