The GPS was to have safely guided a mother to a campground with her 9-year-old son on July11th. Instead it mapped a route that left their car stuck in the rugged terrain after they lost their GPS signal.
Hours later, they were reported missing to the Calaveras County Sheriff's office by a caller who had the mother's travel agenda and said the family had failed to check in as they had planned. A search and rescue team was dispatched in four-wheel-drive vehicles to the area the next day where campers reported that they had seen the family's sedan. The team soon discovered handwritten notes, posted by the mother at nearby locations, indicating that the vehicle was stuck and they were stranded, The boy, meanwhile, periodically blew a whistle in three short bursts, an audible, universal distress call. Mother and son were found safe at their car, only a mile or so away from where the notes were posted.
Because of the thick canopy of Stanislaus National Forest, the rescue team could not use cell service or the usual radio frequencies to update the command post -- but one team member, a licensed ham, used his amateur radio to hit the KA6GWY repeater in Placerville. It bears the callsign of Frank Yost, a retired El Dorado County Communications supervisor who was monitoring the frequency at the time on 146.805 MHz. He passed the call along to emergency dispatch and the message was quickly relayed to Calavaras County.
Lt Greg Stark, one of the Search & Rescue coordinators, told Newsline everyone - including mother and son - did everything right. He said that the team was able to safely transport mother and son, extricate the car and let the command post know that no helicopters or additional backup resources were needed. He said that one backup resource proved invaluable: ham radio. It also provided some inspiration. The lieutenant told Newsline [quote]. "It enhanced our communication ability and now it has spurred some of our other team members to look at getting their license."
