MISSIONS- 2006

To provide a training structure and documentation to ensure a qualified group of Search and Rescue members. To provide encouragement and incentive for members to: maintain training, elevate the levels of performance, and to stimulate the growth of leadership within the unit. To aid and assist in finding lost or missing persons including first aid care and evacuation from the field either by litter by horseback. To promote public education of wilderness safety.
July
Eight NWHSAR members participated in an evidence search in Kirkland on July 29, 2006 , cutting back brush and clearing around the home where four family members were murdered. Approximately 40 KCSARA members participated in the search, looking for a murder weapon and clothing which the suspect had discarded. Searchers found nothing which could be tied to the crime, although they saw, first hand, heart wrenching evidence of the tragedy.A large memorial, with hundreds of bouquets and pictures of the victims accumulated in front of the burned out home where the family was found. A chain link fence had been set up to preserve the scene and the backyard was strewn with children's toys, bed-ding, clothing and insulation removed by fire fighters, then, later by detectives when it was discovered that the victims had been murdered and the house fire set.The man being held in the stabbing deaths of two women and two children, Conner, reportedly woke up from a drunken blackout inside the home of the victims to find himself covered in blood.The suspect took a shower in the victims' home to wash off the blood and discarded his bloody cloth-ing. He then allegedly stole an outfit from the victims' house before setting it afire to conceal the killings. The unit members participating in the evidence search were Gretchen, Ken, Mike and Diane, Julie, Barbara , Barbara (OL), and Anne-Marie.Barbara
October
October 11, 2006 . Rattlesnake Lake Trail/North Bend , WA. Injured hiker. Three hikers left the trailhead around 10 am . Approximately 1 ¾ mile up the trail, two of the hikers went ahead on the trail. They noticed their friend was not behind them so they went back down the trail to see where he was. They found him face down in the trail. They immediately started CPR. When they had no luck they called 911 for assistance. King County responded as well as an Aid Unit. The aid person ran quickly with a portable deliberator to the subject. It was too late. He was pronounced dead at the scene around 1:30 pm .Mountain Rescue was first on the scene for a body extraction. King County Sheriff's Officer's were sent up to check the scene for possible foul play before allowing Rescue workers on scene. Shortly afterwards Nancy arrived to help out in the search. Mike and Diane arrived just minutes after.We met the rescue crew around a mile and a half up the trail to help bring the subject out on a wheeled litter. Along for the trip out was our new SAR Coordinator, Kathleen. Nancy had the opportunity to tell her about our unit. She asked if this particular trail would be accessible for horses. I told her this would be a “piece of cake”, that this would be a warm up trail. Plus even if we could not put the subject on a horse, we could have at least packed out the other units’ backpacks.The subject was out of the trailhead around 4:30 p.m. . The medical examiner was there to collect the body and debrief was quick and to the point and we were on our way home.Submitted by Nancy .
