AnonymousSource: Santa Barbara County Search and Rescue
Just after 7pm [Friday] night, SBCSAR responded to the Mission Canyon area to search for a missing at risk male around 27 years of age. The subject had been hiking with his girlfriend at the Botanic Gardens in the afternoon, and around 3:30pm the subject and his girlfriend became separated near the redwood grove. After looking for the subject and thinking he might come back out the girlfriend searched the gardens and surrounding area. After it got dark, the girlfriend went home nearby thinking the subject might meet her there, instead, and after speaking with deputies at her residence, she reentered the area after dark to continue looking for the subject. Teams entered the area and began searching, locating the girlfriend first, lost and in the creek bed. Teams got her out of the area and to a safe location.
Upon continuing the search for the missing subject, teams deployed up and down Mission Creek/Canyon searching as he had been known to wander long distances. Teams covered the hiking trails/access roads in the upper canyon as well as access points in the creek down in the city for any sign of the subject being there. The incident command team also deployed the SBCSAR UAS team to fly the canyon searching for the subject by air with FLIR infrared sensors onboard. Not too long into the search, teams just below the Botanic Garden discovered fresh footprints and continued to track them down canyon towards Santa Barbara.
Just before 1030, the tracking team heading south located the missing subject unharmed and in good condition in the creek about 100 yards north of Hwy 192. The subject’s mother and girlfriend were brought to the location to help coax the subject out of the creek and to return home with them. AMR and County Fire were brought in to assess the subject’s condition and the subject was released to the care of his mother and girlfriend.
Santa Barbara County Search & Rescue is a professional, all volunteer and unpaid 501(c)3 organization that is community supported by generous giving to provide services to the County of Santa Barbara under the direction of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.
Sounds an awful lot like psychedelics may have been involved. I’m of course very sorry if it was mental health issues, but honestly sounds like some of the day tripping young people used to do when I was a kid on those trails.
“At Risk” means some sort of mental health issue in this context.
SEABIRD – not necessarily. At risk means they were in a vulnerable state. When juveniles run away, the alerts always call them at-risk, not because they have mental health issues, but they are at-risk due to their vulnerability.