Buffalo |  |
The following Incident Reports were extracted from the NPS Morning Reports/Coalition Reports from 1989-current. They are not a complete record of all incidents which occurred in this park during this timeframe. INCIDENTS | |
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Initial Report Brief summary of incident: Victim, L.B., Age 13, Mansfield, Louisiana, was canoing with parents approximately 100 yards above Spring Creek on the Buffalo River, June 8, when, at about noon, the canoe overturned. L.B. was pinned against the canoe and willow branches. Father held his head above water for about 30 minutes, until current swept him away. Report was fatality report, no information on body recovery, etc. Follow Up Report Incident location: Approximately 100 yards above Spring Creek on the Buffalo National River Summary: When the canoe capsized, there were three persons in it — mother, father, and son (victim). The boy swam downstream to recover the canoe and became trapped in it, or trapped against the shore. Father swam down to assist, and held the boy's head up until the boy was swept away and drowned. Boy was wearing flotation gear, according to father. Body recovered, 6/8/86 — 1655 hrs. The body did not have flotation gear when recovered. There was no formal SAR, just normal evacuation techniques. Canoe was rented from a park concessioner — B.C.R.
Location: State Hiway 74 Mr. G.R. lost control of his vehicle and fell out. He was pronounced DOA.
Location: Maumee, Stringtown On August 3rd, park rangers removed 10 marijuana plants from the area of Maumee South. On the 4th, rangers joined Arkansas State Police officers and Newton County Sheriff's Office deputies in pulling 414 plants near Stringtown; at least half of these were inside the park boundary. Another surveillance flight over park lands will be conducted by the state police on August 10th.
On August 3rd and 4th, a marijuana eradication task force comprised of park rangers, Searcy County sheriff's deputies, Arkansas State Police, Game and Fish Commission officers, and Forest Service and DEA agents began a search for plants in the vicinity of the park. Upon discovering a plot a mile and a half from the park boundary, the task force focused their search on the Middle River - Woolum area. As of the 4th, they had found 26 separate plots and destroyed a total of 2,677 plants, 43 of which were in the park. A large percentage of the plants are of the sensimilla variety and have an estimated value of approximately $3 million. Eradication efforts are continuing. (CompuServe message from Phil Young, RAD/SWRO).
On August 30th, an inter-agency task force of park rangers and officers from the Searcy County Sheriff's Office, Arkansas State Police and Arkansas Fish and Game Department found and destroyed 195 marijuana plants (55 of the sinsemilla variety) in the Cane Branch area of the park's Middle District. The value of the plants was placed at $195,000. (CompuServe message from Phil Young, RAD/SWRO).
Some time before September 6th, D.M. of Benton, Arkansas, apparently fell asleep at the wheel of his 1986 Chevy pickup and went over a 60 foot cliff about a half mile south of the Highway 14 bridge in the park. The vehicle and D.M.'s body were discovered by a state highway crew on the 6th, and the park was notified the following day. (CompuServe message from Phil Young, RAD/SWRO).
On September 7th, rangers joined personnel from the Forest Service, Arkansas State Police, Arkansas Game and Fish Department and the local sheriff's department in a combined effort to locate marijuana plots on park, forest and private lands in Searcy County. Due to the rough terrain and limited access, rangers and county officers searched on horseback, while the state police employed a helicopter with an aerial spotter. No plants were found in the park, but approximately 2,000 plants were found and destroyed on seven plots on private lands adjacent to the park. (CompuServe message from BUFF).
The heavy rains in the south central states led to significant flooding in the park late last week. Over six inches of rain fell between the early morning hours of May 1st and 10 a.m. on the 3rd. The following river heights and impacts were recorded at stations along the river, moving successively from upstream down to the confluence with the White River: * Ponca - The river crested at 15.9 feet at 8:30 a.m. on the 3rd, then dropped to 7.7 feet 24 hours later. The water flowed over Highway 43, which parallels the river in Boxley Valley. Damage at the park's access site was unknown as it was still under water. * Steel Creek - River readings were the same as at Ponca. The rising water briefly threatened the ranger station there. Damage at this point is also not yet known. * Kyles landing - One comfort station washed away; others were completely submerged when the river crested, but remained in place. * Erbie - A portion of the campground and access area were submerged. Total damage is not yet known, but road damage is probable. Several picnic tables were also pulled from their anchors. * Pruitt - The river crested at 24.5 feet at 2 p.m. on the 3rd, then dropped to 12 feet by 7 a.m. the following day. Road erosion and loss of signs are probable. * Tyler Bend - The river crest reached 38.6 feet at Highway 65 at 5 p.m. on the 3rd - the sixth highest level recorded in recent history. It was down to 27.3 feet at 6 a.m. on the 4th. Pavement peeled up throughout the campground there, and the campground was closed. * Buffalo Point - The river crested at 46 feet at 1 a.m. on the 4th, then fell back to 41.8 feet by 6 a.m. Only one loop of the campground was opened on Friday. * Rush - The campground was closed due to damage to the access road. (Carl Hinrichs, CR, BUFF, via CompuServe message from RAD/SWRO, 6 p.m. EDT, 5/4/90).
On September 19th, four rangers from the park's Middle District found and destroyed 95 marijuana plants near the river access at Mount Hersey. Of these, 88 were sinsemilla plants. All were located in an isolated area of the park where such activity was suspected. The plants were found during an overflight conducted by an NPS contract helicopter. Cooperating agencies included the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and Arkansas State Police. (Carl Hinrichs, CR, BUFF, via CompuServe message from RAD/SWRO, 9/21).
D.K., 18, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, was hiking in the Indian Creek area of the park with three companions on March 30th when she fell down a steep slope and hit a tree. D.K. complained of pain in her leg, pelvis and lower back. Rangers from the park and paramedics from North Arkansas Medical Center stabilized D.K. and evacuated her to a temporary helispot near Kyles Landing Campground. She was then transported to the center by helicopter, where she was treated and released the following day. [Telefax from George Oviatt, Acting CR, BUFF, 4/2]
Twelve visitors who were camped on the Gilbert gravel bar were caught by rising water which turned the bar into an island on the evening of April 12th. Local residents saw lights at the camp, woke the campers, and notified rangers at Tyler Bend that a rescue might be necessary. The campers, assisted by rangers, were able to drive three of their six vehicles off the bar through approximately three feet of water, but were unable to get the remaining three vehicles a 1989 Topaz, a 1987 Hyundai and a 1980 GMC truck to shore because of the rising water. Rangers removed the group's camping gear from the site by boat early the next morning, then moved the vehicles to the highest ground on the bar and lashed them to willow trees with chains and webbing in an attempt to keep them from washing down the river. By Sunday morning, the vehicles were entirely submerged and considered to be totally lost. Attempts will be made to recover the vehicles today if the river drops low enough. The access road to the gravel bar is posted with a sign warning campers that the area is subject to flooding. [CompuServe message from Dan O'Brien, Acting CR, BUFF, 4/15]
R.R., 28, of Springfield, Missouri, was hiking with friends near Hemmed-in-Hollow on the afternoon of the 18th when he lost his footing on the edge of a bluff and fell 50 feet into a drainage. Members of his party contacted rangers at Kyles campground, and a rescue operation was immediately begun in conjunction with local paramedics, volunteers and SAR and rescue teams. Rescuers hiked in four miles to reach Robinson. Paramedics and park rangers provided initial emergency care, then prepared R.R. for a two-mile carryout to a helicopter landing zone. The helicopter transported R.R. to a regional hospital, where he is currently listed in critical condition with multiple fractures of the left leg and arm, a punctured lung and internal injuries. (Nell Dubbs, BUFF, via CompuServe message from RAD/SWRO, 5/21]
J.C. of Seligman, Missouri, drowned on May 15th when he and a friend tried to swim the river while it was in its flood state. Rangers recovered his body several miles downstream the same evening. [CompuServe message from Bill Tanner, RAD/SWRO, 5/29]
Rangers received a report of an injured man and two children stranded in the lower level of Cave Mountain cave in the park's Upper Buffalo District on July 25th. Responding rangers found J.H. of Alpena, Arkansas, and his two daughters, ages 11 and 14, at the bottom of a 40-foot drop, which they had descended by climbing hand-over-hand down a one-and-a-half inch diameter manila rope. J.H. had attempted to climb back out, became fatigued near the top, lost his grip, and fell approximately 40 feet to a slide below. The park's search and rescue team was called in and conducted a technical raise to evacuate Hodge by litter. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was found to have suffered a fractured arm, fractured ribs, a punctured lung and a bruised kidney. [Carl Hinrichs, CR, BUFF, via CompuServe message from Bonnie Winslow, RAD/SWRO, 7/30]
On October 1st, a late-season eradication effort employing private aircraft resulted in the discovery of a marijuana plantation containing 101 plants in the Upper Buffalo River district. Rangers Campbell and Roe seized the plants, which were valued at about $150,000. This search followed an extensive eradication effort conducted with the assistance of the Fifth Army a few weeks earlier. Air detection flights, ground searches and river patrols have led to the discovery and eradication of 516 marijuana plants in numerous plantations in the park so far this year. [Colin Campbell, LES, BUFF, via CompuServe message from Jim Radney, RLES, RAD/SWRO, 10/16]
While on patrol near Silver Hill on the afternoon of October 22nd, ranger Tracy Whitaker observed smoke billowing from the home of F.P., a long-time resident of the area and park neighbor. Whitaker summoned assistance, determined that the residence was unoccupied, then joined ranger Dale MacMillan and maintenance workers Chester Stark and Dan Jackson in efforts to protect adjacent park housing and secure what property of Patterson's that they could reach. The house was fully involved within 15 minutes of Whitaker's report and was totally destroyed. Even though there were numerous spot fires in the park, no park buildings were lost. [Colin Campbell, Acting CR, BUFF, via CompuServe message from Lori Serrano, RAD/SWRO, 10/24]?
On the afternoon of November 17th, rangers received a report of a dead elk in the Erbie area and investigated along with an officer from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. The carcass of a bull elk was found and a bullet was retrieved from the remains. Following an investigation by the two agencies, a 21-year-old resident of Harrison, Arkansas, was arrested at his work place and charged with illegally taking the elk. He is currently being held in a county jail on a $5,000 bond. The elk was part of a herd of Rocky Mountain elk introduced into the area outside the park between 1981 and 1985. Arkansas' native species, the Eastern elk, was extirpated from the state by the 1840's and is now considered extinct. The current Rocky Mountain elk population in Arkansas is estimated at between 150 and 200 animals, almost all of them ranging within the upper and middle portions of the park. [John Apel, Acting CR, BUFF, via CompuServe message from Lori Serrano, RAD/SWRO, 11/19]
A search is currently underway for L.W. of Mabelville, Arkansas, whose canoe overturned in the river on the afternoon of Saturday, June 13th. A trained lifeguard who witnessed the incident swam out to help L.W. and threw him a life jacket, but was unable to reach him. L.W. entered a series of rapids and disappeared shortly thereafter. He has not been seen since. The river was high and murky at the time of the incident, and only experienced canoers were being allowed on the river. L.W. and his brother had rented a canoe from a concessioner who had questioned them about their experience. The park is checking the area by boat and has teams walking the shoreline. A Missouri SAR dog team was to join them yesterday morning. [Carl Hinrichs, BUFF, via cc:Mail message from Bonnie Winslow, RAD/SWRO, 6/15]
Search teams found the body of L.W., 20, of Little Rock, Arkansas, on the afternoon of Tuesday, June 16th. L.W. and his brother R. were canoeing on the river on the 13th when their canoe capsized in the Shine-eye Shoal about a mile below the Highway 65 river access. The search effort involved as many as 34 people and three air-scenting search dog teams. Divers from the park and county sheriff's office were first used on Tuesday after river levels dropped and water visibility improved. The body was found by a local boat operator with an NPS observer at a point just over two miles downstream from the location of the incident. [John Linahan, SUPT, BUFF, 6/17]
A regional Rainbow gathering was held on Forest Service land adjacent to the park's lower wilderness area between October 16th and 20th. About 100 people participated. On the 24th, approximately 30 of them hiked into the wilderness area, where the 1975 national Rainbow gathering was held. Since the 24th was the opening day of muzzleloader deer season and the area was experiencing dry fire conditions, rangers and Forest Service law enforcement personnel monitored the group's activities and made contacts with deer hunters and other park visitors. No incidents of conflicts between the group and hunters occurred. [RAD/SWRO, 10/29]
On February 28th, rangers Rod Turner and Barry Munyan discovered that a government-owned structure had been vandalized in Boxley Valley. Doors had been removed from the structure and some of the windows had been damaged. A section of the fence around the structure and boards from a nearby shed had been removed and burned. An abandoned vehicle found at the scene contained evidence which may be linked to the incident. Another building in the same area had similar damage. Damage estimates are placed at $1,500. The investigation is continuing. [George Oviatt, ACR, BUFF, 3/5]
On March 27th, a party comprised of two men and two women set up camp near a bluff at the Lock Head Barn area. When one of the women awoke shortly after the group retired that evening, she found that her companion was missing. They searched the area and found his body in the water about 40 feet below the bluff. Investigating rangers believe that he was preparing to go to sleep when he fell, since his boots and watch were found at the campsite. An investigation is underway. The county coroner will conduct an autopsy. [Bob Howard, BUFF, 3/29]
On May 9th, rangers received a report from the Newton County sheriff's office that an assault had occurred at Carver Landing. Two individuals from the local community who had been involved in a prior shooting incident outside the park got into a fist fight. One of them picked up a stick or pipe and hit the other on the head numerous times. The victim was taken to a local hospital and placed in intensive care. The assailant was arrested by county deputies on the 14th and will be tried in state court. [Bob Howard, LES, BUFF, 5/27]
A 13-year-old girl fell from the top of Eden Falls in the Lost Valley area of the park on May 22nd and fractured both her knees. She'd been hiking around the top of the falls when she slipped and fell about 30 feet. Rangers Tim Francis, Rod Turner, Jim Capra, Barry Munyon, Glen Dodson and Rusty Wright responded, stabilized her injuries, and carried her a mile and a half to a waiting ambulance. [Bob Howard, LES, BUFF, 5/27]
On the evening of June 19th, Upper District rangers responded to a complaint of drunk and unruly persons in Ozark campground. When they arrived they learned that a member of a group playing volleyball there had been seriously assaulted. That person had been confronted by a man named S.H., and the two had had an argument over a mutual female acquaintance. S.H. had picked up a piece of firewood, hit the victim six to eight times, then fled the area at a high rate of speed. The victim was treated and a search for S.H. was begun. S.H. later turned himself in at the Boone County sheriff's office and was taken to the Newton County jail and charged with felony assaults. Three other drunk and disorderly arrests were also made in that campground over the weekend. [Carl Hinrichs, BUFF, 6/21]
On the morning of June 26th, J.F., age 19 or 20, of Elm Springs, Arkansas, apparently lost his grip on a rope while rappelling with a friend and fell an unknown distance from the top of Hemmed-in-Hollow. J.F. suffered back injuries, possible internal injuries, rope burns on his hands, and severe lacerations to his hands. An interagency rescue was initiated; J.F. was transported about a mile to a helicopter landing spot, where he was flown by helicopter to Baptist Hospital in Little Rock. [Carl Hinrichs, CR, BUFF, 6/27]
J.G. appeared at the Marion County sheriff's office on the afternoon of July 19th and reported that his wife, L.M., had drowned while they were camped along the Buffalo River in the lower wilderness area earlier that day. J.G. said that he found his wife missing when he woke up that morning, that he found her clothes on the river bank, and that he subsequently discovered her body in shallow water a short distance downstream. J.G. reported that he then retrieved her body, wrapped it in plastic and a tarp, paddled down river to his car, and drove 50 miles to the sheriff's office to report her death. The body was sent to the state medical examiner's office for an autopsy. Park and state investigators returned to the scene on that afternoon and began an investigation. Later that day, information was received from a number of the victim's friends in their hometown of Wichita, Kansas, indicating that the couple had been having marital problems, that J.G. had allegedly abused his wife in the past, and that L.M. was planning to leave him. State homicide investigators will be travelling to Kansas to continue the investigation. NPS investigators will be assisting. [Bob Howard, BUFF, 7/21]
On the morning of Tuesday, July 26th, G.S., 39, of Pettigrew, Arkansas, travelled to Cave Mountain cave in the park's upper district with his 14-year-old son and a teenage friend. G.S. told the youths to go into the cave and said he would join them as soon as another friend arrived. After an hour, the teenagers returned to the car and found G.S. sitting in the seat of his car. They heard him snoring and thought he was asleep or playing a joke on them; when he failed to respond, they checked him more closely and found blood coming from him and a pistol on his lap. They reported the incident at a nearby farmhouse, and rangers and county officers responded. G.S. was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, then flown to St. John's Hospital in Springfield, Missouri, where he was pronounced dead. G.S. had a history of depression and previous suicide attempts. [Bob Howard, BUFF, 7/29]
Ranger Tracy Whitaker stopped a vehicle for unsafe operation in the Tyler Bend campground on August 18th. During routine checks on the vehicle and the driver's license, Whitaker found that both the tag and vehicle were stolen. Seventeen ounces of marijuana were found in the vehicle during the subsequent search. The driver, a 17-year-old male, was found to be wanted by police in Monticello, Arkansas, in conjunction with the theft of four vehicles earlier in the month, and was turned over to authorities from that community. Park charges are pending. [Carl Hinrichs, BUFF, 8/19]
M.T., 35, of Midway, Arkansas, drowned while swimming at the confluence of the Buffalo and White Rivers with two friends late on the evening of July 3rd. Alcohol may have been involved. The county sheriff's office responded and is conducting a joint investigation with park rangers. [Carl Hinrichs, CR, BUFF]
On September 2nd, rangers received a tip from a park neighbor that someone was digging ginseng in the park. Two rangers found a four-wheeler parked near the park's boundary and staked it out. About three hours later, L.H. was seen exiting park property and approaching the vehicle. He was dressed in camouflage and carrying a .357 magnum, a mattock, and a pillowcase with 91 freshly dug ginseng roots. The ginseng, tools, and gun were seized, and mandatory court appearance citations were issued. L.H. said he was carrying the gun to protect himself from marijuana growers. [Bob Howard, LES, BUFF]
F.C., 85, of Chester, Illinois, was killed and three others were injured in a two vehicle accident on Paradise Hill south of Pruitt ranger station on September 15th. The driver, O.Z., lost control of her vehicle on the wet and slippery roadway and slid under the rear wheels of a tractor-trailer. The accident was investigated by state police. [CR, BUFF]
During the month of September, rangers located, seized and destroyed 101 marijuana plants in the park. The estimated value of the plants has been placed at $100,000. Rangers were assisted by three local sheriffs' departments, state police, and state game officers. [Bob Howard, LES, BUFF]
A.C., 20, of West Fork, Arkansas, fell about 20 feet from the mouth of Horseshoe Cave on the afternoon of November 4th, sustaining internal injuries, broken ribs and a punctured lung. The park was notified by the county sheriff's office, and a joint rescue effort was launched. A.C. was stabilized and carried down the Indian Creek drainage to Kyles campground, where he was medevaced to a hospital in Fayetteville for further treatment. [CRO, BUFF]
A tractor trailer hauling liquified chicken fat rolled over on Highway 21 at the south end of Boxley Valley historic district on the afternoon of February 26th. Approximately 3,000 gallons of liquified chicken fat spilled from the rig along with diesel fuel and antifreeze from the tractor. Tyson Chicken, based in northwest Arkansas, is handling the cleanup. The company, which is the largest chicken supplier in the country, has averaged three to four such accidents in the park each year, and negotiations are now underway in an effort to get them to reroute their trucks away from the park. [Bob Howard, LES, BUFF]
On May 18th, park and county personnel conducted an extensive search of Cave Mountain cave for an 18-year-old male who became separated from his group. The cave was wet, and the temperature within was 53 degrees. Although he had a flashlight, he was dressed only in a T-shirt, shorts and tennis shoes and had neither food nor water. The park didn't learn that he was missing until more than five hours had passed. He was found 13 hours after becoming lost, and was in the advanced stages of hypothermia when evacuated from the cave. [Carl Hinrichs, CR, BUFF]
A party of adults and children were canoeing a stretch of the river west of Tyler Bend at sunset on July 16th when they head several gunshots from a bluff overlooking the river. They immediately noticed splashes in the water within 15 feet of their canoe, realized that they were being shot at, and took cover on the shore. They yelled towards the bluff, and were answered by one more shot fired in their direction. No one was injured. Rangers received the report the next day and recovered several .22 caliber shell casings from the area. They also made plaster casts of footprints found on the bluff. The investigation is continuing. [Bob Howard, LES, BUFF]
On August 22nd, rangers received a report of a fatal shooting at the Cedar Creek access to the Buffalo River from the county sheriff's office. D.L., 45, of Flippen, Arkansas, had been standing at the side of a vehicle driven by C.J., also of Flippen, when C.J. pointed a rifle out of the window. The rifle discharged, striking D.L. in the face and killing him instantly. Witnesses stated that C.J. and D.L. were good friends and that the shooting was an accident. C.J. initially left the scene, but later returned and turned himself in to police. Rangers and FBI agents are assisting in the investigation. Local authorities have charged C.J. with manslaughter. [Bob Howard, LES, BUFF]
During the three-day period from September 11th to the 13th, rangers and local officers conducted annual marijuana detection operations in and around the park. Helicopter spotters detected 205 plants in eight locations within and immediately adjacent to park property. The estimated value of the destroyed plants has been placed at $190,000. [Bob Howard, LES, BUFF]
On May 28th, a local resident reported that the historic Whiteley School was on fire. Responding rangers found that the unused, one-room frame school house had burned to the ground. The school was listed on the National Register of Historic Structures and served Boxley Valley residents from 1913 until World War II. Arson is suspected. An investigation is being conducted by rangers, Searcy County deputies, and Arkansas state police. [Bob Howard, LES, BUFF, 5/29]
On August 22, 1996, local residents D.L., 55, and C.J., 36, were partying with others at the Cedar Creek access to the buffalo River when C.J. pointed an SKS assault rifle at D.L. from the window of his vehicle. The weapon discharged a single round, which struck D.L. in the face, killing him instantly. Witnesses stated that C.J. and D.L. were good friends and that the shooting was an accident. Local authorities, state police, FBI agents and rangers conducted an investigation which led to charges of second degree murder being filed against C.J. On August 5th, he was tried in county circuit court. C.J. was found guilty of negligent homicide, a lesser charge, and was sentenced to a year in the county jail and a $1,000 fine. [Bob Howard, LES, BUFF, 8/6]
On August 21st, rangers apprehended M.F., 33, and J.S., 29, of Harriett, Arkansas, in the McCutcheon Gap area of the park as they returned to their vehicle after digging ginseng roots. Rangers were investigating a suspicious vehicle when a passerby indicated the occupants were probably collecting golden seal - like ginseng, a plant collected commercially for its medicinal purposes. They staked out the vehicle for several hours until the couple emerged from park property, carrying picks and pillow cases containing a total of 106 ginseng roots. The ginseng and picks were seized and mandatory court appearance citations were issued. Another individual was cited on August 23rd for collecting five ginseng roots in the park. Ginseng collecting is legal under state law; intense pressure on private and Forest Service land has seriously depleted ginseng at those locations, however, and resulted in increased illegal collecting on park land. Buyers are currently paying approximately $300 per pound for the roots. [Bob Howard, LES, BUFF, 8/27]
A southbound tractor trailer contracted to Tyson's Chicken Corporation went out of control on a curve on Highway 7 near the Pruitt ranger station around noon on September 10th, rolled over, slid along the pavement, and struck an embankment on the shoulder of the northbound lane. The driver, S.J. of Clarksville, Arkansas, was killed when he was ejected from the vehicle. The truck was carrying 27,800 pounds of liquid sludge, a by-product of chicken processing. About 200 gallons of sludge leaked from the trailer. Park personnel used sawdust to build a containment dike to prevent the material from entering a nearby river. Eight park employees witnessed the accident, as they were just adjourning from a safety committee meeting which had been held in the area. Assisting agencies included the local sheriff's department, state police, and local fire and ambulance crews. The majority of the cleanup was handled by a contract crew and was completed by the following day. [Gary Kiramidjian, DR, BUFF, 9/11]
During the first few days of September, rangers, state game officers and members of the local drug task force conducted marijuana detection flights over the park. A total of 107 plants - some as tall as ten feet - were located and destroyed. The plants were all near each other along a remote section of the river in the park's middle district. Evidence indicates that the growers were reaching the plants by horseback. The estimated value of the plants has been placed at $100,000. No suspects have yet been identified. [Bob Howard, LES, BUFF, 9/10]
On Sunday, September 28th, K.D., 21, of Rodgersville, Missouri, was free-climbing with his brother at the remote Hemmed-In-Hollow Falls area when he lost his footing and fell about 35 feet to the scree slope below. K.D.'s brother used a cell phone to call for assistance. Responding rangers found K.D. conscious and unable to move his legs; he was also suffering from head, ankle, and internal injuries. K.D. was carried about a mile to a helispot, then evacuated to a hospital in Springfield, Missouri, where he's listed in good condition. The rescue effort involved five rangers, 16 members from volunteer fire departments, two employees form the county emergency service's office, and two ambulance paramedics. Due to the difficulties involved in reaching K.D. and carrying him out, the entire operation took about 10 hours. [Jeff West, PR, BUFF, 10/1]