October 14, 2006, approx. 9:30 pm ; DEM: 06-3103; Above Lake Walker , base at Cumberland (Enumclaw) Fire Station; Unit Responding: NWHSAR - 9 members NWHSAR riders were called out Friday night to assist with the search for a rider whose horse had been found fully tacked up and sweaty but without the rider. Barbara responded to the deputy's page, and coordinated the horse unit call out.Gretchen and Ken, along with Barb, were first to respond. Since those three members live in Cumberland , we could have had a team ready to ride in minutes. However, their ability to be in the field immediately was im-pacted by lack of radios and the travel time required for the OL to arrive at base.Shortly after being paged, Kurt, Elizabeth and Tatianna, Rebecca and Julie called to join the search. At 10:13 p.m. , the mission be-came a turnaround: Kurt had driven a mile, Julie had driven 10 and was at Barb's when the turnaround call came in. Since Julie and Barb were already tacked up they took the opportunity to enjoy a night ride.Follow-up:The horse's rider was OK - had a bump on her head. She hadn't tightened the girth and came off when the saddle slipped. Operational issues: lack of radios limited our response.No one was close enough to the command vehicle to pick up radios without significantly impacting their ETA into base. Barbara (OL) had two personal radios, plus one unit issued radio. This could have equipped two teams, although with 7 members riding and Gretchen assisting in base we needed 4 or 5 radios: this would have let us field three teams. With the exception of one unit radio issued to Barbara, all unit radios are in Monroe, Snohomish or with OL's further north. A more equitable distribution of radios would enhance NWHSAR response in situations such as the Cumberland search.Submitted by Barbara, NWHSAR OL
October 15, 2006, 10:16 pm; DEM: 06-3112; South Bend /Long Beach, WA, request for assistance to Pacific CO. 62 year old male missing since 6 pm; need 4 riders 7:00 am Sunday. Unit Responding: NWHSAR - 4 members Four NWHSAR members responded to the request for four riders to help find a 62 year old male starting 7:00 am the next morning. OL Barbara coordinated the NWHSAR volunteers, however with a minimum of a 2 1/2 hour trip to the Long Beach area, only 3 unit members volunteered for the mission: Gretchen, Barbara and Kurt.Given NWHSAR's inability to provide the four riders, it was suggested that the Pierce Co mounted unit be invited to the search, since they are at least an hour closer to that area. At 11 pm NWHSAR's mission status changed to standby: WA State EOC decided to call Clark County SAR as closer resource. We were advised that we would be called if our help was still needed. Follow-up: the subject was located this morning in good condition. He had been missing since 6 pm Saturday: had gone for a walk in the State park and became lost.Operational issues:This is the second recent call out where a shortage of radios within easy access to South King County responders has an impact on NWHSAR teams. The OL's 3 radios (2 personal, 1 unit issued) would be just enough for two horse teams and the OL, however any malfunction of a radio would impact our search capability by eliminating one team.Submitted by Barb, NWHSAR OL
Saturday Oct 21 2006; DEM: 06-3148; Skamania Co, Wakepish Sno-Park; Unit Responding: NWHSAR - 6 members This search for human remains was the furthest away of any response in the history of the unit. The closest members drove 210 miles, the furthest had a 460 mile round trip. In all, six NWHSAR re-sponded: Nancy and Dennis, Alex and Ruea, Brenda and Barbara (OL).The subject of the search was a man in his 20's, missing since Oct 2004. He was last seen, late at night, on Hwy 12 near Randle WA . Some time later, the subject's vehicle was found abandoned on a jeep trail near the snow park. Several previous searches have yielded no clues to the individual's disappearance. We hoped this search would turn up something.Nancy, Dennis and Brenda accompanied three tracker teams to cover a previously unsearched area while two K9 teams searched Hemlock Creek, close to where the subject's vehicle had been found. Barbara, Alex and Ruea checked the confluence of Wakepish, Hemlock and Iron Creeks, expecting that floods and high water might have washed our subject down-stream. Extremely high banks and old growth timbers blocking the creek beds force them to find creative ways over and under obstacles and sometimes to simply wade through water and deal with the soaked footwear.Nothing of significance was found, although we had a brief excitement when a bone chip was discovered. As the chip was marked, photographed and bagged, we discovered similar nearby fragments which appeared to be small animal and not what we were seeking.There were no problems, issues or injuries to report, other than possible bruising when Ruea slipped off a rock into the creek.Barbara, OL, NWHSAR/photos by Nancy
Date: October 23, 2006 : 1930 Location: Tinkham Creek Area Two Missing Hikers Joe responded to this call out with paging assistance from Barb. NWHSAR members put on standby until information available regarding terrain suitability for horses. Deputy determined that area not good for horse operations so NWHSAR declined this call out. Subjects were located at approximately 2200.Submitted by Barb.
Date: October 26, 2006 : 1900 Location Glacier/Mt. Baker (Whatcom Co) Extraction of Injured Hiker Callout to assist Whatcom County with an 0600 rescue of injured female seven miles up a trail. Barb responded to request for Ols to contact King County Deputy. Requested further details on mission suitability for horse operations. Deputy advised that terrain was “pretty nasty” for horses and Whatcom County‟s own horse unit had declined the mission. NWHSAR declined mission due to unsuitable terrain.Submitted by Barb.
