Devil's Canyon Search

On April 9th at 8pm BAMRU was requested to search for a missing 24 year old woman who had been reported missing in the Devil's Canyon area of southern San Mateo County. She was described as having some backcountry experience, but not dressed for nightime temps that dropped to the 30's/40's. (leggings/light shirt/flip-flops).

BAMRU searched a cave entrance was near the top of a 40' waterfall. We dropped rope and rappelled to search the pools below. Other teams searched upstream and downstream in Type 2 terrain. Later in the night BAMRU responded to investigate potential clues, rappelling waterfall areas where the missing subject could have fallen.

At daybreak the subject was found when she hiked out and found a local residence. She was cold, scratched, and had lost her flip-flops, but was in good health.

There were a lot of interesting aspects of this search. We used our tracking skills to follow tracks. We built two technical systems and used a lot of personal rope skills. We also assisted with plans and some CP work.

Media Coverage: Mercury News