NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                               MORNING REPORT

To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Thursday, August 19, 1999

                               *** NOTICE ***

Indications are that, due to some kind of glitch in the cc:Mail system, the
Wednesday Morning Report did not get disseminated Servicewide.  Today's
report will presumably be delayed as well, as the problem has not yet been
identified or resolved (as of Thursday morning).  

INCIDENTS

99-458 - Carlsbad Caverns NP (NM) - Follow-up on Homicide

Additional information has been received on the homicide which occurred in
the park on August 8th.  When ranger Lance Mattson and park volunteer John
Kibler found overdue hiker R.K. camped in the bottom of Rattlesnake
Canyon that afternoon, he told Mattson that he had killed his friend and
hiking partner, D.C., that morning.  R.K. pointed to a shallow
grave a few feet away.  Further investigation revealed that R.K.'s diary
stated, "I killed and buried my best friend today."  R.K. said that they
had become lost, had run out of water, and that his friend had asked him to
kill him because he was in incredible pain and thought he was going to die.
Why R.K. had not followed through on his claim that they were "going to
do it together" is unknown.  Autopsy results indicate that D.C. was
suffering from "moderate to severe dehydration" at the time of his death and
that he had been stabbed twice in the chest.  The campsite was only a mile
from the trailhead and 240 feet from the trail's junction with Rattlesnake
Canyon.  Five rock cairns, which are frequently used in deserts to mark
trails, were clearly visible between their campsite and this junction. 
R.K. and D.C. had obtained a backcountry camping permit and had been
advised to take a topographic map and one gallon of water per person per day. 
Their permit had been issued for two days; when their vehicle's presence
indicated that they were overdue, Mattson began the search.  The case has
drawn considerable attention from a number of media outlets, including
several newspapers, People magazine, and the television programs Court TV,
Dateline and Inside Edition.  [Frank Deckert, CACA, 8/18]

99-463 - Olympic NP (WA) - Follow-up on Search in Progress

A search was begun late on August 13th for 18-year-old H.B. of
the Netherlands, who had not been seen for almost a week.  H.B.'s body was
found on August 17th on a steep slope above Glacier Meadows in the upper Hoh
Valley.  The cause of death has not yet been determined.  Approximately 35
ground searchers, four search dog teams and a helicopter took part in the
search, which was conducted in extremely rugged and hazardous terrain. [Barb
Maynes, PIO, OLYM, 8/18] 

99-476 - Wind Cave NP (SD) - Death of Employee and Son

J.M., a park maintenance worker, and his nine-year-old son L.M. were
killed in a small aircraft crash on August 17th.  J.M., who had worked
seasonally at Sequoia-Kings Canyon NP's and Yellowstone NP, had been at Wind
Cave for about 20 years.  He was attending a family reunion in the Newcastle
area when the accident occurred.  Family members were taking rides in the
aircraft, and J.M. and his son were on board when it hit a power line, then
crashed and burned.  Also killed were J.M.'s cousin, who was flying the
plane, and a nephew.  J.M. is survived by his wife, D.M., and his
daughter, S.M., age 11.  An NPS CISD team and peer counselors have been
sent to the park. [Jim Taylor, Superintendent, WICA, 8/18]

99-477 - Death Valley NP (CA) - MVA with Four Fatalities, Three Injuries

On the evening of August 17th, rangers and emergency personnel were
dispatched to a single car rollover accident west of Stove Pipe Wells with
seven visitors reported to have been ejected from the vehicle.  Additional
reports indicated all seven visitors had major injuries.  Park personnel
responded with two ambulances, two structural fire engines, and the park's
mass casualty trailer.  Also responding was the resident California Highway
Patrol (CHP) officer, three units from Lone Pine, California, an ambulance
and a crash truck from Beaty, Nevada, and three medevac helicopters from Las
Vegas.  Rangers arriving on scene found that two of the visitors had died and
that the remaining five were seriously injured.  Additional rangers and a
park medic soon arrived.  The injured were treated and prepared for air
evacuation.  One went into cardiac arrest and required CPR; he subsequently
died, as did a fourth person.  The seven victims were college students from
China.  They had been in a small van that went out of control coming down a
14-mile-long grade and rolled several times before coming to rest upside
down.  CHP has dispatched an accident reconstruction team to the site.  There
have been two other major accidents in the same general area during the past
three months.  [CRO, DEVA, 8/18]

