Eleven members responded to assist Solano County SAR with a search for a developmentally disabled 20 year old female. Approximately 100 volunteers assisted in the search from throughout the North Bay and Sacramento. The area being searched was a semi-rural area north of Vacaville. The missing person was located later that morning within the search area by a resident and was taken to the hospital for evaluation.

Every year Marin SAR works with various agencies to support an annual Thanksgiving Day mountain bike ride on the Pine Mountain Loop outside of Fairfax that attracted 700 people. This year seventeen members assisted, some riding the route, some on ATV’s and others staged in case of an incident. During the ride, a participant had some medical related complaints and was transported by a Marin SAR ATV and POSSE truck to a Marin County Fire ambulance. Marin members provided initial medical care.

Forty members were responding to search for a missing 25 year old male who got separated from his hiking group on the Cataract trail on Mt. Tam. As members were arriving on scene, the subject called his family saying he made is way out and hitchhiked down to Fairfax. He became separated from his group and then took the wrong trail.

Marin SAR deployed eleven members to the community of San Carlos in San Mateo County. The day before, several people heard calls for help in a canyon near a residential area. San Mateo County searched the area for a subject the day before with no results. Marin assisted the next morning by searching an area of the canyon with thick brush. No clues were found and there were no missing person reports in the area. The search was suspended later that morning.

Seven Marin SAR members along with three Marin Posse members responded to the El Verano area of Sonoma County, near the town of Sonoma, to assist in the search for an 84 year old male subject. The missing person went for a walk the previous day, but never returned home. Sonoma County SAR searched through the night. When we arrived, we deployed two teams as well as provided management and communications support. The subject was located late in the morning a couple of miles away from his home in a vineyard and was taken to the hospital for evaluation.

Six more members responded to assist Sonoma County SAR in the search for Anton Mutu. Part way in to the search assignment, another team located Mr. Mutu deceased, in an area not previously searched.

No significant clues were located.

Marin sent 12 members to assist Sonoma County with a search for a missing 30 year old in Armstrong Redwoods State Park. The subjects vehicle was located at a trailhead at the park. Teams searched throughout the day in very rugged terrain. No significant clues were located on this day.

Nine Marin SAR members responded to assist on a search in the Ventana Wilderness of the Los Padres National Forest in remote Monterey County. A day hiker had messaged her friend saying she was off trail and needed help. Members were initially deployed on a difficult 4x4 trail where they were going to search a drainage. The members were then reassigned and deployed by helicopter to Devil’s Peak. The subject was able to find her way back out to a road. She had some bruises and scrapes, but was otherwise okay.

23 Marin members were either on scene or en route to a search for a missing ATV rider. A bicyclist in the area heard an ATV accident occur in the distance and heard a request for help. The bicyclist rode down to a house and called 911. Marin SAR was requested by Novato Fire to assist in the search for the ATV and the subject. The ATV was located by the Tamalpais Fire Crew on the north side of Big Rock Ridge and they began conducting a grid search for the subject. During this time it was determined that the subject may have returned to a deer camp in the area. The subject was confirmed to be at the deer camp uninjured.

Solano County SAR requested our assistance with the search for a 74 year old woman suffering from dementia. 8 members responded on day 2 of the search and assisted with operations and plans. The subject was located in a shed a little dehydrated but otherwise okay after being found by a neighbor.

San Rafael police requested Marin SAR’s assistance with an evidence search related to a homicide. 14 members assisted with an urban area evidence search. No clues or items were found that were related to the crime.

Yosemite National Park requested assistance searching for a 69 year old backpacker in the Vogelsang area of the Park. Five Marin team members responded. Four were deployed by helicopter for their assignment. Immediately after being deployed, the subject was located deceased in his tent, apparently from natural causes.

Seven members returned on day 2 of the barricaded subject. Members provided logistical support and manned roadblocks until the incident came to a resolution when police discovered the subject was deceased in the room.

Marin SAR members assisted San Rafael PD, Marin County Sheriff’s Office and various other agencies during an incident with a barricaded subject in a hotel. Members assisted with Mapping, check in, logistical support and managed road blocks in the area.

