Two Killed In A Crash Near Lake Isabella

[Vacman]

posted 5/29/06

LAKE ISABELLA - A crash has claimed the life of two people near Lake Isabella over the holiday weekend.

 

According to the California Highway Patrol, two men were participating in a GPS (Global Positioning System) treasure hunt that began in San Bernardino county Saturday.

 

The Highway Patrol said the two men were given GPS coordinates to locate and follow a course.

After they failed to make it to a check point, they were reported missing. Just before 2 a.m. Monday, search and rescue teams located the crash site. They hit a canyon wall and veered back across cook peak road and then plunged down a steep cliff, according to CHP.

 

The men were driving a 1991 Jeep Cherokee.

 

Although, their names have not been released, one is 35-years-old and the other is 46-years-old.

Both men are from Southern California, one from Yukipa and the other from Anaheim.

 

http://www.kget.com/news/local/story.aspx?...1F-061E11A04216

[+Tsegi Mike and Desert Viking]

How sad for them and their families.

[+BlueDeuce]

That's awful!!

 

At least someone knew where they were going.

 

[+TEAM 360]

That's awful!!

 

At least someone knew where they were going.

 

 

Straight to Geocaching Heaven. May the gates be open for them and the red carpet rolled out.

 

Condolences from Arizona.

[+Confucius' Cat]

Condolences from Indiana.

 

That's awful!!

 

At least someone knew where they were going.

 

 

This is a big issue for me. I cache "spur of the moment" and if this had been me, no one would have known where to begin. Wish there was an easy way to "file flight plans" on spur of the moment.

[+Wacka]

Up in the SF Bay area we had a cacher, motogrrl, who was killed in a motorcycle accident on the 16th. She may have been caching because no one knows any other reason for her to be in the area she was when she was killed. She had organized an event for the 21st. We held it anyways and it became a memorial to her. One of the very artistic cachers made a beautiful collage.

Edited May 30, 2006 by Wacka

[+carleenp]

 

And here I am still grieving over motogrrl, who I never met in person, but who I had a nice email correspondence with because of caching.

[+KBI]

Very sad and unfortunate. Anybody know who they were?

 

This is a terrible thing, but the way I look at it, you might as well go out while you're having fun. Everybody's gotta go sometime, and, given the choice, I know I'd much rather spend my final moments doing something I like instead of, say, doing the laundry or standing in line at the DMV.

 

I doubt any of us will ever actually have the luxury of such a choice, but Geocaching would be in my top five for sure. There are a few other things I wouldn't mind spending my last few heartbeats on, but if the lights ever go out on me while I'm out chasing Smilie Number Next ..... I'll die happy.

[Vacman]

N6IDF and K6SNE

 

Per N6UZS (and I quote from the SoCal Geocaching web site):

 

ust a minor clarification on what transpired here. Mike and Dave were on the end of the month All Day transmitter Hunt. There were 4 transmitters in ammo cans transmitting from these locations:

 

T4 Weldon N35 37.452 / W118 20.294 On Brooks Rd about 1/4 mile past (south) the last residence

T10 Cook's Peak road N35 37.097 / W118 25.600 On Cook's Peak Rd about half way up from Squirrel Mountian Valley

T2 North shore N35 41.000 / W118 25.500 On Serria Way about 1 mile west of Stine Cove recreational area

T11 Sawmill Rd N35 39.914 / W118 33.425 On Sawmill Rd about 2 miles west of Wagy Falt Rd

 

The only reason why "GPS treasure hunt" was mentioned by the sheriff to the media was because the hider had the coords to all of his transmitters. This was provided to assist the search and rescue teams search the right areas. I highly doubt they were involved in any kind of official cache hunt as they weren't into caching that I know of.

 

They last checked on the radio or by cell at 8pm Saturday night and the hunt had started at 10am Saturday from Palos Verdes. This particular hunt was only meant to last 10-12 hours but hunters will stay out all night driving the mountain roads looking for the transmitters.

 

For more info and updates on pending services please contact Steve N6XFC at nsixxfc@cox.net.

 

I knew Mike and Dave since about 1994 and have hunted with the 2 of them many times. They will sorely be missed.

 

Dave was married a couple of years ago and his wife just had a new baby about 8-9 months ago. Mike was unmarried.

 

Mike was driving his beloved 1991 Jeep Cherokee at the time of the crash. He had just spent the past several months doing major repair and body work to it and was looking forward to participating in the May All Day Hunt.

[+EScout]

My condolences to 2 local fellow ham radio operators.....

[+The Herd]

Deepest condolences from us here in Indiana...and thank you to Vacman for letting us know more!

[+AndrewRJ]

 

From a fellow Ham and cacher

 

Rest in Peace

 

KC7RSR

[+Team JSAM]

R.I.P.

[+Team Dromomania]

Condolences from this ham.

[+Kryten]

.-.-. ...-.-

[RubiconJW]

For the un-initiated.. A "fox-hunt" is, in some ways, similar to a cache hunt. Instead of using a GPS for guidance you use Radio Direction Finding (RDF). This is a very common and fun part of amateur radio AND it IS rather competative. There is often a nice prize for the FTF, STF etc.

As a ham operator, fox hunter & cacher I am saddened to hear of this tragic loss. Prayers & condolonces to familys & friends.

JW

[+d three and cappie g]

Two GPS treasure hunters were killed sometime over the Memorial Day weekend when their four-wheel-drive vehicle struck the side of a canyon wall near Onyx and they veered over a 900-foot, granite-ribbed cliff.

 

A search-and-rescue team from the Kern County Sheriff's Department located the bodies of David Gordon-Ross, 35, of Yucaipa, and his passenger, Michael Obermeier, 46, of Anaheim, in the east Kern desert at 1:50 a.m. Monday morning, according to the California Highway Patrol.

 

The two men had been participating in an organized cross-country treasure hunt, believed to have originated in San Bernardino County, using global positioning system coordinates, according to the CHP. Typically in such competitions, participants locate a hidden marker, then move on to the next item on their checklist.

 

On Saturday, the victims in the Onyx crash located the GPS device in a rugged and remote area of the desert, then had proceeded toward the next one on Cook Peak. When they failed to report at the next check point, however, organizers filed a missing persons report.

 

Based on debris and skid marks at the scene, investigators believe the men, driving westbound on Cook Peak Road in a 1991 Jeep Cherokee, struck the side of the canyon wall and then veered back across the road and over the side of the west embankment. The cliff is lined with granite boulders, and as the Jeep tumbled 900 feet to the bottom, it was crushed.

 

Rescue workers found Gordon-Ross' body some 450 feet down the embankment, but it was unclear whether he was thrown clear or had jumped. Obermeier was found belted in the right front seat.

 

Both men were dead at the scene. Their bodies had to be airlifted out by the Kern County Fire Department's helicopter equipped with a rescue hoist and delivered to the Kern County coroner's office.

 

Taken from the Bakersfield Californian

[uperdooper]

they weren't cachers.

[Keystone]

The two posts directly above were originally a separate thread. I merged them into this existing discussion. So, Uperdooper's link leads to this same thread.

[uperdooper]

The two posts directly above were originally a separate thread. I merged them into this existing discussion. So, Uperdooper's link leads to this same thread.

 

sure! i do the grunt work and find the original thread, and then you merge them.