RMRU rescues Tahquitz climbers in dangerous conditions

Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit (RMRU) pulled two climbers off the face of Tahquitz Rock during what Lee Arnson called “brutal conditions.” What began as a textbook rescue on a beautiful Sunday, Dec. 7 night quickly deteriorated “into a full blown technical over the side mission with weather as dangerous as it gets,” as described by Arnson.

Two 23-year-old climbers from Santa Cruz, properly clothed and equipped, began their climb in beautiful weather Sunday during the day on a moderate ascent route and got off track. They wound up stranded 80 feet from the top of the peak, near White Maiden’s Walkaway, unable to go back or forward. “They went into a bad route and got way above their climbing ability,” said Arnson. The climbers used a cell phone to call 911. RMRU mobilized at 7, and had three members in place on the top of the peak by 10 that night. Arnson described rappelling down to the stranded climbers in rain, snow, winds gusting up to 50 M.P.H. and fog beginning to set in, using the voices of the climbers to orient the descending team.

By 3:30 a.m. the climbers were off the rock and at Humber Park thanks to Lee Arnson, Les Walker, and new member Donny Goetz, himself an accomplished climber. “Les and Donny were the technical guys,” said Arnson. “It was gold.”

Manning a Humber communication base and serving as backup were RMRU
members Paul Caraher and Carlos Carter.

Treacherous RMRU rescue of lost hiker

Early Monday morning, April 12, Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit (RMRU) volunteers retrieved Air Force Major Robert Wilson, 44, from the west side of Black Mountain, in what RMRU volunteer Les Walker describes as “probably the most harrowing and challenging rescue I’ve been involved in.”

Four RMRU Idyllwild residents — Walker, RMRU President Lee Arnson, Chad Marler and Chuck Springer responded to a call at 9:30 p.m. Sunday, April 11 to locate a lost day hiker. “We were not able to get him out until 6:30 a.m. Monday morning,” said Walker. “He had gotten off trail and weather conditions had badly deteriorated. We had 40 M.P.H. wind gusts and sideways sleet and hail sticking to us. Because of weather conditions, with wind and fog, it wasn’t possible to get a helicopter in [for rescue assist].” A helicopter had, prior to conditions deteriorating, spotted Wilson.

Arnson echoed Walker’s impression of the mission. “It was the hardest physical mission I’ve ever been on in my life,” he said. “It took us 10 hours to go three miles. It was the worst terrain and the worst weather, an absolute nightmare of a mission. I firmly believe he would have died had we not gotten him out. We and the subject were all hypothermic at the end. They wanted us to go to the hospital as well, but we refused. It was a great mission, hard, strenuous, dangerous. I’ll never forget this one.”

After rescue, Wilson was transported to a local hospital for treatment of exposure.

RMRU team leads in finding missing Germans

Eight Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit (RMRU) volunteers played a lead role in discovering what are likely the remains of three Germans missing in Death Valley since 1996. Multi-agency search teams including RMRU, Inyo County Search and Rescue, China Lake Mountain Rescue Group, San Bernardino Desert Search and Rescue, Calaveras County Search and Rescue, National Park Service, and U.S. Customs conducted an expanded search on Saturday Dec. 5 in a remote area of the vast national park. Thirty searchers and 3 dog teams participated in the mission.

A previous private search conducted by RMRU volunteers Tom Mahood and Les Walker on Nov. 12 triggered the expanded mission. Mahood and Walker, employing a search theory developed by Mahood, found what are believed to be the remains of the fourth member of the party, Cornelia Meyer. Positive identification of all remains awaits forensic confirmation by the Inyo County Coroner’s office.

Two U.S. Customs Homeland Security helicopters flew teams in early morning Saturday, Dec. 5. Teams were at the seach site by 8 a.m. The mission used Mahood’s search theory to canvas an expanded area centered on the site where Mahood and Walker found Meyer’s remains. Teams fanned out in half -mile radii from the site of the initial discovery. The RMRU team consisted of Les Walker, Lee Arnson, Tom Mahood, Tom Marshall, Lew Kingman, Nick Nickson, Chad Marler, and Pete Carlson.