Marin deployed nine members to assist the Civil Air Patrol with an EPIRB activation in the San Rafael area. The emergency beacon was heard during a CAP training flight and tracked down by two separate planes to the Point San Pedro area of San Rafael. Marin SAR along with CAP deployed on the ground to locate the beacon. No emergency signal was heard in the area after extensive use of the direction finding equipment.

Ten members responded for additional searching for the subject who went missing outside of Covelo. Team members left the night before and set up a spike camp at the remote command post in order to increase search time. Members assisted with overhead roles as well as searching in the field in very hot temperatures. The subject was located six days after the search was suspended.

Nine members responded to the Mendocino National Forest outside of Covelo. After a 3 hour drive on pavement, then another 2 hours on a single lane dirt road, the team was deployed. The subject of the search was a 66 year old male who was staying at a cabin in the area, went for a walk, and didn’t return. Members filled critical management roles as well as deployed into the field. There is a very remote and rugged area of California near the Eel River. No significant clues were found.

7 team members responded to assist with a carryout of an injured hiker on the Mist Trail. Upon arrival of the Marin team, the patient decided to walk out under there own power.

Nine Marin SAR members assisted with a carry out of a 12 year old female from the top of Nevada Falls. Members hiked up the Mist Trail with rescue gear and then the team worked closely with YOSAR personnel to safely extract the patient down the John Muir Trail using a littered wheel.

7 Marin Members assisted with further searching of the shoreline of the Merced River below Vernal Falls for the 3 missing persons from 7/19/11.

30 Members assisted YOSAR with two searches. 12 Members searched the area below Vernal Falls for 3 people who were swept over the falls on 7/19/11. Members searched both sides of the river above the Vernal Falls bridge and the Mist Trail. Simultaneously, 18 members searched the area below Yosemite Falls for evidence related to a missing person our team previously searched for in June. No significant clues were found in either search area.

Six members were en route to a remote area of San Mateo County to assist in the search of a backpacker who texted saying he was out of food and water and lost. As Marin members were responding, the subject was located by workers in the area alive and well.

24 team members responded to the Cataract Trail on Mt. Tam for a missing 40 year old male. The subject became separated from his group and could not find his way back. At dark, the subject sat down and decided to wait for first light. Three members on a hasty search assignment located the subject at 1:30 am and walked the subject out unharmed.

Marin SAR was requested by Novato Police to assist in the search for a missing developmentally disabled 25 year old woman. 23 members responded and searched parks and creeks in the area of her home. Through excellent investigative work, the team identified various other locations that she frequented. A Novato Police patrol unit found the subject at one of these locations, over six miles away, alive and well. It was determined that she had walked there.

Search and Rescue members assisted deputies with a number of missing children searches as well as several medical aids while at the Marin County Fair.

Four members assisted various law enforcement agencies with a large scale operation targeting marijuana grow sites on Mt. Tamalpais. Members assisted with logistics, transportation and communications.

Two Marin SAR members along with one CARDA member searched the area around the point last seen of the missing boater in Tomales Bay. This was a follow up mission during better weather conditions. No clues were located.

Marin SAR along with Marin Urban Search & Rescue and the National Park Service conducted a joint training exercise in the Tomales Bay. This previously scheduled exercise took place in the same general area where a boater fell overboard just four days earlier.

Marin SAR responded to Yosemite to assist Yosemite Search and Rescue with a follow up search for a missing person that went missing in June. Twelve members responded and searched the upper Yosemite Falls trail. Members of YOSAR also searched various areas both above and below Yosemite Falls. Marin members conducted a grid search of a steep gulch near the top of the Yosemite Falls trail in heavy manzanita and scree fields. No relevant clues were located by any of the search teams. The subject remains missing.

Three additional members joined one remaining member in Yosemite to continue searching. Their assignment covered at least 8 miles. No significant clues were found and YOSAR will continue to search using local resources.

Seven members departed for a Type 1 Mission in Yosemite arriving at midnight in the Valley. Briefing on Sunday morning we learned that the search was for a 30 year male who became separated from his church group at the top of Yosemite Falls and never returned to the Valley. Helicopters deployed teams to search areas above Yosemite Falls where Marin SAR was split into teams two teams. Both teams encountered varied terrain between 6500ft and 7500ft that included creeks, raging rivers, duff from trees, manzanita, patches of snow, granite boulder fields, and bears. The only clues located were some footprints in a snow patch, which were most likely from another searcher. After an exhausting area search in the mixed terrain we began the steep descent on the Yosemite Falls Trail back into the Valley.

