Northern California's rescue teams have scaled back their search efforts for a missing hiker, indicating that they don't suspect any foul play in her disappearance from the wooded area in Calaveras County. Ann Herford, a 66-year-old travel nurse from Michigan, was reported missing on November 14 while on the Arnold Rim Trail, as confirmed by authorities from the Calaveras County Sheriff's Office.
Despite the involvement of over a dozen public agencies in the search, Sheriff Rick DiBasilio recently declared that the quest for Herford will persist in a more limited capacity due to the lack of success in locating her.
Investigators believe that a criminal act was not a contributing factor in the disappearance of Ann Herford according to DiBasilio.
On November 12, a local resident sighted Herford, two days prior before she was reported missing and three days before her car was discovered parked at the Arnold Rim Trail System's trailhead. She had been staying alone at a Best Western Hotel in Sonora, situated south of the trail.
According to family members, the travel nurse enjoys hiking but lacks survival skills, typically never venturing more than a few miles at a time. Travel nurses work temporary positions, often in hospitals, in response to the industry's shortage of nurses.
Despite deploying skilled rescue teams, drones, and trained canines across a 12-mile radius in the mountainous area following Herford's disappearance, authorities confirmed the absence of any trace of the missing hiker.