Calaveras Sheriff DiBasilio Details $288,000 Search Effort
San Andreas, CA — At the request of some members of the board of supervisors, Calaveras Sheriff Rick DiBasilio gave an overview at Tuesday’s meeting of the effort to locate Ann Herford, who was found deceased in late November after she went missing near the Arnold Rim Trail.
Sheriff Dibasilio noted that Herford’s family expressed gratitude for how the rescue effort was carried out and how the office stayed in contact with them throughout.
During the eight days, there were 17 agencies involved in the effort, and 137 search teams. Three agencies also provided a combined 40 hours of air support (National Guard, CHP and the US Army). 45 hotel rooms were purchased. There were also numerous volunteers helping (via the sheriff’s office and its Search and Rescue team), the Moose Lodge donated 494 lunches, and Foothills Sanitary donated two portable restrooms.
Sheriff Dibasilio concluded, “The total cost of the search, over eight days, was 288,217 dollars and 17 cents. That is what it would have cost the county if we had to pay for everything. Out of pocket for the county, was just over $93,000.”
Dibasilio’s report was solely designed to be informational.
Incoming Board Chair Jack Garamendi responded, “Thank you very much for that information. When you are in the moment, you are dealing with these search and rescues, and you gotta do what you gotta do. We’re just trying to figure out how to pay for it, at the end. That’s our part of the deal.”
District Three Supervisor, Martin Huberty, who represents Arnold, added, “Thank you sheriff for all of this work, but also for being proactive in your office and setting up the meeting this week to discuss how we can prevent this from happening again with the proper signage, etc., on the Rim Trail.”
DiBasilio responded back to Huberty, “That’s definitely something that needs to be done, and I am happy you stuck your fingers in that pie to help us out with it. I appreciate that.”
Herford, 66, a traveling nurse, was reported missing on November 15 when she failed to show up for work at Adventist Health Sonora. She was located deceased north of San Antonio Creek and south of Forest Road 5N56, just outside the boundaries of the Arnold Rim Trail.
The agencies involved are listed below:
• Air National Guard
• Amador County Sheriff’s SAR
• Bay Area Mountain Rescue Unit (BAMRU)
• California Office of Emergency Services (Overhead and Air Resources)
• Calaveras County Volunteer Search and Rescue
• Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office
• Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office Volunteer Unit
• California Highway Patrol
• California Office of Emergency Services SAR
• California Rescue Dog Association/CARDA’s
• Contra Costa County Sheriff’s SAR
• Ebbetts Pass Moose Lodge 1123
• Forensic resources coordinated by the California Office of Emergency Services
• Hazel Fischer Elementary School
• Marin County Sheriff’s SAR (Including Unmanned Aerial Systems – UAS)
• Merced County Sheriff’s SAR
• Nevada County Sheriff’s SAR
• Placer County Sheriff’s SAR
• San Mateo County Sheriff’s SAR
• Santa Clara County Sheriff’s SAR
• Tuolumne County Sheriff’s SAR
• United States Army Aircraft
• Yolo County Sheriff’s SAR
• Calaveras County District Attorney Investigators
