Expedition finds helicopter missing since 1992

http://snipurl.com/wdgr

(Google translation):


2006-09-11 00:00: 00
Mexicali, B.C. - In the Mountain range of Calamajue, to the south of Cove, it was found in a civil expedition, a helicopter Hiller, whose signs agree with the ship disappeared from 1992 in Baja California, and in which Lloyd Kolbe traveled the texano censador of deer.

The North American was accompanied to the organization by Gonzalo Medina González and an ex- agent by the Federal Police by Ways, Rafael Rebollar Busts, that they had by charge to make an aerial census of wild lambs.

After more than fourteen years, the expedition conformed by Caesar Cuéllar, envoy of the industralist and texano musician Darren Kolbe, son of the censador, and two reporters of the CHRONICLE, was guided by three cattle tenders of the south of Cove.

They found the airship after almost nine hours search of the Cataviña town until the mountain range that is after the Calamajue stream.

Almost one week ago, four cattle tenders of the Jaraguay town informed on the finding into a helicopter Hiller, model UH-12E, Series 5062, which showed signs of to have burned, in addition which they saw two skulls around the ship.

During the expedition of this weekend the given data were confirmed to know by those cattle tenders and were wire drawings bony rest, a complete skull and the jaw of apparently another corpse.

In the place were not signs or signs of identifications or personal objects of corpses, with the exception of rest of lenses, binoculars and a piece of satin white fabric.

“There is no doubt, is the device of the pattern, in addition that the mark and serial number agree, I am sure that this one is”, Cuéllar commented.

The finding was obtained after more than five hours of way through two vehicles, with which it was even difficult to enter the place, because mechanical faults were had. In addition, three hours by the mountain range were crossed on foot to arrive until the point where it was the helicopter.

This mornings SD union- crash from the past

Despite new clues, mystery still shrouds '92 copter crash

(from SOSD link above)

Wildlife expert vanished during Baja assignment

By Sandra Dibble
September 14, 2006

For more than 14 years, there have been no answers, only questions: What happened to Lloyd Kolbe, a well-respected Texas wildlife specialist, on assignment in Baja California to survey the bighorn sheep population?

Kolbe, 51, took off in his three-seat Hiller 12E helicopter on the morning of April 21, 1992, from a remote campsite on the Gulf of California. He and his passengers, two Mexican government officials, headed inland toward the rock-and-cactus studded mountains of the central Baja California peninsula and were never heard from again.

The lack of information led to rampant speculation, and the questions have haunted Kolbe's grieving friends and family members. Were the three killed by poachers or drug traffickers after stumbling onto illicit activity, or was other foul play involved? Or did they simply perish in a helicopter crash, their remains lost in a remote ravine?

Now Kolbe's helicopter has been located, along with some human remains in the Sierra de Calamajué, southwest of San Luis Gonzaga Bay, where they had taken off that morning. The chance discovery, by local cowboys, offers the first clues to their mysterious disappearance – but no explanation.

“It's been a very heavy burden to bear,” said Kolbe's son, Darren, 45, reached by telephone in Laredo, Texas. “Hopefully we have found his remains – that's our biggest hope.”

Baja California government officials announced the aircraft's discovery Tuesday, after sending a team of investigators to the mountainous area. The ranch hands found the wreckage late last month while searching for stray cattle. They reported their finding to Alberto Tapia Landeros, a Mexicali professor who has written books about the bighorn sheep and never stopped asking questions about the helicopter's disappearance.

“I always knew that sooner or later we'd find out what happened,” Tapia said. “I'm not losing faith that it will be cleared up completely.”

Baja California Gov. Eugenio Elorduy Walther has spoken to Texas Gov. Rick Perry, assuring him that the investigation “has from the start . . . been undertaken with the utmost seriousness,” according to a statement from the Baja California Attorney General's Office.

The wreckage is about 29 miles southeast of San Luis Gonzaga Bay and a few miles inland from the Gulf of California. The ranch hands led state officials to the site from the tiny community of Cataviña on the Transpeninsular Highway, a nine-hour trek by four-wheel drive and on foot.

The helicopter apparently landed upright but caught fire, said Francisco Javier Alcázar Jiménez, head of the Attorney General's Office in Ensenada. A skull was found about 20 feet from the aircraft, and fragments of another skull were found inside. The skull had a perforation, “but we can't say it is a bullet,” Alcázar said. Other pieces – a jaw bone, molars, two thigh bones – were scattered about, Alcázar said.

