By Mary O’KEEFE

There have been a lot of lost hikers and rescues lately in the Angeles National Forest. The Montrose Search and Rescue team, along with search and rescue teams from around the state, as of Wednesday continue their active search for a missing 73-year-old hiker, Eugene Jo, near Mount Waterman.

“[Jo] was hiking with a party of seven. They started at Three Points Trailhead [on Saturday, June 22] and hiked up about five miles. They had lunch and headed back down the trail. After they started back down they realized he was missing. They tried to go back but couldn’t find him,” said Sgt. John Gilbert, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dept.-Crescenta Valley Station.

The family searched for a few hours with no luck.

“[Montrose Search and Rescue] didn’t get the call until 7 p.m.,” Gilbert said.

The team began searching the trail but had no luck and have since expanded its search with numerous teams brought in from across the state to assist.

For his age, Jo is in good shape with no medical conditions, Gilbert said.

While the search for Jo was underway on Monday, MSAR received another call concerning a teenager who was lost near Islip in ANF.

“He was around Islip. He had camped overnight and tried to make it to Cooper Canyon,” Gilbert said. The teen, who was camping and hiking alone, lost his way and called 9-1-1 for help.

“Luckily he was able to get cell service,” Gilbert said.

The teen was found and air evacuated from his location, safe and unharmed.

Phone cell service is spotty at best throughout the ANF making it difficult for hikers to call for help when needed.

While the teams were searching for Jo on Sunday they received two additional calls concerning two bodies that were found: a male near Colby Canyon and the other near Palms Drive toward Mt. Lukens. That body was of a woman and the death was deemed a suicide by the LA County Coroner’s Office.

On June 16, a mother, Laura Andrews, 57, and her son were attempting to hike the Bear Canyon Trail.

“They were going to hike and camp in Bear Canyon,” Gilbert said.

The son went ahead to determine if his mother was able to hike the trail. He told his mom to stay at a specific point and he would return.

“He went ahead to scout and realized it was too far for her, so he came back. As he was walking back he crossed paths with his mom,” Gilbert said.

His mother had walked down the trail, leaving the meeting point. They decided to camp near Switzer Falls, an easier trail. The son, according to Gilbert, told the mom to wait at a location.

“The son went to the car to get the [camping equipment] and the mom hiked on,” Gilbert said.

This time they were separated and the son could not find his mother. They were in voice contact but they could not find each other. The son attempted to contact the sheriff’s station for help but had no cellphone service. He had to hike out of the area to the nearest call box.

Andrews spent the night in the ANF before MSAR found her and she was air evacuated out of the area. In an interview with KTLA, Andrews advised other hikers: “Don’t leave your partner.”

“We highly recommend the buddy system,” Gilbert said. “If you are in a group, stay together.”

Gilbert advised to have one person designated to lead the hike and another as a “sweeper” in the back to make certain all stay together.

“Unfortunately even some hiking clubs are not practicing this method,” he said.

Many members of search and rescue teams are volunteers and reserve deputies. In the case of MSAR, they are volunteers who get paid $1 annually. Many members have “day jobs” that they leave, some using vacation days while others have understanding bosses, to search for missing hikers and campers.

“They find time in their schedules,” Gilbert said, “and just come to help.”

As of 7 p.m. on Wednesday the search for Jo continues.

“Search and rescue teams will [search] until dark and plan to be back tomorrow morning,” said a sheriff’s spokesman. “We are not giving up.”

To learn more about Montrose Search and Rescue, visit https://www.montrosesar.org/.

  Mary Okeefe