Lost Hiker assist DSAR
November 20, 2022
Hills Near Desert Hot Springs
2022-036
Written by: Ray Weden
On Sunday 11/20 we were asked to assist the Desert Sheriff Search and Rescue (DSSAR) Team with a lost hiker. Their team had been searching Saturday evening after a 911 call was received for a male subject who was lost in the hills above Desert Hot Springs. Eric, Blake, and I were given the assignment to make our way to the last known point of our missing person while James and Glenn were running the command post.
We were driven in by DSSAR in their Jeep as far as an offroad 4×4 could go and were on foot from there. We made it to the last known point shortly thereafter and started tracking. There were signs that someone had been in the area recently but clearly no one was there now. Our Sheriff’s helicopter “Rescue 9” also assisted in search patterns as we searched on the ground.
After spending some time in the area, we made our way out through a canyon and back to the dirt road we came in on. Matt came and picked us up to take us back to the command post. Several of us were done for the today were others stayed around to plan for the next operational period. While on my way home I got the message that the missing person had been located in town and was no longer missing.
RMRU Members Involved: (Blake Douglas, James Eckhardt, Matt Frenken, Glenn Henderson, Eric Holden, and Ray Weden)
Other Agencies: Desert Search and Rescue and Sheriffs Aviation)