Searchers Give Up Hope Of Finding Hiker Alive / Marin woman missing in Siskiyou County forest

2000-08-25 04:00:00 PDT SISKIYOU COUNTY -- The search for an elderly San Anselmo woman was called off last night after rescue teams scoured nearly five square miles of steep, rocky terrain in Siskiyou County without success.

"The assumption at this point is that she's not alive," said Grizz Adams, a spokesman for the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Department.

Rosemary Kunst, 70, vanished in the rugged Marble Mountain Wilderness area last Friday.

The search was called off at about 6 p.m. after frustrated rescue crews, search dogs and helicopters came up empty.

It was a horrible day for a family who just 18 months ago spent weeks by Kunst's side in a hospital after she barely survived a car crash that killed her husband, Bud.

Adams said law enforcement officials have no reason to believe Kunst was the victim of a crime. Nor do they believe she took her own life.

"There's just no evidence of anything. There's nothing to go on," said Adams from a command post set up at a small airport in Scott Valley. More than 150 people, including volunteers, National Guard troops and law enforcement rescue teams, have combed a remote area around Spirit Lake.

Four strands of Kunst's hair, found Tuesday in thick brush far from any trails, were the only clue discovered. Adams said investigators haven't been able to use the hairs to develop any theories as to what happened.

Kunst was attending a weeklong retreat run by the Earth Circle Association, an organization in nearby Quartz Valley that teaches Native American spiritualism and environmental practices. The group, with about 20 people, hiked 12 miles to the small, oval-shaped mountain lake in an area known as Wooley Creek, surrounded by some of Northern California's most rugged terrain. The trek was supposed to be a spiritual awakening for Kunst after the trauma she suffered in the car crash.

On Friday, the day before the group was scheduled to return, Kunst skipped a day hike. At about 1 p.m., she said she was going on a short walk "to try to mingle with the spirit of her deceased husband," Adams said. She was last seen heading toward a ridge on the south end of Spirit Lake. Kunst's three sons have been involved in the search and reluctantly concurred with the decision to end the effort, said Vicki Kunst, Rosemary Kunst's daughter- in-law.

"I think we're resolved to thinking she probably hasn't made it," Vicki Kunst said. "It's awful. You still want to have hope, but you have to face reality. It will take a miracle to see her again."

Rosemary Kunst also has three daughters.

Adams said he and other officials will meet with family members this weekend to go over everything they know. The family is expected to turn over dental records and other information that the sheriff's department will keep on file.

But there will be no active effort to find Kunst unless new clues surface, Adams said.

"What's so sad is that we all rallied around her when she was in the hospital," Vicki Kunst said from her home in Paradise (Butte County). "That woman already came through her walk with death. Now this."