Piercy Man Missing; Vehicle Found in the East Branch of the South Fork Eel River
Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:
On 4/12/2024, at about 4:00 p.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the report of missing person in the Southern Humboldt County area. The missing person was identified as 65-year-old Terry McInnes of Piercy. It was learned that McInnes was last seen by friends and neighbors on or around March 24th, 2024. The reporting party was concerned based on the lack of contact with McInnes due to it being out of character. As McInnes is a resident of Mendocino County, a missing person report was taken and the information was forwarded to the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office.
On 04/17/2024, at about 8:00 a.m., the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office was contacted and informed that McInnes’ vehicle had been located unoccupied in the East Branch of the South Fork of the Eel River just north of the Humboldt/Mendocino county line. Humboldt County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to the area and conducted a search, with assistance from a California Highway Patrol helicopter, in an effort to locate McInnes. This search continued the following day with deputies being assisted by members of the Southern Humboldt Technical Rescue team. Preliminary information suggests that McInnes may have attempted to forge a section of private roadway that crosses the river in that area during periods of significantly increased water flow at the end of March, resulting in the vehicle being swept downstream. The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office has been working with the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office and is continuing to conduct search efforts in the area.
Anyone with information about this case is encouraged to call the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 463-4411 (M.C.S.O. Case # 2024-7377), the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539.
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Tragic! Also “forge” is not the word you want for a river crossing.
Thank you. Yes we “ford” rivers
Ford In our Ford ?
I agree that the press release probably should have had the word “ford” instead.
I find Redheaded Blackbelt to be far more accurate than the “Press Releases”.
However I stand by my long time philosophy: “Language has never been about correctness, it has always been about communicating”. If you know what they meant to say, you know what they said. Otherwise, you are just being an unnecessary distraction.
Well, Ernie, i agree about the general purpose of language, and esp. with an emergency– a possible tragedy such as this– we can let go of the details.
However, if language is to communicate effectively, it must not confuse the morons, such as me. I had to think for a moment about what “forging” a road across a river meant, and considered briefly that it meant actually developing a little causeway or bridge. Then the “Duh!” kicked in. So to my mind, in general, if you care about correctness, you achieve the communication you want– even with us feeble-minded ones who take the words literally!
Well, OK, but correctness helps with communicating. Picayune and pedantic is the extreme but I hate the idea of kids getting a screwy version of English and forge versus ford is borderline, then again, forging ahead through adversity might work. You want some dressing for that word salad?
Forgive me for the unnecessary distraction, Ernie.
Grieving, I may have been trying to distract myself from the loss, by focusing instead, on the vocabulary error.
I would have responded sooner, but I didn’t see your post, because I was out making an effort, however impossible, to find him…
I was looking below the ford near Rex and Tedda Smith’s old place, below the wrong East Branch Ford.?♂️
Terry McInnes, (Tel), is/was, my friend.
I didn’t/don’t know him well, but I did/do know him…
He was a firewood cutter…
I had purchased some from him…
Still have some.
Semi seasoned live oak, and madrone, long lasting and just what I needed at the time, to go with the rest of my too dry wood…
That wood has helped keep me and my wife warm this winter and spring
I respect firewood cutters, it’s hard work…
Oddly, is age isn’t mentioned, but he is/was over 70, as I recall from our conversation…
Like I said, respectable…
As you can see by his picture, he is/was a also a very jovial guy…
We had a few good laughs…
You might also find this to be an unnecessary distraction, but, in my phone contacts, I have his surname as “McInnis”, not “McInnes”…
And he went by “Tel”, even though his first name was “Terry”…
I have his phone number, if you, or anyone else, needs it…
He didn’t prioritize spending his hard earned money on reactivating his phone, though, as I recall, so, for that reason, and possibly others, he might not be getting service right now…
Nevertheless, I still think that trying to ping his phone would be well worth a try.
Feel free to proofread my comment for errors, Ernie, I would be honored…
When my Grandfather came to this Country, he didn’t speak English, but he damn sure took learning it seriously…
They had the BIG English dictionary, 6″ or was it 8” thick, and they ALWAYS kept it in its honorary revered, very often referred to, position, on its very own corresponding wooden stand, specially designed to hold it open to any of is many pages, smack dab, front and center, in the middle of their coffee table, directly in front of the couch where they sat…
One of my earliest memories of them, (our Grandmother’s may have been born the same year or very close, Ernie), at get togethers at my Grandparents home, along with whatever the conversation was, there was a longstanding family tradition of also working on solving the New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle, every week, sometimes all week…
Or was it the San Francisco Chronicle…???
One Aunt, or another, would dutifully read the various clues out loud, back and forth, repeating the more difficult ones as more squares were solved, and then there would be a group effort to solve each clue, and the Aunt’s were all very seasoned and competitive..
Unbeknownst to them, I had been dutifully paying attention during each visit, different Aunts being present reading the clues, and this time I happened to remember the answer to a clue for a three letter word one had asked and solved during a previous visit and different puzzle. Some uncommon words being common to different puzzles…
Being ignored, of course, I had to repeat the answer, after the second time it’s clue was read, and finally they realized that I had solved a word that none of them could get…
Miffed, they feigned joy.
I can’t do the NY Times or SF Chronicle Sunday crossword puzzle, they are to difficult for me…
The Independent crossword puzzle, though, is about my speed. I just recently knocked it out, unassisted, with no errors, and just one rest break…
My love of English courses through my veins…
I sure hope that Tel is found.
I know that he lived out Milstead Road, and I saw on the maps where the very end of it is near The East Branch of the South Fork Eel River, in which his truck was found…
That is remote and rugged country, private property, and likely steep, forested, and extremely difficult terrain to search…
Sorry about the lengthy “bullshistory”…
I hope that Tel is okay, even though it seems unlikely. Thanks for your efforts to find him.
I realise that I picked the wrong post to correct “correctness”. I am truly sorry.
No worries, you were right, Ernie,
I even thought that my objection to the wording of the press release was not an appropriate way to reply to a missing person report…
It absolutely sounded cold hearted and unnecessary, even though maybe, in a way, it wasn’t…
I do hope that there is a search for him, even though I have a hunch it may be unlikely he will ever be found…
I’m glad that I got a chance to meet him, and share a few laughs…
I also bought firewood from Tel and liked him very much. I’m new to the area but he was a neighbor. And was very helpful.
No “probably” about it. Those words mean two different things. Apparently ignorance is bliss even in the media.
Sigh…possibly there is another word that was meant to go there besides either ford or forge, she says mildly astounded that there are folks who “probably” got to sleep in a bed last night and still feel like snarking at the place they get their free news when said free news poster got her first sleep about seven this morning face first on her mouse pad after being up all night trying to make sure that free news is available.
But you do you. Your capacity for biting the hands that feeds you free news is “probably” larger than mine but possibly once I reach more than one and a half hours sleep in 36 hours, I’ll be more compassionate for your suffering.