UPDATE (Thursday, 1/28/10, 1 PM): Search for Silvia

In case you did not receive Bill Dreskin's e-mail Thursday afternoon, here is the latest on the search for Silvia Lange:

Please use

bdreskin@comcast.net

to email Wendy or Bill.  We use AOL only for sending group emails because of a Comcast technical issue.

 

Updated 1 PM Thursday January 28, 2010

 

Dear Friends of Silvia,

 

Here is an update on Silvia's disappearance.  Wendy and I really appreciate all your help and efforts to try to locate Silvia!  So far there is no word as to her whereabouts.

 

Theories about her disappearance:

1) Swept away by a rogue wave, rough surf, and/or rip current.  Possibly ventured near to the surf to aid or rescue her Lab puppy Hettie.  Other similar scenarios.

2) Abduction

 

Rogue waves are of course a real phenomenon, sometimes resulting in drowning; however they are rare.  Wendy and I have been hiking the various beaches (Drakes Bay and ocean side beaches) at Point Reyes for many decades in all kinds of weather conditions and storms, and we have never seen or experienced a single rogue wave (sleeper wave, sneaker wave). 

 

Here is an updated summary, originally drafted by Dick Jordan, relating to Silvia Lange's disappearance on Sunday, January 24 at Point Reyes National Seashore.

• Silvia bought books at the Bear Valley Visitor Center at the Seashore about 11:30 AM Sunday morning.  The driving time from Bear Valley Visitor Center to the Point Reyes Beach North parking lot is about 22 to 25 minutes.
• Hettie, Silvia's youngest Yellow Lab, was seen about 12:30 pm.  Accounts vary as to whether the dog's leash was caught in some rocks along Point Reyes Beach's north end, tied to a rock, or whether Hettie was running loose in the area.
• The Park Ranger who first found Silvia's dog Hettie in the parking lot on Sunday, and who is a Lab owner himself, told Karen yesterday that Hettie definitely had not been in the ocean when he found her, and was only slightly damp from the weather.  He said he was concerned about the nature of Silvia's disappearance.  Silvia's two other dogs were found locked in her car.
• Presumably Silvia would have been on the beach or in the parking lot area for about 30 to 35 minutes before Hettie was discovered and Silvia went missing.
• Meanderers who know Silvia know that she would have stayed well clear of the surf unless Hettie had entered it and Silvia was compelled to follow or try to rescue the dog. 
• Surfers using the beach at about that same time were interviewed, but did not see Silvia or anything suspicious.  They reported that there had been no rogue waves while they were surfing at the beach.
• There was an extensive search of the area done by Rangers and teams of volunteers including using a GPS grid quadrant, teams with search dogs, helicopters, and more than 100 volunteers over a period of several days, and there has been a lot of media coverage as you know. 
• The disappearance of a 37 year-old woman, Katherine Truitt, from Alameda at McClure's Beach (a few miles to the north of where Silvia was) on Friday, January 8 remains unsolved. Her family said Truitt has been hiking the area on and off for 20 years.  Rangers from the Point Reyes National Seashore saw her Ford Ranger parked in the McClure's Beach parking lot on Friday and became suspicious when it remained in the same spot Saturday.

What is being done now in this search?

 

We have been in touch with Silvia's nephew and niece, John Prodan and Karen Bleazard and they are both very much involved with this search process.  There is the possibility of an expanded law enforcement investigation.  We are coordinating the distribution of the missing persons poster in Marin and around the Bay Area.  (The original Park Service poster left much to be desired - wrong hair color, wrong name spelling, ambiguous location, etc.).  If you need posters or need a poster sent to you by email, or need information about distributing them, please contact us.  Suggestion: place a poster facing out on the inside of the left rear side window in your car.  Many people will then see this wherever you go!  

 

If you have any information about Silvia or any leads, please call us, and also call Point Reyes National Seashore at (415) 464-5170 (9:30 AM to 6:00 PM, 7 days a week) or after hours, call Marin County Sheriff's office at (415) 479-2311.

 

We will of course keep you posted.

 

Wendy and I are quite saddened and upset by the whole situation and the loss of a very dear friend.  We know that you are all going through this.  We still hope for a miracle and will continue this search for answers.

 

Thanks to all!

 

Bill and Wendy

 

(415) 457-3949

bdreskin@comcast.net