News

UPDATE:

The Humboldt County Coroner's Office has positively identified the woman killed in a fall near Trinidad's Wedding Rock as 33-year-old Bianca Brzezinski of Arcata, a release states.

PREVIOUS:

The body of a 33-year-old Arcata woman who went missing a little after 6 p.m. yesterday was found around noon near Wedding Rock in Patrick’s Point State Park north of Trinidad, confirmed Samantha Karges, spokesperson for the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office.

The woman was in a difficult to reach location about 200 feet down, Karges said, had not yet been recovered.

“Family members have been notified,” Karges stated, adding that woman’s name is not being released at this time.

Multiple agencies have assisted in the search for the missing woman including State Parks, Cal Fire, the Coast Guard, Eel Valley River Technical Rescue, Southern Humboldt County Technical Rescue and the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office.

According to a HCSO release, recovery efforts are underway.
Searchers from Southern Humboldt County Technical Rescue who scoured the Lost Coast Trail for the missing Canadian hiker from Wednesday night through Saturday are now helping to recover the woman’s body from where it is lodged near Wedding Rock in Patrick’s Point State Park.

Members of the highly respected volunteer crew have spent at least a portion of every day except one since last Wednesday looking for either the Canadian man or the Arcata woman in challenging conditions. Besides the physically exhausting search, the crews have to deal with the emotional fallout from both situations.

Read the HCSO release below:

On Jan. 13, 2019, at about 6:10 p.m., California State Parks and CAL FIRE were dispatched to Patrick’s Point State Park for the report of a hiker in need of medical assistance. According to the reporting party, a 33-year-old female Arcata resident was hiking off-trail between Wedding Rock and Mussel Rock when she reportedly fell several feet into a crevasse.

State Parks and CAL FIRE began searching for the female, however due to treacherous terrain, dangerous conditions and darkness, the search was temporarily suspended at about 10 p.m. The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office was notified of this incident at about 9:30 p.m.

Ground search crews and a U. S. Coast Guard helicopter began searching for the hiker again on January 14 at 8 a.m. At about 12 p.m., search teams located the female deceased in a crevasse within the search area and began recovery efforts.

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the following agencies for their search and recovery efforts: CAL FIRE, California State Parks, Southern Humboldt Technical Rescue, Eel River Technical Rescue and the U.S. Coast Guard.

Editor's note: This report first appeared on kymkemp.com and is reposted here with permission. The story has been updated to include a corrected age for the woman.