Lost mother's handwritten notes save her and 9-year-old son stranded in remote California wilderness

A mother and her young son were rescued after getting lost in a California forest thanks to quick thinking a handwritten note and timely action by rescuers It happened on Saturday July when a routine training exercise for the Calaveras County Volunteer Search and Rescue SAR Gang turned into a real-life rescue mission in the rugged terrain near Spicer Reservoir Shortly before p m Calaveras County Dispatch received a document of a -year-old mother and her -year-old son who were overdue from a trip to Camp Wolfeboro The pair had left Sacramento the day before but had since gone silent no calls no texts and no check-ins according to the reporting party Concerned for their safety a deputy was directly sent to investigate Fortunately the Search and Rescue SAR band was already training nearby and rapidly joined the search FIVE HELICOPTERS NEEDED TO SAVE INJURED SOLO CLIMBER ON CALIFORNIA'S SECOND-HIGHEST PEAKA location-sharing app provided by the reporting party helped narrow the search zone officers stated Air aid from the California Highway Patrol was also called in to assist A breakthrough in the search came from a promising lead a text from nearby campers who shared seeing a wagon that matched the missing family s description the day before With this critical tip personnel declared searchers zeroed in on the area Then early in the evening searchers discovered a handwritten note at a remote intersection It was from the missing mother pleading for help HIKER DISAPPEARS IN WILDERNESS AFTER TAKING SHORTCUT THAT LEADS TO VOICE FROM THE WOODSThe Calaveras County Sheriff's Office shared an image of the note showing the directions the mother had laid out to help find them HELP Me and my son are stranded with no system and can t call the note read We are ahead up the road to the right Please call to get help for us Thank you Following a series of similar notes left along the path rescuers tracked the pair to their car roughly a mile down the road However the remote location and thick forest canopy posed another challenge as cell and radio signals were blocked making standard radio or cell communication impossible Bureaucrats revealed the rescue club utilized an amateur radio frequency commonly known as HAM radio to establish communication HIKER DISAPPEARS FROM EDGE OF THE WORLD CAMPGROUND ON TRIP WITH FATHERAfter broadcasting urgency traffic on the HAM radio their call was straightaway answered by a retired El Dorado County Communications Supervisor who was a HAM Operator monitoring frequencies from his home This HAM operator then contacted the El Dorado center which provided the information to Calaveras Dispatch and the SAR command post was notified authorities stated Rescuers used recovery equipment to free the family s bus and safely escorted them back to the command post where they were reunited with anxious loved ones Agents announced that the rescue mission revealed just how expeditiously system can fail in remote areas Bureaucrats later revealed that the mother had been following a GPS track that diverted her onto remote backroads When the signal dropped the pair became disoriented deep in the forest Despite the dangerous circumstances leaders mentioned the duo made several smart decisions that contributed to their safe rescue They left notes at intersections used hazard lights at night and relied on basic survival skills Notably the young boy used a whistle in short bursts to help signal their location executives commented Functionaries highlighted that their the bulk central move was informing someone of their itinerary and expected return critical information that helped launch the timely rescue