Day/date: August 17, 1987
FIELD INCIDENT REPORT
Incident type: Follow-up; Search for Missing Ranger
Log number: 87-192C
Date/time of incident: 8/5 Date/time received: 8/17, am
Park: Blue Ridge Location: Various
Reported by: Bill Supernaugh, CR, MARO
Received by: Bill Halainen, RAD, WASO
Summary:
The search for Shenandoah seasonal interpretive ranger M.N. (previously
reported as N.), which has been in progress for ten days, continues but is
being scaled down.
Last Thursday, nearly 300 searchers walked the area along the Appalachian
Trail where his pack and other items were discovered, but found nothing. An
inter-agency overhead team was brought in on the weekend to help run the
search, which continued to prove fruitless. As of this morning, that team
is being disbanded, and the search is continuing with about 50 people -
predominantly NPS - in the field, along with several dog teams. Over the
weekend, a father and son reported that they had seen M.R.N. on the trail
around midday on the 7th. He was hiking in his socks, and, although heading
south at the time, he asked the two for directions to a campground which was
100 miles to the north. Because of this, searchers are convinced that M.N.
is no longer in the original search area, and have shifted their emphasis from
ground searches to interviews with people who might have seen him. Posters
with his picture on it will also be placed throughout the area. A decision
will be made on Wednesday as to the future course of search efforts.
Persons involved:
Name Address DOB or age
M.R.N. Not given 25
Richmond Times-Dispatch, Friday, August 14, 1987 B-3
No new clues found as search continues for missing ranger
By Ruth S. Intress Times-Dispatch state staff
CHARLOTTESVILLE - The search for a 25-year-old Shenandoah National Park
ranger missing since late last week intensified yesterday as more than
280 volunteers walked a densely wooded area along the Appalachian Trail.
No new clues were found.
M.R.N., a veteran hiker and National Park Service ranger and naturalist,
was reported missing early Sunday morning when he failed to arrive at
work.
His car was found Sunday afternoon on the Blue Ridge Parkway about 13
miles south of Waynesboro. Tuesday, his backpack and boots were found
near the Maupin Field Shelter, located between Reed's Gap and Love Gap
on the Appalachian Trial.
Also found at the shelter were a pair of his rolled-up pants and a long
stick used by M.R.N., which he had nicknamed "Walking Stick," said
Shenandoah Park Ranger Teresa Shirakawa, a friend of M.R.N.'s.
"There is a definite urgency in concentrating large numbers of people on
the search because of the length of time he has been missing," she said.
Chuck Anibal, assistant chief naturalist at Shenandoah National Park and
a friend and co-worker of M.R.N., told United Press International
yesterday that investigators went through M.R.N.'s journal at his borne
looking for clues about where he may have gone.
The journal, which Anibal said M.R.N. keeps regularly, "showed that he
was in a somewhat depressed state that may have caused him to change his
normal behavior."
Anibal stressed that suicide was not mentioned in the journal. "It did
not indicate self-destruction at all.
"But he may be wandering off just trying to get away from people,
something he has been known to do," Anibal said. "He has been known to
get away and hike to work out his problems."
This summer is M.R.N.'s first with the park service, Ms. Shirakaw" --Md.
"It was something he set as a goal. He always wanted to be a park
ranger."
Yesterday's search, which included several dozen of M.R.N.'s friends and
park service colleagues, focused on a three-square-mile area on the
Nelson-Augusta County line northeast and south between Reed's Gap and
Love Gap.
More than 280 volunteers with 20 different groups and agencies --
including the Civil Air Patrol, the National Park Service, the U.S.
Forest Service and Appalachian Search and Rescue -- searched the area
from 7 a.m. until sunset.
Fort Lee also sent more than 100 soldiers early yesterday to help in the
search.
The group consists of 32 soldiers from the 57th Transportation Co., 67
soldiers from the 109th Quartermaster Co., 10 medics and a
non-commissioned officer from the 85th evacuation hospital.
Ten teams have been formed from the group, each served by a medic and
supplied with full rescue equipment. They will search daily until dark
and expect the search could last up to three days.
Assisting the search parties were four dog teams from Pennsylvania and
Virginia, as well as deputies with area sheriff's departments.
Despite yesterday's heavy turnout of volunteers, the search was
unsuccessful.
"We haven't turned up any clues. It was a long time getting all 280
people in the field ... we keep rotating people in and out of the search
so they don't get over-exhausted or stressed," Ms. Shirakawa said.
Although the dog teams detected several scents yesterday, those also
failed to yield additional information as to M.R.N.'s whereabouts, she
added.
Officials think M.R.N. could be in an area other than those that have
been searched this week but they also are not ruling out foul play or
injury as causes in his disappearance.
