Search Continues for O.C. Man on Mt. Baldy : Avalanche: Rescue workers have so far found no trace of Mike Pilotti. His snowboarding partner redirects the hunt.
MT. BALDY — Teams of dogs, rescue workers and a helicopter continued to scour the slopes here Friday for Costa Mesan Mike Pilotti, who has been missing since an avalanche buried him Tuesday.
But searchers prodding the drifts with poles, and dogs seeking human scent could find no trace of the 24-year-old man, who disappeared in the massive slide while snowboarding.
Capt. Mike Stodelle of the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department said the search would resume at daybreak today with more than 100 people, most of them volunteers.
On Friday, Larry Beard, 32, Pilotti’s boss and snowboarding companion who survived the avalanche, surveyed the site by helicopter, Stodelle said. He directed five dogs and about 30 search and rescue workers to the area where he now recalls last seeing Pilotti, revising his earlier recollection of the site.
As a result, the search area today will be expanded by 10 acres, Sheriff’s Sgt. Rick Carr said. More volunteers have been added to the search in recent days, he said, because changing weather conditions have lessened the danger of further avalanches.
During Friday’s search, the missing man’s parents, David and Patricia Pilotti, who flew in Wednesday from their home in Upstate New York, kept an anxious vigil inside a large van that serves as the sheriff’s mobile command post.
There, they were given “continued updates†on the all-day efforts of five dog units and eight search and rescue teams from San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties. Rescuers using 20-foot poles couldn’t reach the bottom of the snow at the base of the avalanche.
The victim’s father said he felt “drained†and “helpless.â€
“I want to go on the mountain and start shoveling snow myself, but I can’t,†he said. Mike, the eldest of his three sons, “is the type of kid who never gave us one minute of problems.â€
Also waiting with the family were some of Pilotti’s friends.
Eric Ciccone, 23, said he and Pilotti had been classmates at a junior college in Albany, N.Y., where he said Pilotti, now a snowboard designer, had obtained a degree in graphic arts. Ciccone, who had been Pilotti’s roommate, said Pilotti was an excellent snowboarder who had been involved in the sport since he was 15.
“He loves snowboarding,†the victim’s father concurred.
Although Beard and Pilotti had snowboarded in a restricted area Monday, David Pilotti said that his eldest son “is not a risk-taking person.†The Pilottis asked for the public’s prayers that their son will be found alive.
“We are hopeful for the best, although we are prepared for the worst,†David Pilotti said.
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