LAKE COUNTY — A 13-hour Search and Rescue (SAR) operation coordinated by the Lake County Sheriff”s Office in the Mendocino National Forest on Sunday has resulted in the safe return of two visitors from out of county.
On Sunday morning at approximately 11 a.m., Sheriff”s dispatch received a call from Lake Pillsbury resident Steve Bettencourt. Bettencourt reported that two relatives who left his home on Saturday were stranded in the snow somewhere in the Elk Mountain area of the National Forest.
34 year old Ambrosio Maldonaldo of Ripon and 60 year old Gilberto San Miguel of Modesto were reportedly visiting Bettencourt in Lake Pillsbury and had left to return home on Saturday at about 4 p.m. Several hours after leaving Lake Pillsbury, Maldonaldo and San Miguel called Bettencourt and told him they had become stuck in the snow on their way down the mountain. They told Bettencourt they were going to remain with their vehicle until the following morning when they would attempt to walk out. By mid-morning on Sunday, the two men had been unable to walk out due to weather conditions but did manage to get within cell phone range to call Bettencourt again for help.
As Sheriff”s SAR personnel were being alerted, U.S. Forest Service personnel attempted to access the area from the Mendocino County portion of the forest but could not get through due to adverse conditions. Sheriff”s personnel and SAR volunteers staged at the Middle Creek campground in Upper Lake to coordinate search efforts.
A Sonoma County Sheriff”s helicopter was requested to respond to assist with the search but the aircraft was canceled while en route due to weather conditions.
At approximately 1 p.m., a SAR 4×4 team attempted to reach the area the two men were believed to be in, but they were forced to turn around before reaching the summit of Elk Mountain because of inclement conditions. Additional resources were called to the area to assist, including a Mendocino County SAR snowmobile team, snow plows from the Lake County Public Works and a CALFIRE snow cat stationed out of the Boggs State Forest.
The Sheriff”s Mobile Command Post was also deployed to the Middle Creek Campground to act as an operations center.
As nighttime fell, resources worked to clear the roadway into the search area and SAR coordinators continued to try and narrow down the exact location of the men. Once the route on Elk Mountain Road was cleared by county snowplows, the CALFIRE “snow cat” was hauled to the summit of Elk Mountain and then deployed with SAR and CALFIRE personnel on board to venture further north in search of the two men.
At approximately 9:45 p.m., the CALFIRE snow cat located Maldonado and San Miguel sheltered in their vehicle on Elk Mountain Road, approximately four miles north of Horse Mountain. Both men were cold and hungry, but they were otherwise unharmed.
The men were transported down the mountain to the Sheriff”s Command Post where they were fed and lodged for the night in a local motel. Both were expected to be picked up by family members on Monday.
The Lake County Sheriff”s Office is pleased with the coordination and outcome of Sunday”s Search and Rescue operation. Sheriff Rivero expressed his deepest gratitude to the SAR Coordinator, Lt. Chris Macedo and to the Lake County SAR volunteers for their efforts. He also commended and thanked the allied agencies that supported the rescue, including the U.S. Forest Service, CALFIRE, Mendocino County Sheriff”s Search and Rescue and the Lake County Public Works Department.
