Camper Lost in New Mexico Rescued Two Weeks After Search for Her Was Called Off

FOX/AP ^ | January 14, 2007

[nuconvert]

Camper Lost in New Mexico Rescued Two Weeks After Search for Her Was Called Off

January 14, 2007

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A camper who became stranded nearly five weeks ago in a national forest because she could not cross a swollen river was rescued Sunday, more than two weeks after the search for her was called off.

A New Mexico National Guard crew waded across the icy Gila River to rescue a dehydrated and weak Carolyn Dorn of South Carolina, who entered the Gila National Forest alone on Dec. 6 for a two-week camping trip.

Two brothers found her Friday evening while hiking, said search and rescue coordinator Frankie Benoist of Silver City.

"They were walking along the river and heard a call for help," she said. "They would not have seen her if she had not called out. By that time she was very weak. She is extremely lucky."

Dorn was too weak to cross the river, so the brothers left food, water and wood for a fire and went for help, Benoist said. It took them a day to hike out and contact rescuers, who called in the National Guard.

"We needed a large helicopter ... one with night vision and a hoist, and we also needed a medic on board because of her condition," Benoist said.

Dorn was hospitalized in Silver City and should be fine, Benoist said. Her condition was unavailable.

Dorn, who travels often to Silver City, had planned to camp for two weeks. But five days into her trip, it rained and snowed and the Gila River rose, trapping her, Benoist said.

"The river got big, as she put it, so she did not want to cross it again," Benoist said. "It had become too dangerous and also she did not want to

[cyclotic]

OK, it's been 30 minutes with no responses. I'll start teh party by being thankful she got rescued but wondering who would be dumb enough to go camping in the woods with no plan or return date and not letting anyone know where she went.

[TADSLOS]

This lady is extremely lucky to still be alive. Kudos to the hikers and how they handled the situation.

[DB]

Tough woman, but not too bright.

[nuconvert]

lol.
What woman goes out camping alone?
I thought the search only lasting 2 days was kind of insulting.

[FReepaholic]

...She is extremely lucky...

If she was lucky she wouldn't have gotten lost in the first place.

[Eagles6]

Zactly.

[cyclotic]

That too, but that would be overstating the obvious.

[Londo Molari]

"What woman goes out camping alone?"

Actually, this should say "what person goes camping alone?". Stupid decisions don't know gender. :-)

If she knew she was going to go camping out that far, she should have let a ranger know & left a map with her intended route & location in her car.

[Captain Rhino]

Yet another example of a backcountry explorer who could have used a cell phone and a cell phone charger ($19.00). Fortunately, this time the lost person lived.

[dennisw]

Dorn's brother-in-law, Stan Cornine -- who traveled to Silver City from South Carolina during last month's search -- told the Las Cruces Sun-News at the time that Dorn was an experienced camper who was at home in the outdoors.

Cornine, who described Dorn as "very much a free spirit," said he and his wife sometimes would go for more than a year without hearing from her. But he said she had called before she headed to Silver City to let her family know.

Carolyn Dorn was rescued after she went missing in Gila National Forest, New Mexico, nearly five weeks ago.

Written by Bruce Daniels - ABQnewsSeeker   

Friday, 29 December 2006

Official search called off, but family keeps vigil for 52-year-old.

Carolyn Dorn, 52, a familiar face to people around Silver City and Grant County, went missing some time around Dec. 6, and her locked Mazda was found on Dec. 11 parked in a ravine off Turkey Creek Road in the Cliff/Gila area, but a subsequent search turned up nothing, the Silver City Sun-News reported today on its Web site.

Her ATM card was used in Las Cruces on Dec. 6 and her cell phone was used to check voice mail messages on the same day in Las Cruces, but apparently no one has seen her since, her brother-in-law Stan Cornine, who arrived in Silver City on Wednesday from his home in South Carolina, told the Sun-News.

Cornine described his wife's sister as a "free spirit," who wasn't often in touch with her family, but said he last heard from Dorn in early December, at which time she said she was heading west, possibly to Silver City, the Sun-News said.

