Hiker missing since Monday rescued from remote, rugged Placer County forestland
A hiker missing for days in the Placer wilderness was found safe Wednesday morning by Placer County sheriff’s searchers.
“The hiker was tired, hungry, and thirsty — but otherwise OK,” said Placer County Sheriff’s officials in a statement Wednesday afternoon announcing the hiker’s safe return.
The hiker had been missing since Monday from the Euchre Bar area near the North Fork of the American River; his last call for help, a text-to-911 message from steep terrain, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said on Wednesday.
Sheriff’s dispatchers could not re-establish contact, but were able to approximate his location, allowing searchers to begin the complex operation to bring the hiker safely home.
More than 50 search and rescue members, including nine search dog teams were joined in the air by a California Highway Patrol helicopter and Placer County sheriff’s drones; as well as additional drones in search flights during the daylight hours, said authorities.
Searchers on the ground and in the air were challenged not only by the steep, rugged terrain, but by a dense tree canopy that shielded the missing hiker from drones and the CHP helicopter crew.
Placer County called out a speciallized mountain search and rescue team along with search dogs; then expanded its search to the water, calling in dive team members who scoured the banks of the American River Wednesday morning before finding the hiker about 11 a.m., said sheriff’s officials.
Video from Placer County rescuers posted to Placer County Sheriff’s Office’s social media showed the scope and scale of the mission, a helicopter flying high above the densely forested terrain along the North Fork, and the search mission’s conclusion.
Rescuers aboard the copter plucked the hiker to safety from a riverbank, the helicopter touching down in a clearing where, even after his ordeal, the hiker was able to walk from the craft under his own power.
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