San Andreas, CA…We are pleased to announce that Lt. Tim Sturm of the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office has been awarded the 2022 Missing and Unidentified Persons Conference Annual Service Award by the National Criminal Justice Training Center. The award was presented at the National Missing and Unidentified Persons Conference in Las Vegas, NV on April 25, 2022. Sheriff Rick DiBasilio, Undersheriff Jim Macedo, and Sergeant Rudi Leon were in attendance with Lt. Sturm.

Lt. Sturm was selected to receive the award for his many years of exemplary service and leadership in Search and Rescue (SAR), his successful tenure in the direction and control of the Investigations (Detective) Division, and his ongoing leadership of the Calaveras Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Team.

During his career, Lt. Sturm has coordinated searches for numerous missing hikers, skiers, hunters, fisherman, and other lost or missing persons in Calaveras County and throughout the State of California. He has over 30 years of Search and Rescue experience which includes six years that he spent as a volunteer SAR member starting at the age of 15. Lt. Sturm credits the SAR volunteers, who donate their time and efforts to the Search and Rescue Team, for the numerous life-saving rescues he has witnessed over the years. Lt. Sturm has noted that the SAR team is highly effective because of the dedication and commitment of all of the members of the team.

Lt. Sturm has spent over 15 years of his career assigned to the Investigations Unit as a Detective, Sergeant, and currently as a Lieutenant. Lt. Sturm credits his team of skilled investigators for their expertise and diligence and he believes that teamwork has been the most important contributor to the success of the Unit.

The current Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Team was created by Lt. Sturm and it operates under his management. The focus and goal of the Cold Case Team has been to find missing persons, identify previously unidentified human remains, and to solve cold case homicides in Calaveras County. Most notably, the Cold Case Team has coordinated with numerous agencies to reexamine previously unidentified human remains from the Leonard Lake and Charles Ng serial killings of the 1980’s with modern DNA analysis. The Cold Case Team hopes to identify missing persons and return their remains to their families through these efforts.

Please join us in congratulating Lt. Tim Sturm on his achievements and receiving this award.