• University Falls Missing Hiker - 2008
The missing subject was found after 9:00 a.m. on August 25, 2008, by Tom Hadden, an EDSAR OHV member.
Jamey Morgan, D156, said:
Earlier in the morning the same day the missing subject was found, a fire was reported approximately one mile west of the last known location the missing subject was scene the night befire. After she was found, she was interviewed and denied starting the fire. Upon checking with fire, they said the fire was in an extremely remote location and they could not determine the cause, but they ruled out any natural cause (lightning). The investigation continues.
Paul Duer, SAR 007, said:
Our five-person one-dog team deployed from the PLS and followed the road the subject was last seen on. Since she was reportedly wearing Converse shoes, we identified and tracked a couple of sets of Converse prints, but we later learned that her shoes left an entirely different set of prints.
On the chance that the subject had returned to the falls because they were familiar we checked there also. We found prints leading towards the falls but there was no one there when we arrived.
We later learned that the subject had indeed backtracked to a point near the trailhead but had not tried to descend. She claimed to have spent the night beside the road near the trailhead, but there was no one apparent when we drove through.
Navigation was confusing in part because the obvious landmarks—the canal and its service road—are newer than the map, and because the falls are not identified. If that wasn't bad enough, the official name for the falls is actually Pilot Creek Falls.
For the record, the access road is 11.8 miles down Wentworth Springs Road.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |