Alpine County Sheriff's Office was notified that a Kirkwood-area lodge guest had not returned to nor used her room for 3 nights. Subsequent investigation showed that the missing person report was in Alpine County but the "place last seen", her automobile, was parked at a trailhead in El Dorado County.
Alpine County and some El Dorado SAR personnel started a hasty search on August 24, 2007, with full callout on Saturday, August 25, which consisted of deputies from Alpine, El Dorado, and Sacramento counties; SAR members from Alpine, El Dorado (West Slope/Tahoe), Sacramento counties, Douglas County, Nevada, and CARDA folks (search dog personnel) from the Bay Area.
The 69-year-old female embarked on a day trip on August 21, 2007, after inquiring about local hiking and stating she was an experienced hiker.
Teams were deployed to assignments starting about 7:00 a.m. About 90 minutes later, the CHP helicopter (H-20) spotted a subject, fitting the DMV description, in a drainage, west of Lake Margaret. CHP personnel landed and hiked to meet the subject, who was airlifted back to Command Post and to waiting Fire/Paramedic personnel. In the meantime, ground searchers (EMT/First Responders) were closing in on this area. Two different trailing dogs were following a scent trail that might have led to the subject, who was medically stable but taken to the hospital for further evaluation. Before her trip to the hospital, the subject gave a brief interview to Ron B.