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Search for missing woman underway


By BOB NORBERG
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Sunday, October 5, 2008 at 10:11 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, October 5, 2008 at 9:04 p.m.

A search was under way Sunday for a 42-year-old woman who is missing and feared drowned at Salt Point State Park, where she was on a retreat with several others, park rangers said.

The woman, who is from outside the United States, has not been identified pending the notification of her next of kin, said Tim Murphy, supervising ranger at Salt Point and Fort Ross state parks.

It is believed that she was washed off of Horseshoe Point, a rocky outcropping in Horseshoe Cove, by waves that were running 15 feet high Saturday afternoon.

“She was with a group that had gone for hikes in the area of Salt Point,”

Murphy said. “They had discussed meeting at a specific location at 3:30 p.m. When she didn’t make that meeting place, the group went looking for.”

Murphy said her companions reached Horseshoe Point in time to see her pants wash out to sea. They also found her backpack, other clothing and shoes.

Murphy said they don’t know what exactly happened, but guess that she was sunbathing on the westerly-facing point and was swept into the ocean.

“A person taking look at it may think it a scenic spot, but it is not conducive to making an entry into the water,” Murphy said. “The area is so exposed, westerly facing, any kind of inattention, even momentary, could have had a bad result.”

The ocean was searched until after midnight by a vessel from the U.S. Coast Guard’s Bodega Bay station, a Coast Guard helicopter from San Francisco and the Sonoma County’s sheriff’s helicopter.

“The survivability is pretty low if you go in with no clothes on, especially in this area,” said Matthew McCullough, a boatswain’s mate for the Coast Guard. “With the sea the state it was in last night, it is pretty hard staying up with everything crashing on top of you.”

The search was continuing Sunday with rangers walking the coast and an aerial search by the Sonoma County sheriff’s helicopter.

“We are still actively looking for his person, but it is a recovery effort rather than a rescue effort,” Murphy said.


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  1. jenbme22 says...
    October 5, 2008 10:25:05 am

    Usually when someone gets "swept out to sea" they dont have time to take off their pants and shoes and "other" clothing....Hmmm....

  2. subdjoe says...
    October 5, 2008 10:32:08 am

    "Murphy said they donâ??t know what exactly happened, but guess that she was sunbathing on the westerly-facing point and was swept into the ocean."

    Sunbathing. I wasn't there, but I suspect that there were broken clouds, a pretty good wind, and that it was colder than a well diggers knees. Yep, perfect for sunbathing.

  3. nacosta says...
    October 5, 2008 10:49:19 am

    they should probably find the time before they go under and drown.

  4. Carrollhi says...
    October 5, 2008 12:33:03 pm

    A couple of you immediately suspect she did herself in, quite obviously. But I can assure everyone that this was an accident. One person says, 'Yep, perfect for sunbathing' and another immediately questions why she would remove her pants..as though there were darker motives involved, sheesh. Well, come on: she did it to sunbathe, of course!! That's pretty common procedure, out there.
    It was HOT and yes, it was windy; I was there. A friend and I spent the entire day in the exact same area in Salt Point yesterday doing the exact same thing. It was NORMAL weather for this time of year.
    The real problem was that the tide was in all day, and it was HIGH. We avoided the beaches for hours, and stayed put on the trails. Even up there, spray from the waves hit us because the sea was rough, foamy; visually, it was pretty clear to us to not go near, especially because the tide was IN, and HIGH. On the other hand: when out of the wind, it was SO hot. I am very sunburned. We were in a constant process of layering and shedding, all day. At lunch, I was stung by a yellowjacket, removed my clothing and was fine. My point is that it was hot and if she laid out, she removed her pants, yes, of course.
    At dusk, we watched both helicopters come in -- the Coast Guard arrived at sunset and the other one flew up just after dark. They were above and around us. We had come across several other folks, and we worried that it was someone we had run into on the trails.
    It was very disturbing to end the day with that Search. The tide had visually turned just before she was lost, and she was probably very close to us when it happened, and we didn't even know it.
    Before leaving, with the tide going out, we did venture down onto a beach cove but immediately came back due to the aftermath of the storm -- the waves were still too violent from it.
    If she was from out of the area, perhaps she had no idea to not turn her back on this ocean.
    Please, everyone, carry a small tide chart or check it at all times, before you head out there..
    I've attached a photo from very close to where she disappeared -- I know this, because the 1st helicopter was above us. See for yourselves what it was like yesterday.. poor thing, she should have stayed off of the beach. I mean, have mercy, people -- think of what she went through.
    We know exactly what must have happened: a wave

  5. subdjoe says...
    October 5, 2008 1:59:55 pm

    Thanks for the update on what the weather was like out there. Still seems a bit odd to have been sunbathing with the conditions like that.

  6. Carrollhi says...
    October 5, 2008 2:13:43 pm

    Actually, I just edited my post because that is not correct. Everyone we saw was sunbathing. It was hot. It was gorgeous. It was a perfect day to laze under the sun for hours.
    That area is historical -- up until the 1880's, there was a lot of quarrying done on that stretch, so the beaches hold a lot of artifacts and interesting rocks. Plus there are cliffside graves. It's amazing.
    I have been going there for 35 years. It is hard to NOT go down onto those beaches in that area. That's probably why the retreat was held close to there.. it is very interesting.
    Her only mistake was going down onto the beach, close to the waves, and separating from her party by doing so. It was an accident.
    I have to hand it to the Rangers. They were all over the place. They really look out for everyone. We were very impressed by how available they were yesterday.

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