62-year old female hiker found after being lost 9 days

Staff Reports

San Bernardino County – On Wed., Aug. 26, the Volunteer Forces Division of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department (SBSD) received a Mutual Aid request from the California Office of Emergency Services to provide Search and Rescue assistance to Fresno County.

According to SBSD, a 62-year old woman was overdue from her hike in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The responding searchers had to be certified for extreme terrains and be self-sufficient in the field for three days.

Four searchers and a Deputy Coordinator assisted in the effort. The searchers were inserted into the search area by a National Guard Chinook helicopter and were not able to be extracted until the morning of Sun., Aug. 30 due to smoke and poor visibility from the nearby Rough Fire.
On Sat., Aug. 29, the woman was found alive by a Fresno search team. She suffered from broken bones and survived by crawling two days to a creek so she could drink water through a filter straw. When she heard searchers nearby calling for her on the ninth day of the search, she was able to use a plastic whistle to call out to them.
Hikers are encouraged to be properly prepared with food, water, emergency supplies, a personal locator beacon, cell phone, portable charger, etc. Inform others of the hiking area and when possible, hike with another person.

For more information regarding preventative Search and Rescue, please contact San Bernardino Sheriff’s Volunteer Forces/Search and Rescue at (909) 387-0641