NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                               MORNING REPORT

To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Friday, December 11, 1998

INCIDENTS

98-577 - Olympic NP (WA) - Follow-up: Theft, Arrest of Former Employee 

On August 2nd, a Stihl chainsaw was reported missing from the Ozette ranger
station.  Investigators subsequently contacted C.D., 23, a
former NPS employee, who confessed to the theft of the saw and numerous other
items taken from the park.  During a consent search and later warrant search,
investigators recovered 87 items and groups of items with a cumulative value
of $11,124.  C.D. was subsequently indicted by a federal grand jury.  On
December 4th, C.D. was sentenced to four months of in-house electronic
detention, with a provision that allows him to continue with his self-
employment activities.  The detention period will be followed by three years
of supervised probation.  C.D. was also ordered to pay a small assessment
and the cost of the in-house detention.  The court decided against a fine
because of C.D.'s financial situation.  [Mike Butler, CI, OLYM, 12/10]

98-752 - Lake Meredith NRA (TX) - Search and Rescue

On December 6th, the park was notified that two hunters, 29-year-old D.O.
and 48-year-old T.G., were overdue from a trip to the park. 
Their last known location was in a slough which stretches over an area
measuring about two miles square and is filled with deep mud and with
vegetation 14 feet high.  An overflight was not possible because of low
clouds.  Ranger Curtis Oman was sent to a vantage point overlooking the
slough and was able to locate both hunters with binoculars.  The two men were
about a mile apart.  Rangers Lloyd Griswold and Mike Davin and fire crew
members Kevin Parrish and Fred Conner reached them by boat and by wading to
them in hip boots.  Employees from every division assisted in the rescue,
which took over 12 hours.  D.O. was unable to walk when he was found and
was in the initial stages of hypothermia.  He was treated and released at a
local hospital.  Pam Griswold was IC.  [CRO, LAMR, 12/9]

98-753 - Big Thicket NP (TX) - Drowning

B.D. of Fred, Texas, drowned while fishing on the Neches River in the
park on December 4th.  Texas Parks and Wildlife game wardens were first on
scene and are leading the investigation.  [Bob Appling, CR, BITH, 12/11]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION

No entries.

PARK DISPATCHES

Annals of Crime (Continued) - You'll recall a recent Morning Report entry
regarding a motorcycle operator who was caught at Delaware Water Gap NRA when
close inspection of his license plate revealed that he'd neatly hand-drawn it
but had spelled motorcycle as "motosicle."  Well, it turns out he wasn't
alone.  On October 19th, Park Police officer Simeon Klebaner stopped a
vehicle on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway for a license plate violation. 
The operator produced a D.C. driver's license which didn't look quite right. 
There were a number of errors on the license, which proved to be a fake, but
the most glaring were two misspellings - one said "Drivers Licence", the
other said "Licence Number."  It appears that law enforcement will continue
to make headway against crime as long as malefactors remain unaware of the
availability of dictionaries.  

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No entries.

MEMORANDA

No entries.

INTERCHANGE

No entries.

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Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the cooperation and
support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.

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