Just five hours after a couple from Yorba Linda started hiking at Amboy Crater, and 2 ½ hours after the woman called for help, saying she and her husband had become separated and were without water, Sheriff’s deputies found them dead, about 100 yards apart. According to a Sheriff’s report, Kathie Barber, 58, and her husband, Gen Miake, 60, started hiking at Amboy Crater about 11 a.m. Saturday morning when temperatures were in excess of 100 degrees. Barber called 911 in distress about 1:30 p.m., saying she was unable to find her husband, who had a heart condition. She also said she was out of water. Morongo Basin Sheriff’s Deputy Natthaniel Campos was first on the scene, and radioed for assistance from a Sheriff’s helicopter. He said the couple’s car was at the Amboy Crater trailhead, but he could not determine which direction they had hiked. About 4:05, deputies in the helicopter had located Barber, and Miake was spotted about 100 yards away about 4:20 p.m. They were about one to two miles east of the trailhead. Both appeared unresponsive lying on the ground in the open desert with no shade. Deputies said the temperature was about 113 degrees at the time. A County Fire paramedic confirmed that both hikers had died, and a second helicopter was called in to help with recovering their bodies. The Sheriff’s Department reminds people that if they are going to hike in the desert during the summer, to hike early in the morning and to bring at least a gallon of water per person.