November
Date: Tuesday Nov 7 2006 DEM: 06-3338 Location: Fall City WA
 Unit Responding: NWHSAR - 1 member and 1 shanghaied Non-SAR husband Mission #1: Midnight page to any horse OL re: flooding. A Fall City horse was trapped in water to the middle of her belly and KCSO Dive Unit needed some-one with a horse trailer to take it off their hands. Since this was only 7 miles away, Barb was able to respond quickly. The horse, a gray Arab named Rosie, loaded uneventfully and was transported to a stall at Barbara's place. Thanks to Gretchen for waking Barb up re: the page request and to non-SAR hubby/helper, Jack, who accompanied Barb to assist if needed. Background: the owners had been forced to evacuate their home, leaving the horse behind. They didn't have a trailer or ability to transport the horse to a safer location. Rosie will be a guest at the Sly's until flood waters recede.
Mission #2, November 7, 2006 L 1417
Location: Fall City , WA
Call to evacuate pig.
At 1417, KCSO contacted Barbara to request evacuation of a pig in the Fall City area. A 350 lb pig was "incarcerated" by the Dive Team only a 1/4 mile south of where the horse had been rescued. Evacuation required a 1/4 to 1/3 mile backup along Rt 203 be-cause flooding on both sides of the road left no room to turn around. Firefighters and divers helped load the pig onto Barbara's horse trailer. On arrival at Barbara's, Freckles was sound asleep on the floor of the horse trailer and could not be persuaded to leave that sanctuary for a place which might be less dry. Freckles will be returned to his/her home when the flood waters drop and the pig's owner is reconsidering his plan to convert Freckles into pork chops. Background: The owners of the animal had tried to evacuate their donkey, pig and other animals the previous day in waist deep water. Concerns for their own safety forced them to abandon "Freckles", the pig. It appears Freckles was able to tread water to higher ground until rescued by the dive team.Submitted by Barb, OL and certified pig wrangler.
Date: November 6, 2006 : afternoon Location: Renton and/or Redmond/Fall City This was a “standby callout” for all SAR units to possibly assist on November 7, 2006 at 0400 for sandbagging the rivers in Renton and Fall City . The rivers were expected to crest later the next day. The EOC did not activate the SAR units as the rivers had crested early and too high for sandbagging. The following NWHSAR members re-sponded to the page: Mike and Diane, Matt, Ken, Gretchen, Rebecca, Barb Archer, Rhonda , and Julie.Submitted by Barb.
Date: November 28 – 29, 2006
 Time: 1900 on 11/28/06 to 1800 on 11/29/06
 DEM #: 06-3688 Location: Skateland Rink , 17140 Fusion Rd. , Bremerton , WA 98310
 Type of Mission : Missing person, 60 years old last seen wearing a tan robe, light blue pajamas, socks but no shoes. Has a son in the area and he is looking for her as well.Objectives/Goals: A night search of residential streets, looking under bushes and along driveways, alleys and trails in this neighborhood but not entering private property. (Streets described in radio logs and maps attached in After Action Report submitted to Dep. Kathleen.) Morning search of same area only door to door with picture and description as well. A search of fields and vacant lots and woods (also described in radio log).Comments and/or Problems: The mission was out of county, There should be some form of standard procedures established within WAKCSARA for missions within the State. There were multiple people in the base to get information from, not just one person. The mission paused late on November 28th and started again at 0900 on November 29th.Number of Personnel: Kurt, Dennis and Nancy, Jim, Nicole, Kirsten.
Personnel Hours: 152.5Vehicle Miles: 275
Submitted by Joe, OL.
