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Search for Couple Missing in Inverness Area Now a Recovery Mission

INVERNESS (CBS SF) -- The Marin County Sheriff's Office Thursday said the search for a couple who went missing last week in the Inverness area has become a recovery mission.

During the search since Saturday for Carol Kiparsky, 77, and her husband Ian Irwin, 72, four independent cadaver K-9 teams alerted in the area of Shell Beach, according to the sheriff's office.

Missing Palo Alto Couple
Carol Kiparsky and her husband Ian Irwin went missing in the Tomales Bay area on Feb. 15, 2020.

"We believe that our extensive search efforts with every resource that has been available to us would have located Carol and Ian if they were responsive or in an area accessible by foot on land," sheriff's officials said.

"We've worked tirelessly combing through all leads and areas surrounding the cottage they were vacationing at and are now calling this a recovery mission. We have been in close contact with family and will continue to search for Carol and Ian. Our thoughts are with the Kiparsky and Irwin family during this difficult time," the sheriff's office said.

The large-scale search and rescue effort by air, water and land to find the couple started Saturday.

They were last seen Friday at a rental house on Via De La Vista in Inverness/Sea Haven. They were supposed to check out Saturday morning but all their belongings, including phone, wallets and vehicle were left at the vacation cottage and they missed an appointment on Sunday. The sheriff's office was told this was highly out of character for the couple.

On Friday, people involved in the recovery effort will use jet skis, National Park Service boats, an airplane and the sheriff's office's drones to comb Tomales Bay and the shoreline.

"We're going to go back out on Saturday and do some focused searching with canine teams and shoreline searches with ground teams," said Marin County search and rescue unit commander Michael St. John.

The recovery effort will continue through Monday on Tomales Bay with assistance from the U.S. Coast Guard.

"We are asking that our community members please be diligent if they are in the Inverness area. Please observe your surroundings and report anything out of the ordinary or suspicious to the Marin County Sheriff's Office. Please allow our searchers to do their job by giving them the unobtrusive space to search as we work toward finding Carol and Ian," sheriff's officials said.

© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. KPIX 5's Don Ford and Bay City News contributed to this report

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