Woman survives eight days in wrecked SUV

[mr friendly guy]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/28/woman. ... index.html

SEATTLE, Washington (AP) -- A woman who spent eight days trapped in a wrecked vehicle has severe injuries, but her brain function is normal and she can move her arms and legs, her physician said Friday.

Tanya Rider, 33, was found alive but dehydrated at the bottom of a steep ravine in suburban Maple Valley on Thursday, more than a week after she failed to return home from work. After being cut out of her SUV by rescuers, she was taken to Seattle's Harborview Medical Center, where she was in critical condition.

Dr. Lisa McIntyre said during a hospital news conference Friday that while Rider was doing better, she's "not out of the woods yet." McIntyre said Rider's kidneys failed because of toxins from a muscle injury in the crash and dehydration. She was being treated with intravenous fluids.

Rider was sedated and on a ventilator, McIntyre said. In addition to her kidney failure, she was being treated for extensive sores from lying in the same position for a week and nearly had to have a leg amputated, said her husband, Tom Rider.

Her husband also said Friday he was frustrated by the red tape he had to fight to get authorities to launch a search for his wife more than a week after she disappeared. Video Watch how husband says no one would listen »

"She's a fighter, obviously," Rider said. "She fought to stay alive in the car and she's fighting now."

Authorities found the Maple Valley woman after detecting the general location of her cell phone Thursday morning, then searching along Highway 169 near Renton, southeast of Seattle, the route she took home from work. They noticed some matted brush, and below it found Rider's vehicle, smashed on its side, State Patrol spokesman Jeff Merrill said

Tanya Rider left work at a Fred Meyer grocery store in Bellevue on September 19 but never made it home. When her husband couldn't reach her, he said, he called Bellevue police to report his wife missing.

Bellevue police took the report right away, but when they found video of Tanya Rider getting into her car after work, they told her husband the case was out of their jurisdiction and he should notify King County, he said. Tom Rider said he tried that, but "the first operator I talked to on the first day I tried to report it flat denied to start a missing persons report because she didn't meet the criteria," he said.

"I basically hounded them until they started a case and then, of course, I was the first focal point, so I tried to get myself out of the way as quickly as possible. I let them search the house. I told them they didn't have to have a warrant for anything, just ask," he said.

Thursday morning, detectives asked him to come in to sign for a search of phone records. They also asked him to take a polygraph test.

"By the time he was done explaining the polygraph test to me, the detective burst into the room with a cell phone map that had a circle on it," he said.

His wife's car tumbled about 20 feet down a ravine and lay buried below brush and blackberry bushes. The air bags deployed, but she was injured and trapped. Rescuers had to cut the roof off to get her out.

"I know there were delays (in finding her) because of red tape," Tom Rider said.

Tom Rider said he also drove the route where his wife was found but didn't see any sign of a crash. He also offered a $25,000 reward for any information leading to her safe return.

Authorities said they followed procedure in the case.

"It's not that we didn't take him seriously," Deputy Rodney C. Chinnick said. "We don't take every missing person report on adults. ... If we did, we'd be doing nothing but going after missing person reports."

Now I saw this on the news and thought it would be interesting considering police were alleged to have taken their sweet time about it and when they did started investigating the husband. If she was found earlier she would have likely not have sustained kidney failure.

[Broomstick]

If she was found earlier she would have likely not have sustained kidney failure.

I would think that would be dependent on the nature of the muscle injury. There are instances where even with immediate medical attention a severe crush injury can still lead to kidney failure due to breakdown products.

But yeah, being found earlier would unquestionably have been better for her.

[mr friendly guy]

If she was found earlier she would have likely not have sustained kidney failure.

I would think that would be dependent on the nature of the muscle injury. There are instances where even with immediate medical attention a severe crush injury can still lead to kidney failure due to breakdown products.

But yeah, being found earlier would unquestionably have been better for her.

I don't deal with trauma much, but my understanding is that myoglobins and other muscle break down products which are toxic to the kidney is usually from prolong periods of immobility, although a severe injury to the muscle would give similar results I guess. Her condition no doubt was made worse with dehydration from being stuck there 8 days.

[weemadando]

I think the bigger story is the fact that the police refused the husbands requests to assist with a search for her and in fact, arrested him for her murder.

I smell a massive out of court settlement coming.

