Found Deceased WA - Julie Montague Ayers, 67, got separated from her partner while walking the dog, has dementia, Mt Baker Natl Forest, Kendall, 10 Mar 2023

[WingsOverTX]

Bellingham Metro News is reporting on Facebook that, per Julie's daughter Erin, Julie's body was found today. Not surprising after so much time has passed, but so heartbreaking for them. I hope this poor woman did not suffer too terribly before the end came.

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Thank you for the update. Very sad outcome but so glad she was found. Fly high, Julie! I know your memory will be a blessing.

 

[PommyMommy]

Bellingham Metro News is reporting on Facebook that, per Julie's daughter Erin, Julie's body was found today. Not surprising after so much time has passed, but so heartbreaking for them. I hope this poor woman did not suffer too terribly before the end came.

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Very sad to hear this, but I too am glad she's been found. My heartfelt condolences to Julie's family and loved ones.

 

[Springrain]

I am sad to hear she was dead (although I knew in my heart she probably was), but I am glad for her family that they have some answers, and I hope Julie's death was as peaceful and painless as possible.

 

[katydid23]

 

[annpats]

Bellingham Metro News is reporting on Facebook that, per Julie's daughter Erin, Julie's body was found today. Not surprising after so much time has passed, but so heartbreaking for them. I hope this poor woman did not suffer too terribly before the end came.

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I'm glad there has been a resolution, however sad it is.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

The Whatcom County woman who went missing early last month was found dead over the weekend, her family confirmed to The Bellingham Herald.

Montague-Ayers was apparently found in an area of the woods that was not originally searched and she was not wearing the coat people were looking for, according to her sister, Jody Montague. Her death is not considered suspicious, her sister told The Herald, though the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office has not responded to a request for comment. Her body was expected to be picked up by helicopter Monday afternoon, according to her sister.

https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article273910330.html

 

[Hestia's Fire]

She had been wearing her coat when we saw her on the camera footage, so I wonder when she lost it. She may have suffered from hypothermia near the end and started shedding clothing as some people do.

 

[Stunned]

I’m glad her family have some resolution. I wonder how far she was from where she disappeared?

 

[WingsOverTX]

I’m glad her family have some resolution. I wonder how far she was from where she disappeared?

I do, too. There was so much speculation that she wouldn't have gone very far due to dementia & her age but I have felt the search needed a very wide perimeter of 5+ miles or more. Apparently her body was found by a person with SAR training who kept on looking at the request of her family.
MOO

 

[sasha17]

I’m glad her family have some resolution. I wonder how far she was from where she disappeared?

It must have been quite some distance off the road they where were walking on if her body is being removed by helicopter.

Rest in peace, Julie.

 

[Stunned]

Like I said many posts ago, my friends husband was found 8 miles away in the Everglades. But that was flatland.

 

[Aloe]

I do, too. There was so much speculation that she wouldn't have gone very far due to dementia & her age but I have felt the search needed a very wide perimeter of 5+ miles or more. Apparently her body was found by a person with SAR training who kept on looking at the request of her family.
MOO

BBM MOO <3 Thankful for this person. Travel well, Julie <3

 

[annpats]

Apparently her body was found by a person with SAR training who kept on looking at the request of her family.

God bless that person!

 

[RickshawFan]

She had been wearing her coat when we saw her on the camera footage, so I wonder when she lost it. She may have suffered from hypothermia near the end and started shedding clothing as some people do.

The interesting thing to me was that they never spotted the coat, even in all the days of searching. I thought she might shed it if it got tangled in branches, but I was surprised that it never showed up. I thought she might shed her boots, too, if she felt they were annoying.

RIP

 

[RickshawFan]

It must have been quite some distance off the road they where were walking on if her body is being removed by helicopter.

Rest in peace, Julie.

Litter recoveries in forested/mountainous areas are very laborious—large numbers of personnel and time, and risk of injury to personnel.

 

[annpats]

It must have been quite some distance off the road they where were walking on if her body is being removed by helicopter.

I wonder if that would indicate difficult terrain that a 2 person team with Julie on a stretcher wouldn't be able to manage?

 

[Hestia's Fire]

The interesting thing to me was that they never spotted the coat, even in all the days of searching. I thought she might shed it if it got tangled in branches, but I was surprised that it never showed up. I thought she might shed her boots, too, if she felt they were annoying.

RIP

I am also surprised her coat hasn't been found, considering how distinctive-looking it was.

 

[RickshawFan]

I wonder if that would indicate difficult terrain that a 2 person team with Julie on a stretcher wouldn't be able to manage?

Many more than that: she'd be dead weight. IIRC, the carry is one-armed at an awkward height. Stepping over a big rock while descending is complicated.

Keeping SAR members from getting injured is paramount.

I think there would be an 8-person team plus subsitutes, so they can rotate, depending on terrain. These days, litters often have one big wheel in the middle, but local SAR might not have one of those yet.

I've been on a backcountry rescue (I was the one who had to hike out and get help), where it took 8. The terrain wasn't that rough.

 

[RickshawFan]

I wonder if that would indicate difficult terrain that a 2 person team with Julie on a stretcher wouldn't be able to manage?

So, naturally, I had to look it up. These are slides from a NEWSAR (Northeast Wilderness SAR) training from 2020, so relatively recent. The source is on the slide, and this is CC-SA 4.0.

This is almost certainly more than anything you'd ever want to know about litter carries (unless you want to volunteer for SAR), but it should answer your questions:

Focus on pp 5-10 for relevance....

https://www.aa3sd.net/newsar/sar_ftm_v1_0_0/presentations/speakers_notes/4perpage/29_litters_notes_4perpage-crop.pdf

 

[RickshawFan]

Maybe this will help with your questions, too, since litters were mentioned.

IMO. Optimal is helicopter recovery, if the site makes landing or pickup possible. It's more discreet, there's a lot less risk to personnel (and you need fewer)*, and there's a lot less psychological trauma to the folks involved in the recovery. Also, I think of it as keeping our armed forces prepared for military activities (e.g. downed pilot extraction) or large scale search and rescue (e.g. earthquake). It's about emergency and military readiness. Helicopters and SAR would otherwise have to be training with pretend victims and mock situations; they might as well be getting practice on the real thing. Military helicopters are often used for recovery and SAR. IMO this is tax money well-spent (except in cases where tired climbers expect courtesy rides; yep, this happens). Just getting the timing right for a pilot to land and the team to load the litter (and avoid the rotors), takes a lot of coordination; it sometimes has to happen very fast.

Note: some helicopter recoveries are super-high risk, and take inordinate skill. These involve a cable being dropped from a helo in an area where the helo can't land, e.g. at the bottom of a slot canyon or off a craggy shore in the ocean. I doubt this case is one of those.