‘HELP.’ Handwritten notes lead rescuers to mom, 9-year-old stranded in CA forest
A mother and son stranded in a California forest were rescued — thanks to handwritten notes she left behind.
Calaveras County dispatchers got a report about an overdue mother and son at about 1:30 p.m. on July 12, the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office said in a July 14 Facebook post.
The caller told deputies the 49-year-old mother and 9-year-old son left from Sacramento the afternoon of July 11 and were driving to Camp Wolfeboro more than 100 miles away, deputies said.
However, they never showed and were not answering their phones, according to deputies.
A deputy started a missing person investigation, while the Calaveras County Volunteer Search and Rescue Team shifted gears from its monthly training session to look for the pair.
By speaking with Sacramento authorities and the caller, the deputy determined a timeline and possible route for the missing woman and child, the sheriff’s office said.
The caller also gave deputies a location for the woman, which they got from “a location-sharing application.”
After creating a command post, the search and rescue team started “assessing the terrain and the complex network of interconnecting, labyrinth-like roads to establish effective search parameters,” according to deputies.
The team then quickly searched by road “using four-wheel-drive vehicles and a specially equipped side-by-side UTV,” deputies said.
California Highway officials also searched the area by air, deputies said.
While searching, a deputy and a Forest Service Law Enforcement Ranger responded to a 911 text from campers saying they had seen “a vehicle matching the description of the missing persons around 4:00 PM on July 11.”
The vehicle sighting, along with information from the initial caller, confirmed rescuers “were searching in the correct area,” deputies said.
Shortly before 6 p.m., rescuers found a “handwritten note posted at an intersection of a remote Forest Service Road,” deputies said.
“HELP. Me and my son are stranded with no service and can’t call 911,” a photo of the note shared to Facebook shows. “We are ahead, up the road to the right. Please call 911 to get help for us. Thank you!”
Per the direction of the note, “the team followed the road” and stumbled upon another note, which included “a telephone number and the names of the missing individuals,” deputies said.
“About a mile later,” deputies said rescuers found the missing mother and son with their car.
Given the isolated area, “which included dense forest and canopy,” rescuers were not able to use “conventional radio frequencies or (a) cell phone” to relay they had found the pair, deputies said.
Instead, they used an “amateur radio frequency, commonly known as HAM radio,” deputies said.
“Their call was immediately answered by a retired El Dorado County Communications Supervisor who was a HAM Operator monitoring frequencies from his home,” deputies said.
He then called El Dorado County dispatchers, who gave the information to Calaveras County dispatchers so they could relay it to the search and rescue’s command post, deputies said.
Rescuers freed the mother’s car using “vehicle recovery equipment” and guided them back to the command post, where their family was waiting, deputies said.
At the command post, the mother told rescuers she was following a GPS when it lost signal, deputies said.
At this point, as the mother “had already traveled deep into the remote area,” she could not retrace her route, deputies said.
The mother told rescuers she penned notes and posted them “at intersections near their location.”
At night, the mother said, she turned on her car’s hazard lights in hopes of increasing “the likelihood of being found,” deputies said.
Her son also periodically blew three short bursts on his whistle, “an international signal for help,” according to deputies.
Deputies said the mom’s decision to let others know her intended whereabouts played an important role in the pair being found safe.
This story was originally published July 15, 2025 at 4:32 PM with the headline "‘HELP.’ Handwritten notes lead rescuers to mom, 9-year-old stranded in CA forest."