On August 21st, rangers apprehended M.F., 33, and J.S., 29, of Harriett, Arkansas, in the McCutcheon Gap area of the park as they returned to their vehicle after digging ginseng roots. During questioning, they admitted to digging in the park. They appeared in federal magistrate's court on November 4th, pled guilty to illegal plant collecting on park land, and were fined $500 each. [Bob Howard, LES, BUFF, 11/7]
On January 12th, E.E., 35, and P.H., 37, were arrested for illegally killing a three year old bull in the Margaret White area of the park. On February 11th, both were found guilty in state court; they were ordered to pay a total of $8,000 in fines and restitution, had their hunting licenses suspended for four years, and received suspended two year jail sentences. The elk was killed with a .22 magnum rifle on January 3rd. Information from a confidential informant led to rangers and state game officers serving a federal search warrant at the E.E. residence and interrupting family members who were eating elk steaks for dinner. [Bob Howard, LES, BUFF, 2/11]
On March 1st, a local resident advised the Searcy County sheriff's department that he'd found what he thought was a bomb in an old, abandoned home site in a remote section of the park. Rangers and deputies traveled to the site the next day and found the device in an old well house on the property. It consisted of a round metal cookie tin with black and red wire protruding from a hole in the top. The hole had been sealed with some type of putty, and the tin itself had been sealed. The man who reported it also said that he had lifted it up and found it to be heavy. The area was secured and a state police bomb technician was summoned from Fort Smith. The technician determined that the can contained a drilled-out CO2 canister surrounded with plaster of paris, and that it could not have gone off in its present condition. He could not tell what type of explosive was in the canister. The technician surmised that someone had been attempting to make a device that would explode when the lid opened, but that the builder did not have the expertise needed to complete it. The device had likely been at the site for several weeks or months. It was exploded on site. Rangers, deputies and state police officers are conducting a joint investigation. [Bob Howard, LES, BUFF, 3/3]
A college student conducting elk research in the park on March 4th discovered the body of M.S., 36, of Harrison, Arkansas, in his vehicle at a scenic pulloff in the Boxley Valley area of the park. A garden hose had been duct-taped to the exhaust pipe and was feeding carbon monoxide into the passenger compartment of the pickup. The student contacted a maintenance employee, who called rangers. The maintenance employee entered the vehicle, turned off the engine, and determined that M.S. had no pulse or respirations. County deputies investigated. A police "be on the lookout" message had been issued earlier in the day indicating that M.S. might be suicidal. Wal-Mart receipts found in the vehicle indicated that he had purchased the hose and duct tape earlier that day. The park is coordinating a CISD session for those involved in the incident. [Bob Howard, LES, BUFF, 3/5]
R.L., 17, of McGhee, Arkansas, was canoeing on the Buffalo River on June 4th with 60 members of a National Guard youth challenge program when he began experiencing cramps. He and his partner pulled their canoe to shore where the Little Buffalo River joins the Buffalo River. While standing in the water, R.L. suddenly fell and went underwater. Other members of the group pulled him to shore; he was not breathing, so they began CPR. It took 45 minutes for other canoeists to paddle downriver and locate rangers who were clearing a hazardous tree from the river. By the time the ranger and paramedics got to R.L., CPR had been underway for at least 90 minutes. Medical control eventually ordered it stopped. The medical examiner has ruled the cause of death to have been accidental drowning. [Bob Howard, LES, BUFF, 6/8 and 6/22]
One of the park's seasonal residences burned down in the early hours of Wednesday, August 26th. It was unoccupied at the time. A passing motorist saw the flames and reported the fire. The building, known as the Mill Creek house, was an old, two-bedroom farm house located about a mile from the Pruitt ranger station off Highway 7. A state arson dog and handler were called in to investigate; although the dog alerted at several points inside the house, there's no way to determine how long the scent had been there. Samples were collected and sent to the state crime lab for analysis. Evaluation of the electrical service panel suggests severe electrical arcing inside the box - sufficient to burn a hole in the panel door. The value of the house has been placed at approximately $30,000. [Bob Howard, LES, BUFF, 8/28; Bruce Cunningham, RLES, MWRO, 8/31]
During the first three days of September, rangers conducted flights over the park, searching for marijuana patches. They found 93 plants on private property immediately adjacent to the park's upper district and helped local deputies seize the plants. Evidence of a methamphetamine lab was also found at that location. Another 29 plants were found growing on a bluff along the river in the middle district; these were destroyed. A small patch was found on private property adjacent to the middle district and placed under surveillance. Deputies from surrounding counties and state wildlife officers assisted rangers in this operation. The value of the plants destroyed has ben placed at $121,000. [Bob Howard, LES, BUFF, 9/8]
The 17-year-old daughter of district ranger M.B. was found dead early on the morning of Sunday, September 27th, following an extensive, all- night search of the Woolum area of the park. The search was begun on Saturday night when L.B. failed to return home from a day hike near the family's residence within the park. Rangers, state police, deputy sheriffs and game wardens searched for her through the night. Tracking dogs followed a trail to the top of a large bluff, but were called off during the night due to the dangerous cliffs in the area. The search was resumed after sunrise on Sunday morning and searchers soon found her body atop a bluff overlooking the Buffalo River. A small caliber handgun was found at her side. The body and handgun have been sent to the state medical examiner's office. No suspects are being sought at this time. The investigation has been turned over to the state police. Critical incident stress debriefers are en route to the park from other areas to help staff and family cope with this loss. A memorial service will be held this morning at 11 a.m. at the Roller-Coffman Funeral Home in Marshall, Arkansas. Condolences may be sent to the family. Donations in her name may be made to L.B.'s favorite charities: World Wildlife Fund (PO Box 96555, Washington, DC 20077-7795), Defenders of Wildlife (1101 14th Street. NW #1400, Washington, DC 20005), and/or The Nature Conservancy (1815 North Lynn Street, Arlington, VA 22209). [Bob Howard, LES, BUFF, 9/28-29]
On December 11th, a park maintenance employee discovered that two buildings in the historic zinc-mining town of Rush had burned to the ground. Preliminary indications are that the fires occurred either on the evening of December 10th or early on the 11th. The unoccupied buildings, which are listed on the National Register of Historic Structures, were part of a turn- of-the-century historic district located in the Marion county section of the park. One of the buildings was a small frame house; the other was a large livestock barn located 100 yards away. There was no damage to any of the many other historic buildings located nearby. Rangers are conducting a joint investigation with Arkansas state police. An arson dog will go through the ashes today to search for accelerants. [Bob Howard, LES, BUFF, 12/11]
A 29-year-old woman was canoeing with a male companion on Steele Creek on April 26th when the canoe hit a rootwad, knocking her into the water. She was caught in the roots and trapped underwater for 10 to 15 minutes before she could be rescued. Repeated efforts were made to resuscitate her, but she was declared dead yesterday morning at Northern Arkansas Medical Center. [Ranger Activities, MWSO, 4/27]
On April 22nd, two visitors reported finding a human skull while searching for a backcountry camping site near the Mt. Hersey area of the park. Ranger Nick Stavroplus and a local FBI agent processed the area the next day and recovered the skull and several other skeletal pieces. A large hole in the ground was found nearby and is thought to be a grave. Other evidence in the area indicated that the body had likely been placed there in recent years. The bones have been sent to a forensic anthropologist for aging, determination of sex, and other assessments. The FBI has assumed the lead role in the investigation; the park and sheriff's office are assisting. [Bob Howard, LES, BUFF, 4/24]
Heavy rains caused area flooding and forced the closure of portions of river over the Memorial Day weekend. Several visitor vehicles were submerged by flood waters; an accurate count has not yet been made. A number of visitors were evacuated from the Rush campground, and rangers assisted at least 50 people caught by the flood. There were no injuries or deaths. Additional information pending. [Patty Rooney, BUFF, via MWRO, 5/31]
Heavy rains caused the river to quickly rise 13.5 feet, leading to numerous rescues: o Upper District - Rangers were called out at 4:30 a.m. by a report of stranded visitors with vehicles on the south side of Mt. Hersey. One of the vehicles got stuck, had to be abandoned, and was overtaken by flood waters. Rangers rafted from Steel Creek to Pruitt, picking up nine stranded canoeists who'd lost their canoes due to the river's rapid rise. Later that morning, the park received a warning that a wall of water eight to ten feet high was going to pass through the Erbie campground, which had to be evacuated. Rangers also retrieved a man struck in a tree at Ponca in the earlier afternoon. o Middle District - The river rose very quickly in the early morning hours. Gravel bars were checked for campers and vehicles, with several being moved to higher ground. Rangers went out on the river to check for anyone needing assistance. All tributary creeks were flooded; trees and power lines fell across park roads. Two people stranded in the middle of the river near Tyler Bend launch were rescued, and were three people and a vehicle on an island of high ground above Woolum near Blue Hole. o Lower District - At 5:30 a.m., a ranger checked remote monitoring sites via computer and discovered a four-foot rise at Highway 14 and a four-foot rise at Ponca. Eighteen people were moved from Water Creek. Campers at Rush campground were warned of the rising water and evacuated. While helping 15 people wade across Rush Creek, rangers and county SAR personnel became trapped for some time by rising waters. Rangers escorted another 13 people out of Cedar Creek. Numerous concession boats were secured, along with gear and private boats. Overall, 38 visitors were stranded by the fast-rising waters and rescued by park staff. [Carl Hinrichs, BUFF, 6/1]
A group of about 30 people went boating on the river on the morning of June 1st. Several members of the group stopped for lunch at Arnold Bend hole just after noon. One of them, R.M., went swimming without a life preserver. His wife and several others saw him go under and fail to resurface around 1 p.m. Rangers were notified two hours later. Park staff in three boats swept the river and searched the area with probing poles until 11 p.m., when the search was suspended for the night. Divers were to begin looking for his body the following morning. [Carl Hinrichs, BUFF, 6/2]
On August 1st, state, local, and federal agencies conducted raids on two methamphetamine labs in rural Marion County. One of the labs was less than a mile from the park boundary and near a tributary that feeds into the Buffalo River. Five people were arrested. Items seized included 14 grams of methamphetamine, 24 grams of marijuana, and 10 gallons of various chemicals used in methamphetamine manufacturing. Approximately six months ago, ranger Jeff West received information from a confidential informant that methamphetamine was possibly being manufactured along the Buffalo River. West worked closely with local and state investigators to identify suspects and conduct surveillance operations. Several of the suspects were already under indictment for manufacturing methamphetamine prior to this case. One of the labs contained numerous items stolen from a park concessioner's store and a park bulletin board. Some of the lab debris at the site was packed in Buffalo River mesh trash bags. One of the suspects had reportedly been making night johnboat runs along the river, which is very dangerous at this time of year. Suspicion is high that the suspects actually operated labs along the river and within the park. If so, it's likely that serious environmental damage has occurred there. The investigation continues. (Bob Howard, LES, BUFF, 8/15)
D. "M." T., 41, of Lancaster, Texas, was reported lost in the Point Peter area around 9 p.m. on Saturday, November 25th. D.T. had been deer hunting with his 17-year-old son, who last saw him at 11 a.m. when his father took a different trail to a nearby road. Rangers, Searcy County deputies, Arkansas Game and Fish employees and local residents began a search for him that night. They were later assisted by an Explorer SAR team and two dog teams. The dog teams and searchers were following D.T.'s trail early on the morning of the 26th when he appeared at a house located three miles from the point where he'd last been seen. He was cold and wet but uninjured. A total of 25 people were involved in the search. [Carl Hinrichs, BUFF, 11/27]
Six-year-old H.Z. became separated from her grandparents while hiking on a Forest Service trail near the park on the morning of April 29th. After searching for her for two hours with no results, the grandparents notified the county sheriff's office. The sheriff called the park and numerous other agencies for assistance. A large ICS operation was established; by late Monday, 200 searchers were on scene. Helicopters, dogs and horses are also being utilized. Search areas include some sections of the park. The girl is the daughter of a state prosecuting attorney and the search has attracted extensive media coverage. Park personnel are in various overhead positions. The area is extremely rugged, with numerous bluffs and steep slopes. Park staff with technical rock climbing skills are being used extensively. The search continues. [Bob Howard, Acting CR, BUFF, 4/30]
H.Z., the six-year-old girl who has been the subject of an extensive interagency search since April 29th, was found alive and unhurt on the afternoon of Tuesday, May 1st. H.Z. disappeared while hiking with her grandparents on Forest Service land adjacent to the park. She was found by two local residents searching on mules in the extremely rugged headwaters area of the Buffalo River. She had spent three days and two nights alone in the wilderness with no food or water, but suffered only minor scratches and mild dehydration. H.Z. was found approximately two miles from the spot last seen and just outside the park on USFS land. Thirty agencies participated in the search at its peak. Five helicopters were on scene, and there were several hundred searchers. Park employees Sammy Lail and Jeff West served as operations section chiefs. Eight other park staff served in various functions. Media coverage was extensive, with national coverage on the morning network news shows. (Bob Howard, Acting CR, BUFF, 5/3)
On July 9th, the Marion County Sheriff's Department and the Arkansas Fourteenth Judicial District Drug Task Force executed a search warrant on the Nathan Brooks residence adjacent to the park. Over 40 pounds of suspected marijuana, drug paraphernalia, suspected methamphetamine manufacturing equipment and chemicals, vehicles, and property were seized. Brooks is suspected of being a major supplier in the area, and is known to travel to Florida every four to five weeks. He was intercepted on Rush road near the park at the conclusion of one of those trips. His arrest resulted from a 19-month-long investigation conducted by Marion County SO and the National Park Service. National Park Service involvement came about when confidential informants working with the NPS supplied information about suspected drug sales occurring in the Rush area. Additional information was gathered when Brooks' adopted son became a suspect in the theft of an item from the Buffalo Point campground. He was later located at his residence on the Brooks property, where weapons, suspected marijuana, and other drug related paraphernalia were found. Additional information on vehicle activity to the Brooks property was gathered over a period of about 15 months. All of the information was put together in a search warrant affidavit by ranger Jeff West and a Marion County Sheriff's Department investigator. [Bob Howard, Acting CR, BUFF, 7/10]
On Wednesday, August 29th, rangers received a request from the Marion County sheriff to assist with serving a drug lab search warrant on a residence immediately adjacent to the Rush area of the park. The residence is accessible only by crossing through park property. It is located in very rough terrain and the park radios are the only communication that works in the area. Ranger Ben Hansel initially served as a lookout and radio relay on the access road that passes through the park. The sheriff then asked Hansel to backup his officers at the residence. As the sheriff and drug task force officers entered the front door, the suspect, Jamey Ply, ran out the back door where Hansel was stationed. Hansel ordered Ply to the ground at gunpoint. Deputies arrested Ply and six others in the residence, which contained a working methamphetamine lab. While officers were processing the scene, two more people arrived to purchase drugs. One was arrested on a warrant from Louisiana and the other for possession of marijuana. This is the second meth lab on the park boundary in that area in less than a year. [Bob Howard, LES, BUFF, 9/6]
Rangers received a report that a vehicle had been swept off the Erbie Low Water Bridge crossing of the Buffalo River on November 24th. The river had risen significantly due to overnight rains in the region. The occupants of the vehicle, a 1998 Ford pickup, had been deer hunting in the area. The driver, 44-year-old L.W. of Lead Hill, Arkansas, assisted his wife and a friend to shore as the truck was being swept downriver. The current then overwhelmed L.W., who had a new rifle slung across his chest and a .357 revolver in a holster on his hip. He was last seen about 300 meters downstream from his vehicle, which had sunk to the bottom of the river. A major search effort was begun immediately by the park and local search organizations. A medevac helicopter that was participating in the search had to make an emergency landing in the Erbie campground when it suffered a transmission failure on the first day of the search. There were no injuries. On November 27th, divers discovered L.W.'s body on the river bottom just below the point last seen. The truck was winched from the river that same day. Rangers Mike Smithyman and Jeff West (no relation to the victim) were incident commanders for the incident. [Bob Howard, LES, BUFF, 11/28]
On the afternoon of January 27th, N.T. and seven companions went climbing in Skull Pit, which is located near the Kyles Landing road in the park's Upper Buffalo District. N.T. was off-rope at the bottom of the 110-foot vertical pit as a companion was climbing near the top. The companion got her shirt stuck in a descending device; as she and another climber tried to extricate the shirt, they dislodged several rocks. They yelled out "rocks" and those below ran for cover. N.T., who had removed the chin strap from her helmet, lost her helmet in the process and was struck on the top of her head by an eight-inch diameter rock. Rangers were notified of the accident about a half hour later. The pit site is on a steep scree slope with extremely poor footing and shear drop-offs below the pit. It took about 30 minutes for rangers to arrive and assess the situation. The entire park SAR team was activated just before 5 p.m., with most members arriving by 6:15. The team had to utilize numerous ropes and a good deal of equipment to reach N.T.. She was raised to the top of the pit, brought up the next 150-foot section of steep scree slope with a "z" rig, then carried out over moderately steep terrain with the assistance of a low-angle belay. All this was done in the dark on very difficult, damp terrain. N.T. was taken by ambulance to Kyles Landing, then picked up by helicopter and flown to St. Johns Hospital. At the time of the report, she was listed in critical but stable condition with a depressed skull fracture and inter-cranial bleeding. Approximately 76 park employees and volunteers were actively involved in the rescue. [Bill Van Cott, Acting CR, BUFF, 1/29]
On the afternoon of February 5th, a park engine and crew responded to a mutual aid call to a trailer house fire outside the park along with a local VFD. The homeowner had tried to start a fire in his stove with an accelerant, causing a fire that destroyed the structure and seriously injured him. He was treated for inhalation injuries at the scene, then transferred to Baxter County Regional Hospital. There were several propane cylinders in the fire, but all vented without exploding. Both the structure and a nearby storage house were destroyed. Three engines and a 2000-gallon water tender were on scene. [Jeff West, BUFF, 2/5]
Around midnight on March 25th, three visitors - D.G., 21, M.M., 19, and Mi.M., age unknown - were exploring Indian Rockhouse, a large bluff shelter whose normally dry creek bed was flowing with about eight feet of water. The trio attempted to swim across this creek; D.G. and M.M. were swept away, but Mi.M. was able to make it back to shore and ran for help to the Buffalo Point ranger station. He used the pay phone there to call the county sheriff's office, which in turn notified the park. Ranger Jeff West was dispatched and became IC for the incident. Additional resources were called in and a hasty search was conducted in the area around the shelter and along the creek leading from the shelter to the Buffalo River, about a mile and a half away. County divers found the bodies of the two men in a pool of water inside the shelter the next morning. Participating agencies included the Marion County Sheriff's Department, Marion County SAR, Ralph Caney Volunteer Fire Department, Arkansas Game and Fish, and the NPS. A number of volunteers also participated in the operation. The Buffalo River had risen six feet in two hours earlier on the 25th; the sudden increase in river flow caught many boaters off-guard, necessitating the rescue of 15 stranded canoeists from various locations along the river. [Bob Howard, LES, BUFF, 3/28]
Ranger Sean Isham discovered a recently-killed cow elk that had been left to decay in a remote area of the park's middle district on April 6th. The elk was pregnant and would have soon delivered. A small portion of meat had been removed from the animal's back. A four-month investigation by the NPS, Arkansas Fish and Game and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service produced evidence that led to a confession by a local resident on July 26th. Statements indicate that the animal had been taken at night, after which the hunters decided to leave the dead animal in the field. State and federal charges are pending. Elk were reintroduced into this region of the park about twenty years ago. The herd has slowly increased in size to the point where a small hunt is now allowed each fall. Periodic poaching continues to be a problem. [Ron Parrish, Acting CR, BUFF]
On the afternoon of August 11th, visitors reported that a cave explorer had fallen from the first level to the third level of the first drop in Cave Mountain Cave. They also advised that he was responsive, but had sustained significant injuries. Park and local rescue personnel found that he had fallen about 40 feet, then tumbled down another 50 to 60 feet, and that he had sustained possible head injuries, abrasions and possible internal injuries. He could respond to directions, but was disoriented and confused. Six rescuers rappelled into the cave and prepared him for evacuation. He was raised from the cave, then transferred to an ambulance and taken to a hospital. At last report, he was in stable but guarded condition. The victim had been free-climbing in an area above the drop. Members of his group heard a noise and found that he'd fallen. About 40 people were involved in the rescue operation. [Tonya Fell, BUFF]
The park was notified of a possible drowning in the river adjacent to the Tyler Bend walk-in camping area on the afternoon of August 10th. Responding rangers found visitors administering CPR to a five-year-old boy. They continued caring for him until ALS personnel arrived shortly thereafter. The boy was flown to Baxter Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. An investigation is underway. [Tonya Fell, BUFF]
On April 6, ranger Sean Isham discovered a pregnant cow elk that had recently been shot, killed and left to decay in a remote area of the park's middle district. Only a small portion of meat had been removed from the animal's back. A four-month-long cooperative investigation by the NPS, Arkansas Game and Fish, and US Fish and Wildlife produced evidence that led to the confession by a local resident in July. J.M. confessed to shooting and killing the animal just a couple of hours before Isham found it. Arkansas state charges were filed, and J.M. was subsequently found guilty. On September 25, he was sentenced to ten days in jail, fined $4,200, and ordered to forfeit his weapons. Elk are a protected species within the park and throughout the state. Although elk are native to the Buffalo River area, they'd vanished by the 1840s. Between 1981 and 1985, a total of 112 Rocky Mountain elk were released at five sites in Newton County by Arkansas Fish and Game. Over 400 elk currently live in or adjacent to the park in Newton and Searcy Counties. Although surveys show that they are reproducing, elk deaths due to poaching, injuries and disease are slowing the increase in population. [Submitted by Bruce Cunningham, Law Enforcement Specialist, MWRO]
During the week of November 11, A.R. and his son, S.R., both from Fort Smith, traveled to the park in their motor home to enjoy a week of hunting. Members of their family talked with them via cell phone on Thursday; although they hadn't taken any game, they said that they were enjoying their trip. When the family was not able to contact them again by Sunday, November 17, a nephew drove to the park and located the motor home set up in the Point Peter area of the park. He was not able to find either of his relatives, though, so he contacted the Searcy County Sheriff's Office and reported the situation. Deputies and rangers checked the motor home and found that both R.s had died from unknown causes. The investigation and autopsy results revealed that the two men had succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning. The father and son had most likely gone to bed with the onboard generator running to power an electric heater. Inspection of the motor home revealed that the generator tailpipe was missing, allowing the exhaust to accumulate under the vehicle. There were holes in the same area of the floor around the ducting and wire passages, which allowed the deadly gases to enter. [Submitted by Robert Maguire]
Rangers and volunteer firemen responded to a single-vehicle accident in the park on Highway 14 just south of Dillards Ferry on the evening of Saturday, November 23. The driver, W.Y. of Little Rock, was entrapped in his BMW convertible. A nurse and bystanders had performed CPR for about 20 minutes; rangers called for additional assistance and assisted with CPR for another 15 minutes. Paramedics arrived on scene and contacted their hospital's emergency room physician, who declared W.Y. dead based on radioed information. W.Y. had been driving a winding section of the highway at a high rate of speed when he ran off the road and crashed into trees. He was driving with a suspended license and was not wearing a seatbelt. [Submitted by Robert J. Maguire, Chief Ranger]
Miller's Cabin, a historical structure within the park, was substantially damaged by a fire on Tuesday, December 3. Most of the structure was saved, although a dog and a fish died in the blaze. Local fire departments responded along with park staff. The structure is owned by the park, but leased to the Gorgas Science Foundation. The building is being rehabilitated, and a new piece of stove pipe for the cabin's wood stove was added to the outside of the chimney on Tuesday. The occupants started a fire in the stove in the afternoon, then departed. The person doing the rehab work lives across the street from the cabin and noticed smoke issuing from the building in the evening. He broke out one of the windows and knocked down most of the fire with a garden hose. It appears that the fire started in the attic and in close proximity to the stove pipe. [Submitted by Bob Maguire, Chief Ranger]
On the afternoon of Monday, May 19th, 19-year-old K.L. of
Waterloo, Iowa, fell from a 40 foot bluff located near Horseshoe Bend in
the park's Upper District. Rangers, Newton County deputies, first
responders, and air evac responded to the emergency call. They located
K.L. and found that he had landed on his back, was unconscious, and
had sustained severe head trauma. He was air lifted to the Springdale,
Arkansas, hospital, where he is listed in critical condition. He is
currently still unconscious and on life support. Alcohol may have been a
contributing factor to the accident. Rangers are still investigating the
cause of the incident.