The fun didn’t stop at the end of the Dipsea. While demobilizing from the Dipsea Race Marin SAR was called to assist San Rafael Fire with a call of two and possible three rescues being conducted in China Camp. Marin SAR checked in with six members staging at Miwok Meadows. As it turned there were only two patients, one with a hip injury and one with an ankle injury. The Fire units were able to handle it and the SAR request was canceled.

Seventeen members were staffed to support the 101st running of the Dipsea Race. They split into two rescue teams one team on the uphill side of Cardiac Hill and the other on the downhill side. The day was nearly uneventful until the race was almost over that we received two nearly simultaneous reports from the same location. The first call, a possible broken leg at the stairs on the Stinson Beach side of the Dipsea Trail and another came in for an unconscious runner down in the same location it was confirmed that this was a different runner. County Fire stationed at White Gate near the stairs reached the first runner and determined it to be a bad sprain and no carry out was needed. SAR Team 2 and their reached the second patient and reported him still unconscious. The CP ordered an ambulance helicopter (Reach 3) and we decide it would be better to go down the stairs to the road instead of going uphill to a possible LZ, which might be obstructed by fog. SAR Team 1 was then dispatched to help Team 2 with the carry out down the slippery stairs. The patent eventually regained consciousnesses after IV fluid and Oxygen was given. When the helicopter arrived overhead it was canceled due to the thick fog. The patient had also become more stable and was able to be transported by ambulance to MGH.

Five Marin SAR members were tasked to bolster communications for a county-wide multi-agency law enforcement operation covering a large motorcycle event planned to start in San Rafael and end in Tomales. Our QuickLinx gave us good connectivity to the MERA system and from where the VHF antenna could communicate with VHF High Band portables in vehicles at all extremes of the town. This setup was tested and refined Saturday in preparation for the event to reduce downtime Sunday. Poor weather called for a poor turnout of motorcycles who ended up taking alternate route avoiding Tomales all together. But a great test run for the next SAR event where terrain causes issues with communications.

Thirty-six Marin SAR members responded to search for missing 15 year old Allison Bayliss from Danville. This search originated in Contra Costa County on 05-20-11 but moved to Marin after the despondent teenager’s bicycle was located by US Park Police near the Golden Gate Bridge. Originally searching points of interest on the north side of the bridge, Marin SAR moved to San Francisco to assist the US Park Police. Over the course of the afternoon roughly 45 assignments were completed and over 130 searchers responded including: NPS, US Coast Guard, Park Police, SFPD, CHP, Contra Costa County, BAMRU, CARDA, San Mateo County, Alameda County, Sonoma County as well as the Golden Gate Bridge Patrol. As no other clues were found, future search efforts are being focused on the shoreline and water.

Twenty-three members responded to assist San Rafael PD with an evidence search after a homicide yesterday in the Gerstle Park area of San Rafael. Two different areas were searched. We had a fantastic turnout and positive results.

Fourteen Marin SAR members responded to the second Operational Period along with teams from Sonoma, Napa, Contra Costa, San Mateo, BAMRU and CARDA. Canine teams were deployed on Saturday morning about an hour before ground teams were put into their search areas. At approximately 09:30 a canine team deployed in the drainage above Lake Llsanjo discovered the body. He was about three miles from his vehicle, well off trail and in a small clearing that had a view of the lake. While it was a difficult outcome we can take comfort knowing that we have brought closure to the family.

Nineteen members from Marin along with Contra Costa, Sonoma, Napa, CARDA and San Mateo responded to a mutual aid request from the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office to assist in a search for a missing 19 YO college student at Annadel State Park. The subject was last seen on April 25th and on May 4th his car was located just outside the park but had not been seen since April 25th. He was despondent over a recent breakup and had left several suicide notes. This was the first search for our newest members from the most recent boot camp. By the end of the day and after much diligent searching no relevant clues had been found. The search moved into planning for a second operational period.

