Marin County Sheriff's Office
Search & Rescue

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10-02
Missing female dog walker at Pt. Reyes Beach, Day 2 1/28/2009

Three Marin K-9 teams with four ground searchers re-covered several areas near the point last known for several hours following up on an area of interest from previous K-9 teams. No further scent or interest was found. Silvia Lang remains missing.

09-31
Mt. Tam Search 12/26/2009

Thirty-four SAR members responded with deputies, Water District, State Park and Openspace rangers for a missing trail runner who was reported missing by his family when he did not return home to Concord. Fog and heavy rain with lightning had settled over the search area. Shortly after the over-due report, deputies located his car at the Cataract Creek Trailhead by Alpine Lake. Members arrived on scene around 9:30 PM and started an extensive search of Northern Mt. Tamalpais that included eleven trail assignments. 4x4’s, ATV’s and a boat were also used in the search. Around 11:15 PM search team 1 located the missing subject, Guy Stark, lost with moderate hypothermia on the Helen Markt Trail. He had made a crude shelter and hunkered down on the trail when it became dark. The team assisted Stark back out to his car. He fully recovered in a couple hours.

09-30
Mill Valley Search 12/19/2009

Shortly after nightfall SAR was requested for a missing 40 y.o. male hiker who became separated on Mt. Tam above Mill Valley from his companion. Thirty-nine Marin SAR members tuned out with Mill Valley PD and fire units, deputies and rangers to search Southern Mt. Tam. While this search was in progress, dispatch advised of a CHP transfer reporting second group of twelve juveniles who called stating they were lost in the same search area. After two hours of searching, the missing hiker made his way down the mountain into Larkspur and took a cab back to his car where officers were standing by. He was lost for nearly seven hours. A short time later, deputies made reporting party from the group of twelve who said there made it off the Mountain.

09-29
Novato Search 12/5/2009

Forty-seven Marin SAR members turned out to assist deputies in the search for a missing 85 y.o. man with dementia and medical issues in the Atherton area, a rural community in unincorporated Novato. Teams fanned out at night with temperatures in the low 30’s, completing 19 assignments with assistance from CHP H-30, Novato Fire Units and several CARDA K-9 teams. Four hours into the search at 2245 hrs the subject was located safe by San Rafael Police at the Transit Center in San Rafael. He was unable to explain how he got there. Sonoma and Contra Costa SAR also had teams responding to assist.

09-28
Slide Ranch Search 11/16/2009

Twenty-one Marin SAR members responded for a missing 26 y.o. make from Novato who’s car was located the night before by NPS rangers at Slide Ranch, 1 mile North of Muir Beach. As members were deploying from the ICP, a family member approached the IC and advised he had located a body along the shoreline at the base of a cliff. Team members responded and secured the area. We assist NPS Rangers and US Park Police for several hours conducting additional searching for clues.

09-27
Mt. Tam Search 11/4/2009

Twenty-eight Marin SAR members started for Throckmorton Fire Station to assist in the search for a missing hiker who became separated from his partner while hiking from Stinson Beach to Muir Woods after nightfall. As the team was arriving the subject walked out to Stinson Beach.

09-26
Sonoma Mutual Aid 10/4/2009

Eleven SAR members responded to assist Sonoma County Sheriff’s SAR for a 49 y.o. missing male trail runner from a YCMA camp in the mountains along the remote northern Sonoma County coast. The runner was missing from the previous evening. Members departed Marin at 0400 and arrived on scene shortly after the subject found his way out to the ICP . He was in good condition, but was lost overnight.

09-25
Calaveras Mutual Aid 10/2/2009

Twelve members responded mutual aid for a missing hunter that was overdue three days. Our team responded late Thursday night and camped out near the ICP, is a very remote area of the County. Our group was configured into three teams and deployed early Friday morning. Teams conducted area search assignments. At 2:00 PM Friday, word came the subject was located by other hunters, about 6 miles from the PLS and out of the search area. He was suffering from hunger, exhaustion and hypothermia.

09-24
Tiburon Evidence Search, Day 2 9/26/2009

Nineteen members returned and conducted a second wide area evidence search around the crime scene. All members were committed for two hours.

09-24
Tiburon Evidence Search 9/22/2009

Twelve members responded to assist with an evidence search for a homicide. Members were on scene for three hours.

09-23
Mendocino Mutual Aid 9/20/2009

Marin SAR responded sixteen members for a missing 3 y.o. girl who was last seen the night before in front of her remote ranch home near Philo in the Anderson Valley. The area is heavily wooded with difficult terrain in all directions. Shortly after arriving from a two hour drive, the missing girl was located safe about 1 mile away from the PLS. She wandered and became lost, spending the night out. Other responding assisting agencies included CAL-FIRE, CHP, Lake, Sonoma, CARDA and Contra Costa search and rescue teams.

