Forest Researcher Lost and Found
Posted on July 20, 2007
Filed Under Lost and Found News |
If a forest researcher gets lost in the woods and yells for help but nobody’s there to hear it, does it still make a sound? Well, the answer doesn’t matter; all that matters is that the researcher was lost, and found.
U.S. Forest Service researcher John Capuano became lost in the Huachuca mountains on Tuesday, July 10 near Sierra Vista, Arizona. He and his colleague Vernon Robinson were conducting research near the Carr Canyon area. They split up at the Carr Canyon trailhead to undertake their studies, and they arranged to meet back at the trailhead at 6 p.m. That’s an often overlooked but crucial strategy when it comes to avoiding a lost and found situation in the wilderness. The two Forest Service researchers travel throughout the country conducting studies on various federal lands; they’re not normally stationed in Sierra Vista.
John didn’t make the planned 6 p.m. rendezvous, so Vernon knew he had a lost and found scenario on his hands–and he acted accordingly. He gave John a reasonable amount of time to show up, but then he took action. Vernon notified the Cochise County Search and Rescue Team about John being lost at 8:47 p.m. The search and rescue team was activated at 9:22 p.m.
An Arizona Department of Public Safety Ranger helicopter was also dispatched to assist with the lost and found situation. Helicopter pilots spotted a man at a campfire, and they reported the global positioning coordinates to the search and rescue team. But by the time the search and rescue team reached the GPS coordinates, John was nowhere to be found.
The search and rescue team continued searching for John throughout the night, to no avail. Then the subject of the lost and found situation simply walked out of the woods around 7 a.m. on Wednesday, near the search and rescue command post at the Carr Canyon trailhead. Fortunately, John was not injured. He simply spent the night in the forest to prevent becoming even more lost while it was dark, and emerged when it was light enough in the morning to easily find his way. Another very smart strategy when it comes to roaming the wilderness!
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