Boulder County Fallen Climber

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jimmnn

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Boulder County: Search underway in Eldorado Canyon State Park for a fallen climber but so far search crews can't locate victim, numerous units onscene and multiple RP's saying he did fall appox 30 feet with a critical head injury.

BCSO, Pridemark, RMR, RMFA and FRRD.

O/F 151.355, 155.160, Online

Jim<
 

jimmnn

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TO: Boulder County Area Media

FROM: Cmdr. Phil West, #303/441-3621

RE: Search for Missing Hiker 11:00 a.m.

Case #06-5025

Boulder County authorities are coordinating a search for a missing injured hiker in Eldorado Canyon State Park, five miles south of Boulder.

Lance Hering, 21, of Boulder, was hiking in Eldorado Canyon State Park late Tuesday evening with a companion, Steve Powers, 20, also of Boulder. While free-climbing on a rock face near the trail that runs between Eldorado Canyon and Boulder County’s Walker Ranch open space preserve, Mr. Hering fell, striking his head. Mr. Powers estimated that Mr. Hering fell approximately 10-15 feet, but then rolled down a steep slope another 30 feet before coming to rest. Mr. Hering reportedly lost consciousness.

Mr. Powers reported that he remained with Mr. Hering until he regained consciousness, then left him to summon help. He notified the Sheriff’s Office of the accident at approximately 5:00 a.m. Wednesday morning. Sheriff’s deputies and search and rescue personnel returned to the scene, which Mr. Powers had marked with articles of clothing, but were unable to locate Mr. Hering.

A ground search of the area has been initiated under the direction of Sheriff’s office emergency services personnel. Three search dogs from Front Range Rescue Dogs (FRRD), and approximately 25 members of the Rocky Mountain Rescue Group are presently conducting the search. Additional resources from the Boulder Emergency Squad and Alpine Rescue groups have been requested. A media helicopter from

KCNC-TV assisted by conducting a fly-over of the area early Wednesday morning. Paramedics from the Pridemark Ambulance Service are also standing by at the scene.

Local residents have been alerted to his disappearance as have area hospitals. His family has also been notified.

Mr. Hering is a white male, 21 years of age, approximately 5’8” tall, and was last seen wearing long white pants and a torn black T-shirt (fabric from the shirt was torn away to fabricate a bandage for his head wound).

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Boulder County Sheriffs Office immediately at #303/441-4444.
 

jimmnn

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Update

At present, approximately 40 search and rescue personnel are conducting a ground search of an area approximately five miles square in Eldorado Canyon State Park, west of Eldorado Springs. The rescue groups represented include Rocky Mountain Rescue Group, Boulder Emergency Squad, Front Range Rescue Dogs, Alpine Search and Rescue Group, and the Sheriff’s Office Mounted Search and Rescue group. Additionally, the Sheriff’s Office has contracted with a private helicopter pilot to conduct fly-overs of the area. No sign of Mr. Hering has been found.

Dave Booton, the Sheriff’s Office emergency services coordinator, plans to continue the search until nightfall and resume at daybreak on Thursday. Deputies will remain in the area overnight.

A photograph of Mr. Hering provided by his family accompanies this media release.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office immediately at #303/441-4444.

This media release may be found on the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office web-site at: www.bouldersheriff.org
 

jimmnn

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Search efforts in Eldorado Canyon continue today. There are approximately 100 people involved in the search. In addition to the agencies previously cited as participating, personnel from the Alpine Rescue Team, Arapahoe Rescue Patrol, Douglas County Search and Rescue, Garfield County Search and Rescue, Gilpin County Search and Rescue, Grand County Search and Rescue, Larimer County Search and Rescue, Park County Search and Rescue, Teller County Search and Rescue, Summit County Rescue Group, Vail Mountain Rescue, Western State Mountain Rescue, and Rocky Mountain National Park have joined the effort. Additionally, meals for rescue workers and other logistical support is being provided by the Salvation Army.
 

