'Don't Stop Searching For My Brother': Family Of US Forest Service Firefighter Reported Missing Makes Plea
SAN BERNARDINO (CBSLA) — A search is underway for an elite firefighter who has been missing for several days in the Inland Empire.
Carlos Alexander Baltazar, 35, is part of the U.S. Forest Service Interagency Hotshot Crew, and was not in the area of the El Dorado Fire and was off-duty at the time he went missing.
He was reported missing by his family Thursday. His vehicle was found Sunday by the California Highway Patrol on Highway 18 and Delta Avenue with some damage to the front.
Authorities have searched the area from the ground, with a K9, and from the air, and Baltazar's backpack was found 75 yards from where his vehicle was located. K9's continued to track Baltazar's scent, but eventually lost it, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.
"Don't stop searching for my brother. We want him home really bad, we really do," said Veronica Baltazar said Friday.
Baltazar's family is concerned that the stress from battling the El Dorado fire and the recent death of his crew boss, Charles Edward Morton, may have overwhelmed him.
"He had mentioned that he felt like he could have done more, that he felt like maybe it was even his fault," his sister said.
Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts is asked to immediately contact Sheriff's Dispatch at (909) 866-7581.
