Missing Man
April 28-29 and May 2, 2024
Whitewater Canyon off I-10
2024-012
Written by: Mariah Doran
RMRU responded to search for a missing person on Sunday April 28th after his vehicle was found abandoned by an off roader in Whitewater. The subject was 85 years old and had a history of going missing, but only for a few hours. His family reported him missing from LA County 12 days prior. His vehicle was found stuck in the sand near a local ATV trail.
The search began at 0800 with Eric and Richard staffed base. While Blake, Ryan, and I searched the canyons north in the search grid. These areas were quickly ruled out for their steep terrain. We walked to the top of a ridge to try and glass the area but were unsuccessful in finding anything useful.
We continued to walk multiple search areas throughout the afternoon. Riverside County’s Mounted Equestrian Detail (MED), Desert Sheriff’s Search and Rescue) DSSAR, and the Riverside County Search Dogs teams assisted in the search. The terrain was thick with creosote and brittlebush. Although drone and aviation support scanned much of the search area, the shrubs made it hard to truly rule out search areas due to how easy it would be for the shrubs to conceal evidence of our subject. Day one concluded at 1400.
Day two began at 0630. DSSAR and the K9 teams returned with RMRU to continue the search. Eric staffed base. Colby walked with the K9 teams, while Chris, Glenn, and I continued with more search assignments. We had full sun with temperatures in the high eighties. Although there was a decent amount of wind, there was enough exposure to be uncomfortable for our subject and the search teams. Day two concluded at 1330. Neither day produced any evidence of our subject.
RMRU returned for a third day of searching at 0630 on 5/2/2024 still with no definitive clues as to our missing subject’s whereabouts. With Richard and Dave running base, we utilized the RMRU and DSSAR ground searchers, a K9 from Search Dogs, MED, and Mounted Posse for a finer grid search around the vehicle location, to further confirm containment barriers, and to push into new search segments. The K9 team located our subject deceased about 0.9 miles from where his vehicle was stuck. RMRU extends its condolences to his family and friends during their time of loss.
This mission was Ryan’s, Mariah’s, and Chris’ first mission with RMRU, and we were able to learn the organization of collaborating with the different teams and understanding how RMRU operates. A big thank you to Blake, Richard, Eric, and Glenn for mentoring us.
RMRU Members Involved: (David Bever, Colby Coryell, Mariah Doran, Glenn Henderson, Eric Holden, Tobias Moyneur, Rob Newton, Blake Rankin, Ryan Roleson, Chris Soriano, and Richard Yocum)
Other Agencies Involved: (Riverside County’s Sheriff’s Department deputies, Aviation Unit, Unmanned Aerial System Unit, Mounted Enforcement Detail, Mounted Posse, DSSAR, Riverside County Search Dogs, and Morongo Tribal Police)