Kern County - Missing dirt-bikers

[Bbg.will 0]

Just saw this... Scary stuff... 2 dudes... No water, no emergency stuff... Sheriff still calling it a Search and Rescue, so lets pray they make it out...

Article Link Here

A four-day aerial and ground search in the Mojave Desert has yielded no trace of Santa Barbara, Calif., residents Daniel Preddy Carbonaro, 27, and Chris Wayne Rice, 29, Carbonaro's sister Mia Lara Nathanson said in an email late Wednesday.

The two have been missing since Sunday after they went on a dirt-bike excursion in the desert in Kern County, near Bakersfield.

After initially reporting frustration with the scope and pace of the investigation, Nathanson said in an update Wednesday night that Kern County responded to pleas for additional assistance called in search and rescue teams from elsewhere in California. The San Bernardino Search and Rescue team is expected to arrive Thursday.

Nathanson said Wednesday afternoon family and friends were "desperately trying to get China Lake to open up airspace, currently limited due to their weapons base, but we have not had any success." The China Lake Naval Air Weapons station encompasses 1.1 million acres. By Wednesday evening, she reported public pressure seemed to be making inroads as authorities informed her the airspace would be open for searches beginning Thursday.

Time is of the essence in the search. Both the Kern County sheriff's office and Nathanson said Carbonaro and Rice did not have survival gear or water with them. The weather at night dips down into the low 30s and high 20s, the sheriff's office public information officer said Wednesday afternoon. He noted that the emphasis remains on search and rescue, and there's no plan to call off the search after any specific time elapses.

Carbonaro and Rice were last seen in Randsburg, Calif., on the outskirts of the Mojave Desert, during the biking trip. According to a Monday press release from the Kern County sheriff's office, they left the Cottage Inn Motel at 2:30 a.m. Sunday in a white Polaris Razor XP900 ATV, bound for Cudde Back Dry Lake bed.

Nathanson has repeatedly pleaded with the sheriff’s office to bring in search dogs but learned late today the reason no dogs have been brought in. The sheriff’s office told her the dogs can’t track automobiles, so until they find the vehicle, the dogs won’t be of any use.

The area where the men disappeared consists of rugged terrain with a high concentration of abandoned mines and open mine shafts, making travel conditions treacherous, particularly at night. The Indian Wells Valley Search and Rescue Group was called in early in the investigation to assist due to its expertise in conducting what the Kern sheriff's office website calls "almost impossible rescues from mine shafts."

Friends and family of the missing men created a Facebook page to spread word about the search effort. Nichole Snodgrass posted a promising lead about the discovery of tire tracks, but Nathanson said that lead led nowhere. But another lead tonight has given the family hope. She said Carbonaro’s father, Robert Carbonaro, is meeting with a tracker after learning that a local woman heard a fast-moving vehicle the night before her brother arrival. Rice had come to the desert one day earlier than Carbonaro and the family suspects he may have discovered a shortcut to Cudde Back that night.

What the family fears, Nathanson says, is foul play. She wondered aloud how a vehicle with two men in it could simply disappear. When she spoke with the sheriff’s department about these concerns, they told her they couldn’t put everything into the search without actual evidence of foul play, she said.

Rice is described by the sheriff's office as 6-foot, 185 pounds with blond hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a gray sweatshirt and blue jeans. Carbonaro is 6-foot-2, 185 pounds with black hair and hazel eyes. He was wearing a black windbreaker and dark jeans.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Kern County Sheriff's Office at 661-861-3110 or Secret Witness at 661-322-4040.

[Strega 0]

Very sad Just riding with a buddy isn't always enough. Be prepared (emergency supplies), have a plan, make sure people know where you are.

SPOT, EPIRB, or ELT...it's worth ever single cent spent.

[paulmbowers 236]

Yikes.

There has to be more to this story.

First they're not dirt-bikers, it's a Polaris Razor XP900 ATV which is a side-by-side. I'm not getting fussy here, I'm hoping people are not looking for two dirtbikes. Also the opportunity for BOTH to be in trouble at the same time is more likely than two bikes.

Second, and maybe most importnat to me- they left shelter at 2:30 AM without water or survival gear? It's damn cold at 2:30 AM, so they must have at least jackets.

Then what Strega says. If they had a tracking SPOT, they'd already be found, and their families wouldn't be going through this diaster.

[Uncle Champ 116]

Night time, open mine shafts. I have ridden out there in daylight, there is a lot of scary stuff barely marked, if at all.

2:30 in the morning and 30 degrees? I think prayers are in order.

[dirt dame 561]

Not to take any urgency away from the fact that these two people are lost....but who goes out in the middle of the night, in a seemingly unfamiliar area....unless they are drunk or up to something? The whole thing just seems very strange.

[SCHWINN 0]

Not to take any urgency away from the fact that these two people are lost....but who goes out in the middle of the night, in a seemingly unfamiliar area....unless they are drunk or up to something? The whole thing just seems very strange.

Yea..I am always up for a ride at 2:30AM

[Covered in Dust 163]

Not to take any urgency away from the fact that these two people are lost....but who goes out in the middle of the night, in a seemingly unfamiliar area....unless they are drunk or up to something? The whole thing just seems very strange.

Yea..I am always up for a ride at 2:30AM

Well I remember as a young man in my late 20's I would do some pretty stupid things in the name of adventure. Those 900 Razors can do about 70 mph so lots of bad things could happen at night at those speeds.

CiD

[robertaccio 412]

Before making comments (especially negative) there is alot of info posted on this and these 2 guys. And by now it doesn't look too good. The brighter side in my opinion is that they are young most likely dressed for cold and inside of a caged vehicle, survival miracles do happen.

(you all can find many links on line). here's one link

http://www.independent.com/news/2011/dec/21/two-santa-barbara-men-missing-desert/

FB response quote from a Randsburg resident friend of mine and friend of others here as well.

"No doubt..... I saw them cruzen around town at 2ish before their trip to cutteback and herd them go out of town ........ pretty sad!

Tuesday morning LOTS of search and rescue personal just south of town. Herd they are calling in psychics and blood hounds to aid in the search. Praying for good news!!!"

[paulmbowers 236]

Well I remember as a young man in my late 20's I would do some pretty stupid things in the name of adventure. Those 900 Razors can do about 70 mph so lots of bad things could happen at night at those speeds.

Completely agree, and that was the cause for my concern.

There's really no logical reason I lived beyond my teens. Or 20s.

I have no explanation.

[hodnettjj 0]

http://m.cnn.com/primary/wk_article?articleId=urn:newsml:CNN.com:20111222:california-missing-atvers:1&category=cnnd_us&pagesize=10

They found their bodies..not a happy outcome...

[paulmbowers 236]

http://m.cnn.com/pri..._us&pagesize=10

They found their bodies..not a happy outcome...

Damn.

[dirt dame 561]

Sad to hear, but I am curious for the details.

[Kris 0]

Here is what I found.

http://www.independent.com/news/2011/dec/22/missing-men-found-dead/

[Strega 0]

Here is what I found.

http://www.independent.com/news/2011/dec/22/missing-men-found-dead/

That sux =\

[SteelRain 0]

More often than not those who get injured or lost in the desert without an high level of training and/or an excellent emergency plan do not make it out. Though this does not appear to be one of those situations it is still enough to make your think about the ORM we conduct each time we ride.

Our thoughts go out to those who lost loved ones, friends, and coworkers.

.