Re: Germans found (probably)
Posted by walkerskyranch on 20:10:50 11/13/09
In Reply to: Germans found (probably) posted by DVexile

DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK -- Authorities say remains found in Death Valley may be those of four German tourists, including two children, who vanished 13 years ago.

The Inyo County Sheriff's Department says two Riverside Mountain Rescue Members Tom Mahood and Les Walker found skeletal remains on Thursday in a remote area of the Southern

California desert park.

Undersheriff Jim Jones says identification for one of the missing tourists was discovered near the area where the bones were found.

Authorities will try to identify the remains and determine a cause of death.

The tourists, including two boys ages 4 and 10, vanished in Death Valley in the summer of 1996, when daytime temperatures had topped 120 degrees.

The four arrived in the U.S. in July, eventually making their way through California to Las Vegas in a minivan rented in Los Angeles by Cornelia Meyer, 33.

Joining Meyer on the trip was her son, Max Meyer, 4; friend Egbert Rimkus, 33, and Rimkus' son, Georg Weber, 10.

Records indicate that they checked out of their Treasure Island hotel room July 22, paying cash, and drove that same day to Death Valley.

A July 23 entry in a visitor's guest book in the national park reads, "We crossed the pass," and was signed, "Conny, Egbert, Georg and Max."

Investigators have no leads to explain what happened between July 23 and Oct. 23 when the minivan was recovered.

The vehicle was found abandoned with three flat tires in a ravine off Anvil Spring Canyon

Inside investigators found an American flag taken from a cabin in Butte Valley, five miles from the vehicle's location; a booklet on Death Valley purchased at the visitor's center on July 22; and numerous personal items, including photos.

Nevada and California authorities used helicopters and dozens of searchers to scour the area but found nothing.

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