The 49-year-old woman and her 9-year-old son found themselves deeply stuck in the dense Stanislaus National Forest last weekend.
On July 11, the pair travelled from the Sacramento area to Camp Wolfeborough for an overnight camping trip, officials with the Calabella County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
During their excursion, the 49-year-old used a GPS unit that provided an alternative route to the destination along with the more general one, and the GPS unit lost the signal. The mother and son were already well within the remote area of the forest and were unable to return the route.
A rescue operation took place on July 12 after the woman and her son reported that they did not return or appeal as expected.
“Deputies were dispatched to begin an investigation into the missing person, and search and rescue teams were deployed to launch a search effort,” officials said. “The reporting party also provided locations obtained from an app that shares previously used locations with missing people.”
A command post was established in the recreation area off Highway 4, and team members began establishing search parameters by launching “a complex network of terrain and interconnections, a complex network of maze-like roads.”
In the early part of the rescue operation, the Forest Service law enforcement ranger responded to 911 texts from campers around Black Springs and Winton Road, who said they had seen a vehicle matching a missing person’s report around 4pm the previous day.
“This information, along with data provided by the reporting party, confirmed that the team was searching in the correct area,” the official said.
While stuck without GPS or cell phone signals, lawmakers said the pair took action to increase the likelihood of rescue, including using hazard lights from vehicles at night. The 9-year-old also used international signals to assist by regularly using whistles in three short bursts.
Then there was a handwritten note from my mother.
The mother and her son died in a distant forest area due to handwritten notes that departed along the trail on July 12, 2025. (CCSO) On July 12, 2025, the mother and her son were rescued for losing it in a distant woodland due to handwritten notes left behind along the trail. (CCSO)
Search and rescue teams discovered the first note at a forest department intersection around 5:40pm.
“Please help. Me and my son are stuck without service and cannot call 911,” the memo reads. “We’re ahead and heading down the road to the right. Call 911 and ask for help for us.”
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Following instructions on the note, rescuers found a mile-mile note from the start, providing additional information such as the name and phone number of the missing pair.
It turns out that the mother and son were one more mile from the second note.
Due to the dense forests and canopies in remote areas, rescuers were unable to communicate to the command post that the pair had been found safely.
“They used amateur radio frequency, commonly known as the Ham Radio, to establish their communication. After broadcasting “emergency traffic” on the Ham Radio, their calls were immediately answered by a retired El Dorado County Communications Supervisor, a ham operator who monitors frequency from home,” the official said. “This ham operator has contacted the El Dorado 911 Center, which has provided information to Calaveras Dispatch and has been notified to the SAR Command Post.”
The search and rescue crew helped the mother and son return to the command post where the family was waiting for them.
“What’s important in a successful outcome was their pre-trip notice that they would tell someone where they were heading and when they expected them,” authorities said.
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