Ongoing RivCo search intensifies as elusive elves spotted in neighboring Imperial County

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif., — The weeks-long search for a pair of naughty elves, which began in Riverside County earlier this month, is now believed to have touched neighboring Imperial County after evidence surfaced that the prancing pair of Christmas present packagers spent the night camping there in their ongoing flight from justice.

Imperial County officials have since said they believe it was the large bounty sitting on the mischievous merry-makers’ heads that led them to head south while possibly making a run for the California/Mexico border.

Meanwhile, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, who initiated the search for the elusive elves after the pair snuck into his office and left a merrily-mysterious, but unsigned poem behind. Their naughty note hinted at future mayhem and taunted the County’s top lawman to try and capture them, and the Sheriff has said that his deputies will not relent in their search until the pair has been apprehended.

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As reported exclusively by RCNS at the time, Sheriff Bianco announced the search for the slick Santa supporters after discovering them in his office on Dec. 1. Before he could identify the dastardly duo they scampered off.

However, before the two disappeared, they left the unsigned Christmas note behind – the first of several to soon follow, leading to the Sheriff’s initial search for their identities.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco announced the search for a pair of Santa’s supposed helpers after the two broke into his office and left behind a naughty note that foretold of much merry mayhem to come.

The taunting and hilarious Christmas pun-filled poems have only served to further push the Sheriff to put more effort and resources into the ongoing search – which to date has included both ground and air searches, as well as the use of trained bloodhounds and Special Enforcement Bureau’s SWAT members.

After Bianco announced the office break-in and asked for the public’s help identifying the then-un-named trouble-makers his office was flooded with responses that ultimately led to the pair being identified as Mary and Frank.

Although the names “Fella Nee and Miss d’Meanor”, “Stickers and Badges”, and “Lets Go and Brandon” were incredibly popular among those who joined in naming the pair, the terms Mary and Frank are common law enforcement terms for the designation of misdemeanor (Mary) and felony (Frank) crimes and seemed most appropriate. 

Once named, a slew of sightings of Santa’s absconded assistants flooded in to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department’s social media pages, clearly indicating that the merry miscreants were using powers beyond our understanding, with many sightings reported throughout the state’s third-largest county nearly simultaneously.

Contacted for further details about the pair’s apparent special powers earlier this week, Santa has remained silent; refusing to explain just how Mary and Frank can get around so quickly and elude capture so easily.

However, one North Pole local – a reindeer with a peculiarly bright and shiny red nose who requested to remain anonymous – confided to RCNS that the pair could be misusing special powers granted to them by the big jolly man himself.

Although the dastardly duo has been seen throughout Riverside, and now Imperial counties over the last two weeks, the pair of Christmas present packagers have remained just outside of the Sheriff’s reach.

As the search intensified and the pair continued to wreak havoc everywhere they were seen, K-9’s “Peyton” and “Caroline”, two Riverside County Sheriff’s bloodhounds, were nearly able to track down the hilarious Christmas helpers; however, the pair managed to stay just out of range of the dog’s highly-trained sniffers.

Soon, new confirmed sightings came in from the Sheriff’s emergency dispatch center and later at the Sheriff’s training academy at Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center; where the pair was spotted cavorting right behind the backs of deputies being prepped to join the Sheriff’s intensive search. (All of the Sheriff’s BOLO’s and sighting updates can be seen below.)

SEE RELATED:

Riverside County Sheriff seeks help identifying mischievous elves who snuck into office

UPDATE: RivCo search continuing as mischievous merry-makers – now ID’d – continue to elude capture

Now driving a Sheriff’s armored rescue vehicle RivCo search for elusive elves continuing

Although most of the initial confirmed incidents involving the pointy-hat-wearing pair involved mostly just mischievous pranks, the two ramped up their antics when they managed to steal one of the Sheriff’s armored rescue vehicles.

The Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, also known as an MRAP, is used by the department’s SWAT members during critical incidents; and the Sheriff has said he is anxious to get the enormous vehicle back before Santa’s supposed helpers cause it, or anything else, any actual damage.

Imperial County Sheriff’s officials have speculated that it was possibly the Sheriff’s large bounty sitting on the mischievous merry-makers heads that led them to make a run for the border.

While it was initially believed that the duo was planning on continuing their giggle-inducing crime wave within Riverside County, that hope was crushed when Imperial County Sheriff’s officials notified Bianco of their recent discovery of a campsite now confirmed to have once been occupied by the pair.

Although officials were able to recover evidence carelessly left behind at the rural campsite, including a significant quantity of suspected “fairy dust”, they were not able to locate the Sheriff’s missing MRAP, leading to the belief they may still be using the armored vehicle to get around the southern California area.

In a social media release following the campsite’s discovery, Imperial County Sheriff’s officials said the following:

All through the night two elves were on the run. They traveled from Riverside County as they had so much fun.

Making a mess and causing all kinds of trouble, they decided to scurry on the double.

Looking for a place they stopped for the night, under a blanket of stars shining so bright.

They soon found themselves in Imperial County not realizing that they had a bounty.

The next day our deputies were in hot pursuit, you would have thought those elves had some loot.

But when Deputies arrived only a campsite was found, and those little rascal elves were nowhere around.

And so it remains the little elves are free, to continue their shenanigans I think you would agree.

To our neighbors up north heed this warning, the elves went back across the line this morning.

We wish you luck as you search high and low, God speed and be safe as you continue to go.

Addressing reporters’ relentless questions, Bianco has said his deputies – who have been seen mobilizing throughout the region – will not stop in their now weeks-long ongoing search for a pair of elusive elves who have continued to wreak havoc not only throughout Riverside County, but now in neighboring Imperial County to the south as well.

At a recent press conference updating the public regarding the ongoing search, Bianco asked area residents to continue to be on the lookout for the elusive elves; saying, “Make sure to keep us posted if you spot these crazy elves. We need to wrangle them up before they end up on YOUR shelves!”

Bianco went on to assure the public that his deputies will continue their search until the erratic elves are apprehended and returned to their frosty home to the north.

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Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, 50, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS).

Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.

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 30 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 18 grandchildren.