The Search for Michelle Yu

Michelle Yu was in the midst of preparing for a climb of Aconcagua in Argentina. As such, she was a weekly hiker of Mt. Baldy, and had recently completed a number of 14,000 ft peaks. She set out on Saturday, December 4 for a training hike, and was spotted near the Sierra Hut and near the summit by fellow hikers. She did not return on Saturday night, and was reported missing by a housemate on the afternoon, of Sunday, December 5.

View Yu Search in a larger map

West Valley SAR was called, and with the weather worstening, the call for additional alpine resources was made. The first night, 4 teams were fielded composed of members of West Valley SAR and the Cave Team. There was no information as to the route of Ms. Yu, but her car was found on the Falls Rd. Teams were deployed into Goode Canyon, San Antonio Canyon, The Sierra Hut Trail, and the Devil's Backbone. Travel was very slow as the winds were high and rain severe. At the higher elevations there was snow falling, and ice everywhere. Eventually safe travel was no longer possible, so the teams in Goode Canyon and the Devil's Backbone were recalled. The team in San Antonio Canyon had arrived at the Hut and were beginning to warm up with plans to continue in the morning. The rock fall hazard in the canyon was tremendous with all of the flowing water. There were reports of very large boulders making their way down the canyon.

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Two Missions on Baldy

West Valley SAR received a call Friday night for some overdue hikers in the Baldy area whose family said that they were going to "walk the creek". The missing 21 and 13 year old were to return at dark, and when they failed to show, their family notified authorities. Sheriff's Aviation was also on scene and was successful in locating the missing hikers in Stead Canyon. Throughout the night, a ground team attempted to locate the hikers, but due to the brush, and lack of response to their shouts and whistles, the searchers were not able to establish contact. At first light, Sheriff's Aviation launched a rescue ship which was successful in hoisting the two hikers and their dogs. After a chilly night, and a short helicopter ride, the two hikers were released to their family.

View Two Baldy Missions on 11/27/2010 in a larger map

Just as the air crew was gathering their gear, Baldy Fire caught a call for an unconscious hiker on the hut trail. The report said that by-standers were administering CPR, and that the patient was not responsive. Members of Baldy Fire, San Bernardino County Fire, and AMR made their way up the trail, while members of the Cave Rescue Team and San Bernardino Mountain Rescue Team quickly joined them after gathering a litter, litter wheel, backboard, and oxygen bottle. 
Rescuers continued CPR and employed an AED, but the collapsed hiker never regained a heartbeat. Sheriff's Aviation returned to the Baldy area after fueling, and lowered a medic and litter. One member of San Bernardino Mountain Rescue Team and one Baldy Fire crew member walked the deceased hiker's girlfriend down the trail, while the remaining SAR members and fire crew packaged the hiker, and assisted in the hoist.

SB Mountain SAR Passes Rope Rescue Evaluation

Congratulations to the SB Mountain SAR Team for successfully passing their rope rescue evaluation. The team successfully raised an injured hiker approximately 200 feet up an embankment in Cucamonga Canyon under the close watch of the Rope Rescue Oversight Committee (RROC).

BMC is Coming!

The Basic Mountaineering Course is just around the corner. The lectures are Nov 20-21, and the field portion is in January. Please see the previous post for information on prerequisites and how to sign up.

Check out the flyer for more information on the class.

California State SAR Memorial Challenge Coin

Challenge coins are being sold to raise funds for the California State Search and Rescue Memorial. The coins are available pre-order for $15.00 each.

Check out the flyer for an image of the coin and further information.

Please make checks payable to:

Inland Empire Search & Rescue Council
C/O San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department
Volunteer Forces Unit
655 East Third Street
San Bernardino, CA 92415

If you have questions please send email to tpaterson@sbcsd.org

Volunteer of the Quarter

The Volunteer Forces Division has been looking for ways to recognize volunteers for their exemplary contributions to not only the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, but the community as a whole. After considerable thought, the division decided to initiate a Volunteer of the Quarter award. Stations and divisions within the Department would nominate a volunteer, based on certain criteria, and the staff at Volunteer Forces would then determine who would receive the distinction. One of these volunteers would then be chosen as Volunteer of the Year. Volunteers of the Quarter and the Volunteer of the Year would be recognized at the end of the year.

The first recipient of Volunteer of the Quarter is Todd Petersen, a volunteer with the Sheriff's Dive Team. Todd was recognized on Wednesday, September 1, 2010 at the Command Staff meeting in Big Bear Lake. By reviewing the contributions Todd has made to the Sheriff’s Department and the County of San Bernardino, it is not difficult to see why he was chosen.The Volunteer Forces Division has been looking for ways to recognize volunteers for theirexemplary contributions to not only the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department butthe community as a whole. After considerable thought, the division decided to initiate a Volunteer of the Quarter award. Stations and divisions within the Department would nominate a volunteer, based on certain criteria, and the staff at Volunteer Forces would then determine who would receive the distinction. One of these volunteers would then be chosenas Volunteer of the Year. Volunteers of the Quarter and the Volunteer of the Year would berecognized at the end of the year.The first recipient of Volunteer of the Quarter is Todd Petersen, a volunteer with the Sheriff's Dive Team. Todd was recognized on Wednesday, September 1, 2010 at the Command Staffmeeting in Big Bear Lake. By reviewing the contributions Todd has made to the Sheriff’sDepartment and the County of San Bernardino, it is not difficult to see why he was chosen.