99-478 - Gettysburg NMP (PA) - Kidnapping; Rape

On the evening of Tuesday, August 17th, a man entered the rear of a T-shirt
shop located in the town of Gettysburg just outside the park while a 17-year-
old girl was closing the store.  He displayed a semi-automatic handgun, 
abducted her from the shop, then lead her a short distance to a wooded area
adjacent to the park's boundary, removed her clothing, and raped her.  He
forced her to cross a fence into a pasture inside the park and raped her
again.  He then left her, walking away in the general direction from which
they'd come.  The incident is being investigated by state troopers, local
police and park rangers.  The state police are leading the investigation. 
The FBI has been contacted.  [Pete Walzer, Supervisory Park Ranger, GETT,
8/18]

99-479 - Gulf Islands NS (FL/MS) - Sexual Assault

Rangers responded at 3 a.m. on August 16th to a report of a sexual assault
that reportedly occurred in the Santa Rosa unit of the park.  The victim, a
resident of Okaloosa County, said that she'd agreed to drive out to the beach
with her neighbor in his pickup truck to get high.  She said that they'd
smoked a couple of joints on the way.  When they arrived there, the man
attempted to get intimate with her.  She said she wasn't interested, but he
persisted and eventually sexually assaulted her.  She then asked him if he
was going to take her home.  He asked if she was going to call the police. 
She said no.  On the way home, he allegedly told her that he would "take her
out" if she told anybody.  She called the Okaloosa Sheriff's Office and
reported the assault when she got home.  A joint investigation is underway. 
[Skip Prange, DR, GUIS, 8/16]

99-480 - Yosemite NP (CA) - Search in Progress

A vehicle associated with a reported missing person was found parked along
the Tioga Road in Tuolumne Meadows on August 10th.  M.R. had been
reported missing from San Jose on July 6th and is believed to have entered
the park on July 7th.  There are indications that the vehicle has been parked
in Tuolumne Meadows since at least July 15th.  M.R. is a former Yosemite
concessions employee and has been diagnosed with a mental disorder.  A
limited search has been conducted in both the frontcountry and backcountry
areas of the district.  M.R. has not been located, and an investigation is
now underway.  [Maura Longden, IC, YOSE, 8/18]

99-481 - Gates of the Arctic NP&P (AK) - Two Simultaneous Searches

On the evening of August 7th, a local air charter operator advised the park
that two hikers - D.M. of Washington, D.C., and M.Z. of New
York City - were two days late in arriving at their designated pickup point
in the park.  As search operations were begun on the 8th, the park received a
call from the state's Rescue Coordination Center (RCC) reporting three
overdue aircraft in the central Brooks Range.  Civil Air Patrol and Alaska
state police aircraft joined park aircraft in the search for the planes.  Two
were found in the park by evening; both were at Walker Lake, where they'd
been forced to wait for better weather.  Additional aircraft were called in
to look for the hikers on the 9th.  D.M. was found at the original drop-off
site that afternoon.  He said that he'd split with M.Z. because he (D.M.)
was suffering from dehydration and having difficulty with the terrain. 
M.Z. proceeded on, hoping to reach the planned pickup point.  On August
10th, the third overdue aircraft, a Piper Supercub, was found outside the
park east of the Dalton highway.  Two bodies were recovered from the
wreckage, which was found on a mountainside.  M.Z. was picked up at mid-day
by a helicopter, about 25 miles west of his intended destination.  He had
unknowingly gotten off route the day he separated from D.M., but continued
on, confident that he was headed in the right direction.  These searches
required the use of 11 aircraft and provided a favorable test of the park's
newly-acquired Iridium satellite phone system.  At the time that M.Z. was
found, the region's all risk IMT and nine additional aircraft were en route
to the park.  Superintendent Dave Mills was IC.  [Jeff Mow, CR, GAAR, 8/18]

