Missing Man Warner Springs Area

Written by Cameron Dickinson

On the evening on August 1st, Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit was contacted to assist the San Diego Sheriff’s Department in searching for a missing 83-year-old man in the Los Coyotes Indian Reservation near Warner Springs. Reservation police was notified by off-roaders who had located a car stuck in a ditch down a dirt road, with no one inside. During the police investigations, it was confirmed that the vehicle belonged to man reported missing from Orange County on June 13. It is believed that the missing man suffered from Dementia.

I drove out to the search area in the early AM the following morning. After I arrived at the command post, a group of searchers would be debriefed by San Diego Sheriff’s and Los Coyotes Reservation Police with the latest information on our missing person. Soon thereafter we would be sent out to our designated search areas close to the subject’s vehicle. I would be teamed up with our other Riverside County team members, Sharron Ollenberger of Desert Search and Rescue (DSAR), John Thomas of Riverside County Search Dogs and his cadaver dog, Pepper.

We started our search in early morning, as it was expected the temperatures would reach the mid-90’s. Our search area would consist of heavy vegetation in rolling and steeper mountainous terrain. We spent the day combing our search area from east to west, looking for any potential print or sign of our missing person. During our search we found no clue within our designated area.

Despite all the team’s best efforts and the various agencies that participated in the search, our subject still remains missing at the date of this write-up.

RMRU Members Involved: Cameron Dickinson.