Railbike Guides Help Rescue a Missing 71-year-old Woman near Camp Noyo
The woman, from Upper Lake, was reported missing after a CAL FIRE prevention officer found her locked, undamaged vehicle parked near a trailhead
Railbike guides on a scenic Mendocino County excursion helped rescue a 71-year-old woman who had been missing for several days in a remote redwood forest, authorities said.
The woman, from Upper Lake, was reported missing around 11:12 a.m. March 18 after a CAL FIRE prevention officer found her locked, undamaged vehicle parked for about three days near the Chamberlain Creek Waterfall trailhead in Jackson State Forest, according to the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office.
Around the same time, authorities received an emergency SOS activation from a Garmin satellite device initiated by the railbike tour operators near Camp Noyo, investigators said. Officials determined the signal was connected to the missing woman.
Railbike guides encountered the woman during a scheduled stop at Camp Noyo, a remote site located at mile marker 16.4 on the Mendocino Railway line just a few miles from the trailhead.
Sheriff’s Capt. Quincy Cromer said deputies coordinated with CAL FIRE personnel already in the area. The woman was located in good spirits and was able to leave the aware on her own accord.
No formal search teams had been deployed before the woman was found.
Cromer said the woman appeared to have survived several days in the forest. She was not believed to have suffered serious injuries, though officials noted she had insect bites.
Officials did not release her name.
Cromer said people regularly get lost in Mendocino County, with volunteer search and rescue teams mobilizing around 60 times each year.