Missing hiker’s remains found after ‘thousands of hours searching’
The remains of a 65-year-old Virginia woman who went missing in June has been found in Amboy, California.
Susan Schmierer and her husband William were reportedly on their way to Palm Springs on a cross-country road trip when they went missing. The pair left their Williamsburg, Virginia home on May 27, and were set to arrive in Palm Springs on or about June 2.
On June 13, the U.S Bureau of Land Management notified the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department of a vehicle which had been parked at the Amboy Crater Trailhead parking lot for approximately 10 days, The car, which was later confirmed to be owned by the couple, appeared to be abandoned.
On April 28, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department search and rescue teams found the remains of Susan Schmierer in the desert wilderness area east of the Amboy Crater National Landmark.
Surveillance video reveals more about missing couple headed for Palm Springs
64-year-old William Schmierer’s remains were found on June 16.
“Multiple, large-scale search efforts continued since that day [that William was found] to locate Susan Schmierer and utilized Sheriff’s helicopters, K9 teams, volunteer search and rescue dog teams, Deputies, Detectives, Coroner investigators, and BLM Rangers,” read the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department news release. “Over a dozen Search and Rescue volunteers spent thousands of hours searching for Susan and covered an area of approximately 36 square miles.”
Virginia couple headed for Palm Springs missing, vehicle found abandoned
According to the Sheriff’s department, the Schmierer family, as well as a private firm hired by the family, also took part in the search and rescue efforts.
An autopsy for William revealed that he died of heat exposure, and there were no signs of foul play. Susan’s autopsy is still pending, but it is believed that her cause of death was likely heat exposure.
“Summertime search efforts were hampered by high daytime temperatures which allowed for only brief windows of time in the mornings to conduct search effor ts. In addition to the harsh terrain filled with sharp lava rock and no available shade, by 10:00 a.m. most days, the ground temperatures in the lava fields would exceed 160 degrees.