Marin SAR was requested to respond for a missing 26 YOM who went missing after an outdoor Rave event, leaving his car and friend in the parking lot after everyone left the event. Stafford Lake is a county park the borders large areas of open space and ranch land. Deputies and CHP H-30 searched the area until 2:00 AM and requested SAR. Due to circumstances surrounding the disappearance, we held off on a search until 8:00 the next morning. As teams were mobilizing at the ICP, the missing subject drove up with a companion he had apparently left the event with the afternoon before.

Marin SAR was activated to assist in locating a 50 YOM who took his dog for a jog in the on Northern Mt. Tamalpais and became lost. The subject was able to make intermittent cell phone contact. Deputies and MMWD Rangers mobilized MCSO SAR and air resources. After a 30 minute search, CHP H-30 was able to spot the man in Van Wyck Creek Drainage and short haul him out unhurt before sundown. Several members arrived on scene and stood by until the extraction was completed.

At 03:30 Sunday, we received a request from San Mateo for overhead and ground teams to assist with the search for Victoria Glinskii, a 24 YOF who had gone missing the afternoon before. Vicki was with her friends in the Devil’s Gulch area off Skyline Blvd and decided to leave ahead of them to get ready for another engagement in SF. Not long after she left her friends, she got disoriented and lost the meager footpath that she followed on the way to the waterfalls. Meanwhile, her friends returned to the parking lot and still seeing her car parked there started to search for her. After an hour, they contacted the ranger. At 22:00 San Mateo SAR was called out and they searched with the assistance of CARDA resources until they called for Mutual Aid. Overnight the conditions were very cold, wet and windy on the ridge. As ground teams arrived we focused our efforts getting teams assigned and ready to put in the field. After a general briefing at 08:00, teams were transported to their assignments and the search was underway. Shortly thereafter there was a buzz over the radio that the subject had been located. Turns out that that Vicki got lost only a few minutes after she left her friends and wondered for a time before she decided to stay put overnight. She started hiking again in the morning, lost her shoes and traveled cross country barefoot until she upon a house and requested help.

Marin SAR responded for a 9 year old girl who went missing at Audubon Canyon Ranch on Bolinas Ridge. She was on a school trip with her class from San Francisco. The subject was on a short solo walk between her teacher and the ranch staff when she accidently took a game trail. Within 20 minutes of the subject gone missing, the staff called 911 and within less then 1 hour, there were over a dozen L.E Officers from the Sheriff’s Office, State Parks, National Parks and Water Marin Water District. Bolinas and Stinson Beach Fire also responded and CHP H-30. SAR members arrived and set up an ICP to coordinate an expanded hasty search. Within 2 1/2 hours of her disappearance she was spotted by a passerby in their car on the Bolinas Fairfax Road near Ridgecrest Rd. The civilian stopped the Stinson Beach Fire Chief who responded and found her walking along the road. She said she quickly became lost while on her solo hike and climbed nearly 2000 feet of elevation on game trails and an old unmaintained fire road.

Marin SAR was requested as part of a mutual aid response to assist Sonoma County SAR in searching for a 15 year old mildly autistic male last seen in the Howarth Park area of Santa Rosa the day before. Marin SAR responded with 11 members including 2 dog handlers. The PLS was originally thought to be a trailhead located near a boat launch area of Howarth Park. Howarth Park borders Spring Lake Park which also adjoins the much larger Annadel State park to the east. During the previous evening starting at12:30 am Sonoma County SAR resources had completed hasty searching trails in the park. At approx 0900 Motor officers with Santa Rosa PD located the subject on a trail within Annadel State Park. He shared that he had encountered other hikers at dusk - but at that point he did not feel that he was lost. His distance from his PLS was 1.28 miles and his estimated route took him down about 2.5 miles of paved trails. He was found right off the trail where he had spent the night. Other responding teams included Contra Costa, BAMRU and CalESAR.

At 2230 Saturday night Marin SAR was requested to aid in the search of a missing snowboarder at the Sierra at Tahoe ski resort located just outside of South Lake Tahoe. We had very limited time to rally a team as we had to be at the briefing at 0700 the next morning. At 0400 Sunday three members departed 816 in SAR 4 headed for the CP at Sierra at Tahoe. We were notified that we were looking for Phillip Walker, 22, of San Jose who went missing the previous day in the late afternoon. Snow fall had been minimal that night with only 6 inches falling. There had been strong winds. After some delay at the CP Marin SAR was deployed via a “Tucker” snow cat to a high POD area just below the PLS at 1000hrs. This search was to be executed in a similar manor to the Shasta search in that we would be checking countless tree wells inbounds for Mr. Walker. We deployed on snowshoes using bamboo to probe tree wells. At 1135hrs the subject was located by an adjacent team to us in a tree well fifty feet off the groomed run. National Ski Patrol took point on extricating the body to a ski patrol sled. Marin SAR assisted with getting the sled out of the deep powder and onto the ski run. Other assisting teams assisting El Dorado included Placer, National Ski Patrol, BAMRU, Washoe, Douglas, and Tahoe Nordic.

