April 11-12, 2012
RMRU got a call from Riverside Sheriff’s Office requesting our assistance with a search in San Diego County. A young man, Guillermo Pino, had gone missing while camping with friends in the Mud Caves area in Arroyo Tapiado, part of Anza Borrego Desert State Park. Glenn Henderson and I were the only RMRU personnel available for this mid-week search. RMRU had brought in Fernando Moreira, a professional tracking instructor, to teach a class the following weekend, so Fernando cam along with us.
The story behind the missing man was complex, but we tried not to let that impact our efforts. San Diego Mountain Rescue was running the search and we took our assignment from them and did our best. Naturally, considering Fernando’s reputation, our assignment was mostly tracking, or attempting to find “sign.”
The Mud Caves area is pretty fascinating. The terrain there is fairly soft dirt with sink-holes, slot canyons, and caves that channel water during the very rare times it rains there. For two days we watched storm clouds on a ridge 5 miles west, but the weather system never made it to Arroyo Tapiado. Working with Fernando was great. I have taking his tracking class before, but being able to be in the field with him on a real search was a treat.
While we didn’t find Guillermo, the terrain itself was fantastic. It is really remote and I had never heard of the place before. Below is a video I shot after the three of us had completed a search assignment on a plateau and decided to take a slot canyon back to the Incident Command Post.
Sadly, Guillermo’s body was found later in the month. There is a nice story here about the most impressive operation to recover his remains.