M.R.N.'s extensive hiking experience, however, would make him "more
prepared than most people" to survive in the woods in adverse
conditions, Ms. Shirakawa said, noting that last summer the
Massachusetts native hiked the Appalachian Trail along its 2,000-mile
route from Maine to Georgia.
The search will resume today.
Staff writer LeeNora Everett contributed to this article.
Richmond Times-Dispatch, Sunday, August 16, 1987 E-7
2 say they saw hiker 8 days ago
From wire dispatches
LURAY -- The search for a Shenandoah National Park naturalist moved
farther south yesterday after a man and his son told authorities they
talked to him eight days earlier and that he appeared to be disoriented,
park spokesman Chuck Anibal said.
Based on the reported sighting of M.R.N., Anibal said authorities
planned to change the scope of the search beginning today.
"His mental state definitely has us concerned," Anibal said. "On the
other hand, his physical condition definitely leads us to believe he can
cover quite a bit of distance."
Anibal said the father and son told authorities they met M.R.N., 25, on
the Appalachian Trail at midday Aug. 7. M.R.N. had begun his hike the
previous day.
Anibal said the two hikers, whose names were not available, told
authorities M.R.N. asked directions to a campground 100 miles to the
north. They said M.R.N. was walking briskly toward the south at the time
and he just had socks on his feet.
"He appeared to be in very good physical condition but was disoriented,"
Anibal said. "He's an experienced Appalachian Trail hiker" and should
have known he was a long way from the campground.
He said the hikers did not report the encounter until Saturday because
they did not know authorities were looking for M.R.N. until they heard a
news report about the search.
Anibal said authorities do not suspect foul play. He said M.R.N. was
known to be carrying sleeping pills and other over-the-counter drugs.
The hikers met M.R.N. about two miles south of the Maupin Field shelter,
where his equipment and hiking boots were found last week.
About 235 people continued the search for M.R.N. yesterday. Anibal said
about 25 organizations are involved in the search, with the largest
number of participants, 107, coming from the Army's 23rd Quartermaster
Brigade at Fort Lee.
Using military-style organization, a forestry emergency incident team is
also involved in the search.
The team, which joined the search effort Thursday night at the request
of the National Park Service, consists of 26 people trained to handle
large-scale emergency operations in a 17-state region from Texas to
Virginia.
Crews were broken up into divisions and teams, each with leaders, and
searchers were being briefed before departing for the day and debriefed
at the end of the day's search in the George Washington National Forest
and along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Valuable clues had been turned up by the smaller-scale searches
conducted so far, said Whitney Lerer, a U.S. Forest Service official
from South Carolina and a member of the Southeastern Interagency
Incident Command Team. For example, Noepel's truck and camping gear
already had been found.
UPI
M.R.N.
Seemed disoriented
"The folks that were here were doing a very good job," he said, "but
they were becoming weary and we were asked to come in and provide
relief."
As of Friday afternoon, Lerer said, the search had cost an estimated
$126,800 with an additional $190,000 in donated services from local
agencies.
Anibal said the search team is covering about four square miles a day.
Beginning today, Anibal said, "Instead of going with grid sweeps ...
we're going to broaden the scope and see if we can pick up clues farther
away."
The new search techniques would include the use of a helicopter, dog
team and a man specially trained in tracking techniques. Anibal said.
He said authorities planned the changes "because new information on the
location and direction of travel and physical condition of the subject
leads us to believe that we may have to deal with a much larger area
than we are now."
Richmond Times-Dispatch, Monday, August 17, 1987 B-5
140 searching for naturalist in park area
MONTEBELLO (UPI) - About 140 people searched yesterday in Shenandoah
National Park for naturalist M.R.N., who disappeared more than a week
ago.
"We have sent a dozen dog teams well south and well north of the command
center in Montebello and about 75 miles separate the groups in the north
from the groups in the south," Phil Noblitt, a spokesman, said.
He also said searchers were using dogs just off the Appalachian Trail to
try to pick up M.R.N.'s scent in case he had wandered off the path.
Another spokesman, Hoyt Rath, said a light rain yesterday morning was
helping the dogs.
"The rain last night and this morning makes conditions ideal for working
the dogs. The rain is a real plus and will increase the [intensity of
the] scents that are out there."
Over the weekend, a father and son told searchers they had spotted
M.R.N., a 25-year-old park employee, on Aug. 7. The two, who had just
come off the trail, said he was wearing gray shorts, a gray T-shirt and
socks.
The father and son also said M.R.N. seemed disoriented, asking for
directions to a campground.
