NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Friday, November 13, 2009
INCIDENTS
Haleakala NP
Hunt For Murderer Conducted Near And In Park
On October 20th, Maui PD notified the park that a murder had taken place in the Kaupo area two days before and that the suspect, a 39-year-old "survivalist", was still on the loose. The area where the homicide took place is approximately two miles from the park's boundary and is surrounded on three sides by park land. Rangers immediately launched a helicopter and two law enforcement rangers checked the five cabins in the crater area to make sure the fugitive was not using them. Backcountry visitors were also interviewed, park crews evacuated, and trails closed. The National Park Service's Investigative Services Branch (ISB) provided a special agent to assist with interagency liaison. SA Neil Akana was also able to obtain the assistance of a DEA helicopter for the search, which also involved Maui PD, Honolulu PD, and NPS units. Ranger Peter Reitchel spent three days on board the DEA helicopter coordinating ground search operations and acting as an airborne medic. Maui PD suspended its search on Friday, October 23rd. Two Hawaii Volcanoes rangers and an ISB agent flew to Maui the following week and assisted rangers with checking and clearing the 14 remote staff camps the park maintains. A helicopter was used to insert the teams, who then cleared each camp and documented its current condition in order to better detect if they were being used by the fugitive for shelter, food or water. Haleakala resource management staff acted as helicopter managers and airborne observers. On November 7th, in response to a visitor report, an overnight surveillance operation was conducted in the park's backcountry. Nothing suspicious was observed. The park's backcountry is currently open, but staff and visitors are being reminded to remain vigilant. [Bruce Applin, Chief Ranger]
OTHER NEWS
The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS:
Director/Deputy Directors - Director Jon Jarvis yesterday hosted a town hall meeting for WASO employees at Main Interior in Washington. He was joined by Dan Wenk, deputy director for operations, and Mickey Fearn, deputy director for communications and community assistance.
Chief Information Officer - It is with sadness that the unexpected and untimely passing of Michael Grimes, the National Park Service's national records management officer, is announced. Photo.
Southeast Region - Gayle Hazelwood has been selected as the new deputy regional director for resource stewardship and science in Southeast Region.
Servicewide Training Calendar - A listing of upcoming training courses offered by the NPS and its partners across the nation. Added to this week's listing are courses on basic and advanced carpentry skills at a training center in California and courses on basic and advanced critical incident stress management (CISM) in New Mexico.
To see these and other stories posted on InsideNPS (or NPS Digest, its public version), click on one or the other of the following links (please note that not all stories in the former appear in the latter): NPS employees: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index ; non-NPS employees: HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/
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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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