NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

INCIDENT

Grand Canyon NP

Man Drives Car Over Canyon Rim

Park dispatch received several calls around 6 a.m. yesterday morning reporting that someone had driven a car over the edge of the canyon near the El Tovar Hotel. Investigators found tire tracks leading to the edge behind the Thunderbird Lodge and located the vehicle about 600 feet below the rim. The body of the lone male occupant was found shortly thereafter. An investigation into the incident is being conducted. [Shannan Marcak, Public Affairs Specialist]

Dinosaur NM

Two Rescued From Green River Gravel Bar

Uintah County dispatch received a 911 call from the Split Mountain campground around 9 p.m. on June 28th reporting that four people had been swept down the Green River from the boat ramp and that one might have drowned. Rangers and the county SAR team responded. They found that two of the people had gotten to shore, and that the other two were located on Goose Island, a shallow gravel bar about a quarter mile downstream from the boat ramp. Uintah County was able to send a jet boat downstream to pick them up. The two were rescued around 9:45 p.m. One was transported to the hospital with hypothermia and water inhalation issues. The Green River was running at about 5000 cubic feet per second at the time; the water temperature was in the low fifties. The four, all 19 to 20 years old, had been swimming across the channel from the boat ramp without lifejackets when one of them began to have trouble and the other three attempted to rescue her. Swimming in the Green River, especially without a lifejacket, is highly discouraged. [Kathy Krisko, Assistant Chief Ranger]

Grand Teton NP

Rangers Rescue Stranded Father And Son From Snake River

Rangers, Teton interagency fire personnel and emergency medical personnel rescued a father and son on the night of July 10th after they became separated from their small boat and stranded on a logjam in the swift-flowing Snake River. Forty-year-old B.P. and his 15-year-old son were floating down the river in a petite, swimming pool-style inflatable raft when it partially deflated, spilling them into the water. The Teton Interagency Dispatch Center received a report of the incident at 5:55 p.m. from the wife and mother of the pair. At 6:40 p.m., park rescue personnel located the two hanging onto a logjam on the right side of the Bourbon Street channel about a mile and a half south of Moose Bridge. Rangers used a technical river rescue technique to reach the stranded men, positioning a rescuer in the current to reach each of the floaters, one at a time. While both men experienced early stages of hypothermia, they were not seriously injured and refused medical treatment. A total of 21 park personnel and Teton interagency firefighters responded to this incident. Investigators determined what had happened. B.P. and his son had launched their inflatable dinghy from Deadman's Bar — one of four river launch areas in the park — at approximately 2:30 p.m. They intended to float all the way to the Wilson Bridge, about 25 river miles away. A river guide for a park concessionaire saw the pair getting ready to launch and questioned their preparedness. The guide noticed that the two did not have any oars or paddles and cautioned them that they needed something to help them navigate their small craft. B.P. then picked up two sticks to serve as makeshift paddles for his float trip. Besides lacking oars, the B.P.es did not have life jackets with them. They floated several miles downstream without incident until the side of their inflatable dinghy got punctured, leaving only the floor chamber inflated. They were able to float past Menor's Ferry and attempted to pull out at the Moose landing, but could not reach the riverbank using the makeshift stick paddles and continued floating beyond the Moose Bridge. About a mile and a half south of Moose, the river forks and the floaters took the left channel known as Bourbon Street. At this point, their inflatable dinghy became lodged against an obstruction, causing both men to fall into the river. Byron was trapped in a tangle of branches on a submerged tree and pinned underwater. River users call this river debris a “strainer.” Strainers are a particularly risky hazard for boaters because they can trap people against the branches and cause them to become submerged in the current. Fortunately, B.P. was able to free himself from the strainer and make his way upstream to where his son was clinging to a logjam. Once he reached his son, B.P. was able to call his wife from his cell phone; she then called for help. Two citations were issued to B.P. - one for not having life jackets and the other for failure to obtain a park boat permit. [Jackie Skaggs, Public Affairs Officer]

Yellowstone NP

Judge Sentences Man In Abusive Sexual Contact

On June 29th, A.T., a Yellowstone heavy equipment operator, was sentenced in a Wyoming District Court to 97 months incarceration followed by ten years of supervised release. On March 19th, A.T. pled guilty to a felony charge of abusive sexual contact with a juvenile under the age of 12 (18 USC 2244(a)(5) & (c)). He was arrested on January 27th following a grand jury indictment. The sentencing ends an investigation that began on July 3, 2008. During that investigation, rangers and special agents from the Investigative Services Branch served eight search warrants, enlisted the help of numerous child interview specialists and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and hired a specialized forensics lab. As part of his plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office, two additional charges for production and possession of child pornography were dismissed. [David Barland-Liles, Special Agent]

Cape Hatteras NS

Man Dies After Doing Battle With Ocean Current

Park visitor R.R., 70, of Hopwood, Pennsylvania, was swimming and boogie boarding in the ocean at Rodanthe on the afternoon of July 4th when a possible rip current caught his board and pulled it out to sea. R.R. swam after the board to retrieve it. In doing so, he became caught in the current. Two of his younger relatives tried to swim out and assist him, but became distressed themselves. Local surfers assisted the relatives back to safety, then noticed that R.R. was not breathing. CPR was begun. Chicamacomico Banks Volunteer Fire Department and Dare County EMS assisted NPS rangers. R.R. was pronounced dead at the scene. [John McCutcheon, Acting Chief Ranger]

Richmond NBP

Driver Killed In Crash In Cold Harbor Unit

During the evening hours of Saturday, June 13th, 37-year old R.H. Jr. of Mechanicsville, Virginia, was traveling north on State Highway 156 when he lost control of his 2002 GMC pickup. The truck left the county-maintained roadway and ended up crashing and burning on park property in the Cold Harbor unit. On July 1st, R.H. succumbed to his injuries while at the Medical College of Virginia. The incident is being investigated by the Hanover County Sheriff's Department with assistance from the park. Speed and alcohol were contributing factors in the crash. [Tim Mauch, Chief Ranger]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS.

Boston NHP - Forty-five tall ships and sailboats from 17 countries dotted Boston Harbor this past weekend as part of the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge 2009, an international regatta. Several docked in Charlestown Navy Yard.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7919" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7919

C&O Canal NHP - On July 2nd, the C&O Canal family lost a very special member when Lorraine Link passed away following a heart attack.

HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewcommunityarticle&type=PeopleNews&id=2414" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewcommunityarticle&type=PeopleNews&id=2414

Natchez Trace Parkway - On June 30th, ranger Heath Jarratt retired from the National Park Service after almost 22 years of federal service.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2415" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2415

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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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