Ventura County Sheriff's Department

Location: Mount Pinos. Los Padres National Forest. Ventura / Kern County Line
Date & Time: 4/5/09, 11:00 am
Unit Responsible: Special Services / Aviation - Search and Rescue Unit

Victims, City of residence, Age:
Priti, Patel, Bakersfield, Ca. 42
(Minor Child), Bakersfield, Ca., 11

On 4/5/09, at approximately 12:48 pm, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department received a call of lost hikers near the summit of Mount Pinos, which reaches the highest elevation in Ventura County at approximately 8,831 feet. A group of about 20 family members and friends set out from the Mount Pinos Nordic Base for a brief day hike to the summit at Condor Point. During the trip, Priti Patel and her daughter decided to turn back and return to the base while the remainder of the group continued on to the summit. After completing their trip, the group returned to the base but were unable to locate Priti or her daughter. The pair had last been seen at approximately 11:00 am.

Several factors relating to the victims’ unfamiliarity with the area, lack of food or water, and lack of warm clothing classified both victims as being at risk. A substantial joint search effort was launched by approximately 40 members of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Unit and approximately 15 members of the Kern County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Unit. In addition, patrol officers from both agencies, as well as the US Forest Service, responded to the call. A rescue helicopter from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Dept., and a patrol helicopter from the Kern County Sheriff’s Department added to the search efforts to locate the victims. The search teams consisted of ground teams, two command posts, and several bloodhound search dogs.

During the search, members of the Sheriff’s Fillmore Mountain Search and Rescue team located footprints and clothing items belonging to the victims that lead them down steep, icy, and rugged terrain on the north slopes of Mount Pinos. By this time, darkness had fallen and temperatures were near freezing. Technical climbers with the Fillmore team tracked the footprints and descended into a draw where they located both victims near the 7,000-foot elevation, at approximately 10:11 pm. Both victims had become disoriented and climbed down to this area but were unable to continue. They were suffering from exposure to the environment and required an immediate extraction.

Ventura County Sheriff’s “Copter 8” responded, and with the assistance of the Fillmore SAR personnel, hoisted the victims into the hovering helicopter. Both victims were flown to a landing zone where they were transferred to paramedics from American Medical Response ambulance. The victims were subsequently transported by AMR to Henry Mayo Hospital in Santa Clarita for treatment.