encountered was “ridiculously thick,” and at some point, helost his way. “Every direction he went in was a dead end,”she said.

After successfully making a cell phone call to his wifebefore he got lost, Laiho climbed to higher ground and triedagain, but his phone stopped working.

His wife was understandably alarmedwhen he didn’t return Saturday. “I was think-ing the worst, but I tried to downplay thingsto keep the kids calm,” she recalled.

Despite Laiho’s predicament, his wifesaid his relaxed demeanor and practicalnature gave her hope that he would be OK.

“He’s a mellow, low-key guy,” she said.“Nothing fazes him. If you get lost in thewoods, he’s the guy you want to be with.”

The weather gets worseLaiho spent the rest of his trip somewhere

in the Three Peaks Camp area, travelingbetween lower elevations, where water wasavailable, and higher elevations, where res-cuers would be able to see him. His wife saidhe assumed someone would come lookingfor him. He had been rationing his food fordays, and still had some left. Then weatherconditions took a turn for the worse Nov. 26.

“By 8 a.m., fog had come in, and he said,‘This is not good,’” his wife said. “It startedraining very hard. It was so windy he thought

n MoCo defendant says abductoris running business from the joint

By KELLY NIX

A MAN who’s been incarcerated for almost 40 years forinfamously kidnapping 26 school kids and a bus driver inChowchilla in 1976 has fileda $1.5 million lawsuitagainst a Monterey Countyman for loss of hisChristmas tree crop.

Weirder yet, the defen-dant in the civil lawsuitclaims that the inmate,Frederick Newhall Woods,66, has for years operatedseveral businesses — includ-ing a Tahoe goldmine, inaddition to the tree business— from his San Luis Obispoprison cell.

Woods was 24 years oldon July 25, 1976, when heand accomplices Richardand James Schoenfeldabducted 26 children at gun-point, put them in a van, and buried the vehicle in a rockquarry. Before the hijackers could issue their $5 million ran-som demand, the driver and the kids, ages 5-14, escaped tosafety about 16 hours later, and the three criminals werecaught.

Although the Schoenfeld brothers were paroled in 2012and 2015, Woods is still behind bars and has been deniedparole numerous times, most recently in 2015.

Despite being locked up for most of his life, theChowchilla abductor is apparently profiting.

Michael Bianchi, the Monterey County man Woods is

Chowchilla kidnapperfiles lawsuit overChristmas tree business

The Carmel Pine Cone

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T R U S T E D B Y L O C A L S A N D L O V E D B Y V I S I T O R S S I N C E 1 9 1 5

Volume 103 No. 48 On the Internet: www.carmelpinecone.com December 1-7, 2017

Solo backpacker rescued from Big Sur wildernessBy CHRIS COUNTS

TWO DAYS after he was expected to return from a back-packing trip alone in Big Sur, missing hiker David Laiho wasspotted by a helicopter crew Monday morning several mileseast of Highway 1 near the Monterey County line andbrought to safety.

“He was picked up by aCalifornia Highway Patrolhelicopter and returned unin-jured,” the Monterey CountySheriff’s Office reported.

Laiho, a 58-year-old wholives in San Luis Obispo withhis wife and two children, hadleft his car parked at theSalmon Creek trailhead aboutsix miles south of the MudCreek Slide. His wife, LilyLaiho, told The Pine Cone heset out on the trail Nov. 21, andhad planned to return by themorning of Nov. 25.

Laiho’s wife shared detailsof her husband’s ordeal. Shesaid he spent the first night atSpruce Creek Camp, andpassed through Dutra FlatCamp before experiencingrough trail conditions on theway to Three Peaks Camp. Hetold her that the vegetation he

Frederick Newhall Woods

By KELLY NIX

WHEN CALIFORNIA American Water holds a meet-and-greet in front of the Carmel Post Office Friday, Dec. 1for its customers, the private water utility will be met withprotestors from Public Water Now, an activist group advocat-ing for the public takeover of Cal Am.

Cal Am spokeswoman Catherine Stedman told The PineCone last week that the event will be a way to field questionsabout rates, Cal Am’s proposed desalination project inMarina and other concerns. She also said it would addressvarious “inaccurate claims” made by Public Water Now insupport of its effort to take over the company.

In response, PWN spokeswoman Melodie Chrislockannounced Wednesday that the group would stage a protestacross the street from Cal Am’s event, which runs from 9:30to 11:30 a.m.

“Public Water Now will hold a protest across the streetfrom the post office on Friday to counter Cal Am’s efforts totell us all is well,” Chrislock told Public Water now support-ers and others on a social media website.

Group director George Riley said PWN decided tocounter Cal Am’s event because it would “be only fair for anyperson hearing Cal Am’s point of view on our initiative, toalso hear our perspective.”

Takeover group to protest Cal Am’sevent at post office

See PROTEST page 18A

See CHOWCHILLA page 12A

PHOTO/COURTESY LILY LAIHO

Five days after he lost sight of the trail he was hik-ing on in Big Sur, David Laiho was rescued.

PHOTO/KELLY NIX

Crystal Honn hugs her pet golden retriever, Chelsea, in MontereyThursday — just days after she had the dog returned to her. Honn hadalleged that a Carmel artist took the dog.

WOMAN WHO SUED OVER ‘STOLEN’ DOG GETS IT BACKBy KELLY NIX

THE OWNER of an aging golden retriever who sued aCarmel artist for stealing the animal in 2016 has gotten herback, an experience she told The Pine Cone this week hasmade her feel “complete.”

In a civil complaint filed Sept. 18 in Monterey CountySuperior Court, Crystal Honn alleged that watercolor artistLisa Bryan stole her 13-year-old golden retriever, Chelsea,last year before giving her to another family. Bryan, Honnsaid, refused to tell her of the animal’s whereabouts.

Honn reported to the Carmel Police Department earlierthis year that Bryan had stolen the dog, and detectiveRachelle Lightfoot launched an investigation, completing thecase last week.

But in a surprise twist, Carmel Police Chief Paul Tomasisaid that about the time Lightfoot wrapped up the query andforwarded her results to the Monterey County DistrictAttorney’s Office, Honn told police that she had gottenChelsea back.

“Detective Lightfoot contacted Honn and advised her ofthe status of the case, and Honn told Lightfoot that theydecided to handle [the matter] civilly rather than criminally,”Tomasi told The Pine Cone Monday.

Tomasi said he didn’t have any details about how Honn

n After Dametra dispute, she’s ready for ‘something fun’

By MARY SCHLEY

RESTAURANT 1833 — the upscale and hip creation ofCoastal Luxury Management that opened in the StokesAdobe in Monterey six years ago — abruptly closed the daybefore Thanksgiving, with news that it had been sold.

While the property at 500 Hartnell St. still belongs toCLM as of this week, company cofounder and CEO DavidBernahl and Connie Laub, who recently sold the building atLincoln and Ocean where Dametra Café is located and was

CLM restaurant closes,Laub to buy building

got the dog back, but explained that Carmel police willinform prosecutors — who could have sought criminalcharges against Bryan for taking the dog — to withdraw thecase.

“Now that they have settled, we’ll have to call the DA andtell him to forget about the case,” Tomasi explained.

Neither Bryan nor her attorney returned messages seekingcomment. Honn’s attorney, Hugo N. Gerstl, however, saidthere is a confidentiality provision in the settlement agree-ment barring the women from talking about the case.

On Thursday afternoon, Honn met with a Pine Conereporter for a photo opp, and provided a written statementsummarizing her feelings about having her pet back.

See DOG page 23ASee 1833 page 14A

See HIKER page 23A