On the afternoon of July 4th, 62-year-old P.A. of Rogers,
Arkansas, drowned at a popular swimming area called the Robinson Hole
near the Woolum Campground. At the point where P.A. swam across the
river, it's about 150 feet wide and up to 15 feet deep. When P.A.
reached the other side, it was obvious that he was having problems. A
13-year-old swimmer asked P.A. if he was okay and he replied that he
was fine. Approximately five minutes later, P.A. was found floating
face down at the edge of the river. Volunteer rescue personnel who were
swimming in the same area immediately pulled the victim from the water
and began CPR. Local EMS providers arrived a few minutes later and
continued care until the P.A. was flown to North Arkansas Regional
Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The Searcy County
Sheriff's Department, the Pindall, Gilbert and Saint Joe Fire
Department, Arkansas State Patrol, and Arkansas Game & Fish also
responded.
A search warrant was served at the residence of Buffalo National
River maintenance employee T.A.J. earlier this week. Government
property was located within his house, and T.A.J. subsequently confessed
to stealing chainsaws, radios, a paint sprayer, and other government
equipment and to selling some of these items on Ebay. The sold items
have been recovered and serial numbers match those of missing government
property. The US Attorney's Office in Fort Smith has agreed to file
charges for theft and sale of government property. T.A.J.
employment with the NPS has been terminated. The Office of the Inspector
General for the US Postal Service has also been notified of the sale of
government property through the U.S. mails.
During the three day period from April 22nd to April 24th, about ten
inches of rain fell on northern Arkansas. Two inches fell on Thursday
morning, followed by four inches on Friday and another four on Saturday
— the latter in just eight hours. These heavy rains caused the
Buffalo River to reach its highest flood level since the record floods
of 1982. In the Upper Buffalo District at Pruitt, the river surged from
3.7 feet to 32 feet. In the Middle Buffalo District near Tyler
Bend, the river stayed above the National Weather Service designated
flood stage of 27 feet for over two days. In the Lower Buffalo District
near Buffalo Point, the river rose more steadily beginning at five feet
and peaking at almost 50 feet. The superintendent closed the river on
Friday, as more rainfall was predicted for the weekend and rapidly
rising flood waters were already filled with dangerous debris. Due to
the timely closure, search and rescue operations were kept to a minimum.
A concessioner paddled his canoe against the current and saved a man who
had flipped his canoe and was holding onto a tree in the rising waters
at Ponca Bridge. Rangers saved a camper in the Lower Wilderness who had
lost his canoe during the night due to the rapidly rising flood waters.
Many vehicles had to be towed to safety, and it appears that only one
was lost to the river. This was a rare event in terms of both the scope
of the flooding and its duration. Flood damage reports currently
being received indicate widespread damage to recreational facilities,
bridges, roads and trails throughout the 135-mile-long river
park.
About two weeks ago, rangers started receiving reports of property
being stolen from canoes at a popular spot in the Ponca Wilderness along
the Buffalo River. The only access to the area is by canoe or foot. The
victims reported that someone was taking all the contents from their
canoes while they were away from them, hiking to the nearby Hemmed In
Hollow waterfall. Paddles and life jackets were left behind. Rangers
began area searches and surveillance. On May 3rd, ranger trainee Josh
Streby, field training ranger Lee Brumbaugh, ranger Mike Smithyman,
ranger James Griffin, and a state game and fish officer apprehended
D.M.A., a 40-year-old transient. Rangers saw D.M.A. acting
suspiciously in the area where the thefts had occurred and followed him
to a makeshift shelter in the next creek drainage upriver. They found
much of the stolen property in the camp. D.M.A. was arrested and
confessed to stealing many dry bags, coolers, clothing, money, credit
cards, and other personal effects from canoes over the past two weeks.
He claimed to have been living in the park for about six weeks. D.M.A.
is currently being held in the Newton County jail on state charges of
theft of property.
On the afternoon of June 13th, rangers and maintenance personnel
responded to a motor vehicle accident involving seven motorcycles and
two pickup trucks on Arkansas State Highway 14. When rangers
arrived on scene, they found that one motorcyclist was pinned under a
Chevrolet pickup truck, that a second was embedded in the windshield of
a Ford pickup truck, and that a third had suffered a broken ankle.
Four more motorcyclists laid down their motorcycles to avoid the
accident and received only minor injuries. The seven victims were
triaged by rangers. The most seriously injured motorcyclist was
the one who was entrapped under the pickup. He had a compromised airway
and was turning blue because his clothing was snagged on the
undercarriage of the truck. Ranger Jeff West cut the clothing from his
throat, which eased his breathing difficulties. Ranger April Wood
arrived with a floor jack and the rear axle was raised 6 inches to free
him. He was flown to a trauma center in Springfield and is listed in
critical condition. The man who struck the windshield of the Ford was
taken by ambulance to Baxter Regional Medical Center and is also in
critical condition. The cyclist with the broken ankle was also taken to
that hospital. Traffic on Highway 14 was blocked for the better part of
two hours. Numerous agencies assisted. Assisting West and Wood from the
park were ranger Angela Boyers and maintenance employee Doug
McClenethan. Field training ranger Tracy Whitaker and FLETC trainee
Patrick Gagnon assisted the Arkansas State Police with the accident
investigation.
On June 9th, the Searcy County Sheriff's Office received a tip that a
stolen motorcycle was located at South Maumee, a primitive camping area
along the river near Marshall, Arkansas. Ranger Robert Still met with
county deputies at South Maumee and found an abandoned motorcycle with
extensive damage located 15 yards off the roadway. A warrants check
revealed that it had been stolen from Morrilton, Arkansas. On June 13th,
using information from a tip, deputies attempted to contact suspect
Z.M. of Morrilton, who was reportedly armed with 9mm and .45
caliber handguns, at a local residence. Z.M. fled out the back door and
a foot pursuit ensued, with Z.M. evading capture. On June 15th,
another tip was received, this time reporting that Z.M. would be
traveling as a passenger through the park. Ranger Dale MacMillan was
asked to help three deputies with intercepting the car. That evening,
the car was spotted along Highway 65 near Grinder's Ferry river access.
MacMillan made a felony stop and ordered the occupants out of the car.
Z.M. was found hiding in the back seat of the vehicle after the driver
and another passenger were secured. He was not armed. Deputies arrested
him, and he is facing multiple state charges.
During the early morning hours of July 22nd, rangers were dispatched
to a stabbing incident at a remote, backcountry campsite along the river
in the Upper District. The victim was 19-year-old J.P.F. of
Green Forest, Arkansas. J.P.F.'s group had used a cell phone to call 911
for assistance. Initial reports indicated that J.P.F. was bleeding
heavily from the abdomen. The 911 dispatcher had already requested a
medevac helicopter to search an eight-mile stretch of river corridor
between Pruitt and Hasty, as the reporting party was unsure of the
group's exact location. They were asked to build a large campfire in
order to be spotted from the air, but there were pockets of thick fog
along the river bottoms. The helicopter spotted the group after about an
hour of searching. Meanwhile, local first responders, paramedics, and
rangers attempted to hike in to the victim using the helicopter for
direction. J.P.F. was given emergency treatment and was being loaded in
the helicopter just as ground searchers arrived in the area. He was
flown to St. John's Regional Medical Center in Springfield, Missouri,
where emergency surgery was conducted to close a large knife wound that
had penetrated his stomach. He is expected to survive. Rangers have
recovered the knife and interviewed a suspect and witnesses who were
part of the group. Midwest Region special agents are assisting by
interviewing the victim at the hospital. The 24-year-old suspect has
been charged with providing alcohol to minors. Assault charges are
pending.
While on patrol in the park's historic Rush Mining District on October 25th, rangers discovered that the historic Hicks Store (circa 1916) had burned and that there was still active fire in the remains of the house. The structure, which was unoccupied, was a total loss. The Hicks Store served as a residence, store, and later as a ranger residence; it was subsequently was removed from service. The rangers also found that someone had driven into the Morning Star site about a half mile from the store and had forcibly removed and stolen a park wayside exhibit with information about the barn that was at that location until it was destroyed by fire in 1998. It's not known if the two incidents are related. but evidence at the Morning Star suggests that it may have occurred at about the same time. An Arkansas State Police arson team was notified and offered
assistance with the case. Midwest Region has also sent personnel to
investigate.
Cave Mountain Cave, located in the Boxley area of the park, was
opened on May 15th to visitors after being closed for the winter for the
protection of the hibernating bats within. While exploring the
cave, one of the first groups to enter discovered dead bats scattered on
the floor of the cave and reported their finding to the park
geologist. Rangers and resource specialists began an investigation
and determined that upwards of 200 bats had been killed by a
firearm. It appears that someone entered the cave sometime during
the winter months while the bats were hibernating in large clusters,
making them easy targets on the cave ceiling. Special agents of the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service have also been notified and are assisting in
the investigation. A $1,000 reward is being offered for information that
leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons
involved.
On the afternoon of June 26th, a ranger contacted two men, one later identified as B.C., swimming in the Buffalo River near Pruitt. A records check of the subjects' vehicle showed that it was uninsured. As the ranger approached the two men, he saw open containers of alcohol on the dashboard, loud music coming from the vehicle and a dog off leash. When the ranger contacted B.C. and requested identification, B.C. responded with threatening and obscene language. As the ranger was requesting backup, B.C. aggressively charged him and threatened him with physical harm. The ranger was able to pepper spray B.C. as he was trying to punch him, but B.C. declined to obey the ranger's commands despite the effects of the spray. The ranger was punched in the left arm while placing B.C. in custody. B.C. was transported to the Boone County jail and was found to be intoxicated at the time of his arrest. Misdemeanor charges have been filed and the U.S. Attorney's Office is reviewing the case for possible felony charges.
On the afternoon of October 15th, a ranger was assisting two elderly women with a flat tire just outside the park boundary when a man rode by on a galloping horse. Although this was out of the ordinary, the ranger continued to change the flat tire. As he was clearing the scene, the horseback rider rode up to the ranger at a full gallop before coming to an abrupt stop, brandishing a machete over his head while shouting profanities. With the horseman only feet away, the ranger ordered him to drop his weapon and dismount while calling on his handheld radio for back-up. After several orders, the horseman dropped the machete and dismounted, continuing to shout profanities and yelling "go ahead, shoot me." The subject, who appeared extremely intoxicated, refused to comply with the ranger's orders, at which time pepper spray was used to gain compliance. A county deputy and a state trooper arrived soon after and assisted the ranger in arresting the man. Subsequent interviews indicate that he had been fighting with neighbors at the time. He is currently being held at the Searcy County holding facility on multiple state charges. The U.S. Attorney's Office was immediately notified and is considering filing federal charges against him. This is the second assault on a Buffalo National River ranger in which pepper spray had to be used in the last three months. [Bob Maguire, Chief Ranger]
During the early morning hours of October 16th, rangers were dispatched to a stabbing incident at the Erbie Campground in the Upper District. The suspects had already left the area when the rangers arrived and discovered a young man had been stabbed in the upper chest. He was transported by ambulance to a local hospital. The wound was not life threatening. Investigation has revealed that a group of five locals arrived at the campground around 1:30 a.m. and started harassing a group of campers who were not from the area. The primary suspect assaulted one person with his fists, an attack that resulted in broken facial bones. When a friend of the first victim got the suspect in a head hold, the suspect pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the upper chest. A middle-aged woman who was upset about the stabbing confronted the suspect and he threatened to use the knife on her. Witnesses said that the primary suspect had a wound to his right hand and was bleeding significantly when he left the scene. Although his vehicle had no license plate, good descriptions were obtained of the suspects and their vehicle. Friends of the victims lived in Harrison and heard information on the street as to the identity of the prime suspect. On October 18th, rangers contacted him and he agreed to be interviewed. On arrival at the Boone County Sheriff's Office, rangers noticed that his hand was bandaged. He eventually admitted to being at the campground that night. He claimed that he was so drunk that he didn't remember what happened. The main suspect is 23 years old and has an extensive criminal history. He voluntarily turned his bloody knife over to rangers and has a truck matching the description given by the witnesses. More interviews are planned with four other suspects. Felony assault charges are expected to be presented in federal court. [Submitted by Bob Howard, Upper District Ranger]
Late on the afternoon of October 22nd, rangers receive a report of a horseback rider who'd been thrown off his horse and injured on the Buffalo River trail near Richland Valley south of the Woolum River access. Two other riders who were accompanying the injured man rode out of the remote area, called for help, and eventually guided rangers and EMT's to his location. The victim, a heavy-set, 57-yer-old man from Quitman, Arkansas, sustained numerous injures from the fall, including head trauma, three broken ribs, and a broken clavicle, and was showing signs of shock. Due the rugged, heavily-wooded terrain, helicopter evacuation was not possible. He was accordingly placed on a wheeled litter, carried out two miles along a steep, rocky trail to a waiting ambulance, transferred to a medevac helicopter that landed on a temporarily closed highway, and flown to a hospital. [Robert McGuire, Chief Ranger]
Late on the afternoon of March 16th, the Newton County Sheriff's Department received a phone call from a woman in Webb City, Missouri, regarding her 34-year-old boyfriend, who had disappeared from Webb City three days previously. He had been calling her each day, threatening that he was going to kill himself. On this day, he called her at 2 p.m., telling her that he was at Western Grove, Arkansas, and that he intended to go to Cane Branch within the park "to think." If he did not hear from her by 4:30 p.m., something would happen to him. The woman was unable to reestablish contact with him, so drove to Arkansas by way of Springfield, Missouri, and contacted Newton County officers. At approximately 6:30 p.m., deputies from Newton and Searcy counties located the man and notified rangers. The man had ingested 10 to 20 Xanex pills and taken methamphetamines/marijuana. He's also run a tube from his car's exhaust into its back window. When deputies arrived on scene, they removed him from the vehicle, which was full of exhaust fumes. The man collapsed twice on scene prior to being transported to North Arkansas Medical Center by ambulance. He was admitted to ICU and is expected to recover. Notes and letters found inside the vehicle indicated that he intended to take his life in the park. The man had a previous history of depression, mental illness, and attempted suicide. [Robert Maguire, Chief Ranger]
Rangers received a call for assistance from a sheriff's detective with a wanted suspect at the Gilbert store about 100 yards north of the park boundary just after 9:30 a.m. on Monday, May 22nd. The suspect had attempted to pass a hot check to one of the park's concessionaires for a rental cabin. The proprietor of the business called the county after he contacted the man's bank to verify funds. Park dispatch ran a check on him and found that he was a wanted fugitive and had a history of drug possession, drug manufacture, battery, and resisting arrest. A ranger and the detective contacted the man, who resisted and fought with the officers but was eventually taken into custody on warrants. Further investigation revealed that three other persons were in the rental cabin, one of whom was a wanted fugitive. In securing the residence, a methamphetamine lab was discovered along with finished product and evidence of distribution. Other evidence collected suggested that they had defrauded three park concession operations in the Middle and Lower Districts. All four were arrested by county officers and charged with drug manufacturing/possession and fraud related charges. The investigation is continuing. [Bob Maguire, Chief Ranger]
On the afternoon of July 25th, a ranger was conducting a patrol of the lower end of Grinder's Ferry Access when he encountered a pickup truck stuck near the river's edge. Fresh cut vegetation had been placed under the vehicle in an attempt to free the vehicle. The ranger contacted the driver, Martin Matzenaur of Little Rock, Arkansas. After contacting him regarding both his stuck vehicle and the resource violations, the ranger noticed a large zip-lock bag of Sudafed pills lying on the front dash and a stash of rocks and other natural resources in the bed of the pickup. A consent search of the vehicle revealed that Matzenaur and his female companion were in possession of over one hundred ephedrine pills, over 10 grams of methamphetamine, and about $17,000 in cash. Both had extensive drug histories. They were arrested and the case was turned over to the sheriff's department and drug task force. Matzenaur was held on a no bond warrant for parole violations and returned to the custody of the department of corrections. His companion is currently being held on drug possession and distribution charges. The street value of the methamphetamine is believed to be from $2,000 to $3,000. [Robert Still, Middle District Ranger]
On Friday, November 24th, rangers received a report of smoke in the park's Middle District near the town of Gilbert. Responding rangers and local volunteer firefighters discovered a blaze covering several acres of park land. During the initial response, firefighters reported gunshots in their immediate vicinity, and rangers took measures to protect them while working the fire's edge. The source of the gunfire was not located, but evidence was recovered at the fire site and in the nearby area. The NPS investigation led to the identification of two suspects who have since confessed to the fire. The two also admitted to illegally taking wildlife and being involved in several other crimes in the park. Two additional fires that were discovered nearby the following day are still under investigation. [Robert Still, District Ranger, Middle District]
On the morning of Friday, December 1st, rangers Noel Mays and Eric Oaks contacted a man at the Rush Mine trailhead about an expired license plate on his truck. A driver's license check revealed an outstanding warrant from Georgia for a probation violation stemming from a vehicular homicide conviction. The 1995 warrant and extradition were confirmed and the man was placed under arrest. A .22 caliber revolver was found in his backpack. The man has been charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office as a felon in possession of a firearm. He will remain in jail in Arkansas until his pending federal charges are resolved. [Jeff West, Lower District Ranger]
During the afternoon of Saturday, March 10th, a group of 15 men and women in their early 20's set up camp at Steel Creek Campground. Members of the group apparently knew each other from working at the Olive Garden restaurant in Fayetteville, Arkansas. A law enforcement ranger made contact with them after 4 p.m. and warned them about their loud radio and group size, instructing them to spread out to more than one campsite. After the ranger left, two men in their early 20's on horseback stopped at the campsite and offered rides to several of the women. The pair continued to hang out with the group into the evening, when group members began to consume a considerable amount of alcohol. A man in the camping group did not like the advances that one of the riders was making toward his girlfriend and made a racial comment to him. The two men then began yelling and cursing at each other. The two horseback riders broke away, loaded up their horses, and left the campground around 7:30 p.m. They returned in a different vehicle around 11 p.m., but with another five to ten men with them. A confrontation followed with the camping group, with one of the riders striking people with a metal pipe. The other rider apparently tried to stop the fight, but the jealous boyfriend confronted him. The girlfriend got in between the two men and was struck in the head by the rider when he attempted to punch the boyfriend. Another man in the camping party grabbed the pipe and began repeatedly striking the rider on the head and back. At about 12:30 a.m., the Newton County Sheriff's Office received a call reporting a fight in progress with weapons involved and a possible fatality. Deputies, Arkansas state troopers, rangers and an ambulance company responded to the remote location. The groups had in the meanwhile separated. As the group of locals returned to their vehicle, they vandalized two parked cars. Before driving away, they made the comment that they were high on crystal meth and that nothing could hurt them. Based on information provided by one of the reporting parties, two of the men were immediately apprehended at their homes in Compton, Arkansas. Other units at the campground began treating injuries and taking witness statements. Two men from the camping group were transported to Northern Arkansas Regional Medical Center in Harrison, Arkansas, where they were treated for minor injuries and released. The two men who were arrested in Compton refused to provide information on the identities of the others involved. Both were charged by Newton County with third degree battery and disorderly conduct. One of the men in the camping party was charged with the same offenses. [Lee Buschkowsky, Upper District Ranger]
On the evening of Wednesday, May 18th, rangers met with a woman at Pruitt Landing who'd reported that her 19-year-old son and six-year-old granddaughter were missing from a kayaking trip on the river. She told rangers that the two had last been seen kayaking down the river from Pruitt sometime after noon and that they were supposed to try out the kayak, then return to Pruitt within the hour. Her son had invited his niece to go along, and she sat in front of him in the single-person kayak. The pair were dressed in swimwear and lifejackets and had just one bottle of water with them. Rangers from the Upper and Middle Districts attempted to locate the pair at various river access points downriver to Woolum Landing, approximately 26 miles away from Pruitt, while a kayak was launched from Pruitt to begin searching down the river. Several campers along the river reported seeing the kayak go by with the man paddling strongly and singing loudly, showing no signs of stopping. By 10:30 p.m., fog rising off the river dramatically reduced visibility and the river operation was halted until first light on Thursday. The parents described their son, a college student, as a genius, but very much lacking in common sense. They did offer some encouraging information, though - he had recently completed formal survival training. Overnight lows along the river dipped down below 40 degrees. An NPS johnboat was immediately launched in the morning, and searchers found the pair alive and well along the river approximately 23 miles from Pruitt. The man said that he was a "paddling machine" who didn't think about turning around until it started getting dark, despite numerous opportunities to stop and ask for help along the way. He at least used his recently acquired survival skills to stay warm overnight by building a large leaf pile and huddling in it with his niece. They were boated three miles downriver to the Woolum access, where they were reunited with other members of their family. [Lee Buschkowsky, Upper District Ranger]
Rangers Noel Mays, Eric Oaks, and Karl Keach (a field training program ranger) were driving home after completing firearms qualifications around 9 p.m. on May 9th when they were flagged down by a motorist just outside the park on Highway 7. They saw a man lying in a ditch and two women standing on the road. The women said that the man in the ditch had been severely beaten with a baseball bat, and that his assailant was still in the area and threatening another person. Rangers Lee Brumbaugh and Kelly Charbonneau arrived on scene shortly thereafter. Oaks and Charbonneau treated the injured man while Mays, Brumbaugh and Keach approached the residence where the assailant was located. The assailant - B.C. - retreated back into the house after the rangers contacted him and barricaded himself inside with another person. B.C. then fled from the area, but was later arrested by Newton County Sheriff's Department officers. Charges against him are pending. The injured man was taken to North Arkansas Regional Medical Center, where he's reported to be in critical condition. B.C. is currently on federal probation for assaulting a ranger two years ago. [Robert Maguire, Chief Ranger]