99-482 - Olympic NP (WA) - Search 

A second search was begun on Tuesday, August 17th, as the H.B. search
(above, 99-463) was entering its fourth day.  K.W., 24, of
Portland, Oregon, was reported overdue on Sunday night when she failed to
return home from a planned two-day solo hike in the park's North Fork
Quinault area.  Fifteen searchers were assigned to this effort.  K.W. was
found when she walked into Kalaloch Lodge, a park concession facility located
over 30 miles from her intended route.  This summer's unusual and extensive
remaining snow and associated heavy fog caused K.W. to become disoriented
and lose the trail she was following.  She was later able to use a compass
and map to reorient herself and follow a creek downstream to the Queets River
and out to U.S. Highway 101. [Barb Maynes, PIO, OLYM, 8/18] 

99-483 - Mount Rainier NP (WA) - Special Event

Approximately 400 guests and representatives from a variety of TV, radio, and
print media participated on August 12th in a day-long celebration of the
park's centennial, commemorating a century of resource stewardship.  Director
Stanton delivered the keynote address, unveiling the Natural Resources
Challenge (see "Memoranda" below).  Senator Slade Gorton announced his
recommendation for $1.4 million in planning money to replace the Jackson
Visitor Center and $1 million for restoration of the historic Guide House,
both at Paradise.  Surrounding the formal program were special interpretive
programs commemorating a variety of events, characters, and issues in the
park's history, a Northwest salmon bake hosted by park concessioner GSI and
several Native American tribes, book signings by several prominent Northwest
authors and photographers, special events for children, and other activities.
The event was only one of dozens of special events and programs commemorating
the park's centennial that have occurred throughout the Puget Sound region
over the past year.  Washington's National Parks Fund established a coalition
of major donors to sponsor many of the activities and events, which will
continue throughout the remainder of the year.  [Maria Gillett, Event PIO,
MORA, 8/17]

99-484 - Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (MO) - Special Events

The St. Louis metro area sponsored several events which occurred concurrently
through the weekend of Friday, August 6th, to Monday, August 9th:

o     State Games of America was issued a special use permit for use of the
      Grand Staircases in front of the Arch to seat participants and to use
      an area of the grounds for a parachute jump.  Approximately 11,000
      people attended the event.
o     The National Governors' Association held its annual conference in
      downtown St. Louis.  On August 8th, an after-hours permit was issued
      for use of the historic Old Courthouse, Gateway Arch, and Luther Ely
      Smith Square for a reception for the 45 attending governors.  About
      1,350 people participated.  Two First Amendment permits were issued in
      conjunction with the governors' visit - one of them to ADAPT, a
      nationally-recognized group advocating the rights of Americans with
      disabilities.  The demonstrators in both groups conducted themselves
      peaceably on park property, but city and state officers arrested 33
      demonstrators for deflating passenger bus tires and chaining themselves
      to buses.
o     President Clinton flew into St. Louis early on the 8th to meet with the
      governors.  Federal, state and local enforcement agencies coordinated
      events in and around the park.  

Ranger staffing increased throughout the weekend.  Heightened security
measures were implemented due to the high profile people, nature of events,
and overall volume of visitors to the site.  No significant events occurred. 
[E.A. Stout, Deputy CR, JEFF, 8/13]

99-485 - Great Smoky Mountains NP (NC/TN) - Car Clouting Arrests

Between July 27th and August 5th, there were numerous car clouts in the
Little River District.  All cases were similar in that there was little sign
of entry and that only cash and travelers checks were taken.  The primary
method of entry was by punching a hole at the edge of the door handle
assembly and manipulating the locking mechanism, usually on Chrysler or Dodge
vehicles.  On the afternoon of the 5th, ranger Jerry Grubb was watching the
Grotto Falls parking lot when he saw J.L. and M.G. break into a
mini-van.  Both were arrested.  Property from other car clouts was found in
Gunn's purse, and a search of their vehicle resulted in the recovery of more
than $9,000 in cash and money orders.  J.L. and M.G. were indicted in
Knoxville on August 17th.  They have been linked to 13 other crimes in the
park and other jurisdictions.  [Jason Houck, CR, GRSM, 8/18]