Marin SAR was requested Mutual Aid to Lake County to assist in the search for three missing males, 16, 18 and 20, who went backpacking in the Mendocino National Forest during spring break. The families of the missing subjects became concerned for their welfare after several storms blanketing the area with up to four feet of snow in the higher elevations of the forest. It took Lake County and CAL FIRE units a day to clear land slides and down trees on the road into Lake Pillsbury. A US Forest Service Fire Station was the ICP. A mix of snow and rain were falling when we arrived at the Lake Pillsbury around 9 PM. After a briefing with Lake County SAR it was decided circumstances required us to attempt to reach the search area that night. The subject’s car had been located and was under three feet of snow. No searching beyond that point had taken place yet. The missing subjects left an itinerary put them at least seven miles East of their vehicle and also included crossing plans to cross the raging Eel river and bag a 6000 ft peak over twelve miles away. A Marin Team with four members packed up 10 PM to make an attempt to reach the search area. CAL FIRE brought in a snow cat that would take them part way into the search area. Part of their mission was also to place a repeater on top of a ridge as Lake County had no communications in the area. Other Marin members supported management of the search. The team made it to the top of the ridge, but progressed stopped around 1 AM when the snow cat developed mechanical trouble. The team set up a spike camp and the snow cat returned. During the night Type 1 Alpine teams arrived from Contra Costa, Monterey , Bay Area Mountain Rescue and Tahoe Backcounty Ski Patrol. A total of 42 people were committed to the search Saturday. Late in the morning the USFS responded with two tracked Utility Terrain Vehicles (UTV) that substantially helped with transporting teams in and out of the search area. Around 10 AM a Contra Costa Team reported finding tracks near the Eel river. Contra Costa continued tracking the subjects eventually located the subjects in their camp on the Eel river around noon. They were in good condition and not in distress. It took nearly five hours to extract all teams from the field. All agencies worked seamlessly together and did a great job in very challenging conditions.

Marin SAR was called to assist Novato PD with the search for a missing 19 year old male (Barry) with Down’s Syndrome. He was considered At Risk due to his mental capabilities being around 4 years old and extremely stormy weather. Barry was at Whole Foods with his mother when he went missing. Mounted Posse and Air Patrol were called in to assist with driving assignments, Novato Fire assisted with checking hazardous areas. Barry was located four hours into the search by a Marin SAR Team. He was in good condition and appeared to not have left the Millworks Complex, but probably moving around as SAR teams were searching for him. Prior to finding Barry, a mutual aid request was made to CAL-EMA for additional 40 ground searchers for 08:00 briefing on Sunday morning. Solano, Sonoma and Contra Costa were prepared to respond.

Five Marin SAR members responded to an MCSO request to provide logistical support for a LE incident in Corte Madera. At about 17:00 hours a protester entered the Bank of American with a weapon. He soon released employees and customers and then posted protest signs on the windows demanding to speak to President Obama and the President of Bank of America. MCSO requested Marin SAR to run Logistics: pizza, coffee, water, mapping and misc. equipment to support the five hour standoff. Marin Members were about to be released when the subject gave himself up to Twin Cities Police Dept.

Seven members started in SAR 2 and 5 for the Stewart Ranch trailhead for an injured hiker in at Alamere Falls, a remote location between Wildcat Beach and Palomarin North of Bolinas. The patient was reported to have a femur fracture at the base of the falls and was on the beach with a rising tide and rain. Initially no aviation support was available. After several attempts, CHP H-30 was able to fly up the coast around the fog during a break in the weather and land on the beach, saving a protracted carry out. County Fire, NPS and Bolinas Fire responded with County Fire and NPS Units making it to the scene to package the patient.