According to RMRU President Lee Arnson and Walker, the combined teams found what are believed to be remains of the missing three by end of day Saturday, Dec. 5. Conditions on the day of the search were difficult, with winds gusting to 40 M.P.H. and nighttime temperatures dropping into the teens. Search teams camped overnight on the 5th, worked the site on the morning of the 6th, and hiked 19 miles out.

According to an account from Arnson and Walker, the search area was rugged high desert, remote and pristine. “It’s the most remote place I’ve ever been,” said RMRU team member Carlson. “Other than the four Germans, I don’t think anyone has ever seen this area before we did,” said Walker. “We spent the night at the site. I hiked up on a knoll and looked out over miles and miles of nothing — never a light and not a sound but the wind.” Arnson, remembering the desolation of the search area, wondered, “How in the world did they [the Germans] get here?” Walker observed that the Germans, as Europeans, probably had no comprehension of the vastness, desolation and danger of the American west, especially Death Valley in the summer. As to why they had taken the road they did, before getting stuck in a wash, Walker said, “They may have been intrigued to see this secret military base [China Lake Naval Weapons Testing Center].” Both noted the Germans couldn’t have made worse choices.

Arnson said teams tagged and secured the remains of the additional three. But authorities are keeping the exact location under wraps to prevent any unauthorized interference at the site. “We don’t even know the exact location,” said Walker. “We had to turn over all our GPS information coordinates to the Inyo County Sheriff’s Department.”

Once back at base camp, Arnson and Walker had to go back to perform another rescue, this time of a very sick member of another rescue team who had participated in the search and could not hike out on his own. They recruited a Park Service Humvee to bring the sick man in.

At the conclusion of the rescue, “All the other team members were shaking our hands,” said Walker.

More remains discovered in Death Valley

According to a press release released by the Inyo County Sheriff's Department, a multi-agency search mission took place Dec. 5 and 6 to discover remains of the three missing members of a party of German tourists lost in July 1996 in Death Valley.

Additional remains were found and, as with the remains discovered by Les Walker and Tom Mahood believed to be those of Cornelia Meyer, they will be turned over to the Inyo County Coroner's office for forensic identification.

Agencies identified as participating in the search are Inyo County Search and Rescue, Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit (RMRU), China Lake Mountain Rescue Group, San Bernardino Desert Search and Rescue, Calaveras County Search and Rescue, National Park Service and U.S. Customs.

Unofficial reports indicate that enough remains were discovered to identify the remaining three, Max Meyer, 4, Connie's son, her boyfriend Egbert Rimkus, 33, and his son Georg Weber, 10.

Eight RMRU personnel participated in the search including Walker.

The remains were all in a location about 9 miles from the Germans' rental van and about 3 miles from the boundary of the China Lake Naval Weapons Testing Center, the destination the Germans were apparently trying to reach.

Further updates and information will be posted when made available.

Death Valley search postponed

Citing wind conditions and logistical concerns, Inyo County Sheriff’s Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and National Park Service authorities postponed a scheduled Nov. 20 through 22 search to locate remains of three German tourists missing in Death Valley since 1996.

A Nov. 12 discovery by off-duty Riverside County Mountain Rescue Unit (RMRU) volunteers Les Walker and Tom Mahood of remains likely those of Cornelia Meyer, 27, one of four missing Germans, precipitated the official search. One hundred personnel from participating agencies had been scheduled to participate. Inyo County Sheriff's Spokesperson Carma Roper said formal identification of Meyer would be a long process and that the case is currently being handled as a criminal investigation. "But there is no evidence of foul play at this point," she said.

Meyer, her son Max, 4, her boyfriend Egbert Rimkus, 33, and his son Georg Weber, 10 disappeared in July 1996 after their vehicle became stranded in rugged country two hours’ drive southwest of Furnace Creek Visitors Center near the Panamint Mountains.