09-22
Mill Valley Search 9/14/2009

Marin SAR was requested to respond for a missing Autistic 10 y.o. boy that worked away from a convenience store in the Strawberry area of Mill Valley. Numerous Sheriff and fire units were conducting a hasty search. Subject was located safely by deputies before SAR arrived on scene.

09-21
Napa County Mutual Aid 9/9/2009

Eighteen members responded to assist Napa County SAR in the desperate search for a missing 31 y.o. pregnant female with paranoid/schizophrenia with an imminent childbirth. She had escaped the night before from a mental institution and was last seen running through vineyards after midnight. Marin SAR members arrived and configured into field teams and supported management functions. About four hours after we arrived, the subject was located within the search area by a resident who called the attention of a SAR ground team in the area. She was in good condition. Responding teams included Sonoma, Contra Costa, Solano, CARDA and CAL-ESAR.

09-20
Inyo County Mutual Aid 9/3/2009

Marin SAR was requested for a Type 1 Alpine search above 10,000 feet in Sequoia Kings National Park. The subject was a 52 y.o. male who did was overdue from a day trip peak bag. As members were mobilizing, the subject walked out of the mountains safe. Three members were en-route when the mission canceled.

09-19
Yosemite Mutual Aid 8/23/2009

Marin SAR was requested to respond for a search for a missing and overdue backpacker in the Yosemite backcountry. As our 11 members were preparing to depart Marin, the subject was located safe by an NPS search helicopter.

09-18
Campbell Search, Day 2 8/15/2009

Nineteen Marin SAR members responded and assisted with search management and field searching for clues in Campbell’s disappearance. Search areas include many East Bay Parks and Openspace areas. Well over 100 searchers from nearly all Bay Area teams assisted in the operation. No major clues were located and he remains the focus of a large scale investigation by Oakland PD and the FBI. Members were on scene 12 hours each.

09-17
Campbell Search 8/13/2009

Marin SAR was requested to assist in the search for missing 5 y.o. Hossani Campbell, who disappeared from an Oakland street the week before under suspicious circumstances. Five members assisted with a large inter-agency management team to plan a wide scale search of the East Bay Thursday night.

09-16
Kentfield Search 8/6/2009

SAR was started to the Kent Woodlands for a missing 66 y.o. male with Tourette’s Syndrome. Deputies and allied agencies were conducting an extensive hasty search. As SAR was arriving on scene, a resident familiar with the subject located him wandering and returned him home.

09-15
Lighthouse Search. 7/20/2009

Seventeen SAR members responded to assist National Park Rangers in search for a missing, despondent male 49 y.o. whose vehicle was located at the Pt. Reyes Lighthouse parking lot. Supported by Rangers, six CARDA K-9 teams and two Sheriff’s Posse teams, members searched the bluff and cliff areas around the lighthouse and parking lots. NPS Rangers also used boats and Sonoma H-1 conducted an Air search. No clues were located. Members put in 8 hours each. The subject remains missing at this time.

09-14
San Mateo Mutual Aid, Day 3 7/19/2009

On the final day of major search operations, six Marin SAR members again assisted with management and field search operations. Despite extensive search efforts, no additional clues were located. Douglas May remains missing at this time. San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office has continued to search as clues surface. Nearly all Bay Area SAR teams participated in this search.

09-14
San Mateo Mutual Aid, Day 2 7/18/2009

Fifteen SAR members returned Saturday and assisted in search management and field searching. Despite an exhaustive effort with over 130 searchers in the field, no additional clues were located. Marin SAR members put in up 17 hours that day.

09-14
San Mateo Mutual Aid 7/17/2009

Twenty Marin SAR members responded for a missing 54 y.o. male hiker with autism. The subject had been missing from the previous evening at Skaggs Point, a large densely forested park with steep canyons off Skyline Boulevard. Marin members assisted during the evening shift with search management and field search operations. No clues were located that night. Members put in nine hours each.

09-13
Marin County Fair Days 1-5 7/1/2009

Marin SAR members worked shifts each day of the fair and assisted deputies with over 30 searches for lost children and several medical aids.

09-12
Mt. Tam Search 6/7/2009

SAR was started at 10:00 PM for a missing hiker who became separated hours earlier on the Dipsea trail from his group. We were cancelled after the subject walked out shortly after the team was paged out.