Three Marin SAR members responded to northern Sonoma for a missing mushroom picker, 66 YO Gerard Mastella. The LKP, his vehicle, was found on top of the ridge in the exclusive vacation community of Sea Ranch. The search area included very thick forest with brush undergrowth and large sections of logging slash left from recent cutting. The subject had been missing since 14:00 hours the day before, knew the area and planned to be back home by 1600. Rain fell overnight. Marin’s assignment was to follow up on a clue and then to descend into a drainage down into the Gualala River Gorge. This was considered the highest probability area. About 45 minutes into our assignment Mr. Mastella was located by a Sonoma SAR van walking up HWY 1. He was cold, wet and fatigued, but otherwise in good condition. He reported he became lost and spent the night out. He ate berries for breakfast before heading west towards HWY 1 after first light, eventually finding the road. Three additional members were en-route from Marin when Mr. Mastella was located. Teams from Mendocino, San Mateo and Contra Costa were also responding to assist.

Eighteen Marin SAR members responded to San Francisco’s Mutual Aid to continue the search efforts for 74yo Ken Chin who went missing from his home on the evening of Thursday Feb 24th. Mr. Chin suffers from dementia. He was being transported from his day-care facility to his live-in residential care facility when he went missing. SFPD started searching Thursday evening and through Friday; they subsequently called for Mutual Aid on Sat morning. Marin was asked to take the lead organizing and deploying the 60+ searchers from six surrounding agencies. In addition to Marin SAR, responding teams included: 13 San Mateo, 13 Napa, 2 CAL ESAR, CARDA: 5 area dogs, 3 trailing, 3 MCSO Mounted Posse. When active searching closed for the day, twenty-two assignments had been completed. Mr. Chin has not yet been located. UPDATE: Sadly Mr. Chin was found deceased on March 6th, 2011. He was found by a dog walker outside the search area.

Novato Evidence Search wrap up. Six Marin SAR returned on Friday morning with to support Marin County USAR personnel who completed shoring of the excavation and raising the body buried in back yard.

Nine Marin SAR members responded to assist Novato PD and MCSO Coroner and the FBI Evidence Recovery Team with an evidence recovery operation. Marin SAR was specifically requested to assist in performing a technical operation and provide a mechanical raising system using our tripod and rope rescue gear. As the event progressed the excavation site grew to a depth greater than 4 feet. For safety reasons, the operation was terminated for the evening. Novato Fire and Marin USAR were brought for a consultation and the decision was made that the USAR team would be activated for trench shoring.

Novato PD and Marin County Sheriff’s Coroner requested Marin cadaver dogs to search the back yard of a Novato home for a possible buried body. Two Marin K9 handlers and their dogs responded along with three CSTI K9’s to work the possible crime scene.

Seven members responded for an injured hiker on the Stocking Trail on Mt. Tamalpais. Members arrived on scene and staged until Sonoma Henry 1 completed a long line operation extricating the patient.

Shorty into the Saturday search effort Gautreaux was located deceased just outside the resort boundaries. He was located with help of cell phone tracking technology. Teams from National Ski Patrol, Tahoe Backcountry, Josephine County SAR, Shasta SAR, Trinity SAR and Bay Area Mountain Rescue (BAMRU) also participated in the search.

Seven Type 1 Marin SAR members responded for missing snowboarder, 23 year old Alex Gautreaux, who went missing two days earlier at the Mt. Shasta Ski Park. During the time Gautreaux went missing there was a heavy snow storm. The Marin team responded Thursday night and was deployed Friday morning with the resort ski patrol within the resort boundaries to search tree wells throughout the day. The team was put up overnight and deployed again Saturday morning.

At the request of San Rafael Police, twenty-seven Marin SAR members responded along with the Marin County US&R Water Rescue Team for a missing patient from Marin General Hospital. The search focused in the community around the hospital and Corte Madera Creek. For most missions, the SAR team also initiates an investigation. Several members working investigations were able to locate the missing subject at another medical facility three hours into the search.

Marin SAR was started for two missing hikers on the North side on Mt. Tamalpais at 10:00 PM. The hikers were in cell phone contact with deputies before their phone went dead. As SAR was responding the lost hikers were located by deputies on the High March Trail in good condition.