The body of a 43-year-old man was recovered by rangers from the Buffalo River near Carver Landing on the morning of May 16th. The man had been reported missing by his family after failing to return home the previous night. The man's uncle found his wrecked pickup in the woods off Highway 123 just south of Carver Bridge and followed a blood trail to the river's edge. A hasty search was begun by the Newton County Sheriff's Office and rangers were called in to assist. As they were arriving, the man's body was spotted underwater just downstream from the point where the blood trail ended. An NPS johnboat was launched and the body was retrieved from the river. Based on statements he made to acquaintances and evidence found on his body and at the spot where the pickup was located, the death has been ruled a suicide. The body was sent to the state crime lab for an autopsy. [Lee Buschkowsky, Upper District Ranger]
On the afternoon of May 13th, a bystander contacted the host at Ozark campground and reported that a 43-year-old man was in need of immediate medical attention after jumping off a 60-foot cliff along the Buffalo River. The man was reported to have lost consciousness and was seen floating face down after hitting the water feet first. Rangers, an ambulance and a medevac helicopter responded and arrived within minutes of the initial call. The man was pulled out of the water by bystanders prior to the arrival of EMS units and was found lying on the ground, complaining of severe back pain but showing no signs of paralysis. He was treated by paramedics and airlifted to Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The man's 38-year-old friend had dropped off the cliff first, but did not sustain any injuries. In an interview. the friend admitted that they both had smoked marijuana, taken several illegally obtained Xanax pills, and consumed about a case of beer prior to the accident. [Lee Buschkowsky, Upper District Ranger]
A 48-year-old man who was camping at Buffalo Point campground with his family was discovered not breathing in his tent by his wife at about 6:45 a.m. on June 3rd. A respiratory therapist camping nearby heard screams from the site and attempted to render aid. She could not find a pulse, though, and determined that rigor had probably set in to his the lower extremities. A 911 call resulted in the dispatch of NPS rangers. An NPS EMT arrived on scene and discovered that the man was suffering from lividity on his back. CPR was therefore not begun. The man had a long history of using excessive amounts of prescribed pain medications for treatment of pain associated with a back injury sustained in a 1996 automobile accident. The preliminary coroner's report listed the cause of death as accidental overdose. The victim's body has been sent to the Arkansas State Crime Lab for an autopsy. [Jeff West, Lower District Ranger]
On the morning of Friday, July 6th, rangers were dispatched to a 911 report of two young men disappearing beneath the river surface at Baker Ford Landing. One of them was rescued by bystanders in a canoe and brought to shore. The second 16-year-old was rescued by two trained lifeguards who happened to be on a concession-operated bus. They began CPR, which was continued by the rangers. They were in turn relieved by ambulance and AirEvac paramedics. He was flown to North Arkansas Regional Medical Center, where he was resuscitated, then to Children's Hospital in Little Rock, where he eventually succumbed. It appears that neither of the young men was a strong swimmer and that they waded into deep water and current. [Robert Still, Special Agent]
Two men and a woman, all in their 20s, entered Cave Mountain Cave around 7 p.m. on July 18th. They were dressed in shorts and t-shirts and had no caving equipment with them. After traveling about 50 yards down a passageway, they came upon an old rope tied around a rock that led down into an opening. The two men used the old rope to lower themselves 30 feet from an overhanging ledge into a chamber. Unable to climb back up the rope, they sent the woman to get help. Rangers and the park's cave specialist responded around 10:30 p.m. after being notified of the incident by the Newton County Sheriff's Office. A cave ladder was lowered over the ledge and a belay system was set up. Park staff climbed down to the two men, bringing along harnesses, headlamps and helmets to properly equip them. They attached a belay line to the men and instructed them on how to climb the ladder, leading them to safety after having been in the cave for nearly eight hours. This was the second time within two months that rangers have rescued stranded people lacking the proper gear in this section of the cave. The park is in the process of establishing a permit system that will limit entry to this cave to those with the proper equipment and experience. [Lee Buschkowsky, Upper District Ranger]
Rangers received a report of a caver who had fallen in Fitton Cave around midnight on Friday, August 3rd. Fitton Cave, also known as Beauty Cave, is one of the largest caves in mid-America. The victim, B.F., 63, of Los Gatos, California, was part of a group of eight who had been issued a special permit to explore the cave. According to witnesses, B.F. fell a distance of approximately 12 feet while negotiating the "21-Jumps" section of the cave, about a mile from the nearest entrance (known as the "wet entrance"), around 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday evening. The park's SAR team was mobilized along with local first responders and cave specialists. Due to the remote location and severely washed-out roads, arrival at the scene by rescue personnel was delayed. B.F., suffering from a broken collar bone and bruised ribs, was able to exit the cave under his own power just as rescue personnel were entering the cave at about 5 a.m. He was later treated for his injuries at a local hospital. Subdistrict ranger Lee Brumbaugh served as incident commander. [Lee Brumbauh, Erbie Subdistrict Ranger]
On the afternoon of August 25th, a 20-year-old woman was rappelling off a 100-foot bluff near Hawksbill Craig, also known as Whitaker Point, in the Forest Service's Upper Buffalo Wilderness Area. On the way down the bluff, she apparently struck a tree branch, causing her to let go of her brake hand. She did not have a belay system in place and fell approximately 30 feet before landing. Bystanders and members of her group began to assist with her injuries while another bystander hiked out in order to call for help. The Newton County Sheriff's Office received the report and asked the park's SAR team to respond. ALS ambulance, volunteer fire department, and medevac helicopter personnel arrived first and immediately began hiking toward her location. Due to the steep, rugged and remote terrain, there was no radio communication with the responders hiking to her. NPS and USFS staff began arriving shortly thereafter and a unified command post was set up at the Hawksbill Craig trailhead. By the time NPS and USFS staff hiked to her reported location, she had been stabilized by EMS personnel and carried on a backboard up a break in the bluff line that did not require technical extrication. At the top of the bluff, she was placed in a wheeled litter provided by NPS responders and wheeled approximately three-quarters of a mile to the waiting ambulance. She was then transported to the medevac helicopter staged in a nearby hayfield and airlifted to Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Her injuries were reported to include two fractured vertebrae and both pelvis and femur fractures. [Lee Buschkowsky, Upper District Ranger]
On November 24, 2006, rangers responded to a 911 report of a wildfire in the park west of the community of Gilbert in the Middle Buffalo District. Rangers and volunteer firefighters from Gilbert VFD found a wildfire burning near Back of Beyond Cave and contained it with the aid of park fire personnel before it crossed the park boundary and burned toward nearby private homes. The community of Gilbert has been identified as an at-risk community for wildfire and is a close partner in fire suppression and management activities with the National Park Service. Volunteers reported hearing gunfire in the immediate area. Rangers searched the area and provided direct protection to firefighters, but were not able to locate a source of the gunfire. After a cause and determination and intense week-long investigation, rangers identified two male suspects who subsequently confessed to setting the fire along with four other fires the previous evening and morning. Each was charged with hunting and closure violations under 36 CFR and with leaving a fire unattended and unextinguished under 18 USC 1856. Both pled guilty to the CFR violations; one man was acquitted of the fire-related charge, but the second pled guilty and was ordered to pay the NPS $4,235.56, required to serve five years' probation, and banned from the park for two years. The judge also ordered him to pay Gilbert VFD $574.52 in restitution. During the sentencing, the judge noted the severity of this issue and even compared it with the fires in southern California. The local community, park staff, and US Attorney's Office were instrumental in the success of this prosecution. This represented one of 39 arson fires investigated in the park in 2006. [Robert L. Still, Special Agent]
In January 2006, rangers received a report of possible artifact digging in the Lower Wilderness area of the park. Rangers and the park archeologist investigated the digging. They discovered 45 excavations in a known archeological area, and that over 2,000 cubic feet of dirt had been excavated from the six acre site. Evidence was also recovered from the site that helped rangers identify a suspect. In addition, three rangers recorded observations in their patrol logs putting the suspect in the area of the archeological site between October 2005 and January 2006. Rangers interviewed C.R.H. in February 2006. When confronted with the evidence, C.R.H. confessed to digging at the site. Over the next six months, C.R.H. recovered and returned some of the artifacts from the site, as well as artifacts and human bones from other sites he had excavated. In March 2007, C.R.H. was indicted by a federal grand jury for a felony violation of the Archeological Resource Protection Act (16 USC § 470ee(a)). C.R.H. pled guilty to this offense in July 2007. He failed to appear for his sentencing, though, so the judge issued an arrest warrant. C.R.H. was arrested by U.S. marshals last month and held in Fort Smith until sentencing on February 27th. C.R.H. was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison and a year's supervised probation and ordered to pay $2,720.00 in restitution for a felony conviction of the Archeological Resource Protection Act. [Jeff West, Lower District Ranger]
A large storm tracking over northwest Arkansas over last Tuesday and Wednesday dumped from six to nearly twelve inches of rain on the Buffalo National River watershed. This rainfall caused the Buffalo River to rise rapidly, bringing it to levels exceeding all measuring equipment at the major monitoring points at the Highway 7, Highway 65, and Highway 14 bridge crossings. This flood appears to be near record in its volume, bested only by the record-setting flood of 1982. All access points along the 135-mile river were impacted by the rising waters, some measured by visual observation at 50 feet above normal flow. High water closed all park campgrounds on March 18th and the river was temporarily closed because of the extreme danger from the swift-moving water and debris. Park visitors on the river before the rain began falling were assisted in getting off the river. No complications or fatalities resulted from this serious situation. Park concessioners did not put visitors on the river during the closure. Some campgrounds are open this week along the upper river, which was less impacted by the flooding, but it will be some time before the water recedes from the lower reaches of the river near Buffalo Point and cleanup of park facilities can begin there. Camping reservations have been curtailed and will resume again in April. The extent of the damage will take some time to evaluate. Some roads have been lost - taken by the river - and numerous restrooms, parking, launch, and access facilities will need extensive cleaning and repair before they can be used by the public. The river is open, however, when and where it can be reached. [Bob Maguire, Chief Ranger]
On the morning of Thursday, April 10th, the Buffalo River was closed to boat and recreational use from Boxley Valley at the Highway 21 bridge to the confluence with the White River due to extremely high and fast moving water, filled with debris. The closure will remain in effect until further notice. At the time of the report on Friday, the National Weather Service was predicting additional rainfall, which could potentially raise waters further. [Robert Maguire, Chief Ranger]
On Thursday, April 24th, eight members of a boating group attempted to hike out of the Ponca Wilderness after they wrapped three canoes and a raft around trees on the Buffalo River during a period of high water. Just before 2 p.m., J.C., a member of the group, slipped on a steep scree slope and injured his ankle. Another member of the group ran down the Buffalo River trail to the Steel Creek campground for help. The campground host in turn notified rangers by radio. After interviewing the reporting party, a ranger/ EMT determined J.C.'s location and reached him around 4:30 p.m. The park's SAR team was activated shortly after the initial call and followed the flagged route, arriving at 5:45 p.m. J.C. was evaluated and determined to have suffered a fracture of his left ankle with full dislocation. He was evacuated in a wheeled litter through a mile and a quarter of wilderness, then driven another two miles over four-wheel-drive roads to a waiting ambulance. Six separate low angle belays were rigged to facilitate the evacuation. Hospital staff confirmed a fractured fibula and ankle dislocation. Eleven members of the park's SAR team, two EMT's from North Arkansas Regional Medical Center, and a ranger from Ozark Scenic Riverway participated in the two-hour carryout. [Bob Maguire, Chief Ranger]
On the afternoon of May 4th, L.D., her seven-year-old son W.D., and a friend were floating the Buffalo River below Erbie when their canoe hit a rock and capsized. The canoe then got pinned under a tree, commonly referred to as a strainer. W.D. was unable to get out of the canoe in time and was trapped. Other canoeists reported the incident to the Newton County Sheriff's Department, which dispatched emergency personnel. The canoe was eventually released by using a chainsaw. CPR was begun by a ranger and a deputy sheriff. The young boy was transported to a North Arkansas Regional Medical Center ambulance and later transferred to an AirEvac helicopter. He was pronounced dead at the medical center at 4:55 p.m. The boy is from Harrison, Arkansas, and is the grandson of the park's B&U foreman. [Bob Maguire, Chief Ranger]
Rangers received a report of a possible drowning at the Tyler Bend canoe launch on the evening of Saturday, June 7th. When they got to the launch, the found that the victim - M.N., 41, of Cleveland, Arkansas - was unresponsive, not breathing, and without a pulse. Family members and bystanders assisted rangers with resuscitation efforts until a North Arkansas Regional Medical Center (NARMC) ambulance arrived on scene. M.N. was transported to NARMC, where she was pronounced dead around 9 p.m. M.N. had been swimming near the Tyler Bend Campground in chest-deep water. Sudden cardiac arrest is suspected as a contributing factor. [Lee Brumbaugh, Middle District Ranger]
On the afternoon of November 4th, rangers received a report of a possible hunting accident that had just occurred in the Lower Buffalo Wilderness. They responded to the Buffalo City public boat launch to investigate and learned that J.C.M., 31, of Norfork, Arkansas, had been hunting from his johnboat on the Buffalo River about eight miles upstream from its confluence with the White River when he accidentally discharged his high-powered .300 magnum rifle while attempting to remove it from its case while he was standing in his boat. The round entered J.C.M.'s right leg near his knee and caused major traumatic injury to the surrounding tissue. J.C.M. fashioned a makeshift tourniquet from a bungee cord and was able to pilot his boat to the take-out on his own. Prior to the rangers' arrival on scene, J.C.M. had been transported via air ambulance to the trauma center at St. Johns Hospital in Springfield, Missouri, but deputies from Baxter County Sheriff's Department, J.C.M.'s brother, and several bystanders were still at the take-out. While investigating the boat, the deputies and rangers determined that the bullet had lodged in the fiberglass hull of the boat at the transom. Rangers seized the boat, rifle, spent casing, J.C.M.'s clothing, and several other items as evidence. While inventorying the boat, rangers also located and seized 11 grams of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Rangers Rob Newman and Noel Mays conducted a follow-up interview with J.C.M. the next day, during which time he admitted to possessing a loaded firearm on his boat, his intent to shoot a wild pig from the boat, and possessing marijuana in the park. They issued J.C.M. a violation notice for possession of a controlled substance, but only a warning for the loaded firearm on a boat, agreeing that his injury was enough of deterrent from committing the same violation in the future. The surgeons who operated on J.C.M. believe he'll be able to keep his leg, and should be able to walk on it again after extensive physical therapy. [Kevin Moses, Lower Buffalo District Ranger]
Midwest Region's Ozark Communications Center received a report of a young man with a broken ankle at the base of a bluff about a mile from the Schermerhorn trailhead in the Upper District on the afternoon of Sunday, January 11th. The hiker, a 16-year-old foreign exchange student from Slovakia, had lost his footing and tumbled about six feet, breaking the tibia and fibula in his right leg. He was located by Compton Volunteer Fire Department responders, who directed rangers and ambulance crewmembers to the accident scene. Although the boy was located at the base of a 30-foot bluff and a high-angle raising system was accordingly considered, a faster but strenuous alternative route was used that required no technical equipment. The boy was treated by the ambulance crew, packaged, then carried out via a wheeled stokes litter through very rugged terrain. A shortcut was used by accessing adjacent private land after gaining permission by the owner, dramatically reducing the carry-out time. The boy arrived at the ambulance just before nightfall, as temperatures began to drop significantly, and was transported to the regional hospital in Harrison, Arkansas. [Lee Buschkowsky, Upper District Ranger]
The three parks most affected by last month's big ice storm - Abraham Lincoln Birthplace NHS, Buffalo NR and Mammoth Cave NP - have all made substantial progress in efforts to return to normal operations, but all report continuing closures and ongoing recovery operations. Here's how things currently stand:
[Jeff West, Buffalo; Vickie Carson, Mammoth Cave; Keith Pruitt, Abraham Lincoln Birthplace]
The Type III incident management team (IMT) responsible for mitigating the hazards and repairing infrastructure damage from the January ice storm demobilized on Sunday. Most of the severely damaged trees and "hanger" limbs in the high visitor use frontcountry areas have been removed and 90% of the park's trails have been assessed and cleared of downed vegetation. Nearly all park facilities impacted by the storm are again open to public use and most of the fire lines in the prescribed fire burn units have been cleared. Some people will remain on scene to continue clearing and cleanup while the park's staff transitions to normal operations. Several trainees received incident command system experience under the Type III IMT. Personnel, equipment and support services were provided by Ozark, Natchez Trace, Hot Springs, Pea Ridge, Yosemite, Zion, Voyageurs, Wind Cave, Saguaro, Shenandoah's EICC, the Midwest Regional Office and the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. [Robert Maguire, Chief Ranger]
In the early morning hours of March 21st, Midwest Regional Ozark Communication Center, the park's dispatch office, advised rangers of a violent altercation among a group of about seven campers at Rush Campground, a remote area in the Lower Buffalo District. MROCC advised that the reporting party, an unrelated camper, had fled the campground for his own safety. Rangers Noel Mays and Kevin Moses responded with deputies from the Marion County Sheriff's Office (MCSO). Upon arrival, they were met by several other campers who told them that the group in question had departed the campground within the last half hour. While rangers were inspecting the campsite and securing witness statements, MCSO dispatch reported that four members of the party had just arrived at their office to report the incident and that several had sustained injuries, including blunt trauma from a large stick and superficial knife injuries. Mays and Moses, along with ranger Karl Sommerhauser and LES Jeff West, met with the four people at MCSO, two of whom were reporting to have been injured but declined medical treatment. Shortly thereafter, officers from nearby Flippin Police Department arrested a fifth member of the party for DUI and transported her and her two companions to MCSO. Rangers remained at MCSO until 6 a.m., interviewing the members of the camping party, and determined that two of them (who are engaged to be married) had engaged in a physical altercation with two other members of the camping party, a married couple, wherein an all-out drunken brawl ensued involving sticks, fists, knives, and motor vehicles. The investigation continues at this time with ongoing interviews. Moses and West are conferring with the park's Assistant United States Attorney's Office and possible assault and disorderly conduct charges are pending. [Kevin Moses, Lower Buffalo District Ranger]
Just before midnight on April 3rd, the Midwest Region Ozark Communication Center (MROCC), the park's dispatch office, received a report that a man had fallen from a bluff and was injured. The injury was reported to be in the area of Hemmed-In-Hollow Falls in the Upper District, "the tallest waterfall between the Rockies and the Appalachians" and the site of numerous past search and rescue incidents. Rangers, other park staff, park volunteers, local first responders, and AirEvac medics assembled at the Compton trailhead. Two search teams headed down the trail with a wheeled litter and other rescue equipment and located the 22-year-old victim, T.K. of Bedford, Indiana. T.K. had fallen approximately 50 to 75 feet after attempting to jump from a bluff to a nearby tree and had suffered a broken arm, broken elbow, dislocated hip, broken hip socket, bruised heart, and bruised lung. He also had several deep lacerations causing a significant loss of blood. The rescue teams packaged T.K. in the wheeled litter and transported him toward a suitable landing zone. The trail accessing the falls drops more than 1000 feet and extrication via the trial was impractical. During the transport, low-angle belays were used to traverse the steep and narrow trails. The AirEvac helicopter landed in a deep ravine approximately two-and-a-half miles from the falls, the closest suitable location for a landing. T.K. was transported to the Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas, for treatment. Over 25 people responded to assist with the rescue. Rangers and other SAR team members had completed a three-day swiftwater rescue course the afternoon before the rescue. The course was instructed by Rick Brown, retired NPS assistant chief ranger and chief of field operations at Great Smokies. Brown, who had worked at the Buffalo in the early 1980's, assisted in the rescue. Buffalo National River recently upgraded its radio system, adding several new repeater sites, upgrading both portable and mobile radios, and converting from analog to digital. During the incident, radio communications were exceptional and played a pivotal role in the overall success of the incident. [Lee Brumbaugh, Incident Commander/District Ranger, Middle Buffalo District]
In cooperation with the United States Marshal's Service, the US Attorney's Office, and the United States Court, Western District of Arkansas, park rangers and a special agent with the WASO Investigative Services Branch executed 12 arrest warrants and 14 summons on violators for failure to appear before a United States magistrate during several roundup operations over the past three months. The rangers tasked with the execution of the court orders volunteered for the assignment and went through additional training for the operations. The original crimes included possession of marijuana, underage possession of alcohol, driving on suspended or revoked drivers licenses, lack of insurance, fictitious tags, tampering with property, speeding, destruction of government property, public intoxication, and disorderly conduct. Twenty-five of the suspects subsequently pled guilty or no contest and were sentenced by the magistrate; one pled not guilty and is scheduled for trial on July 7th. Due to the success of the roundup operations, the magistrate has asked that rangers conduct roundups the day before regularly scheduled court sessions in the future until the backlog of failure to appear notices has been cleared. [Jeff West, Law Enforcement Specialist]
An Arkansas Air National Guard helicopter experienced a mechanical failure, lost power, and auto-rotated into the Buffalo River at Buffalo Point yesterday afternoon. The three crewmembers were able to reach shore without assistance; two were hospitalized, one sustaining serious injury in the crash. The National Park Service, Arkansas State Police, Marion County Sheriff's Office, and Ralph Caney Fire Department were on scene within minutes of the crash. There is little potential for a fuel spill since the chopper was equipped with a self-sealing fuel system. The river from the Highway 14 bridge to Buffalo Point is closed to river traffic. The gravel bar and parking lot at Buffalo Point are closed until further notice. The UH-58 helicopter was on a routine mission between Clinton and the Flippin Airport for Twentieth Judicial Task Force, National Park Service, and Arkansas State Police when the incident occurred. [Caven Clark]
On January 9, 2008, rangers were alerted to the recent looting of a known archeological site in the park's upper district. After two days of surveillance, rangers Lee Brumbaugh, Kelly Charbonneau, and Ranger James Purcell (from Natchez Trace) installed surveillance equipment near the site. While installing the equipment, rangers contacted W.A.G. and a juvenile walking toward the area. W.A.G. was in possession of digging tools and boots that matched impressions left in the recently excavated looter holes. M.G., W.A.G.'s wife, remained at a trailhead area with their vehicle. She was found to be in possession of artifacts and a pick. Further investigation and crime scene analysis positively linked the G.s to the site. A search warrant of their residence was executed by rangers and NPS special agents, resulting in the discovery of numerous items associated with collecting artifacts and other evidence linking the G.s and others to excavating activities in the park and on nearby private land. After a six month investigation in conjunction with agents from the NPS Investigative Services Branch, the G.s were indicted by a federal grand jury. During a subsequent interview, W.A.G. admitted to digging in the park and relinquished 71 stone tools, projectile points, or other artifacts that he said originated from the site. On June 24th, W.A.G. and M.G. were formally sentenced in federal district court. As a result of a plea agreement, W.A.G. was sentenced under one felony count of violating ARPA to six months imprisonment and one year of supervised probation. M.G. was sentenced under one misdemeanor count of ARPA and received one year of supervised probation. The two have also been ordered to pay $4,613 in restitution to the park. The park's archeologist, Dr. Caven Clark, was instrumental in the investigation and provided expert testimony during the sentencing proceedings. Rangers from Buffalo NR and Hot Springs NP, as part of the Cultural and Archeological Response Team (CART), assisted during the course of the investigation. [Lee Brumbaugh, Middle District Ranger]
