Weather Complicates Search For Missing Hiker
Flash Flood Watch On For Burn Area
POSTED: 7:35 a.m. MDT September 9, 2002
UPDATED: 5:07 p.m. MDT September 9, 2002
DENVER -- The search continued Monday for a 53-year-old Indiana woman who has been missing while on a hike near the Hayman burn area since Friday.
The woman, identified as Theresa Schmidt, of Avon, Ind. (pictured, left), had been staying at the Lost Valley Ranch in Jefferson County with her husband. She told him Friday afternoon that while he was attending a conference at the ranch, she would go on a brief hike around the area. She has not been seen since.
Schmidt has hiked the area before, but not since the Haymay Fire scorched the hills around the ranch.
The Lost Valley Ranch is located in Jefferson County, southwest of Cheeseman Reservoir in the Hayman burn area.
"We don't know the direction of travel. It's hard to track someone. And it's a unusual to have someone go missing at that hour of the day and 24 hours later have them still be missing," Bill Barwick from Alpine Search and Rescue told 7NEWS.
About 30 searchers aided by deputies on horseback were scouring the area, which was muddy and damp from rains Sunday night and Monday morning. A flash flood watch was in effect for the area where she disappeared until 5 a.m. Tuesday. Up to 2 inches of rain an hour was possible, forecasters said. Fog was also a problem for rescuers during the day.
Barwick said the weather was too bad for helicopters to fly the search area, centered between Lost Valley and Cheesman Reservoir.
Foul play was not believed to be involved and investigators say the woman may be simply lost somewhere in the dark burn area, according to Mark Mattivi of Alpine Search and Rescue.
Schmidt had hiked the area before, but because the massive Hayman Fire burned 137,000 acres, the area is a charred landscape and a lot of the familiar landmarks are gone, causing her to possibly be disoriented, authorities said.
There's so much ash in the area that rescuers who go walking in the area with bright orange clothing end up ash colored.
Rescuers worry that she may be trapped in a ditch or slipped in a ravine and is unable to crawl out for help. And because everything is so blackened, she may be difficult to spot.
Lost Valley ranch owner Bob Foster Jr. said the ranch reopened two weeks ago. He met with U.S. Forest Service officials beforehand, and mapped out trails still safe for guests to use.
Foster said the Forest Service did not ban hikers from the overlook trail, where Schmidt was last seen.
"We said, 'Please don't hike alone,' to all the guests," Foster said.
About 70 searchers, including five dog teams, and pilots in several helicopters canvassed
the area Sunday until dusk.
The Alpine Search and Rescue team has coordinated the search efforts since it began at 2 a.m. Saturday.
The woman, identified as Theresa Schmidt, of Avon, Ind. (pictured, left), had been staying at the Lost Valley Ranch in Jefferson County with her husband. She told him Friday afternoon that while he was attending a conference at the ranch, she would go on a brief hike around the area. She has not been seen since.
Schmidt has hiked the area before, but not since the Haymay Fire scorched the hills around the ranch.
The Lost Valley Ranch is located in Jefferson County, southwest of Cheeseman Reservoir in the Hayman burn area.
"We don't know the direction of travel. It's hard to track someone. And it's a unusual to have someone go missing at that hour of the day and 24 hours later have them still be missing," Bill Barwick from Alpine Search and Rescue told 7NEWS.
About 30 searchers aided by deputies on horseback were scouring the area, which was muddy and damp from rains Sunday night and Monday morning. A flash flood watch was in effect for the area where she disappeared until 5 a.m. Tuesday. Up to 2 inches of rain an hour was possible, forecasters said. Fog was also a problem for rescuers during the day.
Barwick said the weather was too bad for helicopters to fly the search area, centered between Lost Valley and Cheesman Reservoir.
Foul play was not believed to be involved and investigators say the woman may be simply lost somewhere in the dark burn area, according to Mark Mattivi of Alpine Search and Rescue.
Schmidt had hiked the area before, but because the massive Hayman Fire burned 137,000 acres, the area is a charred landscape and a lot of the familiar landmarks are gone, causing her to possibly be disoriented, authorities said.
There's so much ash in the area that rescuers who go walking in the area with bright orange clothing end up ash colored.
Rescuers worry that she may be trapped in a ditch or slipped in a ravine and is unable to crawl out for help. And because everything is so blackened, she may be difficult to spot.
Lost Valley ranch owner Bob Foster Jr. said the ranch reopened two weeks ago. He met with U.S. Forest Service officials beforehand, and mapped out trails still safe for guests to use.
Foster said the Forest Service did not ban hikers from the overlook trail, where Schmidt was last seen.
"We said, 'Please don't hike alone,' to all the guests," Foster said.
About 70 searchers, including five dog teams, and pilots in several helicopters canvassed
the area Sunday until dusk.
The Alpine Search and Rescue team has coordinated the search efforts since it began at 2 a.m. Saturday.
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Additional Resources:- September 8, 2002: Search Under Way For Missing Hiker
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