Updated: Yosemite searches for missing resort employee
Updated Oct. 9, 8:45 p.m. Jessica Garcia, an employee of DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite, Inc., has been located alive after she was reported missing when she did not show up for work at the Wawona Hotel on Sunday, October 7. Garcia was located
at approximately 1 p.m. this afternoon by a member of the Yosemite National Park Search and Rescue Team less than two miles up the South Fork Drainage of the Merced River in the southern portion of Yosemite National Park. She was hiking off-trail in this rugged area of the park. She will be transported to a local hospital for a medical evaluation
Approximately 50 people were involved in the Search and Rescue operation today. This included 6 dog teams, 15 ground searchers, a Park Ranger on horseback, the park helicopter, and other personnel.
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Pictured: Jessica Rose Garcia (Photo courtesy NPS)/
Yosemite National Park Rangers are searching for Jessica Rose Garcia, who did not show up for work at the Wawona Hotel. Garcia, a 23-year-old female and an employee of DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite, Inc., was scheduled to work at 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 7, and did not report for work. This was to be Garcia’s first day working at the Wawona Hotel.
Yosemite National Park Rangers checked at her park residence Saturday morning and she was not there. It was determined that Garcia was last seen on the morning of Saturday, Oct. 6, by a co-worker. She was last seen walking east along Forest Drive near the stables in Wawona at approximately 11:30 a.m. Garcia had just come from an orientation meeting with her supervisor at the Wawona Hotel.
She was dressed in her work uniform, a dark green polo shirt with the DNC logo on it, black slacks and black Rockies work loafers. She was also wearing her dark green DNC jacket, which has the DNC logo on the left side of the chest.
Garcia is a Hispanic female, 5’ 03” tall and weighs approximately 170 lbs. She has shoulder length black hair and brown eyes. Garcia is fit and hikes regularly. She is described as being shy and reserved around strangers. She was in possession of her cell phone and personal ID.
Search and rescue teams include six dog teams, the park helicopter, rangers on horseback and 23 rangers on foot. The search area includes the South Fork of the Merced River and in and around the Wawona area.
Yosemite National Park is asking for assistance with any information on Garcia’s whereabouts. Please call the Wawona Ranger Station at 209.375.9520, or Yosemite Dispatch at 209.379.1992, with any information regarding Garcia. The Yosemite Dispatch is available 24-hours per day. –NPS
