Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Couple Lost in Woods Survived on Muddy Water, Fern Fronds
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
February 24, 2020

Share

INVERNESS — A couple who went missing in the woods of Northern California for a week survived by drinking from a muddy puddle and eating fern fronds, said rescuers who had given up hopes of finding them alive.
Carol Kiparsky, 77, and Ian Irwin, 72, were found Saturday in a densely forested area near Tomales Bay, a narrow inlet about 30 miles miles north of San Francisco, and were airlifted to a hospital for treatment of hypothermia.
The Marin County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Sunday that the couple was not ready for interviews, but that they were in “amazing spirits and expressed gratitude to everyone.”
When Quincy Webster, an 18-year-old volunteer with the sheriff’s search and rescue team, and dog handler Rich Cassens and his golden retriever Groot found the couple Saturday holding hands, they couldn’t quite believe what they were seeing, the Marin Independent Journal reported.
“We looked at each other, we’re like, we were not expecting this at all,” Webster said.
“We started crashing through the brush as much as possible. We were yelling to them to hold on, we’re coming,” he said.

Kiparsky and Irwin Were Last Seen Feb. 14 at a Vacation Cottage Near Invernes

When Webster and Cassens reached the couple, weak and bloody, the husband had one question: “Are you real? Are you really real?”
Kiparsky and Irwin were last seen Feb. 14 at a vacation cottage near Inverness, a town at the foot of the bay. The couple from Palo Alto never checked out the next day as planned and failed to show up for an appointment on Feb. 16.
Webster and Cassens — who spent a half hour with the couple before they were airlifted out — and Michael St. John, the unit leader of the volunteers, who spoke with the couple Saturday night at MarinHealth Medical Center, recounted what it took to bring the couple home.
On Valentine’s Day the couple, who knew the area, went for a last hike before returning home. But with the moon waning and the thick canopy of pines and oaks overhead, darkness fell early and the couple was quickly lost.
“They found themselves on their hands and knees, crawling, off the trail in the brush,” St. John said.
The couple became mired in thickets of coyote brush, blackberry vines and poison oak.

For Two Hours, They Forged Over, Under and Through the Brush

The brush on the wide peninsula of hilly terrain is so dense that it swallowed up a radio and GPS monitor that rescuers dropped in the ensuing days, sucked out the sound of the searchers’ plaintive calls through loudspeakers at night, and absorbed any pleas for help that parabolic microphones were set up to capture.
On Saturday, Webster and Cassens, the 51-year-old dog handler from the California Rescue Dog Association, headed to a drainage area close to a beach.
For two hours, they forged over, under and through the brush. They followed a narrow deer trail briefly before it was consumed by undergrowth and that’s when they heard the bewildered “hello.”
Groot dashed to the couple through a hollow in the underbrush. The couple were 200 feet (60 meters) away. It took nearly 10 minutes to reach them. Leaning against a log, their back to their saviors, the couple was so weak they could barely move. But their voices gained strength as they called for help.
“We asked them their names,” said Webster, still too shocked to believe what he was seeing.
“We’re Carol and Ian,” they said.
“I kept looking at them, (thinking), is this even possible?” Webster said. “They didn’t believe it either. They were on the verge of tears, overjoyed.”

DON'T MISS

Musk PAC Tells Philadelphia Judge the $1 Million Sweepstakes Winners Are Not Chosen by Chance

DON'T MISS

Bass’ Record 61-Yard Field Goal Lifts Bills Over Dolphins in Thriller

DON'T MISS

Big Spenders: These Companies Are Giving the Most to California Legislative Candidates

DON'T MISS

Stock Market Today: Wall Street Drifts Ahead of Election Day, While Oil Rises and Yields Sink

DON'T MISS

Saints Fire Head Coach Dennis Allen After Seven-Game Losing Streak

DON'T MISS

Raiders Fire Offensive Coordinator Luke Getsy and 2 Other Offensive Coaches

DON'T MISS

Storm in the Caribbean Is on a Track to Likely Hit Cuba as a Hurricane

DON'T MISS

Israel Ends Agreement With UN Agency Providing Aid in Gaza

DON'T MISS

Demarcus Robinson’s One-Handed Catch in OT Gives Rams Win Over Seahawks

DON'T MISS

Trump, Musk and an American Masculinity Crisis

UP NEXT

Immediate Threat: Mussel Invades California’s Delta, First Time in North America

UP NEXT

Lyft Pays $2.1 Million to Settle Case Alleging the Ride-Hailing Service Deceived Drivers

UP NEXT

Southern California County Official Pleads Guilty to Bribery Charge in COVID Funds Scheme

UP NEXT

Visalia Rollerblader Suffered Major Injuries After Being Struck by Vehicle

UP NEXT

Fresno County Man Indicted for Possessing Stolen Guns

UP NEXT

Anti-Semitic Incident at Oakland Cafe Raises Concerns About Rising Intolerance

UP NEXT

Schwarzenegger Endorses Harris, Warns Against Another Trump Term

UP NEXT

Will Noncitizens Be Able to Vote? This California City Will Decide Their Fate

UP NEXT

California Voters Consider Controversial Vacation Homes Tax in Iconic Lake Tahoe Area

UP NEXT

Los Angeles Sees Bus Burned, Store Thefts and Rowdy Crowds After Dodgers Win World Series

Stock Market Today: Wall Street Drifts Ahead of Election Day, While Oil Rises and Yields Sink

28 mins ago

Saints Fire Head Coach Dennis Allen After Seven-Game Losing Streak

32 mins ago

Raiders Fire Offensive Coordinator Luke Getsy and 2 Other Offensive Coaches

36 mins ago

Storm in the Caribbean Is on a Track to Likely Hit Cuba as a Hurricane

39 mins ago

Israel Ends Agreement With UN Agency Providing Aid in Gaza

44 mins ago

Demarcus Robinson’s One-Handed Catch in OT Gives Rams Win Over Seahawks

1 hour ago

Trump, Musk and an American Masculinity Crisis

1 hour ago

What One Tossup District Says About the Trump-Harris Battle for the Suburbs

1 hour ago

Herbert Shines, Chargers Defense Dominates in Win Over Browns

1 hour ago

US Confirms Reports That Iran Arrested an Iranian-American Citizen

2 hours ago

Musk PAC Tells Philadelphia Judge the $1 Million Sweepstakes Winners Are Not Chosen by Chance

PHILADELPHIA — A lawyer for Elon Musk’s political action committee told a judge in Philadelphia on Monday that so-called “winner...

8 mins ago

8 mins ago

Musk PAC Tells Philadelphia Judge the $1 Million Sweepstakes Winners Are Not Chosen by Chance

14 mins ago

Bass’ Record 61-Yard Field Goal Lifts Bills Over Dolphins in Thriller

28 mins ago

Big Spenders: These Companies Are Giving the Most to California Legislative Candidates

28 mins ago

Stock Market Today: Wall Street Drifts Ahead of Election Day, While Oil Rises and Yields Sink

32 mins ago

Saints Fire Head Coach Dennis Allen After Seven-Game Losing Streak

Raiders
36 mins ago

Raiders Fire Offensive Coordinator Luke Getsy and 2 Other Offensive Coaches

39 mins ago

Storm in the Caribbean Is on a Track to Likely Hit Cuba as a Hurricane

44 mins ago

Israel Ends Agreement With UN Agency Providing Aid in Gaza

Search

Send this to a friend