Ten Marin SAR members started for the Oak Valley Trail off Tennessee Valley Road for an injured hiker two miles up the trail. Southern Marin Fire Units were able to find close access to the patient off a fire road and cancelled SAR Units.

Nine Marin SAR members responded to assist Marin County Fire and Water District Units for a rescue of a hiker with an altered mental status on the Simmons Trail. SAR Units made it to the scene just as fire units completed the carryout.

With still no sighting or clues, a new focused search in the town of Ross and surrounding areas was initiated with assistance of mutual aid teams. This new search refocused on creek areas, door to door searching of private property, local school campuses, and open space areas. Shortly into the search, a team from Bay Area Mountain Rescue Team (BAMRU) assigned to search the creeks located the missing subject deceased. She was tucked behind a small retaining wall adjacent to a fence, making her difficult to detect. Responding Mutual Aid Teams were San Mateo Emergency Service Detail, BAMRU, CAL-ESAR, CARDA and twenty-one Marin SAR members.

Marin SAR was requested by Ross Police to assist in the search for a missing 53 y.o. Debra Schmitt, who was believed to be depressed. She left from her home six days earlier and had not been seen since. Schmitt did not have any personal belongings with her, leaving her wallet, phone and keys at the house. A K-9 team from Santa Clara County, three Marin K-9 teams and twenty-five Marin SAR members searched Natalie Coffin Park, Bald Hill and areas around Phoenix Lake. K-9 teams also searched areas around the house and creeks. CHP Helicopter 30 and ten members of the Tamalpais Fire Crew also assisted in the search. No clues were located.

With nearly 50 searchers from mutual aid teams, ten members from the US&R Water Rescue Team and sixteen Marin SAR members we began to deploy resources to recover the night search areas and expand the search. A new confirmed sighting put Yin Mui Cheng, the missing woman, about 1 mile south in Ft. Baker. At 8:30 AM Cheng was located cold, tired and with her glasses missing by runners who recognized her from missing person flyers. She was located at the Kirby Cove Campground in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Cheng had spent the night out and traveled about five miles and climbed and descended eight hundred feet of elevation, passing under the Golden Gate Bridge. Assisting SAR Mutual Aid Teams included Sonoma, Contra Costa, Solano, CAL-ESAR, Alameda and CARDA.

Just prior to the start of a general meeting we were paged out to assist for a missing 92 y.o. woman who did not return from her morning walk in South Sausalito. She was nine hours overdue. An ICP was established at the Fire Station and Forty-three Marin SAR members were augmented by Southern Marin CERT Volunteers and Kentfield, Mill Valley and Tiburon Fire volunteers and CARDA Trailing K-9 teams. Southern Marin Fire and Police units also assisted in searching water areas past midnight. No clues were located and additional resources were requested from CAL-EMA for the next morning.

Twenty-one members responded to assist Novato PD for an evidence search. Members were on scene for 2.5 hours.

Twenty-one members responding to the Sonoma County Search for a missing mushroom picker were diverted to the Chamberline Creek area of Mendocino County. John Bass, a 50 year old male mushroom picker had been missing since Friday, and seen near the 15 mile marker on the 20 freeway. We were deployed as one large area search team to cover a large segment down the side of a heavily forested ridge. During the assignment smoke was seen by CHP in the water logged forests near the Marin teams search area. A strike team broke off the our main team to assist in investigate the clue. Upon arriving, it appeared the stump had been burning up to 36 hours and was likely set by the missing person. This remained the best clue as to his whereabouts. The 17 member area searching team continued their assignment down the Tramway Gulch with impenetrable terrain on either side. During this period a SAR member from another team sustained an open leg fracture. Marin SAR members on the strike team responded and assisted Sonoma and Napa teams on scene by rigging a 600 foot low angle raising system in order to extract the injured Search and Rescue member. This was a difficult mission due to the wet conditions and steep and disorienting terrain. ATVs were used to their maximum potential during this mission. On Monday morning at around 8:30, Search and Rescue located John Bass alive with voice calls near the road below the drainage of his burning log.

Marin SAR was requested for a missing 52 y.o. female Mushroom picker at Gerstle Cove on the Sonoma Coast. As the team was leaving Marin, we received notification she had been located by Sonoma SAR, alive in the search area. We were then diverted to another missing person search in Mendocino County.