A walker made a 999 call to North Yorkshire Police, saying that her companion had fallen and was injured, while they (f, f) were walking the Three Peaks. Before any more information could be passed, the call ceased and the NYP Force Control Room was unable to re-connect. All that was known was the phone network and the network’s approximation of the caller’s location – Simon Fell Breast, on the descent from Ingleborough towards Horton in Ribblesdale and the completion of the traditional route. Such information is not always to be relied on, but NYP and CRO calls, texts and a Phonefind message all went unanswered, so team members began searching the area of Simon Fell Breast. When no-one was found, they began, systematically, to cover all other routes off the hill.
Meanwhile, with a developing suspicion that there was no-one to find, the duty controller prevailed upon NYP to try to find a name and address for the phone number used, with a view to then connecting that with a vehicle type and registration mark, in case this helped determine a start point or absence from the area. The search continued and permission was granted for a Police helicopter to be deployed, at first light. Then, at 02.30, NYP called to say that the mispers’ home Police force had found the caller almost 60 miles away, having arrived home a little after 01.00. Team members and Kez the search dog, stood down, still wondering how someone who was injured had ‘evaded’ them and failed to tell NYP that the emergency was over; they were safe.
The ‘mystery’ was solved, to some extent, the following morning, when a CRO controller who had stayed at home during the evening, phoning and texting the misper’s number, woke to find the following text had been left on his phone at about 02.30:
‘My phone died before I could complete the call. My friend sprained her ankle but I managed to carry her down and we sought help in Clapham. We have only just arrived home. Thank you for your help.‘
Volunteer hours: 105