Continue to read the full article

Search for a Missing Skydiver

This was a new one for me. I have been on countless searches in my years in SAR, but I have never searched for somebody who may have fallen from the sky. Vladimir Frolov, a visitor from Russia,  was reported missing by the Perris Skydiving Center when his car was discovered in the parking lot at closing time. Nobody has seen him since he registered for a solo jump on Saturday, September 25. A mutual aid request was made by Riverside County to assist in the search of a nearby field. Members of the Cave and Technical Rescue Team, Rim SAR, SB Mountain SAR, and West Valley SAR participated in the search accompanied by Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit, Riverside Desert SAR, San Diego Mountain Rescue Team, and a number of Riverside County mounted folks.

Normally if we encounter heavy brush on a search we look for signs that somebody had entered the thicket. The tell-tale footprint, or broken limbs are indicators of such activity. What happens when the person enters the thicket from the sky? There is no peripheral evidence in such cases, and every thicket must be searched regardless of what things look like from the outside. Tracking? Forget it. None of the usual tools apply in such cases. Once a likely area is determined, about the only thing that works is a grid search. In the heavy brush, the searchers need to be at arms length to get any reasonable POD. As you know, this is painstaking work.

The search managers assigned us to teams of 4 or so, but we actually searched as part of a large team made up of 3 or 4 of these 4-person teams. I thought this was an efficient way to do such things. That way, if you needed to send a group of searchers to another area, or give them a different task, you already had the sub-groups determined. I'll keep that in mind for the next time. Below is my track for the day. It is amazing how little foliage is shown from the aerial image.

Riverside County press release on the missing skydiver, Vladimir Frolov

Update on Tuesday, November 30, 2010 at 19:20 by Jeff Lehman

Farmer finds human remains southeast of Perris Valley Airport. Authorities suspect that this is the missing skydiver, Vladimir Forlov.

Read the Press-Enterprise article.

Below is the approximate area as described in the Press-Enterprise article.

View Frolov in a larger map

Search Underway for Hiker in Joshua Tree NP

Currently teams are working a search for a missing hiker in the Black Rock Campground area of Joshua Tree NP. Members of the following teams are on scene at the search: Bear Valley SAR, San Bernardino Mountain SAR, Morongo Basin SAR, Morongo Basin Mounted SAR, Rim SAR, Wrightwood Phelan SAR, San Gorgonio SAR, Cave & Technical Rescue Team

 
View Rosenthal Search in a larger map

National Park Service Press Release

Article on missing hiker's activities in Downtown Los Angeles

LA Times article on missing hiker

Update on Friday, October 1, 2010 at 8:23 by Jeff Lehman

After 5 days of searching, and a tenacious tracking effort, Ed Rosenthal was located in Joshua Tree National Park. Based upon the tracking evidence, resources were deployed near where Rosenthal was eventually located. After inserting a team, the airship was searching a nearby location and saw Rosenthal waving his trekking pole. After an appropriate LZ was located, the aircrew assisted Mr. Rosenthal to the airship for evacuation.

The map has been updated with Mr. Rosensthal's location.

Rescue Near Monkeyface Falls

View Monkeyface Falls Rescue in a larger map

Two hikers were attempting a climb of San Bernardino Peak via a ridgeline between Frustration Creek and Monkeyface Falls. One of the hikers fell several feet into some dense brush, and his partner hiked two hours out to summon help. The RP could not identify the exact location of the fall, so in the afternoon of September 13th members of San Gorgonio SAR and Valley of the Falls SAR (Team 1) were inserted at the 6800' level to begin a search downhill. Later that evening additional SAR teams responded to assist in the search, and a second team (Team 2) composed of members of the Cave & Technical Rescue Team began the climb up the hillside from Highway 38.

After an arduous climb, uphill through the heavy brush, Team 2 made voice contact with the missing hiker, and arrived on scene about one minute before Team 1, to find the missing hiker alert, but injured. A litter was ordered, and the teams began the search for an LZ for evacuation. At approximately midnight, the hiker was moved to the LZ making use of a number of tree belays. Team 2 spent the night with the hiker, and assisted in the helicopter evacuation at approximately 0700 hrs that morning. Rather than waiting an hour for the helicopter to return, they decided to hike the 40 minutes back to the highway.

Helitac Class September 2010

Several teams were represented at the recent helitac class in Rialto. The all-day class gives SAR members enough information to work safely around helicopters, and to prepare patients for hoist evacuation. Our instructor, and the rest of the folks at Sheriff's Aviation were able to get the big class through in such a manner that everybody got to practice. Great fun was had by all.