Updated: Multiple agencies search for overdue hiker
Updated Aug. 25: A multiagency search and rescue effort to locate Matthew Mooney, a 47-year-old man from the Bishop area, concluded on Aug. 21 in the late afternoon when Mooney was located deceased. Search and rescue (SAR) team members discovered Mooney in a chute above Tamarac Lake; he is believed to have fallen approximately 30 feet.
SAR teams have been searching for Mooney since approximately 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 20 after Inyo County Sheriff’s Dispatch was notified of an overdue hiker. Mooney’s last communication came around noon on Aug. 20 when he contacted family from Round Valley Peak and said he would be home in a couple of hours.
Agencies assisting in the search were Inyo County Search and Rescue, California Highway Patrol helicopter H-80 out of Apple Valley, Mono County Search and Rescue, and China Lake Mountain Rescue Group.
————————————-
A multiagency search and rescue effort has been underway since approximately 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 20, after Inyo County Sheriff’s Dispatch was notified of an overdue hiker. Matthew Mooney, a 47 year old man from the Swall Meadows area above Bishop, left the Rock Creek area the morning of August 20 for a day hike. Mooney contacted family around noon from his cellular phone; he said he was heading back from Round Valley Peak and would be home in a couple hours. He has not been seen or heard from since.
Mooney is a former Inyo County SAR member, and is described as an experienced backcountry hiker. He has short gray hair and blue eyes; he’s 6 feet tall and 180 pounds. Mooney was last seen wearing dark green pants and a mustard colored jacket.
Assisting in the search are Inyo County Search and Rescue, California Highway Patrol helicopter H-80 out of Apple Valley, Mono County Search and Rescue, and China Lake Mountain Rescue Group.
If anyone was hiking in the Wheeler Ridge area, east of Rock Creek, and may have had contact with Mooney, they are asked to contact the Inyo County Sheriff’s Department at 760.878.0383. –Press Release
