SAN DIEGO — Search efforts continued Tuesday for a missing dirt bike rider who never returned home from a solo ride Saturday on Otay Mountain. Teams were out again with an average of 50 members on the ground and choppers searching by air.
They were looking for 48-year-old Roberto “Bobby” Camou, a skilled dual-sport motorcycle enthusiast, who works as a courtroom clerk in Chula Vista.
“He seems to have been a very experienced rider. And, there's a lot of us that ride ourselves and we carry a backpack with extra water. What he had in his backpack, what he had with him, we're not sure,” said Lt. Damon Blankenbaker with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.
Camou sent a photo via Snapchat to his family at 12:22 p.m. on Saturday, April 25. He was supposed to return home by 4:30 that afternoon but never showed up.
The sheriff's department tracked his cell phone to the western side of Otay Mountain but officials said cell tower pings can be sketchy.
“Think about going out there with your own cell phone and you lose service, or as close as we are to the Mexico border, you might get roaming into another country,” said Lt. Blankenbaker.
The missing rider’s daughter, Katie Camou, has been posting updates on her Facebook page. Blankenbaker said an online report claiming Camou’s red, Beta motorcycle had been located is a false rumor.
Choppers have been circling the search area during the day and using infrared cameras at night.
“The problem with that is, with the heat, it heats up the rocks and now you're looking for hot spots along with rocks and it just becomes difficult,” said Blankenbaker.
The search team is averaging 50 members per day in addition to volunteer hikers with dogs and dirt bike riders scouring the area on their own.
“Hopefully we'll find this gentleman and he'll be safe. Maybe he fell down a ravine with a broken leg. Maybe there was foul play. We just don't know yet. I'm just out here to try and help,” said Gary DeForest, a civilian rider who ventured out Tuesday.
The operation continues to focus on finding Camou alive.
Experts advise against motorcycle-riding solo in remote areas. A local dual-sport riding group -- San Diego Adventure Riders -- assists dirt enthusiasts in organizing group rides.
If you think you may have seen that red, Beta motorcycle over the weekend or you have any information on Camou's whereabouts, call the Sheriff's Department at (858) 565-5200.