• White Meadow Recovery (F) - 2008
A 25-year-old male was reported missing five days after walking out of camp with minimal clothing and no shoes. The day before, CHP H-20 flew over the area. On Sunday, May 4, 2008, El Dorado Search and Rescue members were called out for a search. Initial Ground and K9 teams were taken by Deputy Crawford to the campsite (place last seen) who then fanned out towards the South Fork of the American River.
This map shows starting point, a few hundred yards south of the PLS, as beaconed by a SPOT Satellite messenger, carried by a searcher. Initial clues near campsite were found and some possible sightings were reported. Rattlesnakes and poison oak were in abundance as were reports of recent cougar sightings and fresh bear scat. Early in the afternoon a Ground Search Team located the subject, deceased—a possible suicide.
Paul Duer said:
The subject and his female companion had been camping at Ice House the previous weekend. He had walked out of camp following an argument. She had then left for home figuring he would come out on his own when he cooled off.
However, when neither she nor his mother had heard from him by the following Sunday she returned to El Dorado County and contacted the Sheriff's Department. The mission officially got under way about 8:00 a.m. and progressed through afternoon as a rainstorm moved in. The subject was found approximately 2:30 p.m.
The afternoon wasn't quite over, however. As this effort was winding down SAR was advised of two other possible missions. One, a couple stranded in the snow on Mormon Emigrant Trail, was handled by the CHP. The second, an overdue quad rider near Elkins Flat, actually had OHV units en route until the subject was located by a passing motorist on North-South Road.
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