How Searchers Withstood Grueling Conditions to Recover the Body of an Arcata Woman (Photos of the Search)

Loading the Body

Officers load the body of the 33-year-old woman into the Humboldt County Coroner’s van late Monday afternoon. [Crop of a photo by Mark McKenna–all photos by McKenna unless otherwise stated.]

The effort to recover the body of a 33-year-old Arcata woman who went missing last night near Wedding Rock in Patricks Point State Park took most of yesterday and dozens of people. “Ground search crews and a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter began searching for the hiker again on January 14 at 8 a.m.,” the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office stated in a press release Monday.

Officials talk in parking lot near Wedding Rock at Patricks Point State Park on Monday.

Multiple agencies and volunteer organizations struggled in grueling conditions to recover the woman whose body was located inland and east of Wedding Rock  about 220 feet deep at the bottom of a crevice.

The crevice

The crevice [Photo by Southern Humboldt County Technical Rescue]

The search the first night had to be put on hold due to “treacherous terrain, dangerous conditions and darkness,” the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office explained. Late the next morning, the searchers found the woman’s body.

But then it needed to be gently hauled up a narrow crevice.

“It went as smooth as we could possibly hope getting her out before dark,” Kai Ostrow of the Southern Humboldt County Technical Rescue said about the recovery.

One crew member relayed radio messages.

One crew member relayed radio messages to the crew down below. [Photo from Southern Humboldt Community Technical Rescue]

The recovery began Sunday night when searchers with Eel Valley Technical Rescue, State Parks and Cal Fire were able to locate two possible spots where the woman might have fallen, he said. The person who was with the hiker when she was lost was able to help them narrow down the area to look. But, because of the conditions, they needed to wait for daylight to continue the search.

“[T]hey absolutely made the right choice in holding off,” said Ostrow. “Even in daylight it was sketchy out there!”

On Monday morning, Southern Humboldt Tech Rescue arrived on the scene about 9:45 a.m. They were assigned to search one of the crevices. “We were crawling through huckleberry [bushes to find it],” Ostrow said.

He explained that the area off trail near Wedding Rock had many dangerous areas in it including several crevices that could easily swallow an unwary hiker. When they got to the fissure they were assigned to explore, they found it was very deep and narrow. “It was a tight crevice in there,” Ostrow explained. “There was a lot of different ways to fall into it…It took awhile to get the [rope] system rigged up.”

Kai Ostrow in the crevice.

Kai Ostrow in the crevice using the rope system. [Photo provided by Southern Humboldt Technical Rescue]

When the team reached the bottom, they located the woman’s body. However, the crew ran into difficulties. “We couldn’t even have radio contact being down underground like that,” Ostrow explained.

They eventually had to stabilize one of the crew members part way down. That person could get radio reception and relay messages to the crew at the bottom.

The team carefully raised the woman’s body to the surface.

Once they got to the top they needed to get the woman to the Humboldt County Coroner’s van through thick brush. An inmate crew chainsawed through enough of it to allow the team to carry the woman out.

“We didn’t want to leave trails,” Ostrow said. But they needed to be able to walk rather than crawl out. “We used [the inmates] selectively,” he said. “They cleared our exit to help get her out.”

An inmate crew helped clear brush to aid in recovering the woman's body.

An inmate crew who helped clear brush to aid in recovering the woman’s body headed back to their bus after work.

Once back to the parking area, the Humboldt County coroner’s office and the Sheriff’s Department took charge of the body and the SHCTR team could begin to relax. Since last Wednesday through Monday, the volunteers had only had one day off from searching for this woman and for a missing Canadian man.

The team was eager to eat as they hadn’t had time all day. Even though the the two searches had exhausted them both emotionally and physically, Ostrow said, “We feel good about doing our part of the job well.”

Ostrow explained, “It has been hard on the Team, spending days scouring the coastline without being able to successfully resolve the search for Rick Eastep.  While [Monday]’s mission has come to a tragic conclusion, there is a peace of mind that comes from knowing that at the very least, we can help provide this woman’s family with some small measure of closure.”

