Terrain Hampers FBI’s Search for Missing Trio

With its rich mining history, this rugged Sierra Nevada outpost has been a sprawling and complex maze for investigators trying to hunt down clues to the disappearance of three sightseers.

Along with deep canyons, steep mountains, brush-covered hillsides and a labyrinth of waterways, there are caves, old railroad tunnels and abandoned mine shafts as deep as 2,000 feet to inspect.

James M. Maddock, California’s top FBI agent, said Friday that the bureau has “put out the call for any kind of equipment that could help” in the search for evidence.

Maddock waved off a specific question about whether infrared equipment was being used.

He said he would elaborate on search methods late next week. Agents have been venturing into the search area on all-terrain vehicles, looking for disturbed ground or evidence linked to the sightseers’ rental car, which also is missing.

Carole Sund, 42, of Eureka, her 15-year-old daughter Julie, and Silvina Pelosso, a 16-year-old family friend from Cordoba, Argentina, vanished Feb. 15.

The FBI believes they met violent deaths soon after they were seen leaving a restaurant next to the Cedar Lodge, where they had been staying during a trip to Yosemite National Park.

One of the areas that has been under the FBI’s scrutiny is the steep mountain behind the lodge, terrain that is inaccessible by car and covered with thick brush and poison oak.

Other focuses of the search include railroad corridors and old mines.

About 50 agents have followed up hundreds of tips, but the only evidence made public so far is Carole Sund’s black leather billfold, found Feb. 19 on a street in Modesto, a two-hour drive down winding, narrow roads from El Portal.