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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT BLACKBERRY EDITION Friday, June 30, 2006 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Olympic NP Search Continues for Overdue Hiker More than 40 people continued the search Wednesday for missing hiker G.G. He was last seen by a ranger on Saturday, June 24th, when he parked his car at the Staircase Ranger Station. The Staircase area, located approximately 19 miles northwest of Hoodsport near Lake Cushman, provides access to four trailheads. Wednesday's search included personnel from the park and Olympic Mountain Rescue, as well as four search dogs and their handlers from Pierce County Search and Rescue and Grays Harbor Search and Rescue. A helicopter and an Washington State Patrol airplane were also utilized. The plane, recently outfitted with infrared sensors, can detect heat signatures on the ground. The search area covered between 30 and 35 square miles, but no sign of G.G. was found. G.G. is described as being in good health and works out regularly. He moved to Olympia about a year ago, so he has limited overnight hiking experience in this area. He was believed to be on a day hike. [Barb Maynes, Public Affairs Officer] Grand Teton NP Injured Climber Rescued from Garnet Canyon N.P., 23, of Victor, Idaho, slipped while descending a snowfield last Tuesday and was not able to self-arrest using her ice axe. N.P. tumbled about 100 feet, seriously injuring her leg before coming to a stop in a streambed near the Spalding Falls switchbacks. Park employees working in the area called the Teton Interagency Dispatch Center to report the incident after encountering N.P. and her climbing partner, N.G., 25, also of Victor, Idaho. Due to the nature of N.P.'s injuries, the location of the accident, and an approaching thunderstorm, rangers decided to utilize an interagency contract helicopter to evacuate her. Two rangers were flown to the scene. They assessed N.P.'s injuries, provided emergency medical care, and stabilized her for transport by air. Four more rangers were flown in to provide additional assistance. Rangers used the short-haul technique to fly the patient and a ranger - suspended below the helicopter on a double rope system - to Lupine Meadows. N.P. was then transported by ambulance to St. John's Medical Center in Jackson for further treatment. This marks the eighth major search and rescue operation in the park this year. [Jackie Skaggs, Public Affairs Specialist] Colonial NHP Near Drowning in College Creek Park dispatch received a report of a visitor having difficulty swimming at the College Creek beach area along Colonial Parkway on the afternoon of June 18th. The caller reported that other visitors were attempting to rescue the swimmer. Rangers responded along with units from James City County FD and Williamsburg FD. They found that a man had been swimming in the creek when he was caught by a strong tidal current from the nearby James River estuary. When he went underwater, five teenage boys entered the creek and pulled him to shore. He was semi-conscious by that time. Firefighters treated him and took him to a local hospital, where he's expected to make a full recovery. The mouth of College Creek is at the James River, which has a very strong tidal current. The area is posted ‘no swimming' because of the danger, but is frequently used by local residents as a beach. [Tom Nash, Chief Ranger] C&O Canal NHP Probable Suicide at Monocacy Aqueduct On the evening of June 21st, visitors heading out for a bike ride from the Monocacy Aqueduct parking lot saw a vehicle parked there with its engine running. When they came back two hours later, it was still there, with its engine still running, so they notified the Frederick County (Maryland) Sheriff's Office. Deputies subsequently notified the regional communication center, and rangers were sent to the scene. The vehicle was identified as one belonging to a missing 21-year-old man from Rockville. Rangers searched the vehicle and discovered a box of shotgun shells with two missing. The father, who also arrived on scene, told rangers that his son had recently been discharged from the military for medical reasons and that he believed that he might have come to the park to hurt himself. Rangers conducted a hasty search of the area through the remainder of the night, but were unable to find him. The search resumed the following morning at 7 a.m. Rangers, assisted by the park's search dog, tracked and located the missing man's body in a heavily wooded area about 50 yards from his vehicle. He evidently shot himself. Rangers, Park Police and Montgomery County deputies are investigating. [Blair Williamson, Lead Dispatcher] Shenandoah NP Suicide Victim Found on Park Fire Road A ranger checked out a Lexus parked by a fire gate along Route 211 on the evening of June 21st. He found keys in the ignition, which caused him to investigate further. While he awaited the arrival of a second ranger, park dispatch was able to reach a party by telephone at the address of the registered owner. A woman there reported that the vehicle was driven by her adult son, who was struggling with depression. Shortly thereafter, the two rangers discovered a person, later identified as the son, lying along the fire road with a bullet wound in his head. He was breathing but unresponsive. The rangers began basic life support and he was subsequently transported to the University of Virginia Hospital by ambulance and helicopter. He died there the following evening. The actions of the rangers and the hospital care that followed, however, enabled his organs to be saved and donated to others, which brought comfort to his family. Evidence indicates that the gunshot was self-inflicted. He was about 35 years old and from northern Virginia. [Clay Jordan, Deputy Chief Ranger] OTHER NEWS Other news of interest from today's edition of InsideNPS, which can be found at this address if your inside the NPS ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/" http://inside.nps.gov/) and at this address if you're outside the NPS ( HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://www.nps.gov/applications/digest/). Note that not all articles that appear in the former make it into the latter: * * * * * Prepared by Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA. --- ### --- |