Body Believed to be Missing Hiker Found in Sierra

Written by Benett Kessler

Wednesday, 16 July 2008

With no solid leads at the end day seven in the search for missing mountaineer Ric DeVan, Inyo County Sheriff Bill Lutze called off the search effort, but then a family member or friend found DeVan's backpack. That discovery led to the grim finding of DeVan's body nearby. According to a website posting by DeVan's father on the Whitney Portal Store Forum, the Inyo Search and Rescue Team that returned to the mountains this morning found DeVan's body several hundred feet up the mountain from the backpack. Inyo Sheriff Bill Lutze later confirmed the discovery.  He said the body was turned over to the Inyo County Coroner. Spokesmen said that the backpack was found close to Mt. Goode and that discovery prompted Inyo Search and Rescue crews to go back up into the mountains for one more look.  The 44 year old San Diego man had been missing in the Bishop Pass area since July Fourth. Sheriff Lutze said the body was flown down to Bishop Airport Wednesday afternoon. The missing climber was last seen on July third in the Bishop Pass area. DeVan set out on an overnight trip from Bishop Pass toward Mt. Goode on the third of July. He was supposed to meet his wife and daughter at Treasure Lakes on the Fourth but did not arrive. The last sure sign of DeVan's passage was his signature in the summit register on the 13,000 foot peak of Mt. Goode. In that summit register, Devan indicated that he would next traverse to neighboring Mt. Johnson. There is a difficult ridge between Mt. Goode and Mt. Johnson. Local search teams who traversed the ridge toward Mt. Johnson describe the terrain as treacherous and extremely unstable. Over the weekend family and friends backpacked or hiked into the mountains to keep the search going. One group took digital photos of the Mt. Goode area in hopes of finding evidence in the photos. Another volunteer group with an unmanned aerial vehicle was reported to be in the area to fly over and take digital photos of the terrain in hopes of finding something the ground searchers missed over the seven days of searching.  Reports indicate they did find DeVan's backpack. Inyo Sheriff Bill Lutze said that this search has been the most exhaustive. Comments (3) Subscribe to this comment's feed Angelique Mahaney said:   Ric's family and friends lost a wonderful man. They will have to begin a life without him – as do we all when we lose a loved one. Many of us are praying for this family. During this search, the volunteers endured terrible conditions at times -- rain, hail, mosquitoes, treacherous trails and very sore bodies. Yet so many wonderful people volunteered during the formal search led by Sheriff Lutze's office and during the informal search after the Sheriff's search was called off. There are not enough ways to say thank you to all who tried to help find Ric. SAR teams are made of incredible people who give and give of themselves for people they don't know. They deserve special thanks as do the Forest Service staff who supported the DeVan family throughout this effort. It's also apparent that there is a critical void. It starts where the Sheriff bows his neck when friends and family members of the missing person ask technical questions regarding search activities. For instance, "are high resolution digital images being taken from the helicopter?" No says the Sheriff -- the people in the helicopter can see a "flower from a mile away." No need for pictures. If the Sheriff would learn about new technology, he'd know he could walk into K-mart in Bishop and buy a 10 megapixel camera for about $200. With that, a card reader, and a computer numerous eyes can view the search area in a very comprehensive and methodical way. There is even software, while expensive, that searches for specific colors – where all the yellow or red in a picture is revealed. The Sheriff could have learned this lesson in 2006 when Renee Fox was lost in Mazourka Canyon. She was found weeks after disappearing, a mile or so up the road from the Sheriff's office. Helicopters searched the area for her also and she wasn’t seen 30 feet from the road. How sad that this simple tool is not used yet. Possibly the DeVan family and friends would have found Ric sooner and avoided days of agony. Perhaps. Lone Pine has been my second home for more than 45 years. I know the eastern Sierra and Owen's Valley depend on tourism. Most people in the valley are friendly and warm. They are a giving people. However, the Sheriff's office breaks this tradition when they call off an official search, and family and friends continue to request assistance. His office voices annoyance at the phone calls and continued requests for assistance. Yet every other agency in California and Nevada will not assist the family without a call from Sheriff Lutze – it’s protocol. Assistance can be as close as the Sheriff’s phone. Although his office may say otherwise, he makes the decision. Certainly the effort Sheriff Lutze's team made was painstaking. But there is room in the Eastern Sierra to ask for help from technology. Inyo County doesn't have the technology due to budget constraints (per the Sheriff's office during the Renee Fox search). And Inyo County doesn't have a Sheriff who likes ask for help outside of his comfort zone. Ric DeVan and Renee Fox, two people from Southern California, not found by all the efforts of people, helicopters, or dogs, but both were visible by air. I ask that Sheriff Lutze contact me and I will connect him with the people with the technology. They would be happy to show the Sheriff and his staff how to use it. July 17, 2008 Magdalena Johann of West Germany said:   My friends Otis Lee Andrews and Chris Barber-Andrews send me this... My Dears....my deepest sympathy and I am so very sorry..y Much Love to the two of You.... Magdalena July 17, 2008 Neil M said:   My prayers are with the family July 18, 2008 Write comment Show/Hide comment form Name Email Comment Write the displayed characters Add Comment