CHP copter helps track down missing NorCal woman, 65, found injured

April 11, 2019 Trevor Montgomery

CITY OF SHASTA LAKE — An elderly woman with dementia who was reported missing late last night, Wednesday, April, 10, was hospitalized after officials found her lost, confused, and injured, according to sheriff’s officials. The victim was found in a heavily wooded area just a short distance from her home.

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Deputies assigned to City of Shasta Lake were first alerted to the woman’s disappearance around 10:30 p.m., after her husband flagged them down and reported her as missing, Shasta County Sheriff’s Sgt. Chris Edwards later reported.

Gary Krug told deputies his wife Jackie Krug, 65, had left the couple’s residence at 5449 Akrich Street, to walk to a nearby friend’s house. The woman’s husband said he had last seen the victim around 5 p.m., and that she has medical issues and signs of dementia.

Deputies began searching the wooded areas around the couple’s home and “were able to track Jackie’s footprints toward the northeast from her residence,” according to Edwards. Deputies requested assistance from a CHP helicopter, and an aviation crew was soon helping to search the heavily wooded area from above.

“At approximately 11:50 p.m., the California Highway Patrol helicopter spotted Jackie, using their FLIR system, approximately 1/4 mile northeast from her residence in a heavily wooded area,” Edwards reported.

CHP’s aviation crew guided ground deputies to Jackie’s location and deputies hiked in to where she was spotted. When deputies made contact with her, they learned she had fallen and was complaining of back pain.

CHP’s helicopter landed in a nearby field and assisted deputies, airlifting the victim to a waiting ambulance. She was then taken to a local area hospital for medical treatment of minor injuries, where she was reunited with her husband.

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Trevor Montgomery, 47, moved last year to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, The Valley Chronicle, and Anza Valley Outlook; as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and Mountain Echo in Shasta County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.

Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 28 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 15 – but soon to be 16 – grandchildren.