B-4 Richmond Times-Dispatch, Tuesday, August 18, 1987
'Hot' track found after possible sighting Times-Dispatch state staff
CHARLOTTESVILLE - The search for a Shenandoah National Park-ranger
missing along the Appalachian Trail changed directions yesterday after
campers reported that- a man resembling the ranger was wandering briefly
along U.S. 250 near Waynesboro.
Two dog tracking teams began searching that area yesterday and found
what officials called a "hot" track near where the unsubstantiated
sighting at 7 p.m. Sunday occurred.
"The dogs seem to be on a track. ... We are optimistic the track will be
his," Warren Bielenberg, a naturalist with the Shenandoah National Park
and spokesman for the search, said late in the day.
The object of the search is M.R.N., 25, a veteran hiker and recently
hired park service naturalist and ranger.
He was reported missing when he failed to arrive at work Aug. 9. His car
was found later that afternoon on the Blue Ridge Parkway about 13 miles
south of Waynesboro.
The possible sighting of M.R.N. Sunday night occurred about 18" miles
from where some of his belongings, including his boots, a pair of pants
and his backpack, were found Tuesday.
"They didn't see him well. He was up in the brush along the trail,"
Bielenberg said of the campers who may have seen M.R.N..
The man fled into brush moments after he was seen by the campers, park
service officials added.
Bielenberg said the man seen by the campers was wearing a T-shirt,
shorts and no shoes.
At a confirmed sighting of M.R.N. on Aug. 7 he was dressed in a T-shirt
and shorts and was wearing socks but no shoes. That sighting occurred
about 6 miles south of where M.R.N.'s belongings were found.
Yesterday's search involved about 45 people, most of whom continued to
concentrate on a rugged five-mile area near Harper's Creek Shelter. It
is about six trail miles from where M.R.N. was seen Aug. 7, though
searchers did not learn of that sighting until late last week when the
campers left the trail.
Before Sunday's possible sighting, searchers spent the weekend
conducting a sweeping search of a 70-mile area between where M.R.N.'s
belongings were found and the Loft Mountain campgrounds where he has
been living this summer. The search also extended further northwest
toward Elkton.
"When the campers reported the [Sunday] sighting, it changed the whole
search," Bielenberg said.
Searchers yesterday also passed out fliers describing M.R.N., who is
6-foot-1, 155 pounds, with hazel eyes and blond hair.
FIELD INCIDENT REPORT
Incident type: Fatality - Lightning Strike
Log number: 87-198
Date/time of incident: 8/15, ll:10am Date/time received: 8/17, 10:15am
Park: Grand Teton NP Location: Table Mountain
Reported by: Tom McDonnell, Carolyn Kershaw, RMRO
Received by: Melissa Warner, WASO
Summary:
B.A. was hiking approximately 100 yards ahead of a group of 4 others, when
he was struck by lightning. CPR was started immediately by individuals in the
group for about 1 hour. B.A. did not respond. Park personnel was
notified of the incident at approximately 5:40pm. B.A.'s body was
transported by helicopter to the town of Jackson. His parents were in the
park at the time of the incident and were notified by park personnel.
Persons involved:
Name Address DOB or age
B.A. Rexburg, ID 11/02/60
FIELD INCIDENT REPORT
Incident type: Drowning
Log number: 87-199
Date/time of incident: 8/14, 11:00am Date/time received: 8/17, 1:00pm
Park: Lake Mead NRA Location: Bighorn Island
Reported by: Dorothy Gearhart, LAME, Jenny Hinson, WRO
Received by: Melissa Warner, WASO
Summary:
L.H. was with his family on a houseboat which was towing a ski boat. The
towline broke and L.H. dove into the water to retrieve the boat. He was
never seen again. He was known to be a good swimmer, but the water was rough
and he was fully clothed. No alcohol or drugs apparent. A passerby reported
the incident to NFS personnel. The dive team dove for several hours with no
success. Another attempt was to be made the following day.
Persons involved:
Name Address DOB or age
L.H. Mirilamo, CA 10/30/47
FIELD INCIDENT REPORT
Incident type: Fatality - Possible Fall
Log number: 87-200
Date/time of incident: 8/16, 2:00pm Date/time received: 8/17, 1:00pm
Park: Joshua Tree NM Location: Johnson Spring Area
Reported by: Pack Anderson, Supt, Jenny Hinson, WRO
Received by: Melissa Warner, WASO
Summary:
J.L. had been camping at Indian Cove CG for 3 weeks with a female companion.
J.L. reportedly left the campsite at 11:00pm on 8/15. He was reported missing
at 2:00pm on 8/16. His body was found south of the campground where he had
appeared to have fallen 40'. Recovery was performed by El Torro Marine
helicopter and NFS climbing team. NFS personnel are working with sheriff's
office to notify next of kin.
Persons involved:
Name Address DOB or age
J.L. UNKNOWN 36