John Mark Sharp had some minor injuries to his head and ankle at the end of his ordeal, but was otherwise unharmed, according to a Tuesday report from Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
On Friday, Oct. 21, at approximately 7:15 p.m., sheriff’s deputies responded to the Harbin Hot Springs area of Middletown to investigate a report of a man yelling for help from somewhere in the surrounding wilderness northeast of the resort, Bauman said.
Bauman said a Harbin Hot Springs employee had reportedly searched for the man, but then aborted his search due to darkness and called the sheriff’s office.
While deputies began searching the area on foot, the Sheriff’s Search and Rescue coordinator began calling in resources for a Search and Rescue mission. Bauman said man trackers, K-Corps members, and four-wheel drive teams were summoned to the area and a California Highway Patrol helicopter with night vision equipment was requested to respond.
While Search and Rescue resources were responding to the area, a Cal Fire battalion chief who had been monitoring radio traffic responded to assist the deputies with a preliminary ground search, Bauman said.
For several hours, deputies and the Cal Fire battalion chief could hear the man yelling from the wilderness intermittently as they tried to pinpoint his location, Bauman said. At approximately 10:30 p.m., a CHP helicopter out of Napa arrived in the area and conducted a 40 minute aerial search but then had to return to base for fuel.
Shortly before midnight, a sheriff’s patrol sergeant encountered two men in a vehicle on Big Canyon Road who stated they were looking for their friend, according to Bauman's report.
Bauman said the two had reportedly ventured into the wilderness with Sharp earlier in the day, but had lost track of Sharp some time after 2 p.m. They left the area in the afternoon thinking Sharp had gotten a ride home, but after several hours had passed and Sharp had not returned home, they decided to return to the area and look for him.
Shortly before 11 p.m. Search and Rescue volunteers formed five search teams and a four-wheel drive unit and were deployed into the search area. Nearly two hours later, the Cal Fire battalion chief located Sharp, Bauman said.
Sharp was dehydrated and appeared to have sustained some head trauma due to a fall, Bauman said. While a Cal Fire engine crew and medic were able to reach the two, Sharp could not immediately be extricated from the area due to the terrain.
Air support to lift Sharp from the area was determined to be unavailable until daylight. Two fire crews from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Konocti Conservation Camp in Lower Lake were then dispatched to the area to clear an egress route for the missing man and his rescuers, according to Bauman.
At approximately 5:15 a.m., Sharp was successfully extricated from the wilderness by Cal Fire. Bauman said Sharp had sustained minor trauma to his head and ankle due to falling down an embankment, but was otherwise unharmed.
Sharp corroborated his friends’ earlier account for getting lost, telling officials he had gotten separated from his friends, and then became lost trying to find them. Bauman said Sharp was transported by ground ambulance to the St. Helena Hospital Clearlake for further treatment of his injuries.
Sheriff Frank Rivero commended his deputies, his Search and Rescue coordinator, and all Search and Rescue volunteers and K-Corps members for their response and successful conclusion of another search and rescue operation.
The sheriff also thanked the supporting agencies that responded to assist with the rescue, including Cal Fire, CHP and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
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