Civil Air Patrol plays role in finding lost hiker

NORTH FREEDOM — Noticeably colder than normal temperatures came early to Wisconsin, making it a rough night for a 59-year-old woman who lost her way while hiking in the Baxter Hollow Preserve in the Town of Sumpter on Oct. 10.

The Civil Air Patrol, called into action by the Wisconsin Emergency Management on Oct. 11 found the woman alive.

According to a press release submitted by CAP, the 36 members of CAP knew their mission was urgent as temperatures dipped into the mid-20s during the night.

Diana Haley was not properly dressed for such low temperatures, nor did she have any food or water with her.

However, Haley had her working cell phone with her and had alerted the Sauk County Sheriff's Department at approximately 5:30 p.m. that she had become lost and needed assistance.

Other county sheriff's departments were called in, along with a canine unit and local firefighters, to help search for the lost woman until approximately 3:30 a.m. when all searchers were called in from the wooded area.

At approximately 8 p.m., Capt. Matthew Barrett, commander of the local Civil Air Patrol unit located in Baraboo, was contacted by Sauk County Emergency Manager Jeff Jelinek that CAP assistance may be needed.

By the time the night search had been halted, WEM had contacted CAP to ask for their assistance in the search.

Here is where 29 ground team members, one CAP aircraft with a two-man crew, and the Mobile Command Center with its five mission base staff members, sprang into action.

"The hilly terrain with choked vegetation made the search physically demanding with limited visibility," Lt. Col. Peter Fabian, the incident commander for this search and rescue, stated in the release. "It also complicated GPS and radio use with a heavy canopy overhead."

The significant iron deposits in the hills complicated matters as well as it affected compass readings that the ground team used.

In spite of the obstacles, ground teams were well-trained and used their whistles to alert Haley of her coming rescuers. She said she heard the whistles long before she heard their voices.

Once again her cell phone played a key part in finding her as they were able to locate her using the coordinates from her cell phone and relaying that information to the ground teams. A little over two miles into the woods and two-and-a-half hours later, she was found by one of the CAP ground teams.

Though cold and in need of some assistance in getting up from the cold, damp ground, Haley was unhurt, awake, and alert, and extremely happy to see CAP there. The ground team immediately gave her hot coffee and hot chocolate to drink, along with plenty of water and an energy bar.

They wrapped her in a "space blanket" to keep her body heat trapped next to her and one of the ground team members also gave her his coat to wrap around the space blanket.

Within 30 minutes, she was led out of the woods by the CAP ground team, assessed by the waiting ambulance team and released into the arms of her waiting husband.

The members of CAP came from the ColSac (Baraboo unit), 153rd Madison, La Crosse, Eau Claire, Ozaukee, Timmerman Squadrons and group and wing staff.

Other key players in this successful search and rescue were the Salvation Army, which provided food for the rescuers and the rescued; Sauk Prairie Ambulance, which was on hand to make sure she was not physically hurt after being out all night in the cold; the Sauk County Sheriff's Department; and a Wisconsin State Patrol aircraft.

CAP members train more than they go out on missions, and though members do not hope for missions, it is rewarding when one ends on a successful note, the organization stated.

Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with more than 56,000 members nationwide.

CAP performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and was credited by the AFRCC with saving 90 lives in fiscal year 2008.

Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counter-drug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies.

The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the nearly 22,000 young people aged 12 to 21 currently participating in CAP cadet programs. CAP has performed missions for America for more than 67 years.