TeddyKGBee



Trad climber Chester Springs Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 2, 2013 - 12:57pm PT Details of Matt's Disappearance



Overview:

Matt was hiking/climbing with some friends in the Mammoth Lakes region and staying at the Shady Rest campground. Prior to his disappearance he happened upon some car trouble (his Subaru blew a head gasket). Matt stayed behind while his car was repaired at the Norco Goodyear repair shop with plans to meet up with friends in CO down the line. His last known phone call was to the repair shop around 4:30 pm on July 16th, with some texts to said friend around 8-8:30 that same night. Additionally, his last use of credit cards was a purchase in mammoth lakes that same day.

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When Matt did not meet up with friends as planned, it was discovered that his car was waiting, fixed, for over a week and he had not returned to the campsite where his gear was and where he had been paying day-to-day in antipation of his car being ready on the 18th and moving on. Matt's friends called the MLPD, and Detective Hornbeck then called my parents. Matt's cell phone is dead and/or untraceable. It's also possible that it's damaged or he is just somewhere he can't get a signal; there is no way to tell. The last signal was traced to a cell phone tower on top of Mammoth Mountain that was pointing north towards the main ski area.



Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Matthew Greene is requested to contact the Mammoth Lakes Police Department at (760) 934-2011 or the Mono County Sheriffs Office at (760) 932-7549 X17.





Description of Matt:

Matt is 39, approximately 5'11", 155 lb, with blondish/brown short hair and blue eyes. He had a blue hat, and was probably wearing a long sleeve shirt with a darker (green/black) short sleeve on top.



Gear:

He was carrying a large black/white backpack (pictured directly in back of his car in the picture), yellow LaSportiva Nepal Extremes boots, crampons, and one ice axe. He did not have his tent, bivvy, sleeping bag, stove, or green heavy jacket indicating he only expected to do a day hike.



Last known contacts:

His Father via phone: July 16th

Friend via text (no info): night of July 16th



Thinking of Matt's possible hikes/climbs:

According to his interest, proximity, and limited information and conversations that he had with others prior to his disappearance, the search has focused on the Mt Ritter and Banner area, Minaret's. OnJuly 11th, he climbed Clyde Minaret, the same day he talked to a local about Ritter, banner, and the cross country hike between Ediza, Iceberg, Cecile, and Minaret lake.



There was also reason to believe that he was interested in climbing Lyell, but that was put into question as to the feasibility of transportation to from Mammoth Lake at an early enough time to do it in one day.



Experience:

Matt was a very experienced climber, hiker, runner, and in very good shape. He'll get on 5.10 trad with a good partner he trusts, but would tone it down when climbing with someone new. He does not free solo as a habit, but is very comfortable on 4th and easy 5th class. He has climbed a few of the classic routes in Tuolumne (west crack, regular route) and a couple of routes in Yosemite around Bishop's Terrace. I believe he has been on tenaya, cathedral and conness in past years. Matt also has a lot of experience in the backcountry and on long hikes. A 30 mile day would be nothing for Matt to consider. He would feel comfortable doing most solo hikes/climbs in the park and surrounding areas.



Search efforts to date:

SAR was out on both Ritter and Banner last weekend as well as had a chopper that covered some of the snow fields for about 30 minutes. The registries for Ritter and Banner were not signed by Matt. Without more information, they couldn't proceed with further efforts. Additionally, to make things harder, the area that is suggested as a possibility is in another county jurisdiction, which makes organizing the search more challenging for allocating resources.



Right now, SAR has put together some flyers asking for anyone and everyone hiking and climbing in those areas to CHECK the registries. Please do so if you're out there and help spread the word. This will be posted at all major climber hangouts in the region, but please help to spread this via word of mouth. The focus areas is in the Minerats right now since the limited info suggests that more so than any other location. However, there is always the possibility of the wildcard and he jumped the YART and headed into the park.



All permit offices were checked and those with permits from the time frame before and after he was missing are being contacted. Matt was known to get an early start, so it's very possible that he could have been the 1st one on the trail.



In addition to the backcountry search, his credit cards, cell phone (which is dead) are being tracked.



Some of Matt's friends are heading out west this weekend to continue to search. If anyone is interested in helping, please let me know and I will get you the details as soon as I have them.



Other Resources:



1. Facebook page: www.facebook.com/findmattgreene

2. Flickr Page with lots of photos: http://www.flickr.com/groups/findmattgreene/

3. Flyer: http://socalcrisis.org/findmattgreene

4. Mono County Sheriff: http://www.monosheriff.org/

5. And tons of news stories (google Matthew Greene, Missing)



INFO MAP:



Here is a map that catalogues the suggestions and some search efforts from this and other forums. I will try to add it as new info becomes available. Please provide suggestions for info to add.



https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zn3r74pmynOE.kUAGPbbv8mwo