99-486 - Yosemite NP (CA) - Drowning

On August 13th, J.T., 24, drowned in a backcountry lake in the
Tuolumne Meadows District.  J.T. had packpacked to Polly Dome Lakes with
family members and had gone for an evening swim with his 13-year-old nephew. 
The two were attempting to swim to a rock island when J.T. apparently
became exhausted and unable to swim further.  J.T.'s brother-in-law and
another camper quickly swam to J.T. and pulled him to shore.  They began
CPR and continued it while the nephew and 11-year-old son of the camper
helping with CPR ran three miles to summon help.  Park medic Loren Fazio, RN
Marty Fazio and a rescue team were flown to the scene, by which time CPR had
been in progress for two hours.  Advance life support resuscitation efforts
were unsuccessful.  [Rich Baerwald, IC, YOSE, 8/18]

99-487 - New River Gorge NR (WV) - Drowning

L.G., 14, of Charleston South Carolina, was rafting on the New
River with her church group on August 13th when her raft flipped and she was
thrown into the river at Lower Railroad Rapid.  The swift water of the rapid
trapped L.G. under a rock for approximately 11 minutes.  Guides from the
commercial rafting outfitter were able to free her and immediately began CPR.
Rangers and county EMS personnel soon arrived on scene and continued CPR.  A
semi-technical litter raise was used to transport L.G. up to a railroad
line, where all rail traffic was suspended.  She was then transported out of
the gorge by foot and vehicle to a waiting helicopter ambulance that flew her
to the Charleston Area Medical Center.  Although L.G. was unconscious, 
rescuers were able to maintain both a pulse and breathing throughout the
evacuation.  L.G. was admitted to the hospital in critical condition and
remained there until she passed away on August 14th.  Ranger Audie Critchley
served as incident commander for the rescue.  [Gary Hartley, CR, NERI, 8/17]

99-488 - New River Gorge NR (WV) - Drowning

S.S., 33, of Sessionsville, West Virginia, was fishing in the
Sandstone Falls area of the New River just after 6 p.m. on August 14th when
his fishing line became caught and he waded into the river to retrieve it. 
Witnesses saw S.S. struggling in the current.  He was then swept
underwater above Tahiti Rapid and did not reappear.  Local EMS, dive teams
and park rangers responded and began search operations above and below the
rapids.  Two park rescue boats equipped with sonar and an underwater camera
were used to support the search efforts.  The search continued until darkness
made diving and boat operations unsafe.  Local EMS volunteers utilized
portable lighting to maintain visual observation of the area through the
night.  On August 15th, boat and dive operations resumed at daylight and
continued through the day.  A West Virginia State Police helicopter was
utilized to conduct an aerial search of the river.  Stephen's body was
located under a rock at the entrance to Tahiti Rapid around 4 p.m. and
subsequently recovered.  This was the second fatality on the New River in two
days and media attention accordingly increased.  The park's PIO staff will be
working in conjunction with local media on water safety and life jacket
messages throughout the week.  Supervisory park ranger Dennis Weiland was
incident commander for the search and recovery efforts. [Gary Hartley, CR,
NERI, 8/18] 

99-489 - Redwood N&SP (CA) - Girl Injured by Elk

On August 10th, a young girl was stomped by an elk in the vicinity of Big
Tree in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, part of the combined Redwood
National and State Park.  Her injuries were limited to scrapes and bruises. 
A "loner" cow elk has been identified as the main suspect and is being sought
by rangers and fish and wildlife biologists.  The parks are stepping up
patrol and efforts to inform the public of dangers associated with wildlife. 
Black bears are also becoming active, with food being taken from numerous
campsites.  Visitors are being advised not to feed wildlife and to properly
store food and coolers.  [Bob Martin, CR, REDW, 8/16]

99-490 - Redwood N&SP (CA) - Assist; Assault, Terroristic Threats

On August 14th, a Patrick's Point State Park ranger requested backup in
dealing with a drunken man threatening campers, throwing rocks, and stating
that he was going to get a rifle and come back and kill everyone in the
campground.  Local sheriff's officers were not available.  Rangers Paige
Ritterbush and David Barland-Liles responded with two California Highway
Patrol officers.  They searched the campground and found the man face down
inside a tent.  He was taken into custody and transported to county jail by
the rangers, where he was booked for being drunk in public.  While en route,
the man threatened to kill the rangers.  He had tattoos indicating
affiliation with white supremacy groups.  [Bob Martin, CR, REDW, 8/16]