Missing Person
May 20, 2022
Poppet Flats
2022-016
Written by: Tobias Moyneur
At 8:00PM on Friday, we were notified about a possible rescue near Idyllwild-Pine Cover in the San Bernardino National Forest. Two hours later, we were officially activated. The Subject went missing after their vehicle ran out of gas and he attempted to locate a gas station of foot. The subject got lost on their return trip and was confronted with worsening trail conditions and poor visibility due to incoming fog. 911 was called providing us with an accurate GPS location and informed us that the subject would stay in one place. Fortunately, the subject was able to make a small fire to keep warm while we started our search.
Matt, James, and I were the first team sent out to search for the missing subject. The accurate GPS location from the 911 call allowed us to drive on a series of truck trails to find the most efficient way to hike into the subject. Special thanks to a resident in the area that granted us access on their property and detailed advice on the layout of the terrain. We followed a trail for about one mile before the GPS coordinates required us to bushwhack though dense brush and shrubs.
James was the first to find the subject who was more than trilled not to be alone We provided the subject with warm liquids, clothes, food and preformed a medical assessment. The subject had taken a few minor falls in the dark, but after 30 minutes of rest we were confident we could all walk out. Mat and I began finding the best path to walk the subject out while James put out the fire the subject had made to keep warm. On the way back, we met up with Vinay and Steve.
RMRU Members Involved: (James Eckhardt, Matt Frenken, Eric Holden, Tobias Moyneur, Steven Rider, and Vinay Rao)