Full Notification

DATE/TIME: August 31, 2015
INCIDENT: Search and Rescue Mutual Aid Request
LOCATION: Fresno County
VICTIM: 62 year old female hiker

SUMMARY: On Wednesday, August 26, 2015, The Volunteer Forces Division of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department received a Mutual Aid request from the California Office of Emergency Services to provide Search and Rescue assistance to Fresno County. A 62 year old woman was overdue from her hike in the Sierra Nevada. The responding searchers had to be certified for extreme terrains and be self-sufficient in the field for 3 days. Four searchers and a deputy coordinator assisted in the effort. The searchers were inserted into the search area by a National Guard Chinook helicopter and were not able to be extracted until the morning of Sunday, August 30, 2015, due to smoke and poor visibility from the nearby Rough Fire.

On Saturday, August 29, 2015, the woman was found alive by a Fresno search team. She suffered from broken bones and survived by crawling two days to a creek so she could drink water through a filter straw. When she heard searchers nearby calling for her on the ninth day of the search, she was able to use a plastic whistle to call out to them.

Hikers are encouraged to be properly prepared with food, water, emergency supplies, a personal locator beacon, cell phone and portable charger, etc. Inform others of the hiking area and when possible, hike with another person. For more information regarding preventative Search and Rescue, please contact San Bernardino Sheriff's Volunteer Forces/Search and Rescue.

Refer: Deputy J. Quiroz or Corporal R. Whiteside
Station: Emergency Operations/Volunteer Forces
Phone No. (909) 387-0641

JOHN McMAHON, Sheriff-Coroner
San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department