09-11
San Mateo Mutual Aid 5/25/2009

Twelve SAR members responded in the early morning hours for an 11 y.o. missing girl scout at Camp Cutter Scout Camp in a remote section of the Santa Cruz Mountains. She had been missing since noon the previous day. Members arrived on scene and assumed several management roles while others deployed in the field. The search area was rugged with old growth Redwood Forests and mountainous terrain. Several hours later a second wave of 11 members deployed. Around 10:00, an Alameda ground team located the missing girl about two miles from Camp Cutter with mild hypothermia, but otherwise OK. It took several hours to hike her out. Other responding teams supporting San Mateo included BAMRU, CAL-ESAR, Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, Monterey, CARDA and Department of Fish and Game.

09-10
Mt. Tam Rescue Response 5/17/2009

Marin SAR started with Water District Rangers, Marin County and Ross Valley Fire Units for an injured hiker at Carson Falls. Sonoma Henry 1 was also requested and arrived on scene before all other units and was able to get close to the patient at the remote location. The patient was loaded up and flown to an LZ near the trailhead and was transferred to a ground transport. Six SAR members arrived on scene and assisted with set up of the LZ and transferring the patient.

09-09
Novato Evidence Search 5/4/2009

Twelve members assisted Marin Sheriff detectives for an evidence search in the Rush Creek area. Members were committed for three hours.

09-08
OES Support 4/28/2009

Three members responded to assist in setting up the Marin County EOC for the N1H1 virus press conference and support activities. Members were committed for two hours.

09-07
San Rafael Evidence Search 4/13/2009

Seven Marin SAR members responded to assist San Rafael PD in an evidence search for an assault. Members were committed for four hours each. Evidence was located.

09-06
Cantu Search, Day 4 4/4/2009

Seventeen members responded back to Tracy to assist Tracy Police in another large scale search effort for Sandra Cantu. Marin members again were assigned to search management, ground and K-9 teams. Large areas of agricultural lands were covered during the extensive effort. Members were committed for 14 hours. Over three hundred people responded from a number of California SAR teams along with local CERT and Law Enforcement. Two days after the search, the body of Sandra Cantu was recovered in a suit case in a murky agriculture waste pond two miles from her home.

09-06
Cantu Search, Day 3 4/2/2009

Ten members worked with several other Bay Area SAR teams in another planning session for second large scale search for Sandra Cantu. Members worked for six hours writing over 80 more assignments for another large effort.

09-06
Cantu Search, Day 2 3/29/2009

Cantu Search. Twenty eight Marin SAR members responded to support the Cantu Search. Marin members worked in various management positions during this search and also staffed a number of ground and K-9 teams. 214 members from a number of central California and Bay Area SAR teams, Law Enforcement agencies and local CERT volunteers also participated in the search. After executing over 80 assignments over a twelve hour period, no significant clues were located. The search area included both the City of Tracy and surrounding agricultural areas.

09-06
Cantu Search 3/28/2009

Five members responded as an Incident Support Team (IMT) for missing Eight year old Sandra Cantu from her trailer park in the city of Tracy. She was last seen the evening before by her house on a home surveillance camera. With members from Contra Costa SAR, the joint agency IMT drew up over 70 assignments for the anticipated response of over 200 SAR members from 14 California search and rescue teams planned for the next day. Several officers from Tracy Police also assisted in planning the search.

09-05
Missing Alzheimer’s in Woodacre 2/14/2009

SAR was started for a missing 81 y.o. male with dementia who disappeared from his bed during the night. As teams were responding, deputies, rangers and firefighters began a hasty search of the area. During the hasty search as SAR members were beginning to arrive on scene, a resident several homes away from the Point Last Seen (PLS) located the subject in their back yard with serious medical problems. Patient was transported by Marin County Fire to MGH.

09-04
Amador County Mutual Aid 2/4/2009

Eleven Marin SAR members responded for a missing 61 y.o. male whose car was found at a trailhead in a remote area of Amador County near the town of Volcano. During previous day of searching the subject’s hat and boot were located. The team assignment was to area search a large drainage. About three hours into the search the subject was located deceased by a CARDA/Amador SAR team. He appeared to be searching for his remote control airplane and likely succumbed to the elements several days earlier. A CHP helicopter and teams from Calaveras, CARDA and El Dorado SAR also assisted Amador County in the search.

09-03
Sonoma County Mutual Aid 1/22/2009

Eight SAR members responded for a weapons search after a homicide in rural Sonoma County. Members were on scene for four hours. Other teams responding to assist Sonoma SO included Lake and Contra Costa County SAR teams.

09-02
Mt. Tam Rescue Response 1/10/2009

SAR was started for an injured hiker on East Peak. SAR cancelled shortly after being paged out.

09-01
Missing Children Novato 1/3/2009

Marin SAR started twenty five members for two missing five year old children who went missing and where last seen playing in the front yard of their home. While responding Novato PD located the children in good condition.