The search for Michael Thomas Moening is over with an unfortunate end. Micheal and his dogs were found today deceased in the woods by friends and family. Foul play is not suspected.
No further information is available at this time. Investigators continue to work this case.
FLAGSTAFF — Coconino County Sheriff’s Deputies and Detectives are attempting to locate 44 year old Michael Thomas Moening. Investigators believe that the last time Michael was in contact with his friends or family members was approximately 2 weeks ago. A hiker who was on a dirt road close to the Mountainaire Community reported seeing Mr. Moening’s vehicle abandoned for at least 4 days. Responding Deputies checked Michael’s home located in Mountainaire and it was obvious that he had not been there for quite some time. It is believed Mr. Moening has his two adult Boxer dogs with him. He is a white male, 5’11”, 165 lbs, blue eyes, balding with red/brown hair on the sides.
Anyone with information regarding circumstances leading up to Michael Moening’s disappearance or knowledge of his current whereabouts is asked to call the Coconino County Sherriff’s Office at 928-774-4523 or 1-800-338-7888 or Silent Witness 928-774-6111.
JACOB LAKE — There has, apparently, been a generous amount of offers by citizens to assist in the search or Jerold Williams, the five-year-old missing since yesterday. With several agencies already on scene, however, the Coconino County Sheriff’s office is requesting that the public only call in any known information to 928-226-5012. They would like to keep the phone line open only for tips and not for general inquires. Any unauthorized search parties risks erasing clues which might lead to the whereabouts of the five-year-old.
UPDATED: 8/7, 9:27: Photo added
Jacobs Lake, AZ — The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office received the report yesterday at about 5:30 p.m. of a missing 5 year-old boy at an unimproved campsite located approximately 12 miles south of Jacobs Lake in the area of Highway 67 off of Forest Service Road 241. This area lies within the northern portion of the Kaibab National Forest.
Jerold Joseph Williams is described as a white male, 5 years of age, approximately 3’6” in height, and weighing approximately 35 pounds. He has brown eyes and brown hair cut very short. Jerold’s mother described him as having a thin build and a light complexion. Jerold had visible facial abrasions and was last seen wearing a gray or tan shirt size (4) and a pair of blue jean pants size (4) and hiking boots size (12) and white long handled underwear.
Coconino County Sheriff’s Deputies were immediately dispatched to the campsite. Upon their arrival they spoke with the missing child’s mother who identified her son as Jerold Joseph Williams.
According to Mrs. Williams she and her son were with 15 to 20 other friends and family members who were camping in the area. At approximately 1:30 pm Jerold and his mother were approximately 100 to 200 yards from the camp site and Jerold was chasing grasshoppers. Mrs. Williams lost site of the child and for the following 4 hours members of the camping group to include Mrs. Williams searched for Jerold. At approximately 5:30 pm the decision was made to call the Sheriff’s Office.
The search continued through the night with personnel from various agencies, 2 search dogs and two night-vision equipped helicopters from Nellis Air Force Base searched the area where Jerold was believed to be missing.
Anyone with information regarding the possible location of Jerold Williams or the circumstances leading up to his disappearance is urged to call the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office.
Coconino County Sheriff photo
Deputies from the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office Page Substation responded with National Park Service Rangers from Lees Ferry. The victim, a 22 year old male from Oregon was located in the canyon between Lees Ferry Road and the Colorado River.
He had sustained a dislocated knee during a short fall in the wash and was experiencing severe pain. Due to the seriousness of the injury, National Park Service Rangers and Sheriff’s Deputies carried the victim to the Colorado River where they were met by medical staff of Classic Lifeguard Air Medical Services. The victim was flown out of the canyon and transported to the Flagstaff Medical Center for his injuries.
FLAGSTAFF/KACHINA VILLAGE — On Thursday, July 30, 2015 at about 7:00 am a 15 year-old female was walking on Ancient Trail which is a paved road in Kachina Village. She was aware that a male who was wearing a colored hooded sweat shirt with the hood pulled over his head was walking approximately 25 yards behind her. The subject was walking two small to medium sized white dogs.
As she approached the Kachina Utilities building she took the Pump House Wash dirt trail. The subject continued walking on Ancient and passed the trail head for Pump House Wash. Further down the trail the female realized the subject was now behind her again at about 25 yards.
She followed the trail to Kona which is a paved road in the area of Highlands Fire Department Station 21. She continued East on Kona and at one point turned around to see the subject standing behind a white SUV and peeking at her. She took a video of the suspect with her cell phone. [Video nor photo attached with press release.]
The female continued East on Kona and the male walked West on Kona towards Kletha. Deputies are seeking to identify and locate this individual in an attempt to determine what his intentions were.
Anyone who has had a similar experience or believes they may have information about this incident is urged to call the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office at the numbers listed below or Silent Witness of Coconino County at (928) 774-6111. We need your information not your name.
FLAGSTAFF — On Saturday at 4:35 pm the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a third party regarding a subject residing in Kachina Village who made statements about harming himself. While deputies were responding to the home, information was obtained that the presence of Sheriff’s Deputies could further aggravate the subject who was armed with multiple firearms. Deputies staged in the area of the residence to establish a perimeter around the home in case the subject attempted to leave the residence.
From these staged locations deputies reached out to family members and friends of the subject in an attempt to resolve the situation peacefully. Deputies were able to meet with the subject’s father and attempted telephone contact. This telephone call ended without success in talking the subject out of the home. During this incident deputies learned the subject in crisis was a military veteran with combat deployments overseas. Deputies were able to locate another local veteran and utilized him to try to talk the subject into a peaceful solution; however, this was to no avail.
