One of the volunteers with Joshua Tree National Park Search and Rescue who has been out searching for the missing couple nearly every day with her search dog is a Pioneertown resident. Reporter David Haldane spoke with her and says she’s determined to see the search through…
Imagine that someone’s life depends on you and your dog. You’re out searching for them in the sweltering heat of the desert and time is of the essence. What goes through your mind, knowing that your actions could affect whether the effort ends in triumph or tragedy?
Alice Waltermire knows the feeling well; she’s been living it every day. The 52-year-old Pioneertown resident, working with two bloodhounds and a border collie named Montana, is among about 100 volunteers who have been searching for an Orange County couple lost in Joshua Tree National Park since July 28.
It’s exhausting, she says, and dangerous for both her and the dogs. But while each passing day makes a happy ending less likely, she’s determined to see it through.
The family needs closure, Waltermire says. Whether that means finding their loved ones healthy and alive, as everyone hopes, or otherwise, the important thing is to reach a conclusion.
And so, the search continues.