[Big Phil]

I think the bigger story is the fact that the police refused the husbands requests to assist with a search for her and in fact, arrested him for her murder.

I smell a massive out of court settlement coming.

The followed policy to the letter - even the world's biggest ambulance chaser would think twice about suing a government organization that followed their own policy to the letter.

[weemadando]

I think the bigger story is the fact that the police refused the husbands requests to assist with a search for her and in fact, arrested him for her murder.

I smell a massive out of court settlement coming.

The followed policy to the letter - even the world's biggest ambulance chaser would think twice about suing a government organization that followed their own policy to the letter.

The reports in Australia had been quite different. They've seemed to focus on the fact that the police refused to investigate the disappearance any further than investigating the husband.

[Howedar]

I think the bigger story is the fact that the police refused the husbands requests to assist with a search for her and in fact, arrested him for her murder.

I smell a massive out of court settlement coming.

The followed policy to the letter - even the world's biggest ambulance chaser would think twice about suing a government organization that followed their own policy to the letter.

Why? If the policy doesn't make sense (and as far as I can tell, here it does not make sense), why is suing out of the question? The US followed policy in the internment of Japanese-descended residents in WW2, yet paid reparations to these people decades later.

[Big Phil]

I think the bigger story is the fact that the police refused the husbands requests to assist with a search for her and in fact, arrested him for her murder.

I smell a massive out of court settlement coming.

The followed policy to the letter - even the world's biggest ambulance chaser would think twice about suing a government organization that followed their own policy to the letter.

The reports in Australia had been quite different. They've seemed to focus on the fact that the police refused to investigate the disappearance any further than investigating the husband.

Those reports are wrong - that's what the woman's husband has been claiming (understandably), but the local papers have been a shade more neutral, and have published both the husband's complaints and the KCSD policy (and how the department followed it correctly).

[Big Phil]

The followed policy to the letter - even the world's biggest ambulance chaser would think twice about suing a government organization that followed their own policy to the letter.

Why? If the policy doesn't make sense (and as far as I can tell, here it does not make sense), why is suing out of the question? The US followed policy in the internment of Japanese-descended residents in WW2, yet paid reparations to these people decades later.[/quote]

How does the policy not make sense? I'll quote from an article:

The sheriff's office has said it initiates missing person investigations if there is evidence of foul play or if the person is very young or particularly vulnerable, either from age, illness or mental capacity.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/333730_tanya30.html

Here's another article indicating why the sheriff's department behaved as it did:

Initially detectives in the Sheriff's Office suspected Rider had run off or was the victim of a crime, Merrill said. After she was reported missing, detectives noticed activity on one of Rider's bank accounts and assumed she was still alive.

Later detectives discovered that the activity was from one of her husband's credit cards. When they realized Rider hadn't been using the account, they looked for her cellphone signal, Merrill said.

http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.c ... e=20070928

Given that the sheriff's department thought that Tanya Rider had disappeared of her own volition, it made sense for them not to start a massive search immediately. Adults have every right to up and disappear if they choose (at least in the US) - the policy works fine most of the time; it's only when something like this happens that it looks foolish.

[Howedar]

Why not look for the cell signal concurrently with bank statements, especially when it's par for the course for a married couple to share a bank account?

It's not as if that action takes any meaningful money or time.

[fgalkin]

How does the policy not make sense? I'll quote from an article:

The sheriff's office has said it initiates missing person investigations if there is evidence of foul play or if the person is very young or particularly vulnerable, either from age, illness or mental capacity.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/333730_tanya30.html

Because a missing person case should be opened when the person is, you know, missing, regardless if it's an adult, a child, or an Alzheimer's patient.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Why not look for the cell signal concurrently with bank statements, especially when it's par for the course for a married couple to share a bank account?

It's not as if that action takes any meaningful money or time.

Sounds like the detectives had a case of "conspiracy theorist" mania.

Or they got lazy and didn't want to go searching.

[Big Phil]

How does the policy not make sense? I'll quote from an article:

The sheriff's office has said it initiates missing person investigations if there is evidence of foul play or if the person is very young or particularly vulnerable, either from age, illness or mental capacity.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/333730_tanya30.html

Because a missing person case should be opened when the person is, you know, missing, regardless if it's an adult, a child, or an Alzheimer's patient.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

And if the person disappears on purpose? For example, a wife running from an abusive husband?