At 8:30 pm deputies received information that the subject may have ingested a large number of prescription medications. Multiple attempts to contact the subject by telephone continued to be unsuccessful. Deputies utilized thermal imaging equipment from Highlands Fire Department in an attempt to determine the subject’s location inside the home. Sheriff’s Office personnel maintained a perimeter around the residence. At 9:53 pm deputies entered the home and discovered the subject unresponsive on the living room couch holding a loaded semi-automatic pistol against his chest and a loaded high caliber rifle on the floor next to him.
Deputies secured the weapons and immediately began rendering aid to the unconscious and unresponsive subject. Highlands Fire Department Medical Personnel and Guardian Medics who were staged at a safe location near the incident responded as soon as Deputies rendered the scene safe. Guardian transported the unconscious man to the Flagstaff Medical Level 1 Trauma Center where he was treated and later regained consciousness. It is believed this individual will survive.
Kachina Village, AZ — Coconino County Sheriff’ Deputies and Detectives are asking for help from community members in identifying and locating an individual who entered a residence through an unlocked door and contacted an adult female who was taking a shower and inappropriately touched her.
On Sunday, July 26, 2015 at approximately 11:30 pm, an unidentified suspect entered a residence located in the Kachina Village Community through an unlocked door. The suspect walked through the residence and entered a bathroom where he found the female victim who was in the process of taking a shower and inappropriately and illegally touched her. The victim screamed at the suspect ordering him to leave her home. Eventually the suspect left the residence.
The victim described the suspect as a Hispanic male that appeared to be in his mid-30s, approximately 5’8” tall with a skinny build, no visible scars, marks, or tattoos. Prominent features include unusually large round eyes (possibly from drug intoxication) with a predominant overbite or “buck” teeth. At the time this crime was committed the suspect was wearing a gray short sleeve shirt with buttons but no collar, baggy cream colored denim pants, brown belt with a gold buckle, black baseball cap turned backwards and black and white Vans type shoes. Attached is a composite drawing that the victim believes is similar to the suspect’s appearance.
The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office is requesting anyone who believes they may know someone who is similar to the composite drawing of the suspect and his physical description to call the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office at the numbers listed below. Anyone who has knowledge of this crime or similar crimes occurring in Coconino County or in the City of Flagstaff is urged to call the below listed numbers for the Sheriff’s Office or the Flagstaff Police Department at (928) 774-4523 (non-emergency). Community members also may call Silent Witness (928) 774-6111 and remember we need your information not your name.
FLAGSTAFF — On Sunday, July 19, 2015 at about 10:08 am the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office received a call from the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) advising that Flagstaff Police Department Officers (FPD) and DPS Officers were in pursuit of an adult female who was driving erratically initially on Highway 89 then North on Highway 180/Fort Valley Road with the pursuit entering several neighborhoods.
According to DPS they received a call from an individual who had been called by the driver of the pursued vehicle. According to the caller, the driver’s sister was deceased and her whereabouts were unknown.
Eventually the female driver stopped the vehicle in the Cheshire Neighborhood and was taken into custody by Flagstaff Police Officers.
Deputies responded to the driver’s residence located in Alpine Ranchos and found a 63 year-old female deceased outside the residence. At this point in the investigation, Detectives believe the victim died as a result of self-inflected injuries.
This investigation is be continued by the Sheriff’s Office and the Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Coconino County Sheriff photo.
Participating agencies included Coconino County Sheriff’s Office, Coconino County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue, US Air Force 55th Aerial Rescue Squadron based out of Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Sedona Fire District (SFD), the Arizona Department of Emergency Management and Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) Air Rescue based in Flagstaff.
At about 4:52 p.m. the Northern Arizona 911 reception center received a cell phone call from an individual who identified himself as a member of the hiking party that included the victim who was the subject of the activated PLB device. The caller advised that the victim was located in the area of the confluence of West Fork. According to the caller the victim suffered a broken leg at approximately 11:00 am that day and members of his party were not able to access cell phone service from the victim’s location. The caller hiked out of the canyon to a location where he could access cell phone service.
By 5:20 pm the CCSO resident deputy in Oak Creek Canyon and a Sedona firefighter were at the Call of the Canyon which is the trail head for West Fork. Two Sedona Fire Department Technical Rescue Teams were deployed into the West Fork of Oak Creek Canyon on foot in an attempt to locate the victim. DPS Rescue Helicopter was not able to assist on Saturday due to active thunderstorms in the area. By 7:50 pm two CCSO SAR teams were at the top of the rim and established an Incident Command Post (ICP) off of Woody Mountain Road. Because of the weather and inability to launch a heli-rescue, the victim and others in the party were asked to shelter in place. Rescue crews on the ground also staged at the ICP overnight, camping in the rain and thunder storms.
At about 6:00 am on Sunday morning rescuers received a break in the storm activity. The DPS helicopter with a CCSO SAR technical rescue operator on board flew the area and located the party of six including the victim.
Two SFD technical rescue operators were inserted into the canyon via a helicopter rappel from the DPS aircraft. A CCSO SAR technical rescue ground team was staged at the rim. The DPS Ranger helicopter extracted the victim and a SFD rescuer using the Short Haul method during which the rescuer and victim are suspended on a line underneath the helicopter and flown to a safe area in this case the parking lot of the West Fork of Oak Creek trail head.
Sedona Fire transported the victim to the Flagstaff Medical Level One Trauma Center via ground ambulance. Two HH 60 Pave Hawk helicopters from the USAF 55th Air Rescue Squadron extracted the remaining 5 members of the victim’s party by hoisting them from the ground into the hoovering helicopters.