Missing Gransnetter Carol Sheridan - add your tribute here

[ZingWantsCake]

First thread was started by Trisagion on Wed 30-Oct-13 15:18:17

"
This is to ask for the help of all Mumsnet members, most especially anyone who lives in the Haute Savoie departement.

One of our members, Carol Sheridan, is missing. She is a keen and intrepid hiker and explores the high mountains of the area. She is experienced and resourceful but neither her family nor many friends have had any communication with her since Saturday 27 October.

She may be lost or perhaps had an accident and be awaiting rescue.

She is 73, five foot five tall and drives a black Fiat Panda registration AZ522AP

If you have any information on Carol's whereabouts or the location of her car please contact French Police and her daughter Fiona Conyers [note from MNHQ, we've now removed the email address to respect the family's wish for privacy]

HQ are hoping to post the MISSING poster circulated by her family on here."

GRANSNET THREAD HERE

FACEBOOK PAGE HERE - PLEEASE SHARE!

Psammead, that is good to hear, I don't know Carol at all but wish I could help. It is so worrying that she is still missing, but at least it seems as though she must surely be found soon, now that her car has been located. I am about to light a little candle of hope for her.

Still hoping she is found well x

Just seen the car's been found. Hoping for a miracle.

Hope she is found safe and well soon

The search will now continue tomorrow morning, according to a french website.

I never understand why rescue operations on land have to stop for the night. I mean, we have invented torches, communication equipment etc etc.

Hang in there Carol

Bluebird There is no way that you could continue in that terrain or that weather. I've just been chatting to my son, who lives in Haute Savoie & the weather is atrocious. You could easily risk missing seeing the object of your search with just a torch beam & the weather is too bad to be able to use a helicopter which could provided a downlight.

15 mountain rescue gendarmes, 20 pompiers and several other mountain rescuers have been searching all day - they will start again tomorrow at first light.

bluebird it's partly logistics of carrying enough equipment for extended periods but also partly that the crews are often few and specialised and night searches are risky. Plus in a SAR situation coordination is vital so they maximise use of daylight hours with what resources they have on the ground and then often a separate team will work through the night to plan the next day's ops while they rest.

Firecrew are indeed trained as both paramedics and firefights, and there are probably doctors with those teams too. The gendarmerie units involved are fearsome - FIL did a couple of tours with them and at 60 he is still really tough. Their involvement is really hopeful. Fingers crossed they can get a chopper up tomorrow.

And of course, those guys need a break. They can't search round the clock. It's high, dangerous mountain terrain where you need to be alert.

Just hope the weather is better tomorrow & Carol is found.

Zing I reported your fab idea post to MNHQ so it'll be picked up and run with :)

at least they now know where to concentrate their efforts.

Hopefully tomorrow will bring the best news.

praying for Carol to hold on, and for her family and friends to keep hoping.
also for the search people to rest well tonight and the weather to be perfect tomorrow so the choppers can be up searching too.

It's got to work. praying and hoping.

thanks hopeful, I will email them in a few days about the "Skills" board too.

I fully understand stopping for really bad weather, day or night, just never understood why you can't search in the dark.

Makes sense re resources though Nom, thanks for the explanation. Sounds like they're very good.

blue

I was thinking why not use night vision/thermo imaging goggles etc?

then I realize this is a real life situation, not a Hollywood movie. Unfortunately.

Bluebird - I've spent some time in the woods in the dark. It's dreadful trying to find anything using a torch because of the shadows cast by trees. And of course it's dangerous. It's hard to tell if you're stepping on a stone, into mud, onto roots, down a gully.

Zing that's exactly the kind of thing I was thinking. Obviously severe weather poses a risk to the rescue teams but just a bit of darkness when we have loads of technology to counter that.....oh well.

X post Psammead

you're right of course.

Just checking in on this new thread. Hoping for some positive news tomorrow. I don't know Carol but the thought of someone being stuck out there is horrible. Hope she is found safe and sound.

just occured to me to ask title to be edited and the "share....." bit omitted as that is no longer relevant.

I'm sure that will be done soon - just wanted to let people know, it's still the same thread.

Night vision goggles would not make it easy to follow a track. It would be too easy to miss something and have to search the same stretch in daylight anyway, and thermo imaging has its own obvious limitations.

I'd like to be out there myself checking, but these people are professionals, they know how to do this.

Just to reiterate-the terrain is pitch dark at night-all energy would be spent keeping upright and vital clues would be missed.Hoping for good news soon and thoughts with family and friends

The 'thesis' Of accident means that they are working on the idea that she has had an accident, that they are not assuming suspicious circumstances ie crime.

They stop at night because the Alps are dangerous, they would stop in the lakes as well. The search and rescue services in the Alps are excellent. I am keeping an eye on regional French news, but overnight there is unlikely to be anything.

Every year there are amazing stories of survival in the Alps, so don't lose hope.

I mean in the Lake district in the UK. It just isn't feasible or safe to continue overnight searches.

psammy and sans

you are totally right, I understand that it is a very complicated operation, it only seems easy on tv.

I used to do potholing/cave climbing and I know that without proper light things can appear utterly different than what they are.

on a different note - title is now changed.
big thanks to SarahMumsnet , she's been very quick to respond throughout the day, very helpful indeed.

I'd like to quote her " fingers and toes are crossed".