Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Missing Hiker in Bishop area

I copied this from the HighSierraTopix board, where I am also a member. This is the first I've heard of it; maybe anyone who's hiking in the area can keep a lookout in the next few days. I may be hiking out of Sabrina this weekend, so may find out more. Maybe China Lake SAR are aware of this already.

SAR for Ric DeVan, Mt. Goode Area, Bishop, CA.
by sharoncheffins on Tue Jul 08, 2008 10:10 pm

PLEASE HELP SEARCH FOR RIC!!!!
I have a missing family friend named Ric Devanfrom San Diego. He is an experienced hiker/rock climber. He left his wife and daughter on the hiking trail on Fri. 4th of July to spend the night and continue his hike. His wife Vicky and daughter are in Bishop, as are my son Mike and daughter-in-law Shannon. Ric is Shannon's brother. If there are any volunteers in the area that could help in the search for Ric we would be so greatful. You could contact the local authorities if you have any help to offer, we all would be eternally grateful. The official search and rescue teams are going to scale back their search after tomarrow.I am in Salem, OR. with an ailing Mom right now or I would be there too. Thanks so much to you all for all the prayers and support
Best regards,
Sharon Cheffins. San Juan Capistrano CA. via Salem, OR.

I've been watching this story closely. I think Rick is an Orange County resident. You'll probably see updates on my Hiker Horror story blog, Hiker Hell.

Sharon also posted a press article about Ric in the same summitpost.com thread, in which is found the following paragraph:

"Inyo Search and Rescue volunteers, along with Mono County SAR and China Lake Mountain Rescue Team members, have searched the area since Saturday but by last report had not found the missing man. Deputies report that DeVan did sign the summit register on Mt. Goode, stating that he planned to traverse to Mt. Johnson." (emphasis mine)

This speaks clearly as to why summit registers should NEVER be removed from summits (unless full, and then replaced with a new one) merely for cosmetic/aesthetic reasons!

CaT

Update - This thread is continuing here.