Walker said RMRU would be significantly involved when the official search takes place. Mahood, an engineer, had formulated a search theory that led him and Walker to search an area overlooked by previous missions. They discovered Meyer’s remains several miles from the boundary of the China Lake Naval Weapons Testing Area – the destination Mahood theorized the party would have walked toward to seek help. Walker and Mahood hope to find the remains of the missing three as part of the official search team.

Off duty RMRU pair find remains likely those of missing German tourists

On Thursday, Nov. 12, off-duty Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit (RMRU) members Les Walker and Tom Mahood found skeletal remains likely those of at least one of four German tourists missing in Death Valley since 1996. Walker and Mahood organized the trip specifically to search for the missing Germans. They discovered remains in a remote area 2 hours southwest of Furnace Creek Visitors Center near the Panamint Mountains.

Inyo County Sheriff's Spokesperson Carma Roper said formal identification of the remains would be a long process and that the case is currently being handled as a criminal investigation. "But there is no evidence of foul play at this point," she said. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Interpol are also involved in the investigation.

Mahood, a retired engineer, had formulated a search theory based on a U.S. Park Ranger map probably used by the tourists that led him and Walker to concentrate on a previously unsearched area about 2500 feet elevation between a saddle that looks out over China Lake and the intervening area leading to a map-marked boundary of the China Lake Naval Weapons Testing Center. The area was eight to 11 miles from the tourist's abandoned vehicle. "Tom put this whole plan together to look in an area where no other teams had looked before," said RMRU President Lee Arnson. "All previous teams had GPS'd their search routes.

"We tried to put ourselves in their [the tourists'] shoes," said Walker, "using the U.S. Park Service map they probably used as a guide." Mahood's theory focused on a military base (China Lake Weapons Testing Area) marked on the Park Service map. He theorized that the Germans, lost, on foot and contending with temperatures near 110 degrees, might have decided to walk toward the military base thinking there would be people there. That logic paid off for Walker and Mahood. Walker found remains about two to four miles from the Weapons Center boundary. "We found them right where we suspected we might find them," he said.

"I first came across a wine bottle, something that was not in their van's inventory. Death Valley is a pristine area. I was not on any regular hiking route. The wine bottle seemed definitely out of place. This was not an old mining area. There was no reason for anyone to have been there. As I was looking at the bottom of the bottle to see if there were identifying numbers on it, I looked down and saw I was standing in an area of white-flecked bits - a bone yard. I was standing among bone fragments. I picked up a potential clue not knowing that I was standing in the answer. Had I missed the wine bottle, I might have walked on. I next found partial vertebrae in a nearby bush. Then I saw a wallet. I picked out a German photo ID of the missing woman. Nearby there was a human skull. A distance away was a daytimer and a small shoe. I couldn't tell if it was the woman's shoe or a child's shoe. I used my two-way radio to call Tom who was about a mile away. When he reached me we fanned out separately and conducted a larger search, a complete circle 100 yards around the remains."

The four Germans, Cornelia Meyer, 27, her son Max, 4, her boyfriend, architect Egbert Rimkus, 33, and his son Georg Weber, 10, disappeared in July 1996. Although numerous search teams, both public and private, had attempted to find the four over the last 13 years, none had succeeded until Thursday.

"They [official investigation coordinators] will fly us out there Friday [Nov. 20] for a Saturday and Sunday search to locate the rest of the remains," said Walker. "They want to talk to us about our way of looking at the search. About 100 people will be involved in the search - FBI, Inyo County, and the National Park Service." The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Interpol and Inyo County Sheriff's Department are securing the area.

Records indicated the German tourists checked out of a Las Vegas hotel room on July 22, 1996 and arrived in Death Valley the same day. Temperatures in the park had topped 120 degrees. Their last entry was on July 23, 1996 left in a guest book kept in a box on a metal pole in an abandoned mining camp, indicating the visitors were going through a pass, probably Mengel Pass. The entry was signed "Conny, Egbert, Georg, Max."

A team of 45 searchers, eight horses and four helicopters from California and Nevada law enforcement agencies mounted the initial search for the missing tourists. From 1996 until the present, over 200 searchers have looked for the Germans.

We will post updates as they become available.