On June 27th, ranger David Sullivan received a report of a seriously drunken camper in the Buffalo Point campground from supervisory visitor use assistant Katishia Gibbs. Gibbs advised that N.M. was intoxicated and had passed out in a tent belonging to other campers, but not before he'd urinated and vomited all over the tent floor and their sleeping bags and mattresses. Their experience with N.M. was so unpleasant that they packed up and left the park a day earlier than they'd originally planned. Sullivan attempted to arrest N.M., but he fled on foot. Sullivan pursued and attempted to use his taser on N.M. as he was running between two vehicles, but the taser's prongs missed him. Sullivan continued to chase N.M. until he tripped and fell over a four-foot embankment. Sullivan reloaded his taser and ordered N.M. to cooperate or he would be tased. After a brief struggle, Sullivan was able to get N.M. handcuffed. The three other rangers, including a field trainee, who were on duty at the time were 25 minutes away at Marion County jail processing two DUI suspects. Once in custody, N.M. berated Sullivan with a barrage of vulgar language, continued to resist, accosted nearby campers with extremely vulgar language, and attempted to escape a marked patrol vehicle. N.M. was transported to the Marion County jail and charged with interfering, disorderly conduct, being under the influence of alcohol, and underage possession of alcohol. [Kevin Moses, Lower Buffalo District Ranger]
Around 3:20 a.m. on August 25th, rangers responded to a report that two men armed with a shotgun had attempted to rob one of two camping parties at Ozark Campground and had seriously beaten one of the campers while doing so. Roger Head, the Ozark Campground host, provided timely information and assisted with the care of the injured man. The armed assailants reportedly fled into the woods. Responding rangers set up an incident command post and secured the location of the injured person so medics could get him out. He was transferred by ambulance to a helispot, where he was then placed on a helicopter and flown to a trauma center for evaluation of a closed head injury. As rangers and local law enforcement continued to arrive on scene, a perimeter was set up and checkpoints were established on likely exit routes. Almost the entire law enforcement staff at Buffalo National River (13 rangers), five Newton County Sheriff's deputies, and one state police officer assisted with the operation. A sweep of the area was conducted after daylight by organized teams. The two men were not located. The crime scene investigation and witness statements led to the development of a suspect. Sufficient evidence was obtained for a search warrant, which was executed by the NPS, Arkansas State Police, the Newton County Sheriff's Office, and the 14th Judicial Drug Task Force. This warrant resulted in the location of key evidence tying the suspects to the assault and robbery attempt, as well as other criminal activity. Both suspects in the case are currently in jail under $100,000 bonds. [Robert Maguire, Chief Ranger]
Ranger Karl Sommerhauser contacted a fisherman in a remote area on Buffalo National River known as Crow Hole on the afternoon of August 22nd. During the contact, he noticed that the fisherman's camping area had a lot of trash strewn about. While talking with the fisherman's girlfriend about the litter, Sommerhauser noticed a marijuana grinder through the open flap of their tent. Ultimately, during a consent search, he discovered drugs and drug paraphernalia. Rangers Kelly Charbonneau and Ken Nelson came in to assist. The rangers located a large number of personal items in various containers at the camp and determined that the pair were residing at the site because they had nowhere else to go. The items discovered appeared to belong to many different people. While checking on the pair with the local sheriff's office, staff at the Midwest Regional Ozark Communications Center learned that the pair were suspects in several burglaries in Boone County. The man was arrested on an outstanding state warrant and the woman was arrested on drug charges. Local investigators provided valuable information during the course of the incident. They believe that the evidence discovered by rangers will result in closing as many as sixteen local residential and commercial burglaries. [Jeff West, Law Enforcement Specialist]
On July 31st, a park visitor reported that her truck window had been smashed and that a purse had been stolen from inside. Ranger Melissa Lamm investigated the case over the next several weeks and was able to develop several leads from the numerous interviews she conducted. Ranger Lee Buschkowsky and ISB agent Robert Still assisted with several of these interviews. Lamm was eventually able to identify two principle suspects. The first confessed to the crime during an interview, and provided information on how he destroyed the stolen items. At the time of the interview, he was in jail for other theft charges from surrounding counties. He also claimed that he was the only one involved in the crime. Lamm persisted in the investigation and interviewed the second principle suspect, who also confessed. This confession resulted in the recovery of almost all the stolen items. The case has been submitted for prosecution. [Jeff West, Law Enforcement Specialist]
Rangers were involved in three search and rescue missions and the evacuation of a visitor with a broken ankle last weekend: Early on Saturday afternoon, a report was received that two juvenile hunters were missing in the rugged Cecil Cove area in the Upper Buffalo District. The subsequent search, which involved 73 people from 13 agencies, was managed under unified command between the park and Newton County Sheriff's Department. A hasty search of area trails was inconclusive, so a perimeter was established and attraction techniques were used throughout the night. The two hunters were found by a search team member at one of the fixed perimeter points on Sunday morning. A park visitor broke his ankle at the Kyles Landing campground around 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. Rangers were committed to the above search and therefore unable to get to the scene of the accident in a timely manner, so an ambulance and volunteer firefighters were dispatched to the scene. The injured camper was taken to an area hospital. Several members of the search team seeking the two hunters had to be redeployed on Saturday to a search for a missing hiker in the nearby Ponca Wilderness. The hiker was found by a Newton County deputy who was assisting with the SAR. Within hours of the conclusion of the search for the two hunters on Sunday, rangers and Searcy County deputies responded to a report of a 12-year-old girl missing from the Tyler Bend campground. She was found unharmed within three hours. [Jeff West, Law Enforcement Specialist]
On the afternoon of October 17th, park dispatch was notified that a man had fallen off a waterfall and was seriously injured on a primitive trail in the rugged Indian Creek area of Buffalo National River. Rangers Ken Nelson and Melissa Lamm hiked about a mile and a half on a primitive trail to the scene and contacted a 37-year-old male, R.R., who was being treated by local first responders and an advanced life support team. Remington sustained injuries to his right ribs and right knee after falling and slipping down a waterfall a distance of approximately 15 feet, but was able to arrest himself prior to falling off a 60-foot cliff face to the creek bottom below. Members of the Buffalo Search and Rescue Team responded to the scene and a technical rescue was performed into the night hours, lowering the victim down the 60-foot cliff face to the creek bottom. A subsequent litter carryout was conducted over rugged terrain along the primitive trail to the trailhead, where he was then transported by air evac to a local hospital. Twenty-one volunteers assisted park staff in the rescue and carryout. This immense show of support from the following agencies and volunteer fire departments contributed to a safe rescue effort - Krooked Kreek VFD, Mount Sherman VFD, Compton VFD, Hilltop VFD, and North Ark Regional Medical Center. District Ranger Kevin Moses served as operations chief. Ranger Karl Sommerhauser was the incident commander. [Robert Maguire, Chief Ranger]
Just before 3 a.m. on August 25th, two men visiting the park were assaulted during an attempted robbery at their campsite at Ozark Campground. Several leads were developed fairly quickly from evidence at the scene and the victims' statements. A search warrant was executed on August 27th at the residence of the prime suspect, where additional evidence was found and a second suspect was identified. On November 4th, the two assailants - M.L. and R.R. - were indicted for attempting by force and violence to take money from the victim and for conspiracy to commit the crime. On November 16th, rangers assigned to the park's warrant team arrested the two men. During their initial appearance, federal probation officers recommended no bond. A bond hearing was held on November 23rd and the two men were released on $50,000 bond each - with the additional provisions of electronic monitoring, a limitation on travel to Boone and Newton Counties, and active monitoring by probation officers. The trial is set for January 14th. [Jeff West, Law Enforcement Specialist]
During the early evening hours of January 18th, dispatch advised rangers that a cell phone call had been received from a group of five college students who reported that one of their friends - 19-year-old S.J.S. of Rogersville, Missouri - had become separated from the group and was overdue by several hours after camping the previous night in the Ponca Wilderness. The caller also reported that S.J.S. had no previous camping experience, had an injured knee, and required two hearing aids to hear properly. Rangers conducted hasty searches of area trails until 1:30 a.m., but failed to find S.J.S.. They spike-camped overnight in the search area and resumed searching at first light along with additional rangers and park fire personnel. Shortly after 9 a.m., ranger Melissa Lamm came upon fresh, wet boot prints on dry slick rock along the Sneeds Creek Trail. She then found additional fresh signs and began moving quickly up the trail, following a series of fresh signs until she located S.J.S. as he slowly worked his way uphill. He was not injured, but reported that he had spent a cold, dark, hungry night after having lost his sleeping bag and lighter during a river crossing, run out of food, and broken his one light source. S.J.S. also reported that he'd quickly become disoriented after separating from the group, as he had no map, and that he'd wandered off trail for hours and had only stopped after he'd fallen over a 10-foot-high cliff in the dark. [Kevin Moses, Middle Buffalo District Ranger]
On the afternoon of January 16th, ranger Kelly Charbonneau stopped to offer assistance to the driver of what appeared to be a disabled vehicle parked at a pullout off Highway 7 just north of Pruitt Bridge. The driver, A.S., and her passenger, M.A., initially lied to Charbonneau, reporting that the vehicle was broken down and that they had already made arrangements for having it moved. Charbonneau recognized one of the women as a previous methamphetamine offender and noted that she appeared to be very nervous. He also saw that the vehicle's registration was expired and asked for the women's identifications. M.A. gave Charbonneau a false identification, but with the help of park dispatch he eventually learned her real identity, as well as the fact that A.S.'s driver's license was suspended. While speaking with the women, Charbonneau noted open containers of alcohol in the vehicle. A search of the vehicle resulted in the discovery of a rolled-up cold pack, the top of which had been cut off and granules removed; 80 marijuana seeds in a foil wrapper; and a 20-ounce Coke bottle that had been converted into a one-pot meth cooker. The bottle contained cold pack granules, ether, strips balls of lithium, and roughly four grams of methamphetamine. Charbonneau detained both women and requested assistance. Rangers Todd Garrett and Justin Gibbs, investigators from the Newton County Sheriff's Office, and officers from the 14th Judicial Task Force responded. The investigators arrested A.S. and M.A. and Garrett and Gibbs transported them to the Boone County jail. While searching the women, Gibbs and Garrett found additional meth product, marijuana, and drug paraphernalia on their persons. Charbonneau, the investigators, and the task force personnel remained on scene with the vehicle until the entire scene was processed and clean. An investigation is on-going. [Kevin Moses, Middle Buffalo District Ranger]
Last weekend, members of BUFFSAR, the park's search and rescue team, assisted the Newton County Sheriff's Office and Ozark National Forest with the search for and recovery of the body of a man who'd fallen from a cliff in a forest area adjacent to the park. D.H., 54, of Springdale, Arkansas, fell from a high cliff in the Magnolia Falls are of the forest's portion of the Upper Buffalo Wilderness, part of which is managed by the NPS. D.H. had left his home sometime on Saturday morning, advising his family that he was going to be hiking and taking photographs in the area and would return by 6 p.m. His wife called at 8 p.m. and reported him overdue, advising that he might be in the Boxley Valley area of the park's Upper Buffalo District and also providing coordinates of where he was going that day. Ranger Melissa Lamm checked all Boxley Valley trailheads, but was unable to locate D.H.'s vehicle. At the Forest Service's request, Lamm followed the coordinates to a USFS trailhead just outside the park and located the vehicle, which had had its back window broken out. Lamm notified the USFS and the sheriff's office, both of which asked that she remain on scene with the vehicle until they could send their own personnel. Lamm, a USFS LEO, and a county deputy conducted a hasty search of the area until 1 a.m., but were unable to locate D.H. and decided that the terrain was too dangerous to continue searching at night. Additional searchers, including five NPS rangers and one BUFFSAR volunteer, joined the search the following morning and searched a rugged, narrow canyon punctuated by three high waterfalls, whose vertical walls were shrouded in curtains of ice. Around mid-morning, searchers found D.H.'s body face-down in a creek pool at the base of a 70-foot cliff and confirmed that he'd died in the fall. Personnel recovered the body by conducting a grueling carryout operation that involved moving the litter up steep, boulder-strewn slopes while crawling on their hands and knees, two short evolutions of rope-assisted litter raises, and, finally, a wheeled-litter carryout through a heavily vegetated, overgrown trail - all while being subjected to a drenching rain for the entirety of the operation. This incident provided an opportunity for BUFFSAR to work side by side with members of neighboring SAR organizations, including the sheriff's office, the USFS, and Krooked Kreek Volunteer Fire Department, forging strong relationships with them. Throughout this extremely difficult incident, all members conducted themselves in a highly professional manner under very emotional circumstances. The sheriff's office is investigating. [Kevin Moses, Acting Chief Ranger]
On Monday, April 12th, NPS rangers were asked to assist with a murder investigation by the Marion County Sheriff's Department. The murder happened in a remote part of Marion County next to the park's Lower Wilderness Area. The murder victim was a frequent user of the Cedar Creek Landing and the Lower Wilderness Area. The suspect in the murder was located driving the victim's truck by a state trooper on Monday. He also had two of the victim's credit cards in his possession, and it was determined that he had recently pawned a .22 semi-automatic rifle. When questioned, he admitted that he killed the victim, saying that he accidentally shot him while cleaning the .22 rifle. Rangers were part of the crime scene investigation team, which included FTEP trainee Aaron Smith. The crime scene team located the spent shell casing from the .22 rifle, as well as other evidence, and determined that the suspect's statements could not be true. When confronted with the evidence from the scene, he admitted that the two had an argument over a horse. He'd then waited until the victim was asleep and shot him in the head. [Jeff West, Lower District Supervisory Ranger]
The park received a call from a local sheriff's office on Monday, April 19th, asking for the assistance of the park's high-angle rescue team in retrieving a hiker who fell off the bluff line leading to Whitaker Point in the Forest Service's Upper Buffalo Wilderness Area. A command post and staging area were established next to a social trail on private land, which provided quicker access to the accident scene. As park staff began to arrive, on-scene personnel radioed that the hiker had not survived the fall, estimated at between 80 and 90 feet. Ranger Melissa Lamm reached the bluff line, scouted the surrounding terrain, and determined that a high-angle recovery was necessary. A raise system was employed to bring the body back up to the bluff line. The body was then transferred to a wheeled litter and brought out to the staging area, where a county coroner and local funeral home van were waiting. The family of the deceased hiker, a 25-year-old man from Pittsburg, Kansas, was with him when he lost his balance along the edge of the cliff and fell over. He was a well-known former quarterback for Kansas State. Over 30 people from the Newton County Sheriff's Office, US Forest Service, Buffalo National River, and area volunteer fire departments, joined by local citizens, assisted with the recovery. For a related news story, click on the link below. [Lee Buschkowsky, Unified Incident Commander] HYPERLINK "http://cjonline.com/sports/football/2010-04-19/former_ksu_qb_meier_dead_at_26"
On the evening of June 5th, a family consisting of two adults and five children visited the park at the Ponca Access near the Ponca Low Water Bridge. Two brothers - an eight-year-old and a twelve-year-old - were seen by a third brother trying to retrieve the younger boy's swimming trunks by "bobbing up and down" in the river just after 8 p.m. While watching, the boys went under and did not resurface. A visitor and the boys' stepfather pulled them to shore, where other visitors assisted and began CPR. North Arkansas medics arrived in an ambulance around 9 p.m. and took over care. About 20 minutes later, air evac medics joined the crew and drove the boys to the North Arkansas Medical Center. The 12-year-old was pronounced dead later in the evening; the eight-year-old still had a pulse and blood pressure, though, so he was flown to St. John's Regional Medical Center. He died there around 3 a.m. The Boone County coroner is assisting with the investigation. [Melissa Lamm, Park Ranger]
On the afternoon of Wednesday May 19th, staff at the Tyler Bend Visitor Center received a phone call from Searcy County Sheriff's Office reporting that a horse trailer had overturned on the Calf Creek Road in the Middle Buffalo District. Rangers, deputies, and park maintenance personnel arrived on scene to find a one-horse trailer on its side in a three-foot-deep ditch, with an 11-year-old gelding named "B." trapped in the canopy portion of the trailer. The horse had both rear legs and his right front leg through the canopy and under a portion of the trailer. Rangers called for a veterinarian, who arrived on scene and administered tranquilizing agents to B., who continued to thrash about and cause further injury to himself prior to sedation. The Marshall Rescue Squad was also summoned and used their 'Jaws of Life' hydraulic tools to peel back the roof of the trailer. Park maintenance staff assisted with this process using a reciprocating saw. Once the roof was removed, park maintenance personnel used a backhoe to slide B. out of the trailer and then lift him onto a second trailer. After a grueling, five-hour-long extrication operation, B. was transported home to rest under the watchful eye of his vet. The following day, the horse was assisted in getting up and was able to stand on his own at first. B.'s owner had high hopes for his full recovery, but, to the extreme disappointment of all involved in the rescue, the horse had an apparent heart attack and expired after being up and walking for just a few hours. A total of 31 people (including civilian horseback riders) responded to the incident and were part of the overall effort. Strong teamwork was essential during this complicated and emotional incident and everyone worked flawlessly under high stress for B.'s welfare. [Kevin Moses, Middle Buffalo District Ranger]
On Monday, May 31st, dispatch received a report that a 16-year-old boy had fallen from the top of the first tier of the three-tier Eden Falls. Dispatchers alerted personnel from BUFFSAR and several cooperating SAR organizations, including Mt. Sherman VFD, Krooked Kreek VFD, Compton VFD, Newton County SAR, and North Arkansas Regional Medical Center ambulance. Responders located the teenager just over a mile up the Eden Falls Trail at the base of the initial 20-foot drop. He was conscious but unable to move his legs and complaining of pain in the back of his head, lower back, and right hand. He was also hypothermic due to his lying in the creek, unable to move, for over an hour. Life Line Air Ambulance was summoned from St. Johns Hospital in Springfield and arrived at a nearby landing zone within minutes. Its flight medic and flight nurse hiked to the scene and took over primary patient care. Rescuers packaged the boy for a high angle litter lowering operation and lowered him directly over the rim of the second and third tiers of Eden Falls to a trail below. Additional rescuers attached a wheel to the litter and conducted a carryout to a waiting ambulance at the trailhead. He was transferred to the helicopter and flown to the trauma center at St. Johns. Follow-up investigation revealed that he had fractured the disc in his L-5 vertebra and will have to remain in a body cast for six weeks. This incident provided another opportunity for BUFFSAR to work side-by-side with members of neighboring SAR organizations, which continue to contribute consistently to the park's SAR missions. Ranger Billy Bell served as ops chief and Upper Buffalo District Ranger Lee Buschkowsky served as incident commander. [Kevin Moses, Middle Buffalo District Ranger]
Park dispatch received a call from an off-duty employee on the afternoon of June 27th reporting a motorcycle accident on Highway 21 near the Boxley Valley Historic District. Rangers Billy Bell, Scott DeVore and Lee Buschkowsky and seasonal VUA Cary Nabors were on scene within minutes and found local firefighters performing CPR on the 24-year-old motorcyclist. While Nabors helped with traffic control, the rangers joined the firefighters in their attempt to revive the man. Following the arrival of advanced life support personnel from a regional medical center, an assessment of the man's condition was made and permission was given by medical control to terminate resuscitation efforts. The operator had struck a guardrail on a downhill curve and landed about 20 feet down a steep embankment. Excessive speed appears to have been the cause of the accident. [Bob Maguire, Chief Ranger]
Twenty-one year-old J.C. of Augusta, Arkansas, drowned in the Buffalo River downstream from Grinders Ferry on Tuesday, July 27th. Around 12:30 p.m., a ranger from the Middle District working out of Tyler Bend was contacted by a visitor and advised that someone was underwater downstream of the landing. The ranger notified dispatch, then commandeered a canoe from a visitor and headed downstream, arriving at the scene within 15 minutes. The ranger called for assistance from other rangers and requested a medevac helicopter. J.C. was found within minutes and CPR was begun as he was taken by canoe to Grinders Ferry. Medical personnel took over there, but were unable to revive him. Witnesses said that J.C. had complained of leg cramps prior to his disappearance. [Robert Maguire, Chief Ranger]
Two Youth Conservation Corps workers, girls aged 15 and 16, succumbed to heat-related illness late on July 22nd while working on the Hemmed-in-Hollow trail in the Ponca Wilderness. This project has been ongoing for the past six-and-a-half weeks, with special attention being paid to managing heat-related issues. The workers were located near California Point, west of Hemmed-in-Hollow and north of Horseshoe Bend. At about 2 p.m., the YCC crew leader radioed park dispatch to notify them that one of the girls was showing heat stress symptoms. Shortly thereafter, the second girl also fell sick. Several actions were quickly taken. A Northark ambulance was dispatched to the Compton trailhead in anticipation of a carryout and later repositioned at Kyles Landing. A medevac helicopter was dispatched from Springdale to the Ponca Wilderness, where it located a suitable landing site on a gravel bar near the mouth of Hemmed-in-Hollow at Horseshoe Bend. NPS first responders headed up the trail to the girls' location, a small boat put in at Steel Creek and headed downstream towards the mouth of Sneeds Creek, and a fire crew was dispatched to Kyles Landing to provide additional support to the other SAR team. Concurrently, vans and drivers were dispatched from Harrison to pick up those YCC crew members who were not assisting with the incident. First responders were on the scene at 4 p.m. to take vital signs and coordinate the logistics of the carryout with other park staff, the remaining YCC team, the helicopter, and the ambulance. The first girl reached the helicopter within the hour and was en route to Washington Regional in Fayetteville 30 minutes later. She was subsequently released and returned home with her parents. The second girl reached the boat at the mouth of Sneeds Creek just after 6 p.m. and was transported to Kyles Landing, where she was treated by Northark medics. She was subsequently released on scene and returned home. By 8 p.m., the remaining YCC crew members who had stayed to help with the evacuation were back and headed home. Health and safety have been and continue to be a priority with the park. Training, monthly safety meetings, and safety-related supplies and equipment are all parts of the efforts made by the park to create a culture of health and safety awareness. Superintendent Kevin Cheri stated that the YCC program is vital to park operations as well as to the community, providing work experience, jobs, and meeting park goals. "We are looking at this in a way that will help us better plan future projects. I am very proud of the way that our staff, including our YCC kids, came together to bring this off successfully." For the remainder of the work season, work will continue to complete the Hemmed-in-Hollow trail project with ongoing efforts to minimize heat stress and to provide the YCC team with a well-earned sense of accomplishment for a job well done. [Bob Maguire, Chief Ranger]