Troop

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of course I always hope for the best outcome but there's a little weirdness to this one, just gets back from Iraq then vanishes just before he's supposed to be re-deployed. I hope my suspecions are wrong, but there's something fishy
 

cstockmyer

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Troop said:
of course I always hope for the best outcome but there's a little weirdness to this one, just gets back from Iraq then vanishes just before he's supposed to be re-deployed. I hope my suspecions are wrong, but there's something fishy

That is a good point Troop. W/ a head injury like they say he has, how far could he get? Jim if you have a chance could you tell us?
 

jimmnn

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I agree something certainly does not smell right, interesting too that the detectives were interviewing parents and friends again yesterday. Wonder if they need the wonderful Boulder DA's help?

Many to many variables to tell how far someone with a head injury can go depending on severity and many other factors.

Maybe no head injury at all and all the friend did was help him "escape".

Jim<
 

KB9LMJ

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jimmnn said:
Maybe no head injury at all and all the friend did was help him "escape".

Jim<

Strange you should mention that. I hate to say it, but that was my first thought when I heard the story. Those guys are getting 1-2 year tours, some have been 2 or more times. They also just called up 2500 inactive ready reserves.
 

cstockmyer

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They said on the news that his unit has come out to look for him now..something about this whole thing just does not smell right I agree.
 

evilklown

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yea now that everyone is metioning that, that dose sound a little fishy, but with a head injury you can act strange so him might have gottin angrey that it was taking to long and just started walking out of the injury but you never know there is so many differnt ways to look at it........ Is it even possible to live this long with a minor head injury? but if it was sever i dont see anyone living that long..
 

jimmnn

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cstockmyer said:
They said on the news that his unit has come out to look for him now..something about this whole thing just does not smell right I agree.

Does not look like his unit specifically Charles, just some military assistance.

Two additional groups have joined the search effort: the Air Force ROTC contingent from the University of Colorado and a group of retired U.S. Marines, coordinated by the local recruiting office, have committed personnel to searching ancillary areas outside the immediate search perimeter in Eldorado Canyon. An air search by a National Guard helicopter slated for Friday afternoon was cancelled due to deteriorating weather conditions.

Jim<
 

cstockmyer

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jimmnn said:
Does not look like his unit specifically Charles, just some military assistance.

Two additional groups have joined the search effort: the Air Force ROTC contingent from the University of Colorado and a group of retired U.S. Marines, coordinated by the local recruiting office, have committed personnel to searching ancillary areas outside the immediate search perimeter in Eldorado Canyon. An air search by a National Guard helicopter slated for Friday afternoon was cancelled due to deteriorating weather conditions.

Jim<

I thought I had heard them say they where from his unit, sorry. With a head injury like the friend said he had, would there be a blood trail?
 

sumrowbw

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I have known Lance Hering and his family since he was born. He is not AWOL. Lance is a very honorable person, who is proud of his service in the Marines, proud to be a Marine, and was looking forward to returning to his unit, and to Iraq, after a promotion to fire squad leader. There is no way, under any circumstances, that this is a voluntary disappearance. Lance would not put his family through this, nor would he expose searchers to the very real risks they are taking while trying to find him. My daughter arrived in Colorado to join the search, and my prayers are with Lance, his family, with her, and with all the searchers. Why not live by the admittedly oldfashioned adage, "If you can't say something good about someone, don't say anything at all".
 

jimmnn

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Wow truly impressive someone, still remaining nameless, joined just to participate in our completely off-topic discussions. I feel blessed.

Jim<
 

jimmnn

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(CBS4) DENVER Four dog teams and a two-person tracking team were expected to join the search Saturday for a Marine who has been missing in Eldorado Canyon State Park.

Lance Hering fell and hit his head Tuesday night while rock climbing with a friend in the park. That friend went to get help, but when he returned, Hering was gone.

More than 100 people took part in the search Friday. They expanded it to a five square mile area around the spot where Hering was last seen.

A helicopter with infra-red technology was scheduled to help with the search, but windy weather forced crews to cancel it.

"It's frustrating," Dennis Hopper of the Boulder County Sheriff's Department said. "All I can say is we are still optimistic. We're going to continue to push and hope for the best."

Several searchers remained in the canyon overnight. Crews said there are still no credible signs of Hering.
 

cstockmyer

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sumrowbw said:
I have known Lance Hering and his family since he was born. He is not AWOL. Lance is a very honorable person, who is proud of his service in the Marines, proud to be a Marine, and was looking forward to returning to his unit, and to Iraq, after a promotion to fire squad leader. There is no way, under any circumstances, that this is a voluntary disappearance. Lance would not put his family through this, nor would he expose searchers to the very real risks they are taking while trying to find him. My daughter arrived in Colorado to join the search, and my prayers are with Lance, his family, with her, and with all the searchers. Why not live by the admittedly oldfashioned adage, "If you can't say something good about someone, don't say anything at all".