Members of Southern Humboldt Technical Rescue on the left get ready for the long drive home after helping recover the body.

Still, he said, “It is hard. We need more personnel.” He pointed out the Eel Valley Technical Rescue had been called to the recovery first and had a great showing of 10 people. Yet, if they had had more, “they might not have needed our help [the next day],” he said.

The two teams had trained together last summer and that helped them coordinate efforts during this search on Monday.

He said if people are interested in being a part of these elite tech rescue teams, “Encourage people to join their volunteer fire departments,” he said. “That’s the first step.”  He added, “With the economic downturn in our community, some are having trouble taking time off to volunteer.” This, he explained, is leaving many teams and volunteer fire departments shorthanded.

Even with the difficulties, the volunteers of Southern Humboldt Technical Rescue and the other search groups involved continue to be there to help the victims and their families.

UPDATEWoman Hiker Dead in Fall Near Wedding Rock Identified as Local Dancer

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Willie caos- mayhem
Guest
5 years ago

RIP🕊🕊🕊

J
Guest
J
5 years ago

I hope she enjoyed the little time she had here and didn’t suffer. RIP. I hope whoever she was hiking with knows this wasn’t their fault, do not blame yourself!!

And as always, thank you so much SHTR.

Willie Caso-Mayhem
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  J

🕯🕯

Just Saying
Guest
Just Saying
5 years ago

So sad for her family. Just out having fun and it ended tragically. Thank you to our incredible volunteer technical rescue teams! Incredible community love.

itsybit
Guest
itsybit
5 years ago
Reply to  Just Saying

Just Saying – You said it all. Condolences and thanks to the helpers.

Tjay
Guest
Tjay
5 years ago

I looked up some of the requirements to join the local search and rescue team the other day. For being a volunteer organization, run by volunteers. the requirements are extremely steep imo.

It seems like it might be time for them to rethink some of their requirements, so they can make more use of the community and those willing to help. There seems to be no limit to the number of people willing to help in humboldt. its just that many. cannot meet all the requirements or calls. but would still be invaluable man power in these situations.

i also understand the importance behind the training and needs to comply with procedures, as often location of activity are considered active crime scenes.

TJay
Guest
TJay
5 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Yeah I am in eureka, I might call a few different ones and see what I can possibly to do help. There are so many times that are existing volunteers are running themselves into the ground and possibly getting sick because they just don’t have enough people. Which i hate to see happen.

gunther
Guest
gunther
5 years ago

Great additional information. Thank you Kym.

Eldon G. Whitehead
Guest
Eldon G. Whitehead
5 years ago

One GOOD way to help is to donate funds to this ELITE TEAM of Volunteers to help better equip themselves with the equipment and training that helps them to achieve rescues like this. I’m not sure if they have any kind of a donation fund account to do this with, BUT, if anyone has this information, please share it with the rest of us. I’m willing to donate what I can. Oh and one more thing, thanks to the HCSO Inmate crews who does a fantastic job with helping on things like this. Even the ‘bad’ people steps up to try and do a good deed.

ExCDFer
Guest
ExCDFer
5 years ago

To be clear that was a California Department of Correction’s inmate crew from Alder Camp. Not a Humboldt County Sheriffs office inmate crew they do work like clearing the highway which the CDC crews do also but the CDC crews are trained to fight fires as a hand crew.

Mary Ann
Guest
Mary Ann
5 years ago

Thank you for posting this Kym. There have been many vicious attacks on the performance of the rescue people that were completely unwarranted, especially on the lOCO site. I hope those who spoke out with such criticism will read this article to learn more of what really happened. And, even better, keep their hands of the keyboard when they don’t have a clue what they are talking about. It’s bad enough when it’s minor news but to post on an article when a person lost his/her life is beyond insensitive and even downright cruel.

