News & Columns > G.T. Houts > Search for Missing Hiker Continues (Update 4)

Search for Missing Hiker Continues (Update 4)

By G.T. Houts
Sunday, January 6, 2008

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Update 4 — 8:06pm, Sunday

Green Valley Lake, CA - "We will continue to search for him throughout the night as weather permits."

That statement in a San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department press release sets the tone for the ongoing search in the Green Valley Lake area for 62-year-old Dean Christy.

The release also stated San Bernardino County Fire personnel joined the search early Sunday operating snow cats delivering searchers to various locations and patrolling fire roads and breaks in hopes of locating the hiker who has been lost since Friday.

Search teams were reported coming into the Green Valley Lake Fire Station command post to rest and were being replaced by fresh searcheres.

Update 3 — 6:21 pm, Sunday

Green Valley Lake, CA - Search and Rescue teams got some additional support today in their search for 62-year-old Dean Christy near Green Valley Lake when the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department helicopter was able to join the search.

The 14 search teams welcomed the addition of the helicopter (40-King) but visibility problems kept the chopper near Butler Peak Lookout while ground crews used snow cats to cover the search area near Green Valley Campground.

Just before 5:00 pm, the search was ongoing for the hiker that became disoriented in the fog Friday evening. The 14 teams involved in the search have between 2 and 5 members each.

Family members told the news media gathered at the Green Valley Lake Fire Station command post they were hopeful his survival skills would bring him home safely.

"I just got up from a nap on Friday," Joan Christy (the hiker's wife) explained, "when the kids told me he had gone for a walk. I got a knock on the door Friday afternoon telling me about the 911 call and how he had become disoriented."

Sheriff's Department spokesperson Bryan Lane said: "All his experience might bring him home safely. His family is confident he can create shelter and create conditions for us to find him."

"The weather is against us," Corporal Lane stated, "steadily worse since Friday. The prognosis is not good for weather."

"The wonderful rescue workers are doing their best to find him," Mrs. Christy stated late Sunday.

Christy's son, Kevin, told KABC-7 his father knew how to make a shelter from snow and was hopeful he would be located soon.

"We don't need any additional volunteers," Lane told news media, "We don't need to be looking for any additional people in this weather."

Update 2 — 1:11 pm, Sunday

Green Valley Lake, CA - Fourteen Search and Rescue squads continue to search Sunday afternoon in the area of Green Valley Lake for 62-year-old Dean Christy who has been missing since Friday evening.

Snow cats are shuttling the search teams to locations along various US Forest Service Roads in hopes of locating the missing hiker.

At 12:52 pm, scanner reports indicate one team had just completed the search in the area of the Butler Peak Lookout and were heading back down FS Road 2n13 and then back to the command center at the Green Valley Lake Fire Department.

Update 1 — 10:07 am, Sunday

Green Valley Lake, CA - Approximately 40 Search and Rescue team members are currently seaching for the 62-year-old hiker lost since Friday near Green Valley Lake.

"They started their search shortly after 6:00 am Sunday morning," stated Sheriff's Department PIO Arden Wiltshire, "and we're hopeful we will locate him today despite poor visibility and cold, windy conditions."

Snow cat 129 with six searchers on board (Team 6) were deployed in an area with new tracks about 8:00 a.m. Sunday but so far have not reported any sighting of hiker Dean Christy.

A new temporary repeater station has been setup to assist communications during the extensive search of the area near the Green Valley Campground.

At one point, the command post was asked whether Christy had any ski poles with him. "Negative," was the reply heard on scanners.

Updated Story

Green Valley Lake, CA – Search and Rescue teams began their ongoing search for a 62-year-old hiker at 6:00 am today near Green Valley Lake in deteriorating weather conditions.

Dense fog with zero visibility and snow prompted San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department officials to send the eleven search teams looking for the hiker—identified as Dean Christy—home for the night about 6:30 pm Saturday. Several Search and Rescue team members stayed behind at Green Valley Campground in freezing temperatures just in case Christy wandered in during the night.

The search for the experienced hiker began Friday evening after a cell phone call was received from Christy stating he had become disoriented in the fog and couldn't find his way back to the Green Valley Campground, according to Sheriff's Department PIO Arden Wiltshire.

"Just before 2:00 a.m. Saturday," Wiltshire told RIMOFTHEWORLD.net, "we lost cell phone contact with Mr. Christy."

Wiltshire explained eleven Search and Rescue teams combed the area north of Green Valley Lake on Saturday and would return Sunday to continue the search.

"It was important for the teams to get some rest," Wiltshire said late Saturday evening. "The teams consist of anywhere from 2 to 5 individuals and they'll be ready to go at 6:00 am Sunday. With the weather turning bad on our teams it's certainly going to hamper our ongoing search."

Shortly after 1:00 pm Saturday, searchers made contact with the occupants of a brown Land Rover as it came out of Forest Service Road 3n16. The driver of that vehicle told authorities they had seen fresh tracks near the Green Valley Campground.

Teams were immediately dispatched to that region but were unable to locate Christy as the dense fog closed in on the area.

"We have a pretty good idea of the general area where he's at," Wiltshire noted, "but so far we haven't located him."

Wiltshire told RIMOFTHEWORLD.net, Christy, a part-time Green Valley Lake resident, was an experienced hiker and was dressed warmly and wasn't injured.

"However," she continued, "he did say he was without food or water and had no shelter."

Search and Rescue personnel have established the Green Valley Fire Department as their base camp and teams are utilizing Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to establish a search grid.

"We have snow cats at our disposal," Wiltshire explained, "and they'll probably be utilized a lot Sunday with the weather expected in the region."

Snow cats are utilized to shuttle crews in and out of the GPS search grid.

No injuries to rescue personnel have been reported but scanner transmissions did indicate teams had to change at least one tire and put on chains as snow began sticking in the area of the search.

Approximate search area:

See Hiker Lost in Green Valley Lake Area for original article.