SAR Updates and Clarifications

Last night, our SAR unit held the monthly general meeting, where we discussed this past month's missions and received updated information about a high-profile mission that took place more than two years ago.

So, I wanted to share some of what we learned.

Regarding the flood in Havasu Canyon, there have been some misleading news stories floating around, not the least of which was a local Fox News report I saw yesterday afternoon, stating, "The Grand Canyon will be closed for four weeks following extensive damage caused by flash-flooding. 173 people were airlifted out of the Canyon." No, the Grand Canyon isn't closed; Havasupai is closed to tourists until further notice, but the National Park is open as usual. So if the NPS sees a sudden and dramatic decline in visitation to the Canyon, I guess they have Fox to thank for the solitude (and loss of revenue). And I believe the official number of people evacuated from Havasupai was 406. We counted names while working on the list back at the Sheriff's office on Tuesday.

We were told the Coconino County Sheriff's Office had to set up a call center, in large part due to at least one news outlet that reported a dam had broken at the Grand Canyon, and then they showed a picture of Glen Canyon Dam! People were freaking out, calling to say they had loved ones in the canyon and on the Colorado River. What actually failed was the small, earthen Redlands Dam about 45 miles upstream of Havasupai. That dam failed after days of heavy rain, up to eight inches since Friday, but the flooding in Havasu Canyon was occurring even before the dam breach.

I'm also unsure about my previous statement that two homes may have been lost in the village of Supai. While I did hear that bit of information while at Haulapai Hilltop on Sunday, other reports stated that no structures were lost, so I'll count that as rumor at the moment. Surely, many of the houses in Supai were in disrepair before this past weekend's flooding, so it's possible that even minor flooding in the village, which is higher up than the campground that was wiped out, did just enough additional damage to count some homes as "lost." But not having seen the village myself or received official word on that, I can't be sure.

-------------------------

Some of you may have read my earlier report called "They Call Her Cinder Hill Cindy," the name given to then-unidentified skeletal remains found on Navajo Army Depot grounds in early August, near Bellemont, Arizona. I later updated my blog with the name of the woman once a positive ID was made following our evidence search in the area and subsequent forensic testing.

Last night at our meeting, the lead detective on the case filled in some additional detail. Thirty-three year-old Julie Renee Windhorn's backpack had been found in the early spring of 2007 near Old Munds Highway by some boys looking for salamanders. In the backpack was a passport and a note with suicidal implications. An attorney from Virginia, Julie had been having some emotional and mental health issues before her disappearance, so the note did follow suit. In the backpack was also a vehicle insurance card, but Julie's vehicle has yet to be found.

At this point, the cause of Julie's death is still considered unknown, but evidence points to hypothermia. Julie's remains and her neatly laid-out clothing and ID were found about 15 miles from where her backpack was discovered a year and a half earlier. Our unit may be called out later this year, when the leaves have dropped off the thick underbrush in the area, to do another search for more bones and any other evidence that might turn up. At this point, there's no indication of foul play in this case.

-----------------------------

One case that did involve foul play was that of Tamomi Hanamure, a 34-year-old Japanese tourist who was murdered at Havasupai in May, 2006, the same area where the flooding occurred this past weekend. Tamomi was reported missing when a maid at the Supai Lodge discovered that the young woman's personal belongings were still in her room after checkout time and the bed had not been slept in. A search was initiated involving multiple agencies, including Coconino County Search & Rescue.

I was not yet on the team at the time of this mission, but I've heard numerous conversations about it since I joined, as well as a previous update by the FBI after the 19-year-old perpetrator's guilty plea was accepted and sentencing took place. The killer, a Supai resident, tried to be the "hero," telling authorities he'd discovered the body when in fact he'd gotten nervous seeing all the uniformed personnel and bloodhounds closing in on Tamomi's location. He somehow thought the attention would be focused on other people if it was him who led them to the victim.

An FBI dive team later located the knife used in the attack, in the water not far from where Tomomi's body was found. Testing at a crime lab also revealed that the t-shirt worn by the killer contained Tamomi's blood, though it couldn't be seen by the naked eye. This evidence, along with the killer's eventual detailed confession, resulted in four consecutive life sentences with no possibility of parole.

