• El Dorado Hills Missing Man - 2009
On Friday afternoon, November 13, 2009, Sergeant Morton made a callout for foot, dog and OHV resources for a 79-year-old man who left his gated community at 11:00 a.m. and did not return home. Dog and hasty teams were deployed in nature areas near the Command Post at Serrano and Silva Parkway. OHV teams ran the wider roads.
CalStar provided initial helocopter search resources, followed by CHP H-20. A citizen reported that a woman found a man nearby who appeared lost. This was radioed in and several SAR personnel converged on the scene.
A reverse 911 call had been placed to 3500 phone numbers in the immediate area of El Dorado Hills that the subject had last been seen. He had apparently walked quite a distance west, out of the active search area, and was returning towards his residential area when discovered.
While there was no previous history of dementia, the EDSO will follow up with the family to provide information resources for further assistance.
SAR 007 said:
Lessons learned: Worked with Ruth and her dog, a learning experience. Was often jogging to keep up with the dog and couldn't stop to do the usual bridge and pond checks. Second time I tried, Ruth got ahead of me, didn't see me in the dark, and we had a worried moment.
On a Canine team, the handler is going to be focused on the dog, so you've got to be heads-up about safety all the time. Whenever the dog decided to cross the road, I tried to place myself where I could see traffic in all directions, and put my head on a swivel. The rest of the time I was handling radio and navigation.
Down in the creek bottom, a bright, 360-lumen light eliminated the tunnel vision effect that smaller lights have produced until now. These big lights are a little pricey but will undoubtedly come down in price next year. When they do, take a look.
Didn't expect to find a creek in such a built up area. Would have liked to check it closely but the dog was moving on. The best I could do was suggest CP should send more resources when they got them.
Got to meet the subject when I returned the scent article to his residence. The family was so grateful. It was pleasure to meet the gentleman.
SAR 342 said:
After locating the subject at Silva Valley Pkwy/Serrano Pkwy, I was very impressed with how quickly we were met by an OHV team and a uniformed deputy. The subject was very cold and disoriented (and possibly a bit shaken up from the excitement of radio chatter, lights, helo, etc.) Within minutes of locating him, Ron B. drove to our location and returned to the command post with the subject.
SAR 302 said:
Having walked this nature trail for almost 20 years with my dogs, I felt like an expert on the Hasty Team One, since I and my dogs (not search dogs; not present) knew the area well. Didn't need a map and my search partner was ready to mark waypoints.
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