The disappearance and death of Thomas Mullarkey at the Bear Valley Ski Resort

Bear Valley Ski Resort CACaliforniaMountain DisappearancesThomas Mullarkey
Written By StrangeOutdoors

Thomas Mullarkey, disappeared March 14, 2018, Bear Valley Ski Resort, California, Body Found May 14, 2018.

Thomas Mullarkey disappearance

Updated January 2024

Thomas “Tom” Mullarkey, 65, went skiing on March 14, 2018, in California's Bear Valley Ski Resort, south of Lake Tahoe. He failed to return from the trip, which he had made many times before. This was very unusual for Tom as he was an advanced skier, experienced outdoorsman and backcountry visitor. Mullarkey was a longtime Bay Area electrician and was skiing alone without a helmet that day. His body was eventually discovered two months later.

Bear Valley has been the scene of several strange disappearances and deaths, including that of Doctor Katherine Wong in June 1999.

Tom boarded a chairlift up the mountain in the morning. At 11.30 pm that day, his wife, Jane Drummond-Mullarkey, informed authorities her husband failed to return to his Arnold cabin. He was last seen wearing a blue ski outfit with yellow and red details. Tom was considered to be in good health.

The search for Tom Mullarkey

Teams could not search the area that night due to extreme avalanche conditions, but rescuers began searching for Tom at around 7 am on Thursday, March 15.

Shortly after the search began, authorities located his vehicle at the resort with a cell phone inside. Efforts were concentrated within the 1,700-acre ski resort. But no other clues emerged, including no sign of his gloves, ski poles, or other equipment. He was not known to go off-piste or into areas prone to avalanches, and searchers believed he did not leave the resort area voluntarily.

Heavy snowfall hindered the initial search efforts, and searchers were limited to using skis and snowshoes during daylight hours only. A Blackhawk helicopter from the National Guard and another helicopter volunteered by the California Highway Patrol were grounded for two days because of the weather.

Around 150 representatives from El Dorado, Tuolumne and Marin counties, the National Ski Patrol, Bay Area Mountain Rescue, the California Office of Emergency Services, Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office and others assisted in the search.

When the weather improved, a fixed-wing military RC-26 surveillance plane with infrared imagery was used to search the hillsides outside the boundaries that had been covered the day before.

Bear Valley Ski resort California

After five days, the search was called off on Tuesday, March 20th, as a storm dumped heavy snow in the area.

The authorities thought it was unlikely that Tom was hit by an undiscovered avalanche, which may have occurred within the boundaries of Bear Valley, where ski patrollers regularly clear likely avalanche spots.

Tom's nephew, Markus Mullarkey, said, "He's been at this mountain many times. We've been snow camping literally at Tamarack right around the corner here. So there's still that possibility that he can survive this and build a snow cave and stay warm enough until we find him."

Thomas mullarkey disappearance Bear Valley

"A lot of people in the family have said, if there's anybody in the family who could figure out how to weather this and make it through, it would be him. But it's tough you know, obviously (for) the family. It's nice we have a very big family, so there's a lot of people up here kinda holding it together with each other as much as we can."

His niece, Andrea Mullarkey, says he was skiing alone and may have been in the backcountry. "There's a lot of country out there and it's really hard to get around in this weather but we're really hopeful because we know he's smart and has experience and there are lots of people out looking. He has a really good head on his shoulders. He knows a lot about being outdoors."

Alpine County Undersheriff Spencer Case said, “Search and Rescue personnel have conducted a thorough and methodical search operation during periods of heavy snowfall, white-out conditions, and single-digit temperatures.” 

Discovery of remains

Tom was eventually found on May 14, 2018, three weeks after the resort had closed, lying under a patch of snow at the bottom of a rocky cliff next to an advanced ski run called Groovy Gully.

Spencer Case, the undersheriff of Alpine County, said an autopsy found the cause of death was cardiovascular decompensation, essentially cardiac arrest. Still, whether the long fall had anything to do with it was unclear. “He fell off a pretty significant rock outcropping — approximately 80 feet — and landed on the snow below, and it appears he didn't move after the fall,” Case said. “I can't say whether the fall came before the cardiovascular event or after.”

His wife said her husband was found partially buried on his back, head downhill with his cap and goggles on, arms open with ski poles in his hands. His left ski was still attached to his boot, and his right ski was next to his body. She believes the heart attack occurred while he was skiing in heavy powder that snowy day, causing him to lose control and fall off the cliff. He may have already been dead when he landed, she said. “It doesn't seem like there was any suffering involved, especially the way they found him. One of the ski patrol told me when heart attacks happen on the mountain, they happen quick and hard, because of the altitude.”

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