Last night, we saw a slideshow of the search for and discovery of Tamomi Hanamure's body. The detective said it was one of the most emotional cases he'd ever worked on, and I know it had a significant impact on my SAR teammates who participated in the mission. Tamomi was enamored with the United States and the Grand Canyon in particular. She'd been to the canyon two or three times before and this time was going to visit the waterfalls in Havasupai as a 34th birthday gift to herself. The detective told us that Tamomi was an only child and her father's world. I couldn't stop staring at her photo up on the screen, taken shortly before her hike into the canyon.

----------------------------------

Well, I do hope the next couple of days at least will be quiet ones when it comes to searching and rescuing. I absolutely love being part of the team and the volunteer work we do, but it sure seems like it's been nonstop lately following a relatively quiet July. Somehow, though, I sense that my trusty little pager is juuuust about to sing.

A Grand Canyon and Havasupai Flood SAR

What a stark contrast, going from the scene of rescue efforts at Havasupai to this little office at the apartment complex where I work two days a week. I've gone from interviewing people who'd scrambled for their lives when a wall of water came rumbling through the narrow canyon to writing up maintenance work orders for tenants with clogged toilets.

The people who were rescued, many of whom had lost everything but the clothes on their backs, and some of those in just bathing suits and bare feet were in good spirits, while today I've dealt with tenants who are cranky because the staff haven't been quick enough replacing window blinds they (the tenants) broke. Wow. What a contrast indeed.

The flooding in Havasu Canyon began on Saturday afternoon, August 16, and was still happening on Monday the 18th. Havasu is a side canyon of the Grand Canyon, located about 30 miles west of the South Rim. Havasu Canyon is part of the Indian reservation of the same name, with the small village of Supai at the bottom. The village is accessible only by helicopter or an eight-mile hiking and pack-mule trail.

About 450 out of a total of roughly 650 members of the tribe live in Supai, and their primary source of income is tourist dollars from those who visit the incredibly beautiful waterfalls and pools about two miles down canyon from the village. At this time of year, a weekend can see hundreds of visitors, as was the case this past weekend when monsoon rains caused flash-flooding, which in turn breached an earthen dam near Williams, Arizona, exacerbating already dangerous conditions in Havasu. The usually blue-green water was running brown with mud, laden with debris and boulders.

Our unit was called out on Sunday morning, August 17, along with members of the Mohave County Search & Rescue team, the National Guard, National Park Service, members of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Department of Public Safety, Red Cross, Salvation Army, and probably others I'm not aware of.

Though there are certainly common elements, each person involved in the flood has a unique story, from the more than 400 tourists and Supai residents rescued by helicopter to the pilots and crew on those helicopters to both paid and volunteer rescue personnel in and on the rim of the canyon. During my interviews, which were intended to document everyone who came out of the canyon and find out if anyone in their party was missing or if they'd seen anyone injured or swept off by the flood, I heard many of those stories.

Most told of being suddenly awakened in the middle of the night by the loud rumble of water, falling rocks, and shouting. One man told me three kids had clung to a tree for hours until they were rescued. A couple and their dog were stranded on a rock in the middle of the flood. Sixteen people from a river trip, who had stopped at the confluence of Havasu Creek and the Colorado River, had to be short-hauled off a cliff after their boats were washed away and they'd had to quickly climb to avoid the same fate. I heard that two houses in Supai were lost.

For hours, I took names, addresses, dates of birth, and other information from evacuees, often waiting while they practically inhaled some food before they'd answer my next question. The Salvation Army provided food and drinks to the hungry and parched people airlifted out of the canyon, as well as to those of us working the evacuation.

One thing I noted as I watched the activity at the "Hilltop Helispot" location on the rim of Havasu Canyon, where evacuees were first "processed" after coming off the helicopters, is that one could not differentiate between those who were paid personnel and who were volunteers. All were working with enthusiasm or waiting with good spirits between assigned tasks. And when given a new task, each person jumped to work. While there are always opportunities to learn and improve, I was really impressed with the effort and the coordination between units and by how well everyone worked together. Overall, it was a successful effort, and as far as we know, there was no loss of life from the flood.

To be sure, however, air and ground searches are ongoing. And, as of Tuesday morning, I heard that residents of Supai who'd been evacuated were being allowed to return to their village, which has sustained considerable damage. The campground has apparently been wiped out. My husband and I are going to look into how we might go about volunteering in the rebuilding efforts.

Read the latest article in the Arizona Daily Sun here: Supai flood evacuees scramble to safety.