Rangers were advised of a possible suicide in the Lower District on Thursday, November 4th. A local man parked at the Highway 14 bridge and walked to the river, where he was found with a single gunshot wound to his head. Park visitors who were in the area found the body and notified a local sheriff's deputy, who then notified NPS dispatch. The victim appeared to have been deceased for several hours. A joint investigation by rangers and the county sheriff's office is ongoing. [Robert Maguire, Chief Ranger]
Heavy and continuing rains over the past week have caused major flooding at Buffalo National River. The flood has taken a toll on buildings, roads, campgrounds and landings, causing numerous closures during the park's busy float season. Rainfall totals of up to a foot were recorded at various places in the watershed over a three day period, resulting in drastically fluctuating and unpredictable flood levels. The Buffalo River was as high as 37 feet in the park and there were many areas of flash flooding. The three counties in which the park is located are included in Governor Mike Beebe's disaster area declaration, which includes 57 Arkansas counties. It has been forwarded to President Obama for consideration for a possible federal disaster declaration. The Midwest Incident Management Team is on site to assist the park in managing the damage assessment process for repairing and reopening various visitor use areas as safely and timely as possible. [Carol McBryant, PIO, Midwest Incident Management Team]
Late on the night of Easter Sunday, while in the midst of area-wide flooding, dispatch received a report of two overdue kayakers on the Class III-IV headwaters section of the Buffalo River, commonly known as the Hailstone, which begins in the Ozark National Forest portion of the Upper Buffalo Wilderness and ends in the Buffalo National River's portion of the same wilderness. The reporting party advised that her 67-year-old husband and 17-year-old grandson had put in for their 15-mile float between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. and that they had not yet returned. Search efforts were launched on both land and the river at daybreak the following morning, with Newton County sheriff Keith Slape as the incident commander. Upwards of three dozen people from BUFFSAR, the park's SAR team, the Newton County Sheriff's Office, the Forest Service, the Arkansas Canoe Club, several local volunteer fire departments, the missing youth's Boy Scout Troop, and local horseback riding clubs joined the search on Monday. Searchers faced grueling conditions as severe thunderstorms swept the area unceasingly, producing steady, heavy rain throughout the operational period, several tornado warnings, unseasonably cold temperatures, and extreme high water in the main river and all tributaries. At about 1000 hours on Monday, searchers located the grandfather and sped him to an ambulance. He was mildly hypothermic, but declined medical treatment. He reported to searchers that he and his grandson had made it downriver several miles, capsized, swam to opposite sides of the river, and began hiking out separately. The search was suspended at sunset on Monday due to the hazards of searching in existing conditions after nightfall. Tuesday morning, the search resumed under the unified command, with FMO Fenn Wimberly from the NPS and NCSO SAR/BUFFSAR team member Glenn Wheeler serving as ICs. Efforts focused on both land and the river, with two NPS personnel and two volunteers launching a raft at the same put-in used by the subjects and ground teams combing the drainages downstream of the point last seen. Tuesday morning broke with clear skies, and the unified command moved swiftly to launch an Arkansas State Police helicopter, which located the grandson at about 11 a.m., standing in a flooded field and waving his arms. The NPS raft continued downstream, picked up the kayaker, determined he was mildly hypothermic but otherwise uninjured, and transported him to the take-out at Boxley Bridge. The young man, who is close to attaining the rank of Eagle Scout, reported that he'd spent the two nights huddled under his boat and stayed warm during the day by hiking, estimating that he'd covered a total of about 18 miles. Shortly after arriving at the take-out, grandson and a very grateful grandfather were reunited. [Kevin Moses, Acting Chief Ranger]
Early on the evening of Tuesday, May 24th, rangers received a report that a swimmer had been swept downstream on the Buffalo River at Blue Hole. Although the river was at flood stage, flowing at about 3400 cubic feet per second, two men entered the river and swam across it to explore John Eddings Cave. One of the men was able to make it back okay, but the other, reportedly not a strong swimmer, was swept downstream for several hundred yards and was last seen where the river turned at a bend. A young woman who was on shore reported that she ran along the bank parallel to him and that he eventually stopped swimming and was swept around the bend. Personnel from the park SAR team and the Newton County Sheriff's Office SAR team joined family and friends in a hasty search of the area on both land and water. The search was suspended around midnight due to storms. On Wednesday, thirteen local agencies continued the search, including many volunteer fire departments, the Arkansas Game and Fish dive team, several swiftwater rescue teams from surrounding counties, and an Arkansas State Police helicopter. Sonar technology was also used. The search continued yesterday under a unified command comprised of the National Park Service and the Newton County Arkansas Sheriff's Office. [Karen L Bradford, Law Enforcement Specialist]
The body of a missing 21-year-old Wisconsin man was recovered from the Buffalo River on the evening of Saturday, May 28th, concluding a joint search effort of dozens of agencies that spanned five days. The search began on the evening of Tuesday, May 24th, when Midwest Region Ozark Communications Center dispatch received a report that the man had disappeared after attempting to swim across the rain-swollen river (then flowing at 3,400 cubic feet per second) in the Blue Hole area of the Upper Buffalo District. An eyewitness in his party told rangers that she saw him struggle, disappear underwater, reappear unresponsive on the surface, and then get swept around a bend by the swift current. Park staff responded along with personnel from Newton and Boone County Sheriff's Offices, a dozen volunteer fire departments, two dive rescue teams, several neighboring county and volunteer SAR teams, the Harrison Fire Department's swiftwater rescue team, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Arkansas State Police, North Arkansas Regional Medical Center, and numerous local private citizens. Tactics included surface searches from paddle craft and motorboats, dog teams, dive operations, overflights, sonar and underwater sweeps, ground searches of shorelines and previously inundated islands, and multiple boat-supported dragging operations. Over the course of the search, the water level of the river dropped and its clarity and visibility increased, which enabled a team of five to see the victim lodged under a mid-channel strainer in waist-deep water near a large island a half-mile downstream of the point last seen. [Kevin Moses, Acting Chief Ranger]
Two people hiking in the Lost Valley area on Monday, October 24th, were seriously injured in consecutive falling accidents. B.A., 22, and J.A., 23, were hiking with another couple in the Eden Falls area when they decided to climb to another cave beyond the end of the designated trail. B.A. entered a V-shaped canyon slot, where he slipped on wet leaves, slid approximately 20 feet, and fell another 40 to 50 feet to a rock basin above Eden Falls Cave. J.A. heard the sounds of the accident; while investigating, she, too, fell down the same slope. One of their friends was able to reach them while the other left the scene to call for help. Park dispatch was notified in the early evening, and Buffalo National River Search and Rescue was called out. A unified command was established that included the park and Newton County Search and Rescue. First responders arrived to assist the couple at 7 p.m. and NorthArk medics arrived at approximately 9 p.m. and began patient care on scene. A total of 36 search and rescue personnel assembled two high-angle "lowers" to safely transport the victims downslope, where they were transferred to a litter. The first lower involved a drop of 30 feet; the second lower was 40 feet. The carryout team transported the victims via litter two miles to the Lost Valley trailhead, where they were transferred to an ambulance and transported to a waiting medevac helicopter on Highway 43. Owing to the severity of his injuries, B.A. was transported first, followed by J.A. He sustained a compound fracture of both bones of his right forearm and right ankle as well as head injuries. She suffered two fractured ankles. [Caven Clark]
On Tuesday, May 25, 2010, park dispatch received a call regarding an assault that occurred on the day before along a section of the river between Steel Creek and Kyle's Landing. Ranger Billy Bell identified the victim as J.M. of Fayetteville, who reported he was assaulted by another man in the group, identified as Deaken Shuler. Shuler attacked J.M. as he helped Shuler and his girlfriend launch their canoe during a float trip. Shuler repeatedly struck J.M. along the right side of his face and eye, fracturing the lens of his eyeglasses and driving the lens fragments into his face and eye socket, resulting in serious injury to his eye. With the assistance of NPS special agents, Shuler was tracked down after a six month investigation and difficulty in locating witnesses, several of whom were uncooperative during the investigation. Shuler was charged under 18 USC § 113 and found guilty of assault. On January 19th, he was sentenced to 24 months probation, assessed $260 in fines and costs, and ordered to pay $1,108.62 in restitution to the victim. [Robert L. Still, Special Agent]
On February 24th, rangers received information from a concessionaire who reported that there were visitors in the park who were on a " HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigfoot" Bigfoot hunting expedition." Rangers Billy Bell and Ben Henthorne proceeded to the Steel Creek Campground to investigate. After questioning numerous people associated with the group, they discovered that approximately 30 people had paid M.P., who is affiliated with HYPERLINK "http://www.bfro.net/" The Bigfoot Field Researcher's Organization, to lead them on a hunt for the creature. Several participants said that they had paid $300 to $500 each to be lead on a three- day expedition. M.P. was cited for a violation of the regulation on engaging in a business without a permit or written agreement (36 CFR 5.3). Paid activities that do not have commercial use authorizations or special use permits appear to be on the increase on a nationwide basis and need to be on the radar of all park staff to insure that only sanctioned and permitted activities are conducted in the parks. [Karen L Bradford, Chief Ranger]
A visitor called the park on the afternoon of March 23rd and reported that a teenager had fallen 15 to 20 feet while exploring off-trail and was lying unconscious in a stream in the Natural Bridge area in Lost Valley. Buffalo National River Search and Rescue (BUFFSAR) was conducting high angle rescue training at Kyles Landing, which is approximately 30 minutes distant from the incident scene, and responded immediately along with an ambulance service from NorthArk Medical Center in Harrison. The boy appeared to have sustained head and shoulder injuries and was suffering from hypothermia. After stabilization, he was transported via wheeled litter and ATV to the waiting ambulance. BUFFSAR members were staged along the trail to facilitate transfer. Although initially unable to fly due to weather, a medevac helicopter was dispatched from Harrison, arriving at a pullout on Highway 43. The teenager was transferred from the ATV to the ambulance for transport to the helicopter and was flown to Washington Regional Hospital, Fayetteville. In addition to the NPS BUFFSAR team, NorthArk Ambulance, and Airevac Helicopter, rescuers included representatives from the Jasper Fire Department, Ponca Volunteer Fire Department, Lost Valley Canoe Rental, the United States Forest Service, and a Boxley Valley resident. The Boxley valley resident has a farm near Lost Valley and has repeatedly assisted the park with rescue efforts, often using his ATV to transport injured visitors down the trail. A total of 36 responders were involved. [Karen L Bradford, Chief Ranger]
On the morning of Sunday, March 25th, the on-duty ranger in the park's Middle Buffalo District saw a man and woman collecting rocks and placing them into the bed of a pickup truck at the Grinders Ferry river access area. Rangers who contacted the pair saw the woman making furtive movements, as if trying to hide something; she was also acting very nervous, fidgeting, muttering, scratching herself, and shuffling her feet. As the ranger was talking with her, she removed a syringe from her shirt pocket and threw it on the ground. The ranger frisked her for weapons and while doing so observed fresh needle tracks on her arm. Moments later, field training ranger Todd Garrett and field trainee Paul Chalup (stationed at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore) arrived on scene and searched the pickup. During their search, they located several small bundles of methamphetamine (later weighing out at four grams), additional syringes, and other drug paraphernalia. Chalup took the woman into custody and told her she was under arrest for possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. The Searcy County Sheriff's Office agreed to take the lead role in the case and transported her to Searcy County Jail, where she awaits state prosecution. She was also issued a verbal warning for collecting rocks. [Kevin Moses, Middle Buffalo District Ranger]
Rangers Ben Henthorne and Billy Bell responded to a motor vehicle accident outside of park jurisdiction at the request of Arkansas State Police on August 3rd. The driver of the vehicle had veered off of the road at a scenic overlook, driven over a parking bollard, and then gone through a wooden split rail fence and down the side of a mountain. When the rangers arrived on scene, the vehicle was out of sight due to thick vegetation. Due to the extreme angle of the slope, Henthorne and Bell rigged a hand line to aid in efforts to reach the vehicle and asked an NPS fire crew stationed nearby to bring extra SAR gear. Bell took an EMS bag and began down the mountain, followed shortly thereafter by Henthorne. They found that all the vehicle's occupants - a grandfather, grandmother and their five-year-old grandson - were unharmed and safe with their seat belts still on. The vehicle was situated about 200 to 250 feet down the side of the mountain and had come to rest tangled in greenbriers and grape vines. The thick vines had kept the vehicle from careening off a ten-foot ledge and striking a large tree. It appeared to the rangers the vines were the only thing holding the vehicle in place, so they quickly removed the occupants. With everyone safely out of the vehicle, Henthorne carried the child up the mountain. Bell, assisted by fire crew members, set up a low angle rope system with a prussic belay. Fire crew members went down the mountain, placed safety harnesses on the grandparents, and aided them in their climb up. The grandfather told rangers he believed flip-flops were to blame for the accident. Never having driven in flip-flops, he believes they caused his foot to slip off the brake and onto the gas, sending them over the edge. [Karen L. Bradford, Chief Ranger]
On the afternoon of Wednesday, September 26th, park dispatch received a phone call from a woman who reported that her aunt and uncle had gone hiking in the Mill Creek area outside St. Joe on Saturday, five days earlier, but that only her uncle had returned. The creek is a tributary of the Buffalo River and part of it flows through the park. An interagency investigation was begun and the man was brought in for an interview. Based on his description of where he thought he and his sister had been hiking, interviewers assigned high probabilities of area (POAs) to corridors of Mill Creek outside the park boundaries and focused their initial search efforts there. Teams searched for the remainder of Wednesday's daylight hours and into the evening, but suspended searching a few hours after dark. The next morning, teams resumed searching and ranger Justin Gibbs reported to the incident as the NPS liaison. Gibbs coordinated a resource order for a search helicopter, made recommendations to the IC regarding search team tactics, search area delineation, clue awareness, volunteer management, expansion of the mission's ICS structure and media relations. In addition to the helicopter, the IC utilized ground searchers on foot, on horseback, and in 4WD vehicles and ATVs. Just before noon, one of the ATV teams reported that they had found the woman alive about two miles upstream of St. Joe in the Mill Creek drainage. They reported that she was exhausted, dehydrated, hypothermic, and had sustained multiple cuts, bruises and insect bites, but was otherwise in fair condition. A deputy picked her up via 4WD vehicle and transported her to a waiting ambulance from North Arkansas Regional Medical Center, which took her to a nearby hospital. She remained there for several days recovering from her six-day/five-night ordeal. She told investigators that she "just got lost" and that she ate hazel nuts and drank creek water for the duration of her unscheduled bivouac. Over 100 people from ten agencies and numerous civilian volunteers responded to this incident, and both the incident commander and the Searcy County Sheriff reported that the cooperation from the NPS liaisons was indispensable to the success of the mission. The park intends to host "Introduction to Search Operations and Search Management" classes in the near future and invite local sheriff's office employees to attend. [Kevin Moses, Middle Buffalo District Ranger/SAR Coordinator]
Rangers Justin Gibbs, Dale Johannsen, Ken Nelson, and Melissa Moses responded to a three vehicle accident on Highway 65 a few miles north of the park's Middle Buffalo District on Thursday, November 1st. A passenger car clipped the rear end of a pickup traveling southbound, sending it veering into the oncoming lane, where it collided head-on with a northbound church bus. The driver of the pickup was not wearing a seatbelt and was killed in the crash, but the driver of the car and her small child suffered only minor injuries. Eighteen passengers in the bus suffered a variety of injuries, including loss of consciousness, fractures, lacerations, and other minor wounds. One person was flown out via an AirEvac helicopter; the remaining 17 were transported by ground ambulances. Rangers assisted North Arkansas Regional Medical Center (NARMC) EMS personnel with triage and treatment of the injured, scene safety, and traffic direction. The Arkansas State Police took the lead role in the accident investigation. This mass casualty incident occurred less than a year after the park's protection division recruited instructors from NARMC to teach a class on mass casualty incident management and START (simple triage and rapid treatment) at its most recent EMT refresher. Critical incident stress management counseling has been offered to the responding rangers to assist them in processing their reactions to this traumatic event. [Kevin Moses, Middle Buffalo District Ranger]
On Saturday, December 8th, members of Buffalo National River's search and rescue team, BUFFSAR, assisted the Newton County Sheriff's Office and the Ozark National Forest with the rescue of a 19-year-old man from Fort Smith, Arkansas, who'd fallen from a high bluff in the Whitaker Point vicinity of the Upper Buffalo Wilderness, part of which is managed by the NPS. He had been camping with friends on the point and at about 2:30 a.m. decided to approach the cliff edge, which is an overhanging sheer 100-foot drop. His friends heard him scream and discovered that he had fallen off the bluff. Cell phones wouldn't work at that location, so one of them hiked out to a local residence and called 911. The county contacted the park around 5:30 a.m. and asked for assistance from the park's high angle rescue team. Hasty responders located the victim at the base of the bluff and determined that he was alive but unresponsive, not breathing adequately, and suffering from major trauma. Paramedics from the North Arkansas Regional Medical Center stabilized and packaged him in a litter. BUFFSAR effected a technical raising operation directly over the point, during which time a park medic/litter attendant provided rescue breathing via a bag valve mask to the patient while an EMT, ascending on a separate rope system, assisted with suctioning his airway. The team then conducted a wheeled-litter carryout of approximately one mile to a waiting ALS ambulance, which transported the man to the nearest trauma facility. Air evacuation was requested but was not possible due to dense fog in the area. This incident provided an opportunity for BUFFSAR to work side-by-side with members of neighboring SAR organizations, including the Newton County Sheriff's Office, North Arkansas Regional Medical Center, Arkansas Forestry Commission, the US Forest Service, and the Krooked Kreek, Ponca, Mt. Sherman, Jasper, and Compton Volunteer Fire Departments, forging strong relationships with them. Newton County Sheriff's Department SAR volunteer Glenn Wheeler served as incident commander. The sheriff's office is continuing the investigation of the incident. [Kevin Moses, District Ranger/Buffalo River Search and Rescue Coordinator]
On April 6th, district ranger and swiftwater technician Kevin Moses was off duty at his private residence a half mile from a busy river launch area when he was contacted by visitors who advised him that an SUV was partially submerged in the river at Mt. Hersey Campground. They also said that they did not know if anyone was in the vehicle or in immediate danger. Moses headed to the campground, where he observed a 1992 Chevy Blazer in the middle of the river, facing upstream, with the entire lower half of its body submerged in the very swift, cold current. Moses donned swiftwater PPE for swimming and/or wading to the vehicle, conducted a quick risk analysis using the SPE model, determined the operation to be well within "The Green," and called for a wrecker. Ranger and swiftwater technician Melissa Moses arrived on scene a few minutes later and provided downstream throw bag safety while Kevin Moses made his way to the vehicle. He determined that no one was in, around, or under it and attached the cable from the wrecker, which pulled it from the river without incident. Moses impounded the vehicle until he could determine who its owner and/or driver was. Investigation revealed that a brother and sister had borrowed the vehicle from an associate to "test the four-wheel drive" prior to possibly purchasing it and decided that attempting to cross the four-foot-deep river, flowing at 1,100 cubic feet per second, would serve perfectly for such a test. The driver was issued violation notices for careless operation, leaving the scene of an accident, and creating a hazardous condition. After being questioned about the eight empty beer cans floating in the SUV's interior, the passenger was issued a violation notice for possession of an open container of an alcoholic beverage. [Karen Bradford, Chief Ranger]
On the afternoon of May 6th, a 79-year-old woman from Vermont drowned after striking her head on a tree that was hanging over the river and subsequently caused her kayak to overturn. A friend who was kayaking with her witnessed the accident. She said that the woman was underwater for several minutes before she could get to her and that she was unable to get the kayak upright or get her friend's head above water. Boaters floating down the river came upon the scene and assisted with turning the kayak upright and getting the woman, now deceased, out of the kayak. It is thought that she was underwater for 40 to 45 minutes prior to help arriving. Maintenance employee Jesse Morris was first on scene after hiking in from a location above the accident site and was instrumental in assisting responding rangers. Newton County Search and Rescue also arrived on scene and assisted in the body recovery. The river was running at 588 cubic feet per second at the time of the accident. The longtime friend said that her companion was an experienced kayaker and that they had been taking river trips together since 1988. [Karen Bradford, Chief Ranger]
On the afternoon of Friday, May 31st, Newton County Arkansas 911 was notified by cell phone of an accident that occurred within the park just downstream from Erbie at a place known as the Charcoal Fields. The reporting party said that a man had jumped from a 40-foot bluff, landing on his face, and that he did not resurface. First on scene were National Park Service SAR team members, augmented by personnel from the Newton County Search and Rescue Team, Tri-County Search and Rescue and the Mennonite Disaster Service. The watershed had received significant rainfall on Thursday evening and Friday morning, raising the river to a high level. Search conditions were hampered by fast moving water and zero visibility due to turbidity. Four boats were launched from lower Pruitt, two of which were equipped with sonar. The search was suspended at sunset but resumed the next day. On Saturday morning, search teams prepared to resume operations, but heavy rains throughout the night had brought river conditions to full flood stage, making further efforts hazardous. Later in the day the river receded enough to resume operations for a few hours. The victim, 27-year-old S.C. of Austin, Texas, was found around 4 p.m. on Sunday in about four feet of water and approximately 25 yards downstream from the point where he was last seen. The Mennonite team located the remains using side-scan sonar; the actual recovery was made by Harrison Swift Water Rescue. [Karen Bradford, Chief Ranger]
