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Have Ticket, Will Travel
March 2000
SAR members went to the Tahoe Basin to look for a man who wasn't there on Tuesday, September 26, 2000.
The 76-year-old subject, Richard, was still recovering from head surgery when his family reported him missing. Although he had no history of dementia, his recent surgery and his age made searchers consider the possibility of a stroke or other medical condition.
The command post was set up near the subject's home on Appalachee Way, several miles up Pioneer Trail, early in the morning. At first light, mounted, canine, foot and OHV teams started searching the territory near the Elks Lodge where he was reportedly last seen. Phil Dold's OHV team, at top of Twin Peaks, actually spotted someone on the opposite crest, but Air 21, the CHP airplane, reported that it was a solitary camper (brushing his teeth, as I recall).
Meanwhile, the subject's sister did a little investigating of her own and called Richard's credit card company. They reported that Richard had used the card to pay for a bus ticket to Ventura, where he had lived years ago, and the mystery was solved. Family members promised to meet the bus there, and the search was called off. West Slope SAR teams were back home by noon.
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