Our search and rescue teams are some of the best available. I’d trust any of them with my life. The sacrifices they make, the danger they put themselves in – they are true heroes in my eyes.

its REALLY grueling waiting to die
Guest
its REALLY grueling waiting to die
5 years ago

wheres the grueling part.. i must’ve missed it. it would have been grueling if they had rescued the woman the night it happened when she very possibly could have still been alive but they waited.. too dark, too cold.. even though they knew the area where she fell. she very easily could have survived.. it wasnt a straight drop.. she was probably gripping the sides trying to get a foothold as she slid down. sounds like 3 people rappelled down and looks like everyone else enjoyed a pleasant day near the ocean. guess what? people climb rocks and rappel for fun.. even that isnt “grueling” and its quite safe when you have nice equipment like they do. had to bring in the inmates for the only real work. this is just propaganda to hide the fact they left this woman for dead until it was convenient to retrieve her. i bet it really was grueling for the unfortunate woman to lay there waiting.. waiting for rescue but really just waiting to die.

Ullr Rover
Guest
Ullr Rover
5 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

I’ve been there. It’s extremely dangerous with full visibility. The narrow openings to some of these fissures are occluded by brush and they descend almost vertically to the ocean undercutting the rock below.

its REALLY grueling waiting to die
Guest
its REALLY grueling waiting to die
5 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

“as far as we know, the poor woman died immediately”…
**i would really like to know how anyone would have known this the night it happened.**
they didnt bother to stick around long enough that night to even find the hole she fell in so they dont even know how far down she originally fell.. maybe she wasn’t down that far and tried to climb out then fell further or was gripping the side not far down waiting for help until her strength gave out.. for all anyone knows she might have been calling for help. i know exactly where this happened.. i have “crawled” through those same bushes (you would only have to actually crawl if youre tall).. i guess i was having too much fun (like the unfortunate woman) to notice how “grueling” it was. bright lights tend to let you see in the dark so i guess they need more fundraising/training to learn how to use them because if used correctly (point them infront of you, not into your eyes) they will prevent you from falling into a big hole. you could also use machetes and even a walking stick to probe infront of you and go really slow if youre still too scared. they gave up way too easy. if the scanner call was a little after 6 so then when did sohums team even get on scene? its a long drive up.. so they put in what, 2hrs looking? hcso, 1/2an hr.. coast guard played with their helicopter like they do anyway.. park rangers and calfire arent trained for this kinda stuff. the search and rescue was a pretty pathetic effort.. sorry that it was so “grueling” to retrieve the body of the woman they gave up on and left as dead after a heroic 2 hrs of looking. they spent more time driving there than looking that night. geez.. buy some brighter lights if you’re so fucking scared of the dark.
i do lots for my community.. esp the earth and animals but i dont fundraise or advertise my good deeds.. and i dont exaggerate my efforts.
i do want to say THANK YOU to those who give their time but you really could have done better this time. i would be ashamed of the effort on this one, not bragging about how grueling it was.
and kym, its pretty lame to put me down for not using my real name.. how many people on your site do?? .. almost no one.. lame.
and its no imaginary place for me.. ive played in the park countless hrs, ive looked down those crevises.

Ullr Rover
Guest
Ullr Rover
5 years ago

You put a lot of responsibility on the people who risk themselves to try and help a person who got herself where she should not have been. Where does the responsibility end for the victim and her friends who got themselves in this situation?

J Dubbs
Guest
J Dubbs
5 years ago

Daaaanng. I wouldn’t have gone there. But I’m kinda with ya on some of that. My first thought too was. ‘wtf, too dark? Don’t they have some bright ass LED headlights and safety ropes? And of course she wasn’t gonna be just stuck in the bushes because she would’ve been screaming for help, so yeah, turn on some lights and go straight to the crevasses and watch where you step. Shit, the prisoners would’ve gone right in like gimme that machete, I, I mean hand me that rope

Hmmmm
Guest
Hmmmm
5 years ago

Don’t mess with red mom. She will censor and ban u if you differ.
Censorship site

Hmmmm
Guest
Hmmmm
5 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

You have your rails crossed.
I never called for violence.
All I did was call someone a dumbass for hiking the coast in a huge winter storm.
Maybe people should hear that before hiking instead of you telling them it was fine and been done many times.

Hmmmm
Guest
Hmmmm
5 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Misremembered slightly??
Calling someone a dumbass and calling for violence is not in the same ballpark.

