Reports issued by a Bakersfield television station—saying that rescue crews had left 15-year-old Michael Manning alive on a mountainside overnight, then returned in the morning to find he had died—are untrue. Southern Kern Search and Rescue’s Mike Parker, who was on-scene Monday night and Tuesday morning as the body was recovered, told The Mountain Enterprise that a search and rescue team “would never leave a live person overnight without medical attention.”

The television station (KGET Channel 17) still had incorrect information on its website Wednesday morning, April 22.

The true sequence of events has been reported by The Mountain Enterprise at its website www.MountainEnterprise.com. Our reporter was on-scene Monday night on San Emigdio Mountain until almost 1 a.m. and again at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Kern County Fire Battalion Chief John Smith said then, and it was confirmed Tuesday morning by numerous Sheriff’s Department, Fire Department and Search and Rescue officials, that Kern County firefighter paramedic David Whitman was first to reach the victim Monday night and found him with weak vital signs during the nine o’clock hour. The victim passed away shortly thereafter while paramedic Whitman was with him. From that point, through the night and into Tuesday morning, a vigil was maintained. The victim was never left unattended while he was alive, according to all official sources.

This is part of the April 24, 2009 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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