A 58-year-old hiker has been found alive and well five days after he went missing in the Angeles National Forest, CA, wilderness.
George David Null left Saturday morning for a 6-mile hike in the 700,000-acre area located in the San Gabriel Mountains, northeast of Los Angeles. When he failed to return later that evening, his worried girlfriend raised the alarm.
Initial searches by rescue crews discovered his vehicle in one of the forest’s car parks the following day. However, after thirty hours of nonstop hiking and searching, crews still hadn’t located him by Monday.
One team hiked rugged drainage called Devils’ Canyon—a fourteen-hour trek that led the crew through the brush, fog, and waterfalls.
By Wednesday, rescuers had brought in a helicopter crew, and while flying over Bear Creek, crews spotted the lone hiker on the ground flagging them down. Bear Creek, also known as Bear Canyon Trail, is a canyon that hikers rarely tread due to its “rugged and narrow” trail.
UPDATE! Missing Person was #FOUND earlier today. He spent 5 days lost in a remote area of the Angeles Forest. He is happy to be safe and airlifted by #LASD Air Rescue 5 after massive search effort. @SEBLASD @MontroseSAR pic.twitter.com/H1sIddMV4f
— LA County Sheriffs (@LASDHQ) May 20, 2021
“He was alive and well and alert and flagging them down. They conducted the hoist rescue and got him out of the canyon and brought him to a helipad — they assessed him to make sure there wasn’t any medical issues.”
– Sgt. John Gilbert of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department told SFGATE
Null was safe and well, if not just a little tired and hungry. Thanks to his previous hiking experience, and work with the Eagle Scouts, he was able to find safe water to drink.
They found Plake? Damn, I didn’t know he was lost. Great work men
prevented darwinism from working its magic