[Flagg]

How does the policy not make sense? I'll quote from an article:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/333730_tanya30.html

Because a missing person case should be opened when the person is, you know, missing, regardless if it's an adult, a child, or an Alzheimer's patient.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

And if the person disappears on purpose? For example, a wife running from an abusive husband?

The police should still investigate.

[Siege]

And if the person disappears on purpose? For example, a wife running from an abusive husband?

Can your police smell why someone has disappeared?

[Big Phil]

And if the person disappears on purpose? For example, a wife running from an abusive husband?

The police should still investigate.

You realize the implications of this, right?

[Flagg]

And if the person disappears on purpose? For example, a wife running from an abusive husband?

The police should still investigate.

You realize the implications of this, right?

That the police will investigate a person reported as missing, find out what the situation is, and procede from there?

[ArmorPierce]

And if the person disappears on purpose? For example, a wife running from an abusive husband?

The police should still investigate.

You realize the implications of this, right?

From personal experience, none. Police finds you and discovers that you are not missing, they do not have to tell everyone where you are, they simply take you off the missing persons list.

[Howedar]

And if the person disappears on purpose? For example, a wife running from an abusive husband?

The police should still investigate.

You realize the implications of this, right?

You realize that you're saying the police make better decisions based on worse information, right?

[Big Phil]

The police should still investigate.

You realize the implications of this, right?

That the police will investigate a person reported as missing, find out what the situation is, and procede from there?

OK - let's bring this back to the situation at hand, rather than all disappearances and missing persons cases. A wife disappears on her way home. The police have a policy (right or wrong) that they don't accept missing persons reports for a day or two, because in the majority of cases (according to them, I can't find any statistics to support or contradict this) people who are missing turn up in a day or two. There is apparently activity on the woman's bank card, suggesting that she disappeared on her own.

What sort of search should the police have launched immediately? Keep in mind, pulling officers off of patrol duty to search for a woman who, by all appearances, disappeared of her own volition, means you won't have officers out on patrol. And (again according to the police) in most cases people who disappear like this turn up on their own in a couple of days.

[Howedar]

As already mentioned, spouses sharing a bank account is common. Further, I don't think anyone is suggesting that searching should begin immediately. However, don't you think there's a bit of a difference between two days and eight?

[Big Phil]

As already mentioned, spouses sharing a bank account is common. Further, I don't think anyone is suggesting that searching should begin immediately. However, don't you think there's a bit of a difference between two days and eight?

Don't you think there's a difference between taking eight days to find her and eight days to begin searching?

[Howedar]

As already mentioned, spouses sharing a bank account is common. Further, I don't think anyone is suggesting that searching should begin immediately. However, don't you think there's a bit of a difference between two days and eight?

Don't you think there's a difference between taking eight days to find her and eight days to begin searching?

Tanya Rider, 33, was found alive but dehydrated at the bottom of a steep ravine in suburban Maple Valley on Thursday

...

Thursday morning, detectives asked him to come in to sign for a search of phone records. They also asked him to take a polygraph test.

"By the time he was done explaining the polygraph test to me, the detective burst into the room with a cell phone map that had a circle on it," he said.

Why no, I don't. Did you read the OP?

[Big Phil]

I know the kneejerk reaction is blame the cops for not immediately beginning to look for this woman, but in doing so you are ignoring the larger question of where do you want police resources committed? If they act the way some of you are suggesting they should every time a missing persons report is filed, the police themselves are saying they wouldn't have time for anything but to look for missing people.

It's unfortunate what happened to this woman, but the police and sheriff's department responsibilities are generally crime prevention and public safety, not searching for missing people. If you think that should change, at least take the time to think through the implications of such a change, and what that would require in terms of manpower and funding.

Last updated September 28, 2007 8:18 a.m. PT
Woman found after 8 days; Husband says red tape delayed search

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MAPLE VALLEY, Wash. -- During the eight days that Tanya Rider lay seriously injured in her crashed SUV, her husband was fighting red tape to get authorities to launch a search for her, he said Friday.

Rider, 33, was found alive but dehydrated at the bottom of a steep ravine on Thursday, more than a week after she failed to return home from work.

Authorities had been able to detect the general location of her cell phone that morning, then searched along the highway she traveled from work in suburban Seattle to her Maple Valley home. They noticed some matted brush, and below it they found Rider's Honda Element, smashed on its side, State Patrol spokesman Jeff Merrill said.

