Waiting for Justin Samenfeld to get back to me in the morning. He's burning $3k an hour on helicopters. :/
BTW, it turns out there's a registry of volunteer drone pilots for doing SAR (search-and-rescue) called SWARM, whose website is this:
I don't know how helpful this would be for the current situation, given that the California pilots seem not to be at all close by (at least the cities I recognize), though perhaps the list is worth a look:
http://sardrones.org/search-and-rescue-drones/sar-drones-wor...
(There's also a guide for volunteer pilots on procedures that might be helpful:
http://sardrones.org/swarm-standard-operating-procedure-sop/ )
Some details, from a Facebook post [0] by a friend of theirs:
Hi Everyone, here's the official update from the parents to put everyone at ease.
From the parents that spoke with both Masha and Aaron:
They were at the sand dunes at Osborne Lookout, left their car there on Sunday (their last wifi signal) and went on a day hike to take pictures. They got lost while out on their hike and could see a red light flashing in the distance so they started walking direction. Spent 5 days walking in the desert without food and little water. In order conserve their water they also drank their own urine. They saw helicopters flying, and actually were able to light a fire to get attention but no one was able to see them.
They walked all the way to the cell tower until they ran into some maintenance workers at the tower who then contacted the Border Patrol. The Border Patrol contacted family and the investigator with LAPD and took them back to their car at Osborne Lookout.
The Border Patrol guided them back out of the park and they are now headed to meet up with family, friends and the rescue team to celebrate.
Just a Note: That tip from Devin Adkins was correct!
Devin Adkins i think i might have spoke to her on sunday giving direction to osborn over look where she could take some pics' of the dunes i also posted it up on the Glamis beach store facebook page
[0] https://www.facebook.com/icanseeyourprivacy/posts/1015418988...
https://www.theeastsiderla.com/2016/11/elysian-valley-couple...
If so, there's information on the GoFundMe page -- in the comments as well as the main content -- linked in the article:
https://www.gofundme.com/2zdy25w
This Gofundme was created by Justin Samenfeld, Jake Smith, and Briana Gonzales of Los Angeles, California to raise money for the search and rescue of Aaron Morganstein and Masha Mitkova. Aaron and Masha are two extraordinarily bright, family-oriented, loving individuals who come from WONDERFUL families. They are good-natured, honest, sweet, peaceful, highly intelligent, creative and genuine people who brighten up the lives of everyone around them.
One possible scenario is that they suffered a mechanical breakdown in a remote road or wash, similar to the Death Valley Germans. If they had, say, a 5 gal jug of water in their car (as one should, if headed into the desert), they could survive much longer if they remained with the car, did not eat, and did not exert themselves.
Priority obviously needs to be locating the car, which aerial searches are pretty good for.
Edit: just wanted to also mention you can rent PLBs (personal locator beacon).
On a site called outdoorgearlab.com, which has reviews of a number of units, one stood out in particular for being simple, well-reviewed (there and elsewhere) and relatively inexpensive.
The ACR ResQlink 406 Personal Locator Beacon, reviewed here [0], is around $250-$300, has a 5-year battery and doesn't require any subscription/data-plan, like some units that can send msgs do -- it just reliably sends S.O.S. messages to the relevant satellites in orbit (and it will send such messages at 5 watts, which is around 2.5 - 12x the power used by some other units -- helpful when sending data to a satellite).
There's a ResQlink+ model now too -- it's buoyant (the ResQlink is not) so it floats (but doesn't come w/a case, from what I read and is about 20 grams heavier).
[0] http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Personal-Locator-Beacon-Review...
I didn't bother getting one with a plan (seemed like a waste), I just have it for emergencies.
If you do buy one then make sure to check the battery expiration date, also good to check it when you buy a "new" battery. Last time I bought a new battery it was over a year old (sent it back).
For anyone buying a PLB, make sure it broadcasts at 406 MHz and 121.5 MHz (long range / short range)
[0] https://www.acrartex.com/info/2016-usa-promotions/
[1] https://www.acrartex.com/media/1377019/epirb-us-rebate-form-...