Date Changed
10/24/2005
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There are now many articles posted on the web describing the recent
circumstances There is a very good video presentation on www.kget.com Here is an article from the local Bakersfield paper. Dave Gemperle is quoted
in this article: bakersfield.com Archive Article
Remains may belong to lost paragliderAuthor(s): CHRISTINA VANCE, Californian staff writere-mail: cvance@bakersfield.com Date: March 16, 2005 Page: b1 Section: LocalA skull discovered by hikers led coroner's officials to tentatively identify the body of a paraglider missing since 2003. Ronald Keith Rosepink, 46, was last seen alive on June 28, 2003, in the Tehachapi mountains near Bear Valley Springs. On Tuesday, searchers found the remains of a glider and human body in a dying patch of brush that was about 12 feet high and 40 yards in diameter, sheriff's Cmdr. Rocky Lacertoso said. The body was only about a half mile from the Tehachapi Bowl paraglider launch site where Rosepink's vehicle was originally found, searchers said.Thousands of flight and ground hours were poured into the exhaustive search for Rosepink, Lacertoso said. Based on Rosepink's logs from previous flights, rescuers went as far as Lake Isabella and Mojave in their search for him.A military helicopter and Air Force buddies also joined the search. At the time of his disappearance, Rosepink was a reserve lieutenant colonel assigned to a test squad at Edwards Air Force Base, Lacertoso said. After an initial seven-day search in 2003, Lacertoso said searchers conducted about six other smaller operations looking for the missing man. Civilian teams did their own searches as well.One such informal team was made up heavily of active, former or auxiliary military searchers with wilderness rescue experience, David Gemperle said. He and Rosepink were search and rescue instructors in high school together and both went into the military. Gemperle said it didn't seem right to have a wilderness rescuer lost.A dozen searchers looked for 17 days for Rosepink on a ranch in the area, and they had future searches planned. "The terrain is very foreboding, very difficult. We were literally hands and knees," Gemperle said.Still, no luck. But on Saturday, hikers found a human skull at the bottom of a ravine in a rugged canyon, Chief Deputy Coroner Jim Malouf said. They brought the skull to sheriff's officials on Monday."We immediately knew it wasn't old or Native American," Malouf said. A quick check of dental records showed a close match with Rosepink's teeth, Malouf said.At first light on Tuesday, searchers returned to the area. Their 9:45 a.m. find appeared to confirm Malouf's suspicions. "When we found the rest of the remains and the paraglider, it all came together," he said.The body was in a brushy area within the original search area, Lacertoso said. Rugged patches of brush that could reportedly hide a 747 airplane were scattered in the search area, Rosepink's friend Gary Bruce Eaton said. Searchers repeatedly plunged into thickets looking for Rosepink."They'd come out like they'd been in a fight with 10 guys with a razor," Eaton said. Eaton characterized Rosepink, a hot air ballooning buddy, as incredibly skilled and humble.If dental charts and X-rays confirm the body is Rosepink's, Eaton said he's anticipating a full coroner's report on the cause of death. He guessed the impact of landing must have been debilitating. "If Ron Rosepink only broke both legs, he'd get out. That guy's tough," he said.Lacertoso said Tuesday's news was bittersweet for Rosepink's wife, Deborah, who had been fighting to get insurance money. Mrs. Rosepink had a close relationship with searchers, once even accompanying them and cooking for them, Lacertoso said."We've all been so intimately involved with this search," Lacertoso said. "We're glad that he's now going to be back with his family." |
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