Get it straight before you slander the anonymous.

Ullr Rover
Guest
Ullr Rover
5 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Is “Canuck” a slur? I learned it from Canadians, so I’m guessing not.

Ullr Rover
Guest
Ullr Rover
5 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Kym, less derogatory than “honky” … certainly the Vancouver Canucks don’t find it derogatory.

I’m not trying to split hairs with you on semantics. I appreciate your light hand on censoring the inanity that often flow out of online forums.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canuck

“English Canadians use “Canuck” as an affectionate or merely descriptive term for their nationality. [6]

If familiar with the term, most citizens of other nations, including the United States, also use it affectionately, though there are individuals who may use it as derogatory term.”

With no examples or reference given to the last assertion.

Central HumCo
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  Hmmmm

“Censor ship site.” ” She will censor and ban u if you differ.”

~baloney.

Denise
Guest
Denise
5 years ago

Wow you must NOT have been one of the amazing people out looking for her. But sitting at home on your ass mocking the good people who risk their lives to save or retrieve people.
SHTR are an amazing group of people who go out and do some of the hardest rescues around.
[edit]
Better yet next time there is a missing person maybe you should play hero and go look yourself, not sure what stopped you this time…
The people who go out and do rescues dont look for worship or do it to be heros but because they are honest to goodness humans.

Farce
Guest
Farce
5 years ago

These crevasses are incredible. At some points you can look down over 200 feet and see the ocean water down there- hundreds of yards inland from the shoreline. A friend showed me them one day after we ate some mushrooms and as the shrooms kicked in I said let’s get away from this area! I don’t want to see them fenced off. But they are dangerous for regular people…they are unmarked and off trail. So sorry this happened. With epic natural wonder comes danger.

Old Boyscout
Guest
Old Boyscout
5 years ago
Reply to  Farce

I’ve been to this exact spot as well. As soon as I saw the new pictures I knew exactly what happened. This is one of the most dangerous hidden spots in the park. The large cracks are everywhere on top covered with slippery duff and weak dense shrubs everywhere. To criticize the efforts of rescuers is absurd especially if you have zero idea what they were really dealing with.

T
Guest
T
5 years ago

Why didn’t someone rappelle down that night to check to see if she still alive ?? If they had reported night that they had called off the search aka left her in the cave.
There’s tons of climbers in the community that would have put on a down jacket and repelled down that night with a headlamp. Those rocks are not out of the ordinary darngous especially for anyone who has climbing experience.

Ullr Rover
Guest
Ullr Rover
5 years ago
Reply to  T

Yes, they are out of the ordinary. Imagine rappelling into a cave with 200′ of vertical with the floor being battered by ocean undulations while not having any distinct location to anchor ropes and where any step could reveal hidden fissures.

Denise
Guest
Denise
5 years ago
Reply to  T

The report states THEY WERE NOT SURE WHERE SHE WAS, as in the person she was with did was not sure where they were.
I am sure if the person knew WHERE she was she would have been rescued that night no matter what.
Why didn’t you go risk your life to look for her yourself 👍
HELLO

Farce
Guest
Farce
5 years ago
Reply to  T

Honest question. Answer- They are not ordinary at all!! Many points of entry spread over a large area. It is not a single crevasse but a lot of individual crevasses between many rock outcrops. Some meet together, some go individually to shelves below, some drop individually all the way to the subterranean ocean waves. Eerie and surreal and baffling topography. No simple way to find the correct path.

the misadventures of bunjee
Guest
the misadventures of bunjee
5 years ago
Reply to  T

uh No. There are not a ton of climbers around here that would have happily jumped in the search. The ones that can were already helping. Whats with you armchair rescuers?

BgLgn
Guest
BgLgn
5 years ago

As I feared, the woman fell into one of the deep cracks (crevices) found in the Mussel Rocks headlands east of Wedding Rock. I used to climb on that overhanging rock during my HSU days (late 60’s), and often explored a crack system that you can actually walk into from the bottom. It becomes narrower as you walk deeper into the crack. I never rappelled down from the top, but vaguely remember looking down into some of these openings when bushwhacking over the top of the rock formation. In many places brush obscures the opening. The density of brush should discourage most casual hikers from wandering into this area. If one is off-trail after dark it is dangerous terrain, with or without a flashlight.

