|
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Tuesday, June 19, 2007 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Whiskeytown NRA Sex Offender Convicted In Superior Court Following a five-week-long trial, D.L.Y., 50, of Redding, California, was convicted on June 14th on five felony burglary counts and four misdemeanor petty theft counts in superior court in Shasta County. Beginning in April, 2003, park visitors began finding obscene notes on the windshields of their vehicles, describing them engaged in sexual activity along the shoreline of Whiskeytown Lake. By August, several young women had reported thefts of beach bags from the shoreline, keyed entry into their locked vehicles parked nearby, and theft of purses, pocketbooks and undergarments. Shortly after each of the burglaries, many of the victims, several of them high school girls, received obscene phone calls to their homes, parents and friends, with the male caller describing them as they appeared in sexually explicit videos or photographs. Several parents responded to meetings with the caller with offers to recover the nonexistent images, but the caller never made himself known at the meeting locations. D.L.Y., at the time an employee of Redding Electric Utility, was found to frequent Whiskeytown in his personal and official vehicles without any regard to his official duties. He was terminated from his employment while awaiting trial. Several surveillance operations of the area were conducted by National Park Service Investigative Services Branch agents, Whiskeytown and Lassen rangers, Shasta County sheriff's detectives and California Highway Patrol investigators. They revealed that D.L.Y. repeatedly drove back and forth along park roadways, apparently looking for victims. He was seen by victims and officers in the immediate vicinity of several burglaries and placing notes on cars. On July 26, 2004, D.L.Y. was arrested on a warrant issued as a result of this investigation, and search warrants were served that day on his home, vehicles, office and storage unit. The searches revealed stolen property and surreptitiously taped videos of women sunbathing and many unidentified people engaged in sexual activities at Whiskeytown. Initially released on $50,000 bail, D.L.Y. is back in custody and being held without bail pending sentencing. He faces a maximum of five years in prison and lifetime registration as a sex offender. [Alan Foster, Special Agent] Yosemite NP Hiker Dies In Fall From Half Dome H.N., 37, slipped and fell while ascending the Half Dome cables on the afternoon of June 16th. H.N., a Japanese citizen in the United States on a work visa, was hiking with four friends when the fall occurred. He fell approximately 300 feet from the left side of the cables and was pronounced dead at the scene. An investigation into the cause of the slip and subsequent fall is underway. The Half Dome hike is a round-trip hike of 17 miles and considered extremely strenuous. Hikers gain 4,800 feet of elevation along the hike, which passes such highlights as Vernal Fall, Nevada Fall, and Half Dome itself. A series of metal cables are placed along the steep shoulder of the dome to assist hikers to the summit. [Adrienne Freeman, Public Affairs Officer] HYPERLINK "http://www.modbee.com/local/story/13701680p-14289760c.html" http://www.modbee.com/local/story/13701680p-14289760c.html Glacier NP Missing Hiker Found Alive And Well On Wednesday, June 13th, R.S., 48, and a male friend entered the park at the Walton Ranger Station and headed into the Park Creek drainage to hike to Battlement Mountain. While hiking off-trail through tall brush the following afternoon, the two became separated. R.S.'s companion looked for her for several hours, but could find no sign of her. On Friday morning, he reported her missing to park dispatch. He said that he'd last seen her around 3 p.m. near Rotunda Cirque. Park staff, drawn in from all across the park and from several divisions, immediately began a search by air and by foot. Joining in the effort were personnel from Customs and Border Protection air operations, the Border Patrol, Flathead Search and Rescue, the Forest Service, and Minute Man Helicopter. Around 5 p.m. R.S. was spotted from the air on a saddle in the area between Mount St. Nicholas and Striped Elk Lake. The helicopter picked her up and brought her back to West Glacier. R.S. said that she'd suffered no serious injuries and declined medical treatment. [Melissa Wilson, Public Affairs Officer] OTHER NEWS The following stories (among others) can be read on either the InsideNPS web site (if you are within the National Park Service) or at the InsideNPS public ‘news digest' site (if you are outside of the NPS). The web sites appear below: International - For the first time this year, rangers around the globe will be celebrating World Ranger Day. The event will occur on Tuesday, July 31st, and will be held annually on that date thereafter. This year's inaugural celebration will center on the release of a new international ranger documentary entitled “The Thin Green Line” which was put together by Australian ranger Sean Willmore. Information on “The Thin Green Line” and on obtaining a copy can be found at HYPERLINK "http://www.thingreenline.info/newsfront" http://www.thingreenline.info/newsfront. The film will be shown all over the world on July 31st. Servicewide - What do Olympic, Mammoth Cave, Sitka and Cumberland Island have in common? According to VirtualTourist.com, they're among the top ten "up and coming" travel destinations in the U.S. North Cascades NP - Joe McMahan, a long-time volunteer with the National Park Service who worked at North Cascades, Saguaro, Grand Canyon and Sequoia-Kings Canyon, passed away on June 11th. He was 82 years old. To see the above articles, go to InsideNPS ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/" http://inside.nps.gov/) or NPS Digest ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/). For NPS incident reporting standards, go to HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363 * * * * * Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Edited by Bill Halainen ( Bill_Halainen@nps.gov, 570-426-2430). --- ### --- |