Re-search for John Kivlen
By Mel Krug
The Kivlen
search was officially called off on Thursday
evening but due to pressure from the family we
decided to give it one more day. We put out a
call for any teams in the region that might be
able to send members, to search on Saturday.
Sierra Madre Search and Rescue responded with a
strong team, Tim Fives from the Malibu Search and
Rescue team, and many RMRU members turned out.
Sierra Madre made arrangements or an L.A. County
Fire Department helicopter to come in and help
fly search but it was grounded with mechanical
problems shortly after arrival.
The original
plan was to fly teams into the wilderness and
have them search, hiking back towards Long
Valley, for any signs of Mr. Kivlen. With the
helicopter grounded, it now looked like we would
hike the entire search. I say "we" -
this was my first time as Operations Leader so I
was to be in base with Minor Harkness from Sierra
Madre. Dick Sale was to be "air ops"
flying search before we found out the helicopter
had to be grounded.
The plan to
hike to areas where Mr. Kivlen might have been
and search back towards Long Valley was carried
out. Teams were sent to the peak with
instructions to check the North Face escarpment.
Teams were also sent to Tamarack Valley and Round
Valley, returning by way of Wellman's Divide.
People were also sent to Hidden Lake.
Unfortunately not a single sign was turned to
give us any clue as to the whereabouts of Mr.
Kivlen.
Once again we
would like to say Thanks to all those teams who
helped in this week-long search. We couldn't have
done it without you.
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