Darren Kolbe and Lloyd Kolbe's brother James flew by private plane to Mexicali yesterday, where they were met by Baja California authorities. Later, they flew to Ensenada, and Darren Kolbe provided a blood sample, which will help authorities determine whether any of the bones are his father's. Family members of the two other victims still were being located.

“The first thing we want to do is identify the remains,” Alcázar said. “The next thing is determining whether this was an accident.”

Kolbe, a resident of central Texas, was well known in hunting and wildlife circles. His friends called him Coon Dog, and for a time he owned and operated a radio station. The gregarious and divorced father of four was popular and commanded much attention, his oldest son said.

“He could take care of himself,” Darren Kolbe said. “He always liked to be heard.”

Kolbe owned the helicopter, using it to round up sheep or conduct aerial surveys of wildlife. In April 1992, Mexican federal environmental officials hired him to take a census of bighorn sheep on the peninsula. Two employees of the environmental ministry, known at the time as Sedue, were on assignment to accompany him: Gonzalo Medina González, a biologist, and Rafael Rebollar Bustos, a former federal highway patrolman.

The population of bighorn sheep on the peninsula long has been a contentious subject, with hunting advocates saying the number is larger, and those who favor a ban on hunting arguing that it is smaller.

Between 1980 and 1990, the Mexican government sold 625 bighorn sheep hunting permits, mostly to U.S. hunters, charging $12,000 each. In 1990, hunting was banned by presidential decree.

Tapia, the professor, said officials from Mexico's environmental ministry, which sold the permits, opposed the ban. They wanted to prove that large numbers of the sheep roamed the peninsula and that the species would not be threatened by hunting.

Soon after Kolbe arrived, he became confused about his assignment, his son said.

“There was another group conducting a survey at the same time, hired by the Baja California government,” the son said. “It's like they were overlapping each other.”

Kolbe decided to call higher-ups at Sedue in Mexico City for clarification. On April 21, he and his two Mexican companions took off from Alfonsinas Camp. They were heading toward the nearest telephone, on the Pacific side of the peninsula, Darren Kolbe said.

They never turned up.

U.S. authorities, including the Air Force and the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, sent aircraft to the area to help Mexicans search hundreds of square miles, Darren Kolbe said. “Nothing was found.”

The family persisted, and in 1995, James Kolbe led a horseback expedition to the region, but once again they came away empty-handed.

“We never had any sort of substantive proof or realistic leads or anything,” Darren Kolbe said.

The helicopter is on the side of a mountain, near a ravine, he said.

“You could literally walk within 100 yards of this site and not see it, because of the cactus and growth and change in elevations,” the son said.

A family representative who traveled to the site over the weekend found a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses and small binoculars similar to ones that Kolbe used, the son said.

If some questions have been answered, others persist.

“It may be that they landed extremely hard, and everybody perished,” Darren Kolbe said. “But then again, what if somebody survived it, had malicious intentions, and the helicopter was burned on purpose? Maybe somebody was shot on purpose. Something that involves someone important to you, you don't want to leave a stone unturned.”

Twelve grand to shoot a sheep? There must be something I'm missing here?

"horn-envy"

Have tracked Big Horns wearing radio collars a time or two, followed 'em here and there thru some high desert canyons with the signals bouncing back and forth off the walls. Hard to spot.

The third guy was not identified from crash forensics. He was reportedly carrying a rifle and the helicopter tank had a hole that could not be attributed to a protrusion from vegetation during the crash. Here is where it gets interesting. This third person used to be a "federale" and two years after the crash was reportedly spotted in Wyoming by US immigration, as well as in a secret prison in Sonora, according to his widow/wife. Then there was a report $50,000 involved with project. I will try to attach some pictures from lacronica.com to see if it helps with finding the place on google earth.

By the way, there are different types of bighorn sheep throughout North America. The type found in Baja are known as the "Nelson" variety and are typically the last, and most expensive to get when hunters attempt to get a bighorn "grand slam".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bighorn_Sheep

John

pic 2

pic 3

The crash site was described as being 9 hours away from Catavina (Santa Ynez), on the mountain range that is beyond Calamajue sand wash. Are you reading this Corky?

Yes Juan.
I still might try to locate the locating this spring.
Corky