More on the above mission.On Tuesday November 28th, the page went out for a missing 60-year-old patient. Joe responded as OL for NWHSAR and sent the page out for the NWSAR Unit to respond around 3 p.m. Dennis and Nancy, Kurt and Kirsten, Nicole and Jim said they would join in the search. Nancy carpooled with Dennis from the Tacoma Park and Ride and arrived at base camp in Bremerton around 8:30 p.m. The rest of the unit carpooled in the unit's command van arriving around 9:30 p.m. Once Joe checked in with the Duty Officer a search area was plotted. Most of the search units had gone home for the night since they had been searching since around noon . The plan was to resume the search the following morning at 9 a.m. So Joe asked our members if they wished to get a good night's sleep and resume with the SAR groups or search an area that night. It was unanimous that we would search the area that night. We searched until 3 a.m. then tried to get some sleep at the Skateland Roller Rink. The room was cold but better than a tent with the temperature only being 22 degrees! Carpet covered cement is only comfortable for so long. Most of the group awoke at 5:30 a.m , breakfasted at Shari's then resumed the search.Most of the day was rechecking areas in which the other groups had checked the day before. A large section of the area was forest and trails none of which yielded any results. With more snow coming in our area and no leads we concluded the search at 3 p.m. Wednesday.The page came out Thursday that the woman had been found. Submitted by Nancy Gaddy
Date: Sunday Nov 19, 2006
 DEM #: 06 3606 Location: Denny Creek/Snoqualmie - Hemlock Pass Trail This mission for a missing 31 year old female snowshoer was paged out around 0300, Sunday, November 19th. At 0745, Dennis contacted OL Barbara to volunteer himself and wife, Nancy, to join the search. Barbara spoke with the Deputy and determined the conditions required snowshoe-experienced searchers. As Nancy and Dennis had no snow-shoe experience, it was determined that NWHSAR would not respond.At 1124, there were additional pages for volunteers. OL Bridget responded and organized two teams of NWHSAR responders who were willing to search on foot. Bridget was ill, so Barbara agreed to attend as OL.Searchers arrived at the Denny Creek base around 1500. Steady rain and a previously fallen foot or more of snow made conditions critical for the subject, who had been lost for almost 24 hours without food, adequate warm clothing or shelter. ESAR teams had been dispatched 6 miles up the trail to Hemlock Pass ; they were experiencing hypothermia because of the wind and rain at that elevation. NWHSAR volunteers were tasked with ascending the trail to accompany returning teams back to base. Team 1: Dennis and Nancy, Mike and Diane left base first at approximately 1530, Team 2: Rhonda , Julie and Barbara followed them at around 1545. Gretchen remained in Base as OL support.By 1700, Team 1 had gone about as far up the trail as they could without snowshoes. At 1730, they joined up with a Tacoma Mountain Rescue team and returned to base by 1830, having covered the trail as far as Snowshoe Falls , 3 miles fromBase. Team 2 turned around at 1738 and accompanied ESAR team 8 back to base, arriving at 1825.All NWHSAR members were debriefed and logged out as of 1915.Observations: NWHSAR foot teams were limited by weather conditions and lack of experience in snowshoe conditions. Members' packs were not adequate for the winter conditions. Avalanches further up the trail could have trapped teams in the field. Avalanche awareness and snowshoe training are needed for members who wish to help on foot in winter.Members should also participate in some trail hikes to test their physical capabilities by hiking trails to understand terrain and personal limitations. Old knee injuries hampered one searcher. Heavy rain on packed snow created slip hazards. 48 hour packs, trekking poles for stability, traction devices for over footwear and snowshoes would have been required for deeper penetration into the search area.Barbara, OL
December
Date: December 2, 2006
Dem #: 06-ES-040
Location: Barb's Home in Carnation, WA
Type of Search: Evidence Search – Skull Found on Property
According to Barb, on November 25, 2006 at about 3:30 p.m. , she was walking around the back of her 1.5 acre treed lot where she keeps her horses looking for low cedar branches to cut to use for cover in her pheasant pens.
