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Horsetail Falls Fatality
April 1990
SAR members were called out Saturday April 15, 1990 to Horsetail Falls in what ultimately turned out to be an unsuccessful body recovery.
The victim, 20 year old Robert of Orangevale, had been scrambling over the rocks above the falls about 11 o'clock that morning. When he attempted to leap an 8-foot gap, he missed and plunged between 80 and 100 feet, striking the rocks at least once before falling into the pool at the base of the falls.
A witness dove into the pool in an unsuccessful attempt to locate the victim. Several others hurriedly hiked over a mile to a phone at Twin Bridges and called 911.
The call was initially handled by the Sheriff's substation at Lake Tahoe. When the Tahoe SAR team could not field enough people, Sergeant Steve Stroot of Tahoe asked for Sierra West. Placerville Central Dispatch began the callout at approximately noon. Twenty-one Sierra West members responded and began working under Deputy Paula Cotter (spelling uncertain) from Tahoe.
Since Sheriff, Fire and Forest Service personnel had been unable to locate the victim, it was assumed that he had not survived, and the urgency factor was lowered accordingly. Two technical teams led by Missi Escobar and Tom Hoover hiked up to the falls, searching along the banks as they went. When no body was found, one team made a cold and slippery crossing to the other side of the river in order to place a Tyrolean across the pool where the victim fell. Chuck Nichols travelled out and probed for the body with a long pole without success.
Meanwhile, three members of the Sheriff's dive team arrived. Two of them began carrying their gear up the trail, while the third awaited the arrival of CHP helicopter H-22 at Strawberry. About an hour before sundown, the deputy flew up to reconnoiter and to deliver some food, water and blankets.
The lack of urgency, the treacherous water flow, and waning daylight caused the mission to be suspended between 6:30 and 7 pm. However, getting everyone off the hill proved to be more than a trivial task. H-22 had dropped the deputy and supplies at the top of the falls on the east side; the remaining teams were at the bottom of the falls on the west side. By the time three SAR members had hiked to the top, found a crossing point and recovered the deputy and the gear, it was dark, and they had to make their way back down by flashlight. The last ten searchers and deputies ate cold hamburgers huddled around a campfire near the base of the falls, then took a moonlight hike back to Twin Falls, arriving about 10 pm.
Overall, SAR volunteers spent between 150 and 200 man-hours on this callout.
At the Sheriff Department's request, Training Officer Doug Yenshaw started scheduling weekend checks of the stream banks. However, the victim's body was reportedly found the following Tuesday by a hiker in the area, about one-half mile below the falls. |