We got the call about the search the night before. Jim Riley and I (both of the Barstow Desert Rescue Squad) made plans to participate in the search. We were one of the last to arrive and most of the other teams had been given their assignments. Within 10 minutes the command post had an assignment for us. The command post did an excellent job. We rode our quads to our assigned area and started our seach. We had been briefed to disregard all tracks because the victim's family had walked all over and disturbed the area.
About 10 mintues into our search I found a set of tracks. The tracks had a 12 inch stride and were shallow, which matched the description of the victim. We were told she was a small women and didn't weigh very much. The tracks showed drag marks, which told me this person was in distress. They were very difficult tracks to read, there wasn't any tread pattern and the track indicated a 12 inch print which did not match up to the victim. We knew that whoever these tracks belonged to, they were in trouble so we kept on following them. After we had followed the tracks for about a half mile, two deputies joined up with us to see what we had. One of the deputies told us that the victim might be wearing her husbands house slippers. That would explain the descrepancy in the size of the print. That confirmed what we felt, we were on her track.
The tracks were very difficult to find without any tread pattern. I would stay on the last track we had,sometimes on my hands and knees. Jim would take his quad and go up to the next sand wash and jump track. We had to be very careful as we also ran into three rattlesnakes while following her tracks. After we tracked her for about 2-1/2 miles, 40K came in and we pointed them in the direction of travel. Within about 15 to 20 minutes, 40K found our victim under a bush. Unfortunately, she was deceased. Tracking someone wearing house slippers with no tread pattern was some of the toughest tracking we have done. This search reinforces that you have to keep your mind open to all possibilites and follow through. This was one of the best run searches I have participated in during my 17-1/2 years with search and rescue. I just wish the outcome had been better.