She saw an odd colored round rock nestled in the leaves, picked it up and realized it was a skull. No jaw or teeth, but an opening where the spinal cord entered the cranium and the upper part of the eye sockets. She flagged the area to preserve the integrity of the scene. A detective came on November 25th to collect the skull, and the next day several detectives appeared with the Medical Examiner and spent several hours sifting through old leaves and the upper layer of dirt.The evidence search occurred the following weekend with Barb now in the role of property owner and not permitted to act as OL.The search commenced at approximately 0900 and a total of about 60 SAR members responded to the call-out. Our responding unit members were organized into two teams and assigned an area to search. As there assist in the evacuation of an incapacitated woman on Mt. Si . The evidence search closed down and all searchers left the area.11 NWHSAR members responded to this call-out: Anne-Marie, Barb, Elizabeth and Tatti, Brenda, Mike and Diane, Ken, Nancy, Gretchen, and Rebecca. Juan Carlos was present as family chauffeur.Comments: Members should try and bring their own tools when assisting on an evidence search in case there are insufficient tools to go around. Very little if any contact with deputies at the scene; all instruction provided by ESAR members. It would be helpful to attend evidence searches with at least a full 24 hour kit in case called out on another mission requiring more clothing, extra gear, etc., as happened in the (following) Mt. Si Mission.Submitted by Gretchen with comments from Rebecca and Anne-Marie .
Date: Saturday Dec. 2nd 2006
DEM: 06-3730
Location: Mount Si trailhead (base camp)
Mission : Litter out 24 yr old female with abdominal pain
This call out came at approximately 13:30 Saturday December 2nd.
Approximately 60 searchers were in Carnation WA on an evidence search. That search was suspended and most volunteers relocated to the Mt Si trailhead to assist in evacuating a 24 year old female approximately 3 1/2 miles up the Mt. Si trail.10 NWHSAR members responded to the call, arriving in base around 14:30 . At 15:17 Team 5, consisting of Elizabeth and Tatti, Rebecca headed out of base with Cheryl of the dog unit as a guide. The team carried a backpack with tent, sleeping bag, extra coat, gloves and headlamp in case conditions forced them to spend the night in the field.At 15:55 Team 6, with Brenda Nancy , Mike and Dianne headed up the trail. Both teams had the assignment of assisting with a possible litter out of the subject in the event a helicopter couldn‟t pick up the subject. Other teams had reached the subject with a wheeled litter and were attempting to get her into a suitable landing zone however it was not known if the helicopter would be able to pick the subject up. The Navy helicopter was engaged in another mission and was not expected to arrive in time to hoist the subject out. Dwindling daylight was a significant concern as neither Guardian One nor the Navy helicopter were permitted to fly after dark. By 16:05 NWHSAR paged out a turn around because there were sufficient numbers of volunteers teams in the field and a helicopter evacuation appeared likely. Kurt was already enroute and decided to continue, arriving at 16:25 .The Navy helicopter arrived earlier than anticipated and successfully hoisted the subject at 16:40 . The daylight was approaching the point where they were not authorized to fly. Our teams would have had a long and difficult night of helping to litter the subject down the trail.Teams returned to base between 17:23 and 18:00 and were debriefed and released at 18:05 .Comments: members will begin looking into traction devices for over their footwear. Slippery conditions would have made this a grueling litter carryout. Having a backpack with tent, sleeping bag and other supplies was acknowledged to be a good safety factor. Juan Carlos was present in base camp as family chauffeur, and observed that he would have liked our teams to have arrived in base more quickly. We were delayed by needing to get directions and to pack some additional emergency supplies. Our timing could be improved if members had better familiarity with trailheads which are well known to other responders.Submitted by Barbara, NWHSAR OL
Date: December 21, 2007
 DEM #: 06-3961Location: Mt. Peak / Enumclaw
Late Thursday evening a Blackhawk Military helicopter was practicing night vision goggle flying when it crashed atop Mt. Peak in Enumclaw around 8:30 p.m. Neighboring houses reported they saw the helicopter hovering over the mountain when it started to spin in circles before crashing.Three crewmembers were aboard. When Search and Rescue reached the copter the pilot and co-pilot were found close to the crash. A third crewmember was unaccounted for. Search dogs were brought in to check the surrounding area.The first response for help went out at 9:10 p.m. First page for NWHSAR went out at 9:38 . Mike and Diane responded first and close behind were Dennis and Nancy. Matt responded shortly there after.The Command Center was set up at the King County Fairgrounds, which is close to the crash site. SMR, ESAR and Search Dogs all joined in looking for the missing soldier. Dennis, Nancy, Diane and Mike were assigned to an ESAR team to search the SE corner of Mud Mt. Road and 284th. With the help of a King County Sheriff‟s Officer we contacted all the homeowners to ask permission to check their property for the missing soldier or debris from the copter.We checked several pastures with horses, goats and llamas. The llamas were very curious about our headlamps! They came running up to the fence line bouncing and wiggling around like they wanted to play. They could not stop looking and sniffing our headlamps.We found no evidence and returned to the Command Center for new assignments. Around 2 a.m. the search was put on hold when the Army arrived. They called back all Search Units so they could conduct their own investigation. We all returned home. A page went out for assistance on Saturday morning to do ground clearing. But soon after the military called off all civilian assistance till further notice.The third soldier was found Friday morning and the investigation resumed to see why the copter had gone down.Submitted by Nancy
Date: Saturday Dec 30 2006
 DEM: 06-3961 Location: Mt Peak, Enumclaw: base at King Co.
