NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
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INCIDENTS
North Cascades National Park Complex
Climber Dies In Fall On Klawatti Glacier
On July 31st, climbing rangers from North Cascades National Park were finally able to recover the body of a 50-year-old Maryland woman who died after a fall on July 26th while on a mountaineering trip in the park. The woman and her husband were three days into a week-long traverse across several glaciers and alpine terrain when the accident occurred. They were negotiating a col which separates the Klawatti and McAllister Glaciers, scrambling un-roped, when she fell approximately 35 feet into a moat separating glacier ice from a rock wall. The woman's husband cared for her for 24 hours, unable to reach a 911 cell connection, before she died in their tent. The 58-year-old husband then crossed three glaciers and over several off-trail miles, descending 6,000 feet in elevation. Just before reaching a road, he fell from a log while crossing a river, nearly drowning and injuring a knee before jettisoning his pack and getting unpinned. Other climbers found him on the road and delivered him to the NPS ranger station during the night. Attempts to reach the accident site by helicopter were thwarted for two full days. Rangers focused on assisting the surviving climber, who had emerged with no personal resources (cash, cards, car keys, phone or clothes). During a window of clear weather between two storms, rangers recovered the woman's body from the top of the Klawatti Glacier, and transferred it to the Skagit County coroner. Although from the east coast, the couple had been spending mountaineering vacations in the North Cascades for many years, having accomplished other alpine traverses and peak ascents. [Kinsey Shilling, Chief Ranger]
Great Smoky Mountains NP
Car Clouter Convicted In Federal Court
On August 6, 2007, two vehicles were broken into in the park - one at the Alum Cave trailhead and the other at the Laurel Falls trailhead. In both cases, the vehicles were entered in a manner that kept the victims from realizing that their cars had been broken into until the following day. The thief took only a credit card from one woman's purse, and stole a laptop computer and the rear license plate from the other victim. Usage of the credit card was tracked and a large amount of store video was obtained showing an older man who was driving a motor home. At a Wal-Mart, he purchased loadable cell phone minutes for a TracPhone. Information was obtained from the cell phone company which showed that he made a phone call to a small campground in Georgia. Special agent Greg Podany interviewed the owners of that campground and came up with the name of one R.P. as the possible suspect. Information was obtained about R.P. and it was determined that he was the person who had made the fraudulent charges on the credit card. Special agent Jeff Carlisle determined that R.P. had been recently arrested in Charleston, South Carolina, and was being held in a local county jail. Carlisle went to Charleston and interviewed R.P., who admitted his involvement in the theft of property from the two vehicles and the use of the credit card. The motor home R.P. was driving was also found to have been stolen from Florida, and the license plate from the second victim's vehicle was found on it. R.P. was subsequently indicted in the Eastern District of Tennessee for 18 USC 661 (theft), 18 USC 1029 (use of the credit card), and 18 USC 2312 (interstate transport of a stolen motor vehicle). R.P. pled guilty to the charges and on July 31st was sentenced to 16 months incarceration, followed by 36 months of supervised release. R.P. was also ordered to pay $3,032 in restitution to the victims and a $400 special assessment. [Lisa Slobodzian, Law Enforcement Specialist]
Indiana Dunes NL
Teenager Rescued From Lake, But Second Teenager Drowns
A family from the Chicago area came to the area on August 2nd to go swimming in Lake Michigan. Due to hazardous surf conditions, the state park was closed to swimming, so the group traveled a short distance to Porter Beach, an unstaffed beach in the national lakeshore. Just after 1 p.m., two members of the group were overcome by the dangerous waves. Family members and bystanders rescued one of them, a nine-year-old boy, but were unable to reach a 13-year-old boy. He was last seen disappearing under the lake's surface. It was windy at the time, with surf about three feet high and increasing and possible rip currents. Members of the group were about 30 to 50 yards from shore when the incident occurred. A multi-agency search was begun that employed boats, divers and helicopters. A line search was conducted by lifeguards from Indiana Dunes State Park, but diving operations were soon halted due to the severity of the water conditions. A surface search using boats, personal watercraft, and a Coast Guard helicopter equipped with forward looking infrared (FLIR) gear continued through the night. Family members of the victim maintained a vigil on the beach through the night. The boy's body was found on the state park beach just after 6 a.m. - a point about a half mile from where he'd last been seen. [Mike Bremer, Chief Ranger]
OTHER NEWS
Other stories can be read on InsideNPS at one or the other of these two sites:
NPS readers - HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index
Non-NPS readers - HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/
Please note that both publications carry a combined NIFC/NPS fire report. That is generally posted around 8 a.m. Eastern.
Among the stories in today's edition are the following:
Washington Office - The National Park Service has prepared a six-page brochure summarizing the high points of National Park Week 2008 and made it available to all interested parties. A link is provided to the document.
Director's Office - Director Bomar, Deputy Director Harvey, and National Mall and Memorial Parks Superintendent Peggy O'Dell last week welcomed the Boy Scout troop from Omaha, Nebraska, that endured and survived a tornado at the Little Sioux Scout Camp in Iowa in June and presented them with the new NPS “Scout Ranger” patch.
Fire and Aviation Management - Director Bomar visited with NPS Fire and Aviation staff at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise on Tuesday to express her sorrows over the loss of an NPS firefighter.
Chattachoochee River NRA - On Saturday, August 2nd, Jack Sweitzer, 70, a long-time volunteer at the park, died of a heart attack while doing the work he loved - clearing trails of downed trees in the Vickery Creek unit.
Ozark NSR - Roger Dillard, the chief of maintenance at Ozark NSR, will retire on August 15th after 37.5 years of federal service with the NPS.
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Submission standards for the Morning Report can be found at the following web site:
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 support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).
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