Mutual Aid- Deer Creek Nevada County 10-20-11

- Photo for The Union by John Hart

Lengthy search called off after injured man located at hospital

OCTOBER, 20 2011
BY LIZ KELLAR AND CHRISTOPHER ROSACKER
STAFF WRITERS
Reports of a man, and possibly a child, screaming for help in the Deer Creek area led to an extensive search Wednesday night and through most of Thursday.

But in the end, one victim — a 57-year-old Nevada City transient with a head injury — reportedly was picked up by an ambulance in the 15000 block of Old Downieville Highway at about 1 p.m. Thursday.

The incident might have been related to a fight at a transient camp, Nevada County's Sheriff's Lt. Shannan Moon said.

“He made his way to the road and a resident called an ambulance for him,” she said. “We're pretty confident he was the subject of our search.”

The man, who was not identified, said he fell in the woods near the creek early Thursday morning, and became unconscious for several hours, Moon said.

A transient camp in the search area on Deer Creek was located, and it is believed there was a disturbance at the camp between several men and women Wednesday night, Moon said, adding the investigation is ongoing.

“We're obviously suspicious since no one came forward, and they were all in the same vicinity,” she said. “They're not being cooperative.”

Moon said the reports of a child calling for help might have been one of the women at the camp.

At least 40 Nevada County Search and Rescue team volunteers scoured the area around Champion Mine Road and the Deer Creek Tribute Trail, based on reports of screams for help coming from the creekbed area.

The calls came into the Nevada City Police Department shortly before 7 p.m. Wednesday, said Moon.

Officers from Nevada City reported to the area and heard calls for help from what sounded like a man and a child. At approximately 8 p.m., the Nevada County Sheriff's Office took over the investigation.

A California Highway Patrol helicopter assisted in the search Wednesday night, employing infrared heat sensors. However, Moon noted that the rocks were too hot from the day's heat to offer any clues.

“The canyon makes it hard to pinpoint where the screams were coming from,” Moon said.

The helicopter searched until about 9:30 p.m., said neighbor Wayne Watson, who lives above Deer Creek.

“It kept slowly moving around,” he said. “We were guessing at all sorts of things.”

A reverse 911 call program, known as CityWatch, went out to about 2,000 area residents at approximately 12:30 a.m. Thursday. Two Sheriff's officers, a dive team and volunteer search and rescue team members were still combing the area Thursday morning.

“We worked all night last night,” Moon said. “We knew we needed more resources. We asked for mutual aid and got additional teams from Placer, El Dorado and Sacramento counties. They were kind enough to send us a lot of volunteers.”

Moon said that searching the heavily wooded area, with a thick canopy, was a process of elimination. The CHP helicopter searched again Thursday morning, Moon said.

Nevada City Police Department and the California Highway Patrol officers also assisted in the search, which was called off by 5 p.m. Thursday.

To contact Staff Writer Christopher Rosacker, e-mail crosacker@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4236.


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