Fairgrounds, Enumclaw Mission: Evidence Search - downed Blackhawk helicopter Six NWHSAR volunteers responded to this callout following a Blackhawk helicopter crash which occurred the night of Thursday Dec. 21st. After SAR volunteers took part in the initial search the night of the crash, the military took over, using Army personnel to continue the search. Nine days later, after a road had been bulldozed in to provide better access, SAR volunteers were brought in to assist with locating evidence and mapping the debris field outside the immediate impact zone. Ken and Gretchen helped with base camp operations, Brenda and (OL) Barbara assisted an ESAR team, while Alex and Ruea worked with a Snohomish Co team. Due to the need for confidentiality, this report is restricted to a general description of the search. Searchers met at 8 a.m. at the Enumclaw fairgrounds and split up into teams of six or seven members. The 4x4 unit provided transport from base to the search site, approximately a mile away. There were a total of 31 SAR members and over 100 military personnel deployed into the field. The helicopter had gone down on a steep wooded hillside, locally known as Mt. Peak . The area immediately around the wreckage was restricted to army personnel with SAR teams operating in vertical sections on either side of the restricted zone. The area was covered in heavy fern and sticker bush undergrowth. A 30 to 35 degree slope made it necessary to secure ropes to trees at the top and bottom of the hillside. SMR sent up two rope teams to set up and safely secure the ropes for the use of the SAR teams following. These served as a barrier between the army and SAR search areas and also served as a safety rope for assisting volunteers to ascend or descend treacherous sections of ground. The ropes also provided a "control" reference point for logging location/distance of debris from the impact zone. SAR teams were directed to line up at five foot intervals along the base of their search area and to ascend the hill, looking for crash related evidence. This required close attention to the ground, sweeping old brush and leaves away, marking finds with flagging tape and recording a description of each artifact with distance from the control rope and base line. Thick brush was both a godsend and an obstacle to progress. Ferns and sticker brushes provided a "green belay" as handholds to keep searchers from falling down the slope when the footing crumbled or rocks rolled out from underfoot. Thickets of stickers also hindered searchers, penetrating gloves and making "owww" frequently heard. Falling rocks and rotten trees posed an additional threat. It was advised but not required that searchers should wear helmets. "Hurry-up-and-wait" was a frustrating reality for most searchers and 4x4 members who had to wait for military clearance to enter the field. Transport between base and the search site created an unavoidable delay. However the downtime was also a relief from the physically demanding terrain. The effort required to climb the hillside made it difficult to work more than a few hours without a break. The well thought out search zones, the tight control of the search site, coordination between Army, SAR ops, use of safety ropes strung by SMR, and heavy reliance of 4x4 transport all add up to an interesting experience as well as a good physical workout for each field member.
Submitted by Barbara, OL
Contact info@nwhsar.org for more information
All images copyright. Many thanks to Savanah Kent for her images