Man, 86, rescued from desert
Published: March 6, 2006
A 22-hour-long search of the Mojave Desert for a missing 86-year-old man and his dog proved successful Sunday afternoon.
Donald Parham was thirsty but in good health when a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department helicopter rescued him late Sunday afternoon. As a precaution he was taken to a hospital.
On Saturday Parham left his home in La Quinta in Riverside County to visit his son who lives off Buckthorn Road, west of Highway 395. At about 12:30 p.m. he got lost and called his son for directions, deputies said. He followed the directions but drove past his son’s residence and got stuck.
Five hours later when Parham’s 1999 Chrysler Concord had not yet rolled into the driveway, his son called the Sheriff’s Department.
“I was really concerned about this guy because of his age,” Sgt. Anthony Fiedler said. “You just want these things to turn out good.”
Deputies immediately began a search on the ground using ATVs and four-wheel-drive vehicles. A limited search by air was also carried out before nightfall. At 5 a.m. Sunday, two helicopters from the Sheriff’s Aviation Division resumed their search. Several hours later two fixed-wing aircraft from the Sheriff’s Aero Squadron joined the effort to find Parham.
“He was driving a gold-colored car — the same color as the desert — and it was wedged against a hill, so It was really hard to spot,” Fiedler said.
At about 3:30 p.m. one of the airplanes spotted Parham’s car seven miles west of Highway 395 and north of the El Mirage Off-Highway Vehicle Area. “He came out when he heard the airplane, and he started waving,” Dennise Purtle, dispatch supervisor for the Sheriff’s Department, said. “He’s smart. He stayed with the car.”
A helicopter came to pick Parham up. The helicopter had to make a return trip to rescue Parham’s German Shepherd.
“He was thirsty when they found him. They carry water in the helicopter so they were able to give him water right away,” Fiedler said.
Although Parham had a mobile phone with him, he was so far out in the desert there was no reception.
“It was way out in the middle of nowhere,” Purtle said.
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