Missing Horseman Leaves a Trail of Questions : Mystery: Friends and authorities are confounded by the disappearance of Rene Yanez during a nighttime ride.

More than a week later, friends and family are mystified over how Rene Yanez, an accomplished horseman, could have vanished while on a moonlit ride along the San Gabriel River.

The 21-year-old Rosemead man regularly competed in “El Paso de La Muerte,” an event in which he and other contestants jump from their galloping horses onto the bare back of a running wild horse. He also mastered the art of bull riding, tying for first place last year in the competitive event at a Phoenix, Ariz., rodeo.

Yanez’s dog and his horse, La Mora, returned to the stables Feb. 11, the day after Yanez rode off. The horse’s saddle was askew and her blanket dripping wet. The gray mare’s appearance prompted three days of continuous searching in the Whittier Narrows Flood Control Basin by friends, family members, members of other charro associations, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s divers and search-and-rescue teams.

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“We gave it an all-out effort . . . but we didn’t find anything--not a hat, or jacket or anything,” Temple Sheriff’s station Sgt. Pete Fosselman said. “It remains a mystery. . . . “

Born in Durango, Mex., Yanez came to this country at age 4 with his family, and he grew up in Rosemead.

His sister, Elsa, 25, said he has loved animals even since he was a child. Rabbits, chickens and garter snakes were his pets until his parents bought a horse to be shared by then-12-year-old Rene and his two brothers, David, now 20, and Juan, 23. The horse inspired all three boys and each soon bought his own steed.

And, when they were older, the young men formed the Mexican-style rodeo association, La Nortena, Elsa Yanez said. The group competed with other associations in the San Gabriel and San Fernando valleys and Riverside, she said. In a snapshot shown by his sister, Yanez cuts a striking figure in his wide sombrero and charro outfit astride La Mora.

Married and with a 10-month-old son, Michael, Yanez remained devoted to his horsemanship. La Mora was acquired five years ago as a wild young horse he broke and trained himself in the Whittier Narrows area. The mare must be worked daily to stay in shape, and Yanez devoted hours riding along the brushy, weed-choked trails next to the flood control channel, his sister said.

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At 9 p.m. Feb. 10, Yanez mounted La Mora and left Darlington Stables in South San Gabriel with his white pit bull terrier, Queen, for yet another jaunt along familiar trails. Night rides are not uncommon and not risky for an experienced horseman such as Yanez who knows the region well, Fosselman said.

But when the dog and mare returned to the stables, friends and family became worried, Fosselman said. They saddled up and searched the trails Yanez might have taken. When that proved fruitless, they notified the Sheriff’s Department.

More than 100 searchers combed a seven-square-mile area on foot and on horseback for three days, Fosselman said. Sheriff’s helicopters flew over the land one night with heat-seeking scanners. Sheriff’s divers plunged into the six-foot-deep, turbulent San Gabriel River to investigate underwater tunnels at the base of twisted tree roots.

Dogs picked up the missing man’s scent at a spot midway between the Whittier Narrows Dam and San Gabriel Boulevard, but a detailed search yielded nothing, Fosselman said.

Sheriff’s investigators speculate that Yanez’s mare would not have entered the water on her own, so the rider might have coaxed her to ford a stream and then become overwhelmed by the current. The fear is that Yanez drowned and that his body could turn up in the Long Beach-Seal Beach area, where the channel eventually empties into the Pacific, Fosselman said.

Another scenario could involve murder at the hands of transients known to frequent the concrete tunnels near the dam, Fosselman said.

Despite the grim scenarios, his family hopes that Yanez, an unemployed nursery worker and landscaper, might be still alive. Relatives and friends stop by the family home nightly to provide comfort.

“We haven’t given up hope,” Elsa Yanez said. “It can go either way.”