JustWantToHeartheEndoftheStory
Guest
JustWantToHeartheEndoftheStory
5 years ago

I did SAR back in the eighties. An HSU student from Orange County went to look at the waves at Wedding Rock one January day, and we never found him, just his coat, tangled in the rocks. Those were the days before the internet, but I heard, in person, sniping at how we should have been there faster, looked harder, etc. The most critical are those who do NOTHING for their fellow citizens. They sit at their keyboard and think life is like a video game. Thank you, Kym, for showing both sides, not the petty meanness of the LoCo devotees.

Al
Guest
Al
5 years ago

Was she off trail, how did it happen?

Good reporting.

Prayers.
Rip, condolences.

Nathan Golwitzer
Guest
Nathan Golwitzer
5 years ago

We have a large county that is protected by a mostly volunteer force and deserve respect. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement so that we can increase the likelihood hood of a successful and less traumatic experience for the victim and the bystandards involved. With 6 years of fire service experience, 4 years in the Marine Corps with a combat deployment I agree that our first responders need some work. Yes, they do train, but how often? Once a year to stay within standards?

It was night when the rescue was being attempted and the danger was mostly for the people on the edge, not the crevice/cave. Caves are dark…even during the day. Like the article said, it was so deep/intricate that they lost radio communication…how much light do you think was down there? No, there wasn’t any verbal contacts with the victims, but with a fall like that, if alive, the chances of being unconscious is high, and no one even attempted to just repel to at least check.

I’m not here to put down our emergency responders, and I am thankful for their hard work…but again, we have room for improvent and we should always be striving to be better than we were yesterday. Our county is an attractive place for adventure athletes who are probably more competent than many of the first responders because they practice these skills everyday. These are the people we need to try and recruit to our special response teams as more people decide to recreate in our beautiful, yet dangerous, natural land scapes.

Thank you to everyone who serves to strengthen our community and has constructive criticism.

Marcia Mendels
Guest
Marcia Mendels
5 years ago

Thank you to all the volunteers of the Southern Humboldt Technical Rescue Team. You do the training to do the work that no one else does. I have great respect and gratitude for the time, expertise and compassion you show. And I would remind others who are questioning your decisions that the first rule for all first responders is to not become victims, yourselves. If it isn’t safe for first responders to act, then their responsibility to their team and to others is to not act, because acting unwisely might make the situation worse for everyone else. It is so easy to second-guess others’ decisions. If you haven’t done this work, please ask questions instead of making assumptions. So very sorry for the loss of this lovely young woman, and I’ll bet every member of the team who recovered her wishes the ending had been better.

Silverlining
Guest
Silverlining
5 years ago

I am both very sad and very disappointed.
She was to young to die and I can’t explain it.

Guest who?
Guest
Guest who?
5 years ago

First responders, meet the second guessers!
Second guessers, when you dig a hole, and you’re in over your head, stop digging!
First responders: GOOD WORK, all!
Carry on.

Friends of Spyrock
Guest
2 years ago

Sounds like the same situation at
8500 Simmerly Rd in Spyrock.
Chris Giauque was reportedly bashed in the head with a Large rock and thrown
Down an opening of sorts, in a rock cropping; Called ” The Bottomless Pit” 08/09/03 going on 18 years ago.
By one of the Suspects. Suspects wife worked at the same bank as a LEO’S
wife. Wonder if Suspect’s wife ever found out he was having an affair with a Stripper in San Francisco? He was sneaking her up to the property, while his wife was pregnant with his kid at home. LEO’S NEVER SEARCHED FOR
CHRIS DOWN IN THE PIT; WHY?
$400,000 reward now. B.Y.O.R.
Bring your own rope.
Could it be the LEO’S WIFE at the bank
Didn’t want her co-workers hubby to get in trouble, thus ruining their friendship?