"She looks very pale, very dehydrated. She didn't have a lot of cuts but had difficulty breathing," Merrill said.

Friday morning, Rider was sedated in critical condition and fighting for her life at Harborview Medical Center, her husband, Tom Rider said.

"She's a fighter, obviously," Rider told The Associated Press. "She fought to stay alive in the car and she's fighting now."

He said her kidneys failed but were slowly recovering, adding that she also was being treated for extensive sores from lying in the same position for a week and nearly had to have a leg amputated.

"All I know is that she's here and she's alive, and that, in itself, is a miracle," he told CNN. "She's alive after eight days. If God was going to take her, he would have taken her before that."

Tanya Rider left work at a Fred Meyer grocery store in Bellevue on Sept. 19 but never made it home. When her husband couldn't reach her, he said, he called Bellevue police to report his wife missing.

Bellevue police took the report right away, but when they found video of Tanya Rider getting into her car after work, they told her husband the case was out of their jurisdiction and he should notify King County, he said.

Tom Rider said he tried that, but "the first operator I talked to on the first day I tried to report it flat denied to start a missing persons report because she didn't meet the criteria," he said.

"I basically hounded them until they started a case and then, of course, I was the first focal point, so I tried to get myself out of the way as quickly as possible. I let them search the house. I told them they didn't have to have a warrant for anything, just ask," he said.

Tom Rider said he also drove the route where his wife was found but didn't see any sign of a crash. He also offered a $25,000 reward for any information leading to her safe return.

Thursday morning, detectives asked him to come in to sign for a search of phone records. They also asked him to take a polygraph test.

"By the time he was done explaining the polygraph test to me, the detective burst into the room with a cell phone map that had a circle on it," Tom Rider said Friday. He said the detective started explaining the blip they had found and within minutes, news arrived that Tanya Rider had been found.

Her car had tumbled about 20 feet down a ravine and lay buried below heavy brush and blackberry bushes. The air bags deployed, but she was injured and trapped. Rescuers had to cut the roof off to get her out.

"I know there were delays (in finding her) because of red tape," Tom Rider said.

A King County Sheriff's spokesman expressed sympathy but said the agency followed standard procedure in the case.

"That's a terrible, terrible experience ... a heart-wrenching experience, and my heart goes out to him," Deputy Rodney C. Chinnick said Friday.

"It's not that we didn't take him seriously," Chinnick said. "We don't take every missing person report on adults. ... If we did, we'd be doing nothing but going after missing person reports."

Adults are entitled to privacy if they decide to do something out of the ordinary, and Chinnick said Rider's initial missing person report did not contain either of the two elements that would trigger an immediate search: evidence of foul play or unusual vulnerability such as age, mental condition or lack of critical medications.

"Not showing up at home is not illegal," he said.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/642 ... found.html

[Big Phil]

As already mentioned, spouses sharing a bank account is common. Further, I don't think anyone is suggesting that searching should begin immediately. However, don't you think there's a bit of a difference between two days and eight?

Don't you think there's a difference between taking eight days to find her and eight days to begin searching?

Tanya Rider, 33, was found alive but dehydrated at the bottom of a steep ravine in suburban Maple Valley on Thursday

...

Thursday morning, detectives asked him to come in to sign for a search of phone records. They also asked him to take a polygraph test.

"By the time he was done explaining the polygraph test to me, the detective burst into the room with a cell phone map that had a circle on it," he said.

Why no, I don't. Did you read the OP?

My understanding is that they began the investigation on the 23rd, when the missing persons report was officially filed. By my count, that's only four days after she disappeared, not eight.

Thursday, September 27, 2007
Last updated 12:40 a.m. PT
Police looking for woman missing a week

P-I STAFF

King County Sheriff's investigators are looking for a Maple Valley woman who has been missing since leaving her overnight shift a week ago at a Bellevue Fred Meyer, a department spokesman said Wednesday.

Tanya Rider, 33, was last seen about 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 19. She was reported missing Sept. 23, Deputy Rodney Chinnick said.

She was last seen driving a blue 2007 Honda Element. Rider recently purchased the vehicle, so it had no license plates. A temporary license sticker likely would have been hanging in the rear window, Chinnick said.

Rider was described as white, 5-feet-10 and 145 pounds.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Sheriff's Office at 206-296-3311.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/333 ... ing27.html