Before that, Cornine said, his sister-in-law had called during the summer to say she was living in Florida, the paper reported.

"She could very well be camping or her car could have become stuck and she went for help," Cornine told the Sun-News. "She may be snug in an apartment somewhere," he said, adding however that she had told her family of suicide attempts in the past.

[Lurker]

Didn't she leave an itenerary with someone?

I don't go out in the wilderness without leaving an itinerary with a trusted friend and then I don't deviate from that itinerary.

Tossing a flare gun and some flares in the back pack wouldn't be all that bad of an idea, either.

L

[OldFriend]

My dad was one of those free spirits.

Wouldn't hear a word for months on end and then get a post card from Japan or Californneeeeeeeya...

[nuconvert]

"an experienced camper who was at home in the outdoors."

She was almost permanently "at home in the outdoors"

[xsrdx]

Huge areas of the world, esp. remote wilderness areas, remain far outside cellular network coverage.

People entering wilderness areas are much better off with a registered PLB.

NOAA-SARSAT

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

She's lucky that they found her at all, rather than just a pile of bones, if she got lost in Gila...

[Locomotive Breath]

Cell phone service in the backcountry is exremely spotty. In fact, cell phones lead to "negative risk compensation". That means a hiker attempts things s/he would not normally attempt figuring if they get in trouble they can use the cell to call for help.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Position-Indicating_Radio_Beacon

These are better 'cause they work anywhere but still lead to people doing things they shouldn't be doing.

[fatrat]

i doubt that there was a cellphone signal available anywhere near where this woman was camping in the wilderness.

[Heatseeker]

Sounds like Chris McCandless, the clueless 'free spirit' who got trapped by a swollen Alaskan river and starved to death in 1992; whose story was told in Jon Krakauer's book "Into the Wild".

[Tom Bombadil]

I don't go out in the wilderness without leaving an itinerary with a trusted friend and then I don't deviate from that itinerary.

I wonder what her expectations and commitment were. Maybe she "hangs it out there" for a taste of real freedom and sense of self. You know, the Jim Bridger sort of person. In that case, an itinerary would would only act a belay when she wanted to free climb.

I leave itineraries because I have a wife, chidren, and grandchildren who are more important to me than the thrill of cutting myself completely free.

As an after-thought, she should probably take one of Tom Brown's survival courses.

[Thermalseeker]

Tossing a flare gun and some flares in the back pack wouldn't be all that bad of an idea, either.

A flare gun in that environment is a good way to set the woods on fire and cause a much worse situation. If you are going into the backwoods, or even if you are going to be driving out in the middle of nowhere in winter conditions, spring for a 406 Mhz PELT. I keep one in my flight bag, but I also carry it when I go skiing, on overnighter hikes or anytime that I think I might need it. A simple signal mirror is another good way to show your position without causing a wild fire.

[nuconvert]

Yeah it does. Someone else just reminded me of that story.

[Lion Den Dan]

...She is extremely lucky...

If she was lucky she wouldn't have gotten lost in the first place.

You make your own luck.

[Lion Den Dan]

...She is extremely lucky...

If she was lucky she wouldn't have gotten lost in the first place.

You make your own luck.

[Locomotive Breath]

"extremely lucky"

Luck is the residue of good planning.

[UpAllNight]

--I thought the search only lasting 2 days was kind of insulting.--

? She was lost on 12/6 and they called off the search on 12/29?

[Bear_Slayer]

I just finished that book last week.

I admire Chris's free spirit. However, this guy was clearly an idiot. He may have had the basic goods to last the summer, (apparently not), but he knew nothing of the place and certainly would not have lasted fall, never mind winter.

He foolishly thought that all his previous luck was somehow skill on his part.

Chris was an idiot -- The author as well

[Buckhead]

For the poor judgment in not leaving an itinerary, she showed good judgment on the trail once the predicament arose - it's what kept her alive.

[ClaireSolt]

It is a great week for rescues!