Late on the night of June 22nd, the Searcy County Sheriff's Office called the park and asked for assistance with the rescue of a man trapped at the bottom of a 30-foot pit a quarter-mile inside of Kristin's Cave, not far from the park boundary near Cozahome. Rangers/technical rescue technicians Dale Johannsen, Mark Miller, Melissa Moses and Kevin Moses joined a Marshall Police Department officer and a Searcy County deputy and worked their way to the man's location to assess the situation, an effort that required negotiating several vertical obstacles along the way and conducting a severity probability exposure (SPE) risk analysis to help mitigate hazards. After locating and making voice contact with the man, who was an experienced caver and a member of a caving club out of Little Rock, they determined that he was thirsty, hungry and cold but otherwise okay and capable of ascending under his own power. The cause of his becoming stranded was that his equipment, including his rope, had been rendered useless by a heavy accumulation of thick, sticky, stubborn cave mud. Miller rappelled into the pit and provided the caver with water, food, a thermal layer and clean ascending equipment. Belayed from above, the caver was then able to ascend most of the pit on a new rope under his own power, though rescuers used a raising system to assist him with the last ten feet or so. Miller then followed, bringing with him a fused wad of metal, nylon, and mud that had at one point been the victim's original ascending system. The rescue party emerged from the cave four-and-a-half hours after they entered; because this particular mission occurred during nighttime hours, the rescuers were forced to conduct the entire operation by headlamp. By the time they emerged, the victim had been underground for 17 hours. Kevin Moses served as incident commander. [Jason Flood, Lower Buffalo District Ranger]
On the afternoon of Saturday, July 13th, a 19-year-old Little Rock man suffered serious injuries resulting from a cliff jump into the Buffalo River from a height of 35 feet. The man and his party were enjoying a float trip from Tyler Bend to Gilbert when they stopped at a busy day use and camping area called Grinders Ferry, known locally as a popular bluff jumping location. The man and his companions had already completed several uneventful jumps prior to the incident, and they began progressively increasing the height and difficulty of the jumps. Witness statements secured on-scene indicate that the injured man climbed to a ledge 35 feet above the river and attempted a back flip. He completed one full flip, over-rotated another half-flip, slammed hard into the river flat on his back, and surfaced coughing up blood. Bystanders, including an off-duty first responder, rescued the man from the river and placed him in a supine position on the gravel bar. The first responder then used his radio to summon medical aid. Field trainee ranger Heather Sharp and her field training ranger arrived at the scene almost immediately, followed shortly thereafter by rangers Justin Gibbs, Todd Garrett, and Ben Henthorne. Sharp and her FTR/EMT took over primary care of the injured man, stabilizing him until paramedics from North Arkansas Regional Medical Center (NorthArk) arrived a few minutes later, at which time they immobilized and transported the patient via gurney to a waiting ambulance. Gibbs and Henthorne established a landing zone in a nearby hayfield and marshaled in a medevac helicopter from Air Evac. Prior to loading the man into the helicopter, he began presenting with a tension HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumothorax" pneumothorax, and a NorthArk paramedic conducted a needle HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoracostomy" thoracostomy to decompress his chest. Once loaded onto the medevac ship, the man was air lifted to the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences Hospital in Little Rock. A follow-up interview with the injured man revealed he had suffered multiple fractured ribs that resulted in a flail chest, a fractured lumbar vertebrae, and a ruptured spleen. He is expected to make a full recovery. Though a small amount of alcohol was onboard the patient, witness statements strongly indicate that this was a mostly peer pressure-driven incident. [Kevin Moses, Middle District Ranger]
On the afternoon of July 27th, a 51-year-old woman suffered an isolated extremity injury (likely a fracture) to her lower right leg resulting from a slip and short fall from a slickrock ledge about three miles up Indian Creek Canyon, a popular and remote hiking/canyoneering destination deep within the Upper Buffalo District's Ponca Wilderness. Though not life threatening, her injury rendered her immobile and unable to bear any weight on her right leg. Her husband helped her into a position of comfort, assured that she had adequate supplies, and made his way out of the canyon to summon rescuers. Rangers, a paramedic from North Arkansas Regional Medical Center (NorthArk), firefighters, and volunteers from numerous agencies responded with a litter and high angle gear and packaged her for a lengthy carryout. Over the next several hours, the rescue party slowly and methodically negotiated the obstacles of the canyon, including tiered waterfalls, narrow ledges, fallen trees, the slickrock substrate of the creek itself, and long pools, one of which resembled a "natural bathtub" that was neck-deep on the rescuers. In several places, technical systems were employed to belay the litter over the more challenging sections. Throughout the mission, Operational Leadership principles were utilized, with heavy emphasis on risk analysis. With a half mile left to go on the carryout, the team was finally able to secure a wheel to the litter, the previous two and a half miles being too broken and rugged for effective use of a wheel. The rescue party arrived at the trailhead at 11 p.m., eight hours after receiving the initial call, where they loaded the patient into a waiting ambulance, which transported her to NorthArk Hospital in Harrison. Over forty personnel from the park and several agencies participated in this mission, which was managed under unified command with the county. Ranger Billy Bell was the NPS IC. On the following afternoon, less than 24 hours after the above rescue, personnel from the park were asked to assist Newton County SAR and the Forest Service with the rescue of a 59-year-old woman who had suffered a fractured left femur and fractured right tibia after falling from a cliff in the Hawksbill Crag vicinity of the Upper Buffalo Wilderness, which is co-managed by the park and Ozark National Forest. The woman had been scrambling un-roped on a ledge twenty feet off the ground when she struck her head on an overarching roof, became dizzy, reached for a nearby sapling, missed it, and tumbled off the ledge. Rangers and personnel from numerous cooperating agencies responded and conducted a vertical litter raise up the 60-foot cliff utilizing a dual mainline system. She was then transported about three quarters of a mile via wheeled litter to a waiting Air Evac medical helicopter that airlifted her to Washington Regional Hospital in Fayetteville. The same agencies participated as in the first rescue, with a total of 56 rescuers joining in the operation. Ranger Billy Bell was again the NPS IC. Ranger Mike DeSanto served as operations chief. [Kevin Moses, SAR Coordinator]
On the evening of July 31st, a dozen rangers and deputies responded to a report of a man holding his family hostage with a gun at South Maumee Campground. One of the family members was able to slip away unnoticed and place a cell phone distress call reporting that his father was holding a gun on his family, refusing to let them leave, and threatening to shoot them. Ranger Ben Henthorne and the first four local officers soon arrived on scene and apprehended the man as he was attempting to leave the campground. Rangers Jason Flood and Dale Johannsen, armed with rifles, approached the campground from the other side of the Buffalo River at the same time, crossing the waist-deep river on foot in the process. A quick search of the man and his vehicle failed to reveal a firearm, so officers proceeded to the campsite to search for it there. Initially, family members attempted to protect the man, denying the presence of a firearm, but officers ultimately located a .22 caliber pistol in the nearby woods. A vehicle search also revealed controlled substance and drug paraphernalia. The man was placed under arrest and transported to Searcy County Jail. Searcy County Sheriff's Office is leading the investigation, and charges for terroristic threatening and DUI (drugs) are pending. [Karen Bradford, Chief Ranger]
While a lengthy backcountry rescue was just getting started on July 27th, an employee for a canoe outfitting company reported via radio that a law enforcement ranger was needed immediately at Rush Landing in the Lower Buffalo District. Staffing shortages and the ongoing SAR left one ranger available in that district to respond. Given previous incidents at that location, it was assumed to be related to some sort of violence and that proved to be right. Deputies from the local county were therefore also asked to respond. Two intoxicated young men had gotten into an altercation while floating together and then separated when one left the other stranded without a paddle or a boat. By default, they ended up reuniting at Rush Landing. One acted aggressively towards the other and also towards the outfitters, threatening at one point to beat up a 14-year-old boy. When the outfitters intervened, he threatened to hit them with a canoe paddle. District Ranger Jason Flood arrested the combative man and placed him in his patrol vehicle. While handcuffed and restrained in the vehicle, the man kicked and broke the windshield of Flood's patrol vehicle before finally ending up in the county jail, with many federal and county charges filed against him. [Karen Bradford, Chief Ranger]
On July 21, 2013, rangers received a report of the sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl at Ozark Campground during the Memorial Day weekend. An NPS special agent was notified and an investigation was begun. The investigation revealed that the victim, accompanied by her father, younger sister, older brother, a male friend of the older brother and the suspect, R.T., traveled to the park for a weekend camping and float trip. During the course of the trip, R.T. forcibly fondled the victim three times inside a tent over a two day period. The girl had begun contacting R.T. via Facebook and text messages, confronting him with the incidents. Ranger Melody Morrison coordinated with state police and the Child Advocacy Center during interviews with the girl and her sister and followed up with interviews and investigation along with the agent. On August 13, 2013, R.T. was arrested by rangers, an agent, and federal marshals from the US Marshal's Office. He was charged with three counts of sexual assault of a minor. During an interview with NPS investigators, R.T. confessed to the acts. On February 18th, R.T. was sentenced to 30 months in prison and five years supervised release, ordered to pay nearly $10,000 in restitution to the victim, and registered as a sex offender. The National Park Service was assisted by the Newton County Sheriff's Office, Bentonville Police Department, Arkansas State Police, Child Advocacy Center of Benton County Arkansas, and the United States Attorney's Office, Fort Smith. ISB conducted the forensics electronic analysis and AUSA Kyra Jenner prosecuted R.T. for the offenses. [Investigative Services Branch]
On March 16th, northwest Arkansas received about two inches of rain overnight and had temperatures in the low 30s, leading to a sleet/snowstorm that eventually dropped three to four inches of snow. While on patrol in the Steel Creek area of the park, protection ranger Mark Miller contacted a visitor for speeding. The man told Miller that he was rushing in order to shuttle out people who'd hiked out from an overnight stay in the Ponca Wilderness, adding that one of the hikers, a young woman, was not feeling well due to being sick earlier in the week. Miller offered to assist with the shuttle and hiked down the trail to check on the young woman. He contacted several members of the hiking party who affirmed that she wasn't feeling well, but did not give Miller the impression that she was in need of assistance. Further down the trail, he contacted a man from the party who informed him that she was unconscious. Miller immediately stepped up his response, contacting the Midwest Region Ozark Communication Center and asking that they send out an alert for the Buffalo Search and Rescue Team. A mile and a half down trail, Miller found the 17-year-old girl, who was semi-conscious, wrapped in a wet sleeping bag with her mother. She was placed in a heat blanket and a sleeping bag and then onto a litter for transport and was treated for hypothermia and very low blood sugar by an on scene paramedic. Responders conducted a carryout over a mile and a half of very rough muddy trail and across one high water creek. The mother was treated for mild hypothermia and was able to hike out on her own. Due to nearly whiteout conditions, the Air Evac helicopter was unable to respond, so the girl was taken by ambulance to North Arkansas Regional Medical Center in Harrison, Arkansas, which is over an hour from the trailhead. At the hospital her core temperature was discovered to be 84 degrees. Miller's attention and quick response likely saved the lives of two under prepared hikers. Fifty four responders, most of them volunteers, assisted in the rescue. They came from the following agencies and organizations - Buffalo River Search and Rescue Team, Harrison Fire Department, Tri County SAR Team, Mennonite Search and Rescue Services, Newton County Sheriff's Department and SAR Team, North Arkansas Regional Medical Center, and the Arkansas Forestry Commission. The weather was atrocious, but that did not stop the volunteers from coming out to assist. Buffalo National River staff are very appreciative of their valuable assistance. [Karen Bradford, Chief Ranger]
On the afternoon of Friday, April 18th, dispatch received a cell phone call from a man who reported that his 48-year-old wife had stumbled on a large cobble while hiking about three miles down the Centerpoint Trail in the Ponca Wilderness, possibly fracturing her right ankle. He also said that she was unable to bear any weight on her ankle and that she was asking to be rescued. Rangers and resource management staff, joined by personnel from a variety of cooperating agencies, including the park's search and rescue team, BUFFSAR, responded for the six-and-a-half mile round-trip carryout rescue. Rescuers carried a wheeled litter in to her location, stabilized her injury, packaged her into the litter, and carried her to the trailhead, where she was transferred to a waiting ambulance. A total of 39 people were involved in this rescue, all of whom demonstrated exemplary teamwork and communication. Ranger Melissa Moses served as incident commander. Less than 24 hours later, BUFFSAR personnel responded to a second rescue callout, this time for a 28-year-old man who had fallen about 50 feet while free climbing, or soloing, on a cliff in the vicinity of Hawksbill Crag in the Ozark National Forest portion of the Upper Buffalo Wilderness. He'd become painfully wedged in a tight crack between two large boulders on the ground, suffering significant injuries, and remained in that position for about two hours before first responders arrived at his location. Over 60 people were involved in the operation. They stabilized him, extricated him from the crack (which required some tricky patient handling), packaged him for a technical rescue, and conducted a vertical litter raising operation to the top of the 70-foot-high cliff. They then conducted a carryout for about a half mile to a waiting Air Evac helicopter, which airlifted him to Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville, AR, where he is recovering from his injuries. Upper Buffalo District Ranger Mark Miller and Newton County SAR Coordinator Glenn Wheeler served as dual incident commanders under unified command. [Kevin Moses, Search and Rescue Coordinator]
On the morning of Saturday, May 3rd, a mission was launched by the park's search and rescue team after a report was received of an overdue hunter. Family members had reported that W.T., a well-known local Arkansas resident in his mid-forties, failed to return home from a turkey hunting trip that began early Friday morning in the Baker Ford area of the park. Buffalo National River SAR coordinated with Searcy County on a search of the river corridor and adjacent lands that got underway around 10 a.m. on Saturday. W.T. had been traveling by kayak to reach a well-known hunting area. During the course of the search, some of W.T.'s personal items were recovered from the riverbanks. Plot cameras set up along the river for creel surveys by resource management staff were checked and found to contain photos of two kayakers finding W.T.'s kayak, which was tangled in brush, and taking it downriver. A helicopter which had been called in from Baxter County Sheriff's Office and had previously been sweeping the area followed the river's course and discovered the kayakers 31 miles downriver at Dillard's Ferry. The pilot landed the helicopter, made contact with the kayakers, and retrieved the kayak. Intensive foot and horseback searches were undertaken on land surfaces along both sides of the river while helicopter sweeps were made along the river corridor. Family members offered many suggestions as to likely locations based on W.T.'s recent conversations about where he had seen turkeys. During the next two days' search, dive teams and drag hook teams swept the river bottom. In the afternoon on Monday a drag team hooked W.T.'s shotgun from a pool approximately a half mile upstream from where he'd launched his kayak. Dive teams were relocated to this area and within the hour an Arkansas Game and Fish Commission dive team found W.T.'s body in the same pool where the shotgun was found. By mission's end, over 150 civilian volunteers and personnel from almost two dozen agencies had contributed efforts to the cause. The park expresses sincere gratitude to all of them for their indispensable cooperation. Middle Buffalo District Ranger Kevin Moses was incident commander for the first two days; FMO Fenn Wimberly was IC on the third day. [Karen Bradford, Chief Ranger]
The Searcy County Sheriff's Office contacted the park just before midnight on Friday, June 20th, and advised that they'd received a cell phone call from a member of a group on the river who reported that one of their party had been bitten by a snake and was in severe distress. Rangers telephoned the callback number and spoke with the reporting party, who said that the man who'd been bitten was suffering from bad trembling, nausea, significant swelling of his entire foot and lower leg, complete inability to bear weight, and pain that was "a 15 on a 10 scale." Rangers narrowed down the patient's location from the caller's description of landmarks, but they were able to pinpoint it after the caller sent a map ping locator via text messaging. The incident commander conducted a quick HYPERLINK "http://www.uscg.mil/hq/nsfweb/foscr/ASTFOSCRSeminar/Presentations/ Safety/SPERISKASSESSMENTMODEL.pdf" SPE risk assessment for a canoe-based rescue and determined that the risk level was between "slight and possible." Given the alternative of forcing the patient to wait seven or eight hours in severe distress for a daylight rescue, rescuers opted for a nighttime mission. Three rangers, including field trainee Jonathan Jackson, launched canoes and paddled by headlamp under a moonless sky two miles to the victim's campsite. Ranger/Paramedic Matt Graden and District Ranger/Parkmedic Kevin Moses stabilized the man, loaded him into a canoe in the most comfortable position they were able to fashion, and continued paddling downstream another seven river miles (during which time they floated within two feet of a swimming copperhead) to the next available takeout, where they transferred the man to a waiting ALS ambulance at 4:30 a.m. The man reported that he'd been unable to identify the species of snake, but odds are good that it was either a cottonmouth or copperhead, both of which are common on the Buffalo. Alcohol may have been a factor, as the patient reported having consumed "about twelve beers, several tequila shots, a rum/vodka mixture, and some whiskey" prior to receiving the bite. District Ranger Kevin Moses served as incident commander. [Karen Bradford, Chief Ranger]
Ranger Ben Henthorne overheard radio traffic from Newton County Fire Rescue on the afternoon of June 20th concerning a motor vehicle accident on State Highway 123 at Carver, located within the park's boundaries. Ranger Melissa Moses joined him in responding. A witness who was driving in the opposite lane reported that the driver of a Toyota pickup swerved into her lane, overcorrected, then swerved back into the opposing lane and hit the guardrail. The vehicle went down an embankment and hit a tree on the driver's side, causing significant damage, then overturned. There were no other passengers in the vehicle. Northern Arkansas Regional Medical paramedics and Hasty Volunteer Fire Department and Harrison Fire Department personnel conducted extrication operations utilizing a Jaws of Life tool to peel the roof off of the vehicle back and gain access to the driver. Prior to extrication, they had to anchor the vehicle to a tree due to the steep uneven terrain. The driver, a 49-year-old man from Little Rock, Arkansas, was pronounced dead at the scene. He was not wearing his seatbelt. The Arkansas State Police are leading the investigation. [Karen Bradford, Chief Ranger]
On the afternoon of July 2nd, a father and daughter were saved from drowning by the heroic act of a visitor. A man and his 10-year-old daughter were swimming in Buffalo River upstream from the Ponca low-water bridge when they were swept into deep water by the swift current. Neither of them were strong swimmers and both quickly became distressed. Michael Hogrefe of London Arkansas, who later revealed he is a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) instructor and former lifeguard, went to their aid. Hogrefe swam to the child and was pulling her back to shallow water when the father grabbed him. Hogrefe had almost reached shallow water with both victims when the swift current pulled all three back downriver and against the bridge abutment. The current was pulling all three towards the bridge opening even though Hogrefe was frantically trying to prevent this while grabbing and scraping his fingernails and fingertips along the concrete abutment. He could no longer hold onto the father and daughter and let both go. He immediately got out of the water and went to the downstream side of the bridge, where the child's mother was holding a branch out to her husband. The husband latched into the branch while holding his daughter by her heel. Hogrefe pulled the child out of the water. He found that she was unconscious, blue and not breathing, so immediately began CPR and was on his fourth cycle when he could feel her heart beat. She began blinking her eyes, coughed up water and started asking for her mother. Witness's estimated the time the child was underwater to be about six minutes. While this rescue was in progress, Hogrefe's girlfriend drove to Ponca, which is a very short distance from the bridge, where Buffalo River Outfitters contacted Midwest Region Ozark Communication Center with information regarding a possible drowning. District Ranger Mark Miller, BUFFSAR member Glenn Wheeler, and North Arkansas Regional Medical Center paramedics responded. The father and daughter were assessed on scene by NARMC ambulance personnel. The family refused ambulance transport but did self-transport to the hospital for treatment. [Karen Bradford, Chief Ranger]
On the evening of July 14th, an 18-year-old Jonesboro, Arkansas, man slipped and fell while attempting to cross a rock gap at the top of Eden Falls off the Lost Valley trail. He took an initial fall of 10 feet before he was stopped momentarily by a ledge, but the wet conditions caused him to once again slip and fall another 15 to 20 feet. His hiking companion lost sight of him after the final fall but was assisted in reaching him by two University of Arkansas students who were also hiking in the area. Due to lack of cellular coverage, other hikers traveled out from Lost Valley to call Buffalo National River dispatch. Once the page was received, Buffalo River Search and Rescue (BUFFSAR) team members were mobilized, with the three young men assisting team members with the recovery. BUFFSAR volunteer and EMT Chad Wilt was the first rescuer to arrive at Lost Valley and was led to the victim's location in a slot canyon by the two assisting hikers. Although badly injured, the victim was conscious, but couldn't remember the events of the fall. Those assisting with the search and rescue efforts were Air Evac, Mennonite Services, North Arkansas Medical Regional Medical Center EMS, Carroll County, Mount Sherman Volunteer Fire Department, and Ponca Volunteer Fire Department. The teams performed a high angle rescue to bring the victim back along the trail that leads to the top of Eden Falls. He was then evacuated - partly by litter team and partly by all-terrain vehicle and litter trailer - to the trailhead. From there he was transported by ambulance to Compton and then air evacuated to Mercy Hospital in Springfield, Missouri. At the time of the report late last week, he was in intensive care but in stable condition. The incident was managed under a unified command system between the National Park Service and the Newton County Sheriff's Office. [Keith A. Jefferson]
Rangers Billy Bell and Ben Henthorne responded to a single vehicle accident involving a tractor trailer truck loaded with watermelons on Highway 21 entering Boxley Valley on the morning of July 25th. The truck lost its brakes, went off the road, and rolled onto its top. trapping two of the three occupants inside. When they arrived on scene, they found the driver, who was out of the vehicle, being cared for by EMS personnel, so focused on assisting other responders with the rescue of the two people trapped in the truck. A six-year-old girl was extricated within a few minutes. She'd suffered a number of injuries, including broken bones and the partial amputation of several figures, and was flown from the scene to a hospital. Bell then crawled in through the window and assisted an EMT with stabilizing and monitoring the bleeding compound arm fracture sustained by the passenger still trapped inside. Bell remained inside the wreckage assisting with the patient for approximately an hour and a half as Harrison Fire/Rescue worked with hydraulic rams and the jaws of life trying to extract the victim. The conditions inside the mangled cab included temperatures of above 110 degrees, broken glass and splintered fiberglass, all covered with dripping diesel fuel. As Harrison Fire/Rescue worked with hydraulic rams and the jaws of life, the truck creaked and groaned, ever so slightly moving down the hill. After approximately two-and-a-half hours of entrapment, the final passenger was extracted from the vehicle. Earlier this year a tractor trailer hauling chicken parts overturned in the same location, dumping them all over the road and down the embankment. The guardrail had recently been repaired from the previous wreck but was completely destroyed once again. [Karen Bradford, Chief Ranger]
