5/2/2016 – Lost Mountain Biker

SAR Staff, Hasty Team, SVU, and WCSAR responded to the Incline Village area to search for a subject that contacted her father in Minnesota, saying she became lost while mountain biking and it was now dark. Her phone then went dead. The father contacted Washoe County, saying she was new to the area and lived in Incline Village. Deputies and RAVEN checked the usual mountain bike trailheads in the area, but her vehicle was not located. As teams arrived at staging at Sheeps Flat, information came from a friend that she might have been headed to the area of Mount Watson, which is NW of Tahoe City. Not long after that, a Placer County Deputy located the subject’s vehicle in that area. Our assets were offered to Placer County, and they requested that we go to their staging location at the Tahoe Nordic Center. As teams drove to that location, RAVEN spotted the subject next to a fire, approximately one mile from where the Deputies vehicle was able to get to, but had to stop due to a tree across the trail. When teams arrived at staging, it was decided to send four SVU side x sides to the location, take two Tahoe Nordic SAR personnel to the subject, then transport everyone out. Teams left the staging area, guided by a Placer County Deputy. The plan changed en route, and the Tahoe Nordic SAR personnel were not taken in, but the side x sides did locate the Deputy and subject, and they were transported back to the Deputy’s vehicle.