Then prove us wrong..please prove us wrong.

There was a kid who was lost in CO about a month or so ago, the search teams found evidence everyday that the child was around. So far as far as I know, they have found nothing like that in this case.
 
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A fall that serve I would think that there is no way he would be able to walk, I rolled a 3 wheeler in 1985 and was in coma for a week and out of it for 3 weeks after that. Some thing does seam fishy.
 

sumrowbw

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My daughter just called from El Dorado canyon. One of the search parties has found evidence that leads them to believe he is still alive. They found a marker - socks twisted around a branch- and a hollowed out area that looked as if he had rested there. They believe he is high up in the canyon, where he can see houses, and is trying to move toward them. They were going to send a helicopter back up, and try to get dog teams in there, but it is extremely rugged terrain, and they didn't know if they could get up there with the dogs. At least they have narrowed the area and hope to find him tomorrow. When they do, I think you owe him an apology. Brenda
 

jimmnn

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sumrowbw said:
My daughter just called from El Dorado canyon. One of the search parties has found evidence that leads them to believe he is still alive. They found a marker - socks twisted around a branch- and a hollowed out area that looked as if he had rested there. They believe he is high up in the canyon, where he can see houses, and is trying to move toward them. They were going to send a helicopter back up, and try to get dog teams in there, but it is extremely rugged terrain, and they didn't know if they could get up there with the dogs. At least they have narrowed the area and hope to find him tomorrow. When they do, I think you owe him an apology. Brenda

Might want to share this with your daughter.

TO: Boulder County Area Media

FROM: Cmdr. Phil West #303/441-3621

RE: Search for Missing Injured Hiker Enters Its Fourth Day 7:30 p.m.

Case #06-5025

This media release supplements the previous releases from the Sheriff&#8217;s Office and provides current details regarding the status of search efforts. Prior media releases may be found on the Boulder County Sheriff&#8217;s Office web-site.

Personnel from nearly a dozen search and rescue groups concluded the fourth day of the search for missing hiker Lance Hering, 21, without finding any sign of him. Over 100 professional rescue team members coordinated by the Sheriff&#8217; Office, complemented by nearly 100 citizen and military volunteers, continued to scour Eldorado Canyon and environs without success Saturday. The rescue teams&#8217; efforts were complicated in the morning by cool, wet weather and heavy fog and cloud cover which made for poor visibility and treacherous footing.

The weather gradually improved after noon, allowing the use of the Denver Police Department helicopter, &#8220;Eagle &#8211;1&#8221;, which flew repeatedly over the canyon with Forward Looking Infra-Red (FLIR) equipment, looking for any significant heat sources (eg. the heat generated by a human body) within the search area. Unfortunately, nothing that couldn&#8217;t be attributed to another source (eg. a rescue team member) was found.

Efforts were scaled back again overnight with the expectation that the search would resume shortly after day break Sunday morning. Ground search efforts were concluded for the day by 6:00 p.m. Canine teams will check the trails again this evening in the hope of locating a scent that might give an indication as to Mr. Hering&#8217;s location. To date, those efforts have also proven unsuccessful.

Sheriff&#8217;s Office&#8217; Emergency Services supervisors expect to field approximately 100 professional search and rescue personnel again on Sunday and plan to re-focus on the area where Lance was last seen early Wednesday morning. They will be supplemented by a group of retired and active duty Marines who have volunteered to assist. Additionally, the Hering family has made a public request for assistance from private citizens for assistance with the search of peripheral areas near Eldorado Canyon.

The command post for the incident is being re-located Saturday night to the Mesa trail head off Eldorado Springs Drive, with parking at the Doudy Draw trail head. The move is occasioned by the need for additional space to accommodate the vehicles and equipment that accompany an effort of this magnitude, as well as to minimize the impact on Eldorado Canyon State Park, the west end of which has been effectively closed for the past four days. The new command post will be operational late Saturday night.
 
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