[Thermalseeker]

You make your own luck.

THANK YOU! Finaly, somebody else who gets it......

[CharlesWayneCT]

She can't be too dumb, she survived for weeks, she must have known at least something of survival skills.

[UpAllNight]

--For the poor judgment in not leaving an itinerary, she showed good judgment on the trail once the predicament arose - it's what kept her alive.--

It says she built fires to keep warm. Usually a national forrest is monitored for fires. Creating some smoke would bring someone to investigate.

[nuconvert]

"The search began Dec. 24 and ended Dec. 26. On the third day, after a large group of searchers with all-terrain vehicles, dogs and horses failed to find any clues, the search was called off, Benoist said."

[rawhide]

I agree with you, she should have had a cell phone. But I wondered why the brothers did not have a cell phone either?
And then they left her all alone while they both together went for help together? Perhaps she wanted it that way?

[Tijeras_Slim]

Most of NM has no cell coverage. I'm only 20 miles from Albuquerque and nada, zip, zilch.

[reagandemo]

Yes and the Mountain lions and Bears would love to run into a snack like her too. She is very lucky.

[metmom]

...told the Las Cruces Sun-News at the time that Dorn was an experienced camper who was at home in the outdoors.

Then she should have known the dangers.

[Lurker]

spring for a 406 Mhz PELT.

Thanks, I'll look into that.

As far as the flare gun goes, I've kept mine from my days as a boater. Where I'm from there's usually not much danger of fire, at least not like in the West anyway.

But I'm the paranoid camper type. I've got a signal mirror, a whistle, some pen flares, and a large marine type smoke flare in my pack.

L

[Tijeras_Slim]

After the 26th searches would have been more difficult as we've had some record snows as of late. The National Guard has been dropping feed to cattle and hauling stranded folks out of their houses.

[Mr. Brightside]

From the article:

The search began Dec. 24 and ended Dec. 26. On the third day, after a large group of searchers with all-terrain vehicles, dogs and horses failed to find any clues, the search was called off, Benoist said.

[metmom]

I've heard toilet papering a tree is a pretty good way to get attention, since they're a pretty rare occurance in nature, or using some of that bright orange plastic construction zone tape, like the kind police use to mark off crime scenes. I know ounces count when backpacking but something more permanent than flares would be good.

[WV Mountain Mama]

Yeah, but as it turned out, wasn't he close to a foot bridge (I mean almost ridiculously close) so he could have crossed the river that was "trapping" him?

[BigCinBigD]

i doubt that there was a cellphone signal available anywhere near where this woman was camping in the wilderness.

That's why they call it...The wilderness, ;)

[nuconvert]

Ah. That explains things a bit.

[CedarDave]

Bears are in hibernation and the smallish black bears don't pose much of a problem for older women anyway (young women who are menstruating can be attacked). Cougars? I don't how many are left in the Gila. Also have re-introduced wolves in the area.

[Thermalseeker]

Thanks, I'll look into that.

Here's a link to the manufacturer of the one I have:

http://www.acrelectronics.com

These have a discrete code that is registered, along with your personal contact info, with NOAA. Some even have GPS's built in and transmit your exact position to the satellite.

[UpAllNight]

--I agree with you, she should have had a cell phone.--

My cell phone goes out in spots within a few miles of a major city. No way is there coverage 20 miles into a forrest.

[CedarDave]

I don't think the Gila got too much as most of the storms were in the central area of the state north. You still digging out up there?

15 degrees this morning with a stiff wind here in the patch...

[Tijeras_Slim]

We got about 2 more inches yesterday morning. It's 3 degrees right now, but the wind is down. The garbage truck hasn't made it up here since December.

[higgmeister]

Tough woman, but not too bright.

She was smart enough not to try to cross the Gila River during storm surge.

My Dad's family moved there just before he turned six years old. They finally moved back to Alabama when he was in his teens. The change in that river is impressive when it gets high.

Maybe next time she could put a gila monster on a spit like Mick Dundee might have done.