NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:  Tuesday, March 25, 1997

Broadcast: By 1000 ET

INCIDENTS

97-111 - National Capital Parks East (D.C./Maryland) - Rescue

On March 21st, D., a 2,500-pound Belgian draft horse, wandered from his 
paddock at the Oxon Hill Children's farm, knocked down a fence, and fell into
a 40-foot ravine in the park.  He became stuck in the mud and could not scale
the steep bank of the ravine.  NPS maintenance crews and Park Police horse-
mounted officers struggled for six hours to rescue the animal.  The horse was
finally winched from the ravine with a tow truck sling.  D. was cut and
muddy, but is expected to make a full recovery.  Each Christmas, D. and his
partner, F., pull the wagon that delivers the official Christmas tree to
the White House.  The rescue received extensive media coverage in the
Washington metropolitan area and was also picked up by national networks. 
[Bill Lynch, LES, NCR, 3/24]

97-112 - Everglades NP (Florida) - Boating Accident with Fatality

The park received a request from the Coast Guard for assistance in a search
on the evening of March 20th.  C.K., 70, of Sawyer, Michigan, had gone
out on Florida Bay in his 22-foot boat that afternoon and had not returned as
scheduled.  Ranger Dave Fowler worked with the Coast Guard and Florida Marine
Patrol on a search of the eastern third of the bay throughout that evening
and the next day.  C.K.'s boat was found just after 8 a.m.  The ignition was
in the off position, the throttle in neutral, a boat ladder went down into
the water, and a pair of shorts lay on the closed engine compartment. 
Shortly thereafter, Fowler found C.K.'s nude body face down in the water
against the shore about 600 yards from the boat.  An autopsy revealed that
C.K. had drowned.  The incident has been ruled a boating accident.  [Dave
King, DR, EVER, 3/24]

97-113 - Mount Rushmore NM (South Dakota) - Suicide

Construction workers notified rangers of a car over a steep embankment off
Highway 244 near the park's main parking lot around 11 a.m. on March 20th. 
Rangers Andy Fisher and Steve Kveene located the vehicle about 100 vertical
feet below and 300 feet off the roadway.  The 38-year-old female South Dakota
resident had been thrown from the vehicle and killed.  The woman had left a
suicide note at her home and the coroner has ruled the death a suicide.  It
appears that she drove off the roadway at a high rate of speed, as the car
was airborne for about 60 feet before first impact.  The incident was
unwitnessed, so the exact time of occurrence is unknown.  Indications are,
however, that the woman died several hours before the rangers found her.  It
was difficult to see the vehicle from the roadway, so it may have been there
overnight or longer.  Rangers are assisting county and state officers with
the investigation.  [Mike Pflaum, CR, MORU, 3/24]

97-114 - Golden Gate NRA (California) - Homicide Conviction

On October 26, 1996, hikers found the handcuffed body of M.R. in a
wooded area of Fort Miley.  M.R.'s throat had been cut.  A joint
investigation by the FBI and Park Police detectives was begun.  Detective
Steve Prickett entered a physical description of the then unidentified victim
into a statewide missing persons data bank.  Vallejo PD detectives contacted
Prickett, and they soon confirmed his identity.  Vallejo officers then
interviewed and arrested M.P. and W.J.  Investigation
revealed that M.P. and W.J. had carjacked M.R. in Vallejo when he
refused to return a stolen camcorder that M.P. had sold to him.  They put
him in the trunk of the car and drove over 40 miles to San Francisco.  After
arriving at Fort Miley, they attempted to shoot him with a .38 revolver, but
found that they only had ammunition for a 9mm.  They therefore employed a
knife instead.  M.P. and W.J. pled guilty to first-degree murder in state
court on March 26th.  M.P. faces a sentence of 25 years to life, W.J. a
sentence of 50 years to life.  A sentencing hearing is pending.  [Lt. Kevin
Hay, USPP, GOGA, 3/24]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No reports.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No submissions.

MEMORANDA

No memoranda.

EXCHANGE

No submissions.

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Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the cooperation and
support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.

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