Ridgecrest residents Kenny Harwood, Gregory Torres, Luke Petersen and Lenny Winterly.
Ridgecrest, Calif. —Four local off-road motorcyclists found two elderly men Saturday in the El Paso Mountain Wilderness area. The four, Kenny Harwood, Gregory Torres, Luke Petersen and Lenny Winterly, were out on a motorcycle ride Saturday morning when they found 78-year-old William Kearns and 85-year-old Richard Helle. In a press release, Kern County Sheriff Sgt. Mike Scott said the KCSO received a call Thursday night concerning the two missing men.
Kearns’ family reported he and Helle left Hemet, CA at approximately 4 a.m. in a red Chevy Silverado.
“The subjects were en route to the desert area to go gold prospecting for the day,” Scott said. “The subjects did not return at their scheduled time, and the family did not have contact with them. The subjects were reported to only have a small amount of food and water, and Kearns was a diabetic with an unknown amount of insulin with him.”
Scott said Ridgecrest Substation deputies immediately started a ground search of the area in the Randsburg-Johannesburg area throughout the night and Friday. The Sheriff’s helicopter was called out and assisted with the search. The ground units and the helicopter were unable to locate the missing subjects.
The Sheriff’s Office Off-Highway Vehicle-Enforcement Team continued the search early Saturday morning using off-highway motorcycles and 4-by-4 vehicles.
Scott said Harwood, Torres, Petersen and Winterly found Kearns and Helle at approximately 8:15 a.m. stuck in a wash area. The motorcyclists notified the Sheriff’s Office and stayed with the elderly subjects while deputies responded to their location.
Due to the rugged terrain, the deputies used a 4-by-4 vehicle to transport Kearns and Helle. The subjects were driven to a staging point and turned over to Kern County Fire Department and Liberty Ambulance.
The ambulance transported Kearns and Helle to Ridgecrest Hospital where they were treated for dehydration and lack of insulin and later released.
“I want to commend Kenny Harwood, Gregory Torres, Luke Petersen and Lenny Winterly for their actions,” Scott said later. “I feel their actions saved the two subjects’ lives. The subjects were almost out of water and one of them had left the vehicle on foot and was walking further into an isolated area of the desert.”
He said if these motorcyclists did not find them when they did, the elderly subjects would have continued into the desert and succumbed to the high desert heat.
“When the subjects were being treated at the hospital, the ER doctor told the family that due to Kearns’ lack of insulin, his kidneys would have shut down if he had been out in the desert for another day,” Scott said.
He said the four Ridgecrest residents also dug out the subject’s vehicle and assisted KCSO in extracting it from the wash.
“When the subjects (Kearns and Helle) attempted to give them some money for their efforts, the group declined it,” he said. “These local residents were hesitant to provide their names as they did not want any recognition for their efforts. I am impressed with this group of OHV riders and I have seen this on several incidents. Our local OHV community is always willing to help and always goes out of their way to assist others in need.”
Scott said Kearns and Helle have been to the area many times prior to the incident, and the family wanted to thank Harwood, Torres, Petersen and Winterly as they also felt that they saved Kearns’ and Helle’s lives.
via Saving the Day – Ridgecrest, CA – Ridgecrest Daily Independent.
I’m surprised that California hasn’t charged the off roaders with interfering with the county coroner and fining them for their good deeds. Governor Jerry Brown want’s to change the California State motto from “I have found it” to “I have fined them” Dirt bikers and 4 wheelers are an easy target for the lefties. Stories like this often get buried in the liberal press dead link archives. Many of us off roaders have come across similar scenarios, I know I have. Lost and desperate individuals often have mixed emotions when facing similar situations like these older gentleman faced. Am I better off getting help from the bikers or are they going to harm me? As for me, I usually try to scare them and tell them that the Democrats control California and Arnold is still Governor. If they hear that and still want to be rescued you know that they are delusional and need of psychiatric help. If they want to run after hearing that they are normal. If they want you to help them then they are most likely libertarians and will refuse the free helicopter ride and offer to reimburse you for the cost of helping them. These guys were looking for gold and wanted to pay their own way. We need more old codgers like them. Come to think of it, where has Stanley been?
I’m still around, just lurking. Are you implying that I am an old codger? Surely you jest Pap. Old curmudgeon……….. maybe. I actually can relate with your thoughts. I have found some folks in my off road travels that I helped out that were not off roaders and to their suprise I wasn’t a ravenous animal but a helpful human.
I commend these riders for doing what is right to help their fellow man. This shows that there is still hope out there for the younger generation by looking at their picture of their age. Thats what real off roaders are taught, VALUES.
I personally am a bit concerned with the Impacts of off-road vehicles on nitrogen cycles in biological soil crusts. For gads sake man do you realize the damage caused by those brutish off-roaders as they thought only of their own genetic kind. How many microbes were injured or killed in the successful rescue of those human types, Stanley…. Do you have no heart?
No DanO you got me there. Thanks for your concern. I forgot that they might have damaged the embryonic crust. I am sure we will have to hire biologists to determine that maybe in that crust there were invasive plant species that were released into the surrounding areas and will poison the Ridgecrest desert and render it unusable to mechanized vehicles. Dear GOD I never thought of that. $500,000 later with a study…..an enviro hack (PHD) deems that the offroaders damaged the environment trying to save these guys life.
I’m glad I was able to enlighten you.
I am concerned the young men may now be harassed and or intimidated by self-appointed enviro hacks.
Come to think of it the elderly gentlemen were also up to no good also as they were gold prospecting, maybe that is why they got stuck, because the mother was just trying to protect herself.
You meet the nicest people on a Honda!
And on Suzuki’s, Kawasaki’s, Yamaha’s….