On the evening of September 8th, dispatch received a report of multiple gunshots being heard at the Buffalo Point Campground. Ranger Daniel Williams responded within a matter of minutes, found the reporting party, and conducted a quick interview. After gaining valuable information, Williams assessed the situation and tactically approached the campsite where the witness said the gunshots had come from, placing himself in a position of advantage and ordering the man out of his tent. He then ordered the man to lie on the ground, quickly handcuffed him and made the scene safe. Rangers Dale Johannsen, Mark Miller, Logan Tucker and Mike DeSanto arrived on scene while Williams was rendering aid to a woman in the tent who had suffered multiple gunshot wounds. She was flown to Springfield Medical Center, where she was operated on for upwards of ten hours. She remains in stable but critical condition. Several rangers assisted in securing the crime scene overnight and staying at the hospital with the victim. Special agents with the Investigative Services Branch conducted interviews, obtained a search warrant and processed the crime scene. Processing the crime scene took three days with the assistance from the park's law enforcement specialist and numerous rangers. Buffalo National River and Marion County Sheriff's Department are conducting a joint investigation. [Karen Bradford, Chief Ranger]
Rangers Justin Gibbs and Tracy Whitaker were scanning the local sheriff's department frequency on their radio on Friday, October 17th, when they heard a report of a man threatening people with a gun at a bakery in nearby Leslie, Arkansas. The rangers were operating as a double unit due to canvasing the park for a suspected child molester. The Searcy County Sheriff's Office requested their assistance and they responded. While they were en route, the rangers received an update advising that the man was shooting at police. The two rangers arrived immediately after the gunfire ceased, entered the scene, which by that time had been made secure by additional officers, found a deputy lying on the ground, wounded but conscious, and a single suspect, also lying on the ground wounded but conscious. Both rangers, trained and equipped for tactical emergency medical services (TEMS), switched gears and began rendering medical aid to both the wounded deputy, who had received a single gunshot wound to his hip, and his assailant, who had received multiple gunshot wounds from the deputy. The deputy had continued returning fire at the suspect even after being shot. An Arkansas state trooper was also involved, returned fire but sustained no injuries. Paramedics from North Arkansas Regional Medical Center arrived shortly thereafter and the rangers assisted them with packaging the two patients, who were flown to definitive treatment via medevac helicopters. The wounded deputy was released from the hospital the following day and is expected to make a full recovery. The Searcy County Sheriff's Office and Arkansas State Police are sharing the lead in this investigation. The wounded Searcy County deputy and the Arkansas state trooper are personal friends of the two rangers. Buffalo National River rangers conduct two TEMS trainings, as well as several active shooter and similar armed confrontation/use of force training courses, every year. [Kevin Moses, Middle Buffalo District Ranger]
On the afternoon of November 30th, BUFFSAR, the park's search and rescue team, was activated for a high angle search and rescue mission involving a fall in the Ponca Wilderness near the Hemmed-in-Hollow Falls area. C.M., 21, of Ozark, Missouri, was free climbing a vertical cliff when he fell from near the top of the approximately 150-foot-high bluff onto a ledge. He fell approximately 25 feet and landed on a ledge that was the size of a large round dining table. His companion ran up the very steep trail to a point where he had cell phone coverage and called for help. ICS was immediately put in place, with Ranger Melissa Moses as the incident commander. Members of BUFFSAR were split into squads and positioned themselves above and below C.M.. The high angle squad traversed the rim of the canyon along a game trail that mirrors the ledge of the 209-foot-high waterfall. District Ranger Jason Flood rappelled down to him to begin initial treatment while the squad set up the lowering system. As the litter reached the victim, litter attendant Logan Tucker had to wedge himself against the cliff face, as the ledge was too small for an additional person. Due to the height of the cliff, additional rope was added to the lowering system using a fisherman's knot. After packaging C.M., the litter was lowered in a horizontal position approximately 130 feet to a larger ledge and was then converted to a vertical position and lowered the remaining 150 feet through an extremely steep and heavily vegetated slope to the bottom of the bluff. The litter squad took over the operation from there and began the carryout portion of the SAR. The terrain was extremely steep, with the litter team traversing over two-and-a-half miles of trail with a 1500 foot gain in elevation. Low angle belay systems were utilized on several occasions due to the steepness of the terrain. BUFFSAR brought C.M. to the trailhead at approximately 3 a.m. The waiting ambulance took him to North Arkansas Regional Medical Center in Harrison for initial treatment. Within a matter of a few hours, the weather turned very quickly from a high of 73°F to 33°F, with a wind chill factor of 17°F, and it began sleeting. This rescue, which occurred entirely at night and with rapidly deteriorating weather, was one of the most technically complex rescues in Buffalo National River's history and serves as an excellent example of interagency teamwork. In addition to the Buffalo National River protection rangers and BUFFSAR volunteers, groups participating in this operation included Alpena VFD, Arkansas Forestry Commission, Boone County Sherriff's Office, Carroll County Sherriff's Office Rescue Team, Compton VFD, Harrison Fire Department, Mennonite Disaster Services, National Park Service Fire Module, Newton County Sherriff's Office, North Ark Regional Medical Center Ambulance, Tri-County Search and Rescue, and the Steel Creek Campground Hosts. In all, about 60 people were involved in the operation. Hot food and beverages were provided by the Red Cross to the members of the rescue party, who were more than ready after a major exertion and a 30-degree temperature drop. [Karen Bradford, Chief Ranger]
Dispatch received a report on the evening of June 18th advising that a 22-year-old man had disappeared while swimming in the Buffalo River, which was near flood stage at the time of the incident. The reporting party advised that the man and two companions swam across the river at Grinders Ferry; on their return swim, the victim began struggling, slipped beneath the surface of the river, and disappeared. Hasty search operations were begun immediately via land and boat and continued until slightly after dark. Search operations continued the following morning at first light, with efforts focusing on side-scanning, sonar-mounted motorboat operations. Additional sonar operations continued on Saturday and Sunday, and dive operations were begun on Sunday. On Monday morning, as dive teams were preparing to enter the water for the second day, District Ranger Mark Miller and Firefighter Tim Baron were making a motorboat sweep patrol to Gilbert when they located the body of the missing swimmer about two miles downstream from Grinders Ferry. The body had been deposited by the river in a shallow depression on a sandbar about five vertical feet above the water line. A recovery and investigation team was immediately deployed to that location to recover the body, which was transferred to the Searcy County coroner upon arriving back at Grinders Ferry. The search and rescue mission utilized a unified command team comprised of the National Park Service and Searcy County Sheriff's Office. Additional resources came from Mennonite Disaster Services Search and Rescue (Carroll County SAR), the American Red Cross, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Dive Team, Arkansas G&F wildlife officers, Benton County Dive Team, Searcy County Dive Team, BUFFSAR volunteers and numerous park staff. [Karen Bradford, Chief Ranger]
On the afternoon of July 20th, the park was contacted by Searcy County 911 concerning a possible drowning at the Tyler Bend area. Rescue and medical personnel were dispatched to the area, where CPR was in progress on the five-year-old victim. The family was just getting settled when the little boy began wading into the shallow water and inadvertently got into deeper water. His inflatable float ring did not keep him above water. The boy's father pulled him from the water. Several nearby canoeists began CPR until park and medical personnel arrived on scene. CPR was continued for some time but was unsuccessful and the boy was pronounced dead at the scene. Personnel from Buffalo National River, Searcy County Sheriff's Office, and North Arkansas Regional Medical Center EMS responded. [Karen L Bradford, Chief Ranger]
On the afternoon of July 12, 2015 Buffalo National River was contacted by Newton County 911 concerning a possible drowning at the confluence of Well's Creek and Buffalo River. Rescue and medical personnel were dispatch to the area where they located the victim, G.M. III age 23. Mr. M. and his wife had been swimming in the area when he decided to jump from a 15 foot bluff into the river. Mr. M.'s wife heard her husband enter the water but did not see him jump as she was traversing the trail from the bluff to the gravel bar. She lost sight of Mr. M. for a very short period of time but when she saw him again he was floating downstream face down. She was able to wade into the water and pull him to shore where she began doing CPR. Very soon after she had begun, floaters rounded the bend, recognized the distress and quickly came to her aid. CPR was continued for some time but was unsuccessful and Mr. M. was later pronounced dead at the scene. First on scene was Air Evac helicopter which was able to land on the gravel bar. At this time CPR had been suspended after approximately 30 minutes of continuous cycles which were unsuccessful. G.M. III was a member of the Western Grove Volunteer Fire Department and leaves behind a wife and baby. Personnel from Buffalo National River Search and Rescue team, Newton County Sheriff's Office, Hasty Volunteer Fire Department, Tri-County Search and Rescue, North Arkansas Regional Medical Center EMS, Air Evac Lifeteam, Newton County Coroner's Office and the Boone County Coroner's Office assisted. On the afternoon of July 20, 2015, Searcy County Sheriff's Office contacted the park concerning a possible drowning of a five year old boy at Tyler Bend. Witnesses reported the child had on an inflatable float ring and was wading in a shallow portion of the river when he went under. The boy's older brother alerted his father to the missing boy, who had stepped into a deep hole and slipped out of the float ring. The father was able to locate his son and bring him to shore. Park Guide Terry Traywick, who is trained in CPR and is a CPR instructor, and Interpretive Ranger Joyce Umbach, responded to the location and found park visitors administering CPR. Terry immediately began assisting with the CPR and coaching the visitors. Off duty Emergency Dispatcher Joe Jones and his spouse were floating the river and came upon the scene and immediately began assisting with CPR. Resuscitation efforts were continued by park personnel until the NorthArk Ambulance arrived. All attempts to revive the boy failed. Personnel from the Searcy County Sheriff's Office, Park personnel, to include a campground volunteer, park visitors and NorthArk Ambulance Service assisted. [Karen Bradford, Chief Ranger]
The body of 65-year-old R.N. was found in the Buffalo River last Saturday morning, four miles downstream from where he was last seen on April 26th. Searchers in a jet boat from Hasty Volunteer Fire Department found his body late on the morning of May 5th. R.N.'s canoe capsized when he and the people he was canoeing with were trapped in floodwaters in an area known as "Hell's Half Acre" above Kyles Landing. In the days after he went missing, searchers found articles of clothing and gear from the two canoes that overturned A number of agencies and organizations were involved in the search, including the Newton County Sheriff's Office, the National Park Service, the Harrison Fire Department, the Harrison Office of Emergency Management, Tri-County Search and Rescue, Mennonite Disaster Services, Christian Aid Ministries, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and their dive team, Arkansas Forestry Commission, Mt. Sherman Volunteer Fire Department, Hasty Volunteer Fire Department, Lost Valley Canoe Rental, the Arkansas Canoe Club, Carroll County OEM, K-9 units from around the state, and the American Red Cross. Source: Springfield News-Leader.
An encounter between two park rangers and camper J.B. at the Spring Creek Campground on the night of August 20th ended in J.B.'s death. Since the park has not posted a news release and since the investigation is still underway, only newspaper accounts, some conjectural, are currently available. Several appear below for your perusal: Springfield News-Leader, August 22nd Springfield News-Leader, August 25th Springfield News-Leader, August 28th More information will be provided when and if it becomes available.
As was noted in a previous edition, a camper wielding a weapon was shot and killed by a ranger at Spring Creek Campground in the early morning hours of August 20th. The following update comes from the September 7th edition of the Springfield News-Leader: A Branson camper wielding a BB gun pistol was shot dead by one of two park rangers who encountered the man at Spring Creek Campground on August 20th. According to the Park Service, at 1:34 a.m. that day, two National Park Service law enforcement rangers were conducting a routine patrol of the Spring Creek Campground in the Lower District of the Buffalo National River. In a news release, the Park Service said preliminary results of an investigation found that "as the rangers entered the campground, they were immediately confronted by a white man, later identified as J.B. 34, of Branson, Missouri." According to the Park Service, the rangers identified themselves as law enforcement officers and illuminated J.B. with flashlights. J.B. was pointing an object directly at the rangers, which they believed was a semi-automatic handgun. The rangers ordered J.B. to drop the handgun and he refused, according to the Park Service. He continued verbally challenging them and was then shot by one of the rangers. The rangers provided immediate life-saving efforts to J.B., the release said, but they were unable to revive him. He was pronounced dead by Regional Medical Center ambulance personnel when they arrived. According to the preliminary investigation, J.B. was armed with a Umarex XCP air pistol, which resembles a two-toned semi-automatic handgun and does not have an orange tip to identify it as an air pistol [see the news article below for a photo of the air pistol]. Both rangers involved in the incident were placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, as is the normal protocol of the NPS. Also in accordance with NPS procedures, once the investigation is complete, the case will be presented to the U.S. Attorney's Office and Searcy County prosecutor for review. Source: Springfield News-Leader.
The following are short follow-ups on incidents previously reported in this newsletter: Buffalo NR — The Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette has published details about the incident in August, 2017, in which a ranger shot and killed a man who was threatening him with a gun that later proved to be a realistic and improperly marked BB gun. The information comes from the 1,106-page-long investigative report conducted on the shooting, which was recently released after a request was filed under the Freedom of Information Act. Source: Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette.
Campers near Grinders Ferry along the Buffalo National River called 911 last Friday morning after the river's rapidly rising waters began flooding their campsite. The call led to an interagency rescue effort involving rangers and county personnel. Those 14 people were rescued, although they had to leave their cars behind. Later that morning, rangers rescued another ten people at Tomahawk Creek and by day's end had rescued more than 60 people from the along the river in the stretch from Hasty to Tyler Bend. Victims said that they were surprised by how fast the river's waters rose. The following article includes a two-minute video on the rescue and flooding. Source: KARK News.
Every year, particularly on holiday weekends, people drown unnecessarily in national parks through lack of preparedness or swimming in hazardous areas. Here are several from Memorial Day weekend, plus a rescue at Cape Hatteras two weeks ago: Buffalo River NR — A 16-year-old boy drowned while attempting to swim across the Buffalo River on May 25th. The teenager was swimming in a "deep and swift" current at Grinder's Ferry. Witnesses said that he began struggling as he swam, went underwater as he neared the other side of the river, and never resurfaced. He was not wearing a life jacket. An interagency dive team found his body in 10 to 15 feet of swift and murky water that evening. Source: Arkansas Democrat Gazette.
The body of a missing hiker was found on Wednesday, June 17th, in the Ponca Wilderness Area of the park. At about 11 a.m. Wednesday, search and rescue personnel found the remains of T.R., 65, of West Memphis, in the Sneeds Creek drainage area south of Compton. He'd been missing for four days. T.R. and his brother began hiking along the Center Point Trail on Saturday morning. After veering off to the Sneeds Creek Trail, T.R. reportedly injured his leg, and his brother went to get help. Upon returning to the area, he was unable to find T.R. The National Park Service led a search and rescue operation that began Saturday evening, with ground and aerial searches conducted of the area. Although the cause of death has not yet been determined, the Center Point Trail is steep and rugged. It is not a hike that is recommended during hotter times of the year. Source: Bill Bowden, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Below are short follow-ups on incidents previously reported in this newsletter. Buffalo NR — The family of a Branson man shot and killed by rangers while camping near the river three years ago is suing the federal government. Attorneys have filed a Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) lawsuit against the United States/Buffalo National River. Arkansas prosecutors decided not to charge the two park rangers in the shooting that killed J.B. Investigators say he was armed with a pistol and was shot after he pointed it at the officers. Source: Frances Watson, KYTV News.
Below are short follow-ups on incidents previously reported in this newsletter. Buffalo NR — On December 10th, two people pleaded guilty in federal court to unlawfully excavating and damaging archaeological resources in the park. M.L.W., 64, and Y.J.W., 55, each pleaded guilty to a criminal information charging violation of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act. On August 29, 2015, rangers spotted the pair digging in the Grinders Ferry area and taking rocks and minerals from a gravel bar. Further investigation revealed the couple had been to the same area previously to dig for rocks and artifacts. Court records state that both were involved in searching for, locating, excavating, trading, and selling artifacts, and actively engaged in social media group communities with the same interests. Michael and Y.J.W.'S sentences will be determined by the court at a later date, following the U.S. Probation Office's completion of a presentence investigation. Full article. Source: KFSM News.
On July 27, two men pleaded guilty to felony violations of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act for illegal excavations in the Historic Rush Mining District, and the sale of stolen geological and mineral specimens. The pair dug for rocks on multiple occasions in 2015 and 2016 until a ranger observed evidence of their excavations while they were camped in the park. An investigation revealed entry into the Monte Cristo Mine and Morning Star/Ben Carney Mine. Resource damage is estimated at $22,241. Source: United States Attorney's Office, Western District of Arkansas
On September 25, a 16-year-old took a 20-foot fall while scrambling off-trail along steep slopes adjacent to Eden Falls Trail. Witnesses at the scene immediately administered CPR until emergency personnel arrived. The victim was later pronounced dead due to traumatic injuries to head and spinal cord. Source: 5 News Online
On May 18, several incidents took place at the same time. Visitors at Kyles Landing river access reported a person upriver having a seizure. While the patient was being assessed, seizures began again and NPS staff and Newton County Sherriff's Office coordinated a helicopter transport to a local hospital. While rangers responded to Kyles Landing, they came across another emergency on Highway 7, north of Jasper. A vehicle was on the side of the road with its 44-year-old driver slumped over the wheel. A Newton County Deputy made contact and determined the driver had passed away from an apparent medical issue. Several hours later, a missing canoer was found deceased (see below). Source: KNWA
On May 16, two canoers fell into the river near Clabber Creak Shoal, downriver from the Rush access. One of the paddlers was able to get to the canoe and place it upright. A search for the other paddler, a 56-year-old, was conducted for three days, and included personnel from the NPS, Buffalo Rangers, state and local law enforcement, multiple fire departments, Mennonite Disaster Service, and Christian Aid Ministries. On May 18, the victim was found deceased by two people fishing near the confluence with the White River. Source: KY3, Springfield News-Leader
On October 2, a 71-year-old was traveling northbound on Highway 7 near Pruitt when they crossed the center lane and struck a trailer being towed by a vehicle going southbound. Personnel from the NPS and Newton County Deputies responded. The individual was transported to North Arkansas Regional Medical Center, but eventually died of injuries incurred in the crash. Source: KATV
On October 27, a 67-year-old individual failed to return from a planned hike on the Hemmed-in-Hollow Trail. The individual was reported missing to the Newton County Sherriff's Office the following night. The Sherriff's Office began a search that evening, and the search over the next few days included support from the NPS, Mennonite Disaster Services, and Arkansas Alliance of Bloodhound Search Specialists, BUFFSAR volunteers, Arkansas State Police, Compton Volunteer Fire Department, County Line Baptist Church, Marion County Search and Rescue, and North Arkansas Regional Medical Center. Search efforts were postponed temporarily on October 29 due to rainy conditions. On November 1, the individual was found near Horseshoe Bend, "in good spirits." Rescue personnel assisted the individual out. Source: Buffalo National River (10/29, 11/1), KNWA, KATV
On June 24, 2021, after a citizen complaint, two NPS law enforcement rangers approached a 30-year-old who they believed was involved in a verbal domestic altercation with their partner at the Spring Creek Campground. The individual appeared to be under the influence of an unknown substance and refused to cooperate with questions. Due to the individual's erratic behavior and the statements of the other individual, the officers attempted to take the suspect into custody. They began to fight with the officers, and one NPS officer sustained an injury. The individual was arrested and transported to the Marion County Jail. The suspect attempted to escape while at the jail. The individual was recently sentenced to one year and one day in prison for the incidents. Source: KY3
A 47-year-old was sentenced to a two-year ban from Buffalo National River, two years of probation, and over $3,000 in restitution, fines, and fees. In 2022, the individual received payments for guiding hikes at the Eye of the Needle in the Indian Creek area of the national river. One hike involved the carryout of an injured hiker and another resulted in the death of a 46-year-old on May 7, 2022 (see 5/18/22 Coalition Report). The rescue and recovery involved a multi-agency effort with 47 responders. The guide was convicted in federal court in December 2022 for operating a business in the park without a permit. Source: Springfield News-Leader
On May 16, a 39-year-old waded into the river near Grinders Ferry, then lost their footing and was swept under the current. They were not observed resurfacing. The individual was not wearing a personal flotation device. On May 18, the individual was found deceased near Shine Eye landing, just downstream from the area they went under. Personnel from the NPS, Searcy County Sheriff's Office, Searcy County Dive Team, Marshall Fire Department, North Arkansas Regional Medical Center, Harrison Fire Department, Mennonite Disaster Services, Searcy County Office of Emergency Management, Newton County Sheriff's Office, Marion County Search and Rescue, Carroll County Search and Rescue, Boone County Office of Emergency Management, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Dive Team, Hasty Fire Department, and the American Red Cross supported the search. A near-drowning and the hospitalization of multiple people happened in the same location a few days prior. Source: Buffalo National River (5/17, 5/18)
On May 19, a 69-year-old was kayaking in the upper district of the river near Carver when they struck a tree and overturned the watercraft. After turning over in the water, the individual was pulled under a submerged tree. Other members of their party tried to extract them but were unsuccessful. The individual was not wearing a personal flotation device at the time. Personnel from the NPS, Newton County (AR) Sheriff's Office, and Hasty Volunteer Fire Department responded to the incident. Source: Buffalo National River
On July 28, an individual, recently elected as the Marion County (AR) Justice of Peace, was issued a citation for the distribution of printed material. The infraction is listed in the 36 Code of Federal Regulations as requiring a special use permit to ensure the "overall safety and enjoyment of the historic site by the majority of visitors." The individual was handing out leaflets "to inform campers and floaters of the legal limitations of National Park Service park rangers outside the river boundaries and the contact information needed to file a complaint if they are 'treated with disrespect or in an unprofessional manner' by park personnel." The leaflet also documented information about a ranger-involved death in 2017. Source: Newton County Times
On October 18, a 13-year-old was near Brewer Bluff when they lost their footing and fell about 260 feet. They passed away from injuries in the fall. The recovery included personnel from the NPS, Searcy County (AR) Sheriff's Office, Marshall Fire Department, Harrison Fire Department, and Survival Flight. Source: KY3 | |