NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

BLACKBERRY EDITION

Monday, February 13, 2006

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INCIDENTS

Valley Forge NHP

Search and Rescue

While on patrol on the evening of February 1st, a protection ranger came upon an unattended vehicle parked in the Washington Memorial Chapel parking lot. The vehicle registration was noted and run to obtain information on the owner. On February 2nd, Montgomery County dispatch contacted the park with information about the vehicle's operator, who had been reported missing. He was reported as suicidal and suffering from depression and had been last seen the previous morning near Reading, Pennsylvania. A check of the vehicle led to the discovery of a day planner containing a suicide message. Rangers immediately began a hasty search of the area. Local police officers and fire and emergency personnel were organized and a search command post was set up. Extra law enforcement personnel from the park were brought in to aid in the search. Teams were organized and began to search the area. A medical rescue helicopter with infrared spotting equipment was brought in to aid in the search, as daylight was quickly fading. Local firefighters found the missing man lying in the Washington Memorial Chapel cemetery next to an empty container of anti-freeze, conscious and breathing but beginning to suffer from hypothermia. The man was transported via medical rescue helicopter to a local hospital. He is expected to survive. [Duane Buck, Park Ranger]

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Prepared by Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.

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