NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Monday, April 25, 2011

INCIDENTS

Whiskeytown NRA

Local Officer Accidentally Shot During Manhunt

On April 22nd, park dispatch received a report of a man and woman with a dog along South Shore Drive. The reporting party thought that the pair might be homeless and camping in the area. Ranger Chris Mengel investigated and found E.R. and her dog along a roadside. Mengel ran law enforcement checks on her and determined that she was wanted on several warrants and that she was always accompanied by her husband, H.R., who was wanted on a warrant for assaulting a peace officer, plus six other warrants in three counties for drug and traffic violations. As chief ranger Jim Richardson was arriving to back him up, H.R. walked into the brush from the scene. Rather than pursuing him, rangers called for additional help from Shasta County deputies, who arrived shortly thereafter. A tactical team of deputies, SWAT team members and rangers began a search from South Shore Drive downhill, ending at Whiskeytown Lake. Richardson asked the operator of a Coast Guard auxiliary boat on safety patrol on the lake to take him out on the lake to search from there. The boat arrived on scene just as E.R. stepped out onto the lakeshore and was ordered by two Shasta County officers at gunpoint to lie on the ground. As these officers moved in to secure E.R., a Shasta County police dog bit her. The dog handler was trying to pull the dog off when a pistol discharged, striking Shasta County officer Nolan Guiducci in the face. Richardson landed in the boat and handcuffed and moved E.R. away from the injured officer. Additional officers and Coast Guard Auxiliary volunteers rendered first aid to Guiducci and transported him by boat to a patrol car and eventually to an ambulance. E.R. was also transported by boat and taken to the Shasta County jail, where she remains. A large scale manhunt for H.R. continued with the help of California Highway Patrol officers, a CHP plane and helicopter, Redding police officers, California Fish and Game officers, and CALFIRE officers. Despite finding a campsite and multiple clues in the area, they were unable to locate H.R. Rangers closed and signed this area of the park. The closure came during the park's waterfall week, the busiest spring week of the year. Rangers and a special agent are continuing to patrol this area in an effort to find H.R. The tactical search was conducted under a joint command, with Shasta County leading the operation. The shooting investigation was led by Redding Police Department, which implemented a pre-planned officer-involved shooting protocol. Guiducci suffered non-life threatening wounds to his face and ear and is doing well at a local hospital. H.R. remains at large at this time. [Jim Richardson, Chief Ranger]

Grand Teton NP

Bodies Of Missing Skiers Found

On the evening of Saturday, April 23rd, following a long day of searching an avalanche debris field in Garnet Canyon Meadows, a ranger picked up two discernible beacon signals from deep within the snowpack. Due to the late hour, coupled with the need to evacuate all search teams from the canyon and cease helicopter operations before day's end, rescuers were not able to dig deep enough to locate the source of the signals that day. A core group of park rangers flew back into Garnet Canyon early the next morning to resume digging. After two hours, they reached the bodies of W.K. and G.S., buried under 13 feet of snow near a large boulder in the avalanche path. The rangers then prepared them for a helicopter flight to the valley floor, where a Teton County coroner met the ship. It appears that Walker and Greg were buried by a large avalanche that shed off the north face of Nez Perce Peak sometime on the night of Saturday, April 16th, while they were in their tent, which was located near a large boulder between the Platforms and the Meadows of Garnet Canyon. Walker and Greg carried avalanche beacons and other appropriate gear with them on their trek into the Teton Range, and their beacons were transmitting when the avalanche enveloped their campsite. The concentrated search for W.K. and G.S. lasted six days, due in part to stormy weather, new snowfall and ongoing concerns about avalanche danger for rescue teams. Search operations involved park rangers and staff, as well as numerous Jackson Hole community rescue personnel. Grand Teton National Park has extended its appreciation for the cooperation and dedication of the organizations and companies that assisted during the search. Those groups include trained rescue personnel, volunteers and support staff from Teton County Search and Rescue, Teton Interagency Fire personnel, Bridger-Teton National Forest and Bridger-Teton National Forest Avalanche Center staff, a Yellowstone National Park employee, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort ski patrol members, Wyoming K9 Search and Rescue teams, and Grand Targhee Resort ski patrol and canine teams, as well as experienced professional mountaineers from Jackson Hole Mountain Guides and Exum Mountain Guides. [Jackie Skaggs, Public Affairs Officer]

Zion NP

Nine Hikers Rescued From Backcountry

On Sunday, April 17th, rangers received several calls regarding overdue parties who were on the Subway Route. All were located by 2 a.m. the following morning. While investigating the reports, though, ranger Ray O'Neil noted that one vehicle was still parked at the Left Fork trailhead with a day permit for April 16th. Backcountry permit checks revealed that a party of two had planned to hike the Subway Route via the Russell Gulch technical entrance and that they had not been reported overdue. Initial investigations revealed they were not due to return to work until Tuesday.  The Subway Route and all technical access routes had extremely high water flows over the weekend due to the high country snow melt, and several parties travelling top down were experiencing difficulties. A hasty search was accordingly begun that afternoon. The search continued into Monday, with air support and additional SAR personnel joining in. By Tuesday, a full ICS operation had been established that included 25 NPS ground searchers, air support and two dog teams. During this time, the Subway Route remained open to visitors under the required permit system. Every exiting party was interviewed, but none reported seeing the two missing hikers. A separate report of a single overdue hiker was also received during this time. A request was put into the military for an infrared flight over the Russell Gulch and Subway area on Tuesday evening, and two helicopters were dispatched from Nellis AFB. Before they could arrive, a party exiting the Subway Route received a 911 call, with the caller reporting that a group of nine hikers remained in the canyon due to difficulties in getting through the technical section of the route. The group included all three of the missing hikers. The helicopters were redirected to the Subway Route, where they employed infrared and night vision equipment to locate the group. Two parajumpers descended to them to determine their condition and traveled with them to the trailhead. All missing persons were accounted for, and none required medical attention. They said they'd had serious trouble getting through the water and the narrowest sections of the canyon. The Subway Route has been temporarily closed for safety reasons until further notice. [Cindy J. Purcell, Chief Ranger]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS. To see the full text, including images, NPS employees should go to the InsideNPS home page ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index). Non-NPS employees can see most of them on the NPS Digest page ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/):

Cabrillo NM - Representatives from the park and the Maritime Museum of San Diego joined with elected officials and others in mid-April for the ceremonial keel-laying of a full-sized, fully functional and historically accurate replica of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo's flagship, San Salvador. Photo.

Learning and Development Division - It's National Administrative Professionals Week this week, with Administrative Professionals Day being celebrated on April 27th. Take some time to thank your administrative professionals.

Congressional and Legislative Affairs - This week's update on past and upcoming hearings and the status of legislation pertinent to the NPS. Congress is in recess; other than the introduction of two new NPS-related bills, there was little activity during the week.

Workforce Management - Nancy Y. Wilson has been selected as the chief of the WASO HR Operations Division. Photo.

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Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of Communications and the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).

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