Traveling nurse from Michigan goes missing on California hike

A traveling nurse practitioner from Michigan has gone missing on a California hike in Calaveras County, officials said.

Ann Herford, 66, was reported missing when she failed to arrive at Adventist Health in Sonora for work last week. Investigators from the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office learned she was staying at the Best Western in Sonora and had told a friend over breakfast on Nov. 11 that she was hoping to do some hiking in the area. 

On Wednesday, a California Highway Patrol officer discovered Herford’s car at the Arnold Rim trailhead, about a 45-minute drive from the Best Western where she was staying. When the neighborhood was canvassed for leads, it was learned the car had been parked there since at least Nov. 12, and a resident reported seeing Herford “near the trailhead,” the sheriff’s office said.

“It’s not typical that someone will be staying the night out here,” sheriff’s office Sgt. Chad Poortingha told KCRA. “Come nightfall, and if there are still cars out here and if they are not staying the night, that’s a cause for concern.”

The effort to find Herford has been extensive, with search-and-rescue teams from across the state, canine units and CHP air support. Although Herford is a frequent hiker, her family told searchers that she “lacked wilderness survival skills, never planning more than a couple of miles at a time.”

“The Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office is requesting that persons in the area of the Lakemont subdivision which surround the Arnold Rim Trail check their immediate property and outbuildings,” the sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook Saturday.

Anyone with information about Herford’s whereabouts is asked to contact the sheriff’s office at 209-754-6500.