On Sunday evening, April 8th, at about 10:00 pm, the Curry County Sheriff’s Office received a call from Search and Rescue member Larry Prestininzi, reporting that he had got a call from a Bob Dark who lives on Edson Creek Road stating that is wife, seventy year old Carol Dark was missing. Prestininzi related that Carol and her dog had not been seen since about 5:00 pm and that Carol’s car, cell phone, wallet, and coat were still at the residence.
Curry County Sheriff’s Deputies and SAR members responded to the secluded residence and along with some family, friends searched the perimeter and surrounding roads. Search crews searched until about 2:00 am without any trace of Carol and decided to wait until daylight to continue.
On Monday morning, at about 7:00 am, SAR members and family friends started searching the area again. The U.S. Coast Guard sent a helicopter and searched a two-mile radius around the residence.
At about 88:45 am two SAR members, Ryan McGinnis and Ken Smith located Carol Dark in steep terrain and heavy brush about a mile from her residence. Other than being cold, a few bumps cuts and bruises, she appeared to be fine. Several other SAR members responded to the area and it took about 1 ½ hours to get Carol back to an old powerline roadway due to the rugged steep terrain. At one point, SAR members used a stretcher to carry Carol up out of the wooded area.
Carol stated she had gone for a walk the night before with her dog and that it had got dark on them causing her to lose her direction. Carol sated she got turned around and found herself in her predicament. Carol spent the night in the woods with her dog which helped keep her warm. When the Coast Guard helicopter was flying around, the dog spooked and ran off when SAR members found Carol.
Carol’s dog was found about an hour later and returned home. It is so humbling to have a great group of men and women who are dedicated to helping others. Without these men and women, it would be impossible to have these favorable outcomes. I am honored to be a part of the Curry County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue.
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