EISPIRATEN

The body of a missing hiker was found on Monday, February 16, 2016, near the Pacific Crest Trail and Angeles Crest Highway in the Angeles National Forest west of Wrightwood, CA.

On February 13, 2016, a hiker, while traveling on foot in the Angeles National Forest, saw an abandoned back pack below the Pacific Crest Trail south east of Little Jimmy Campground (Angeles Crest Highway mile marker 66). Believing it belonged to another person on the trail, he left it alone. On February 14, 2016, the same hiker was traveling out of the Angeles National Forest and saw the back pack was still sitting in the same spot adjacent to the Pacific Crest Trail. He opened the backpack and found an emergency telephone number and called it, reaching the victim’s mother in Kansas. The mother explained that her son, who had gone hiking alone on February 12, 2016, was supposed to return on February 14, 2016. On February 15, 2016, the original hiker brought the back pack to LASD Crescenta Valley Station. An immediate search of the area was initiated by Search and Rescue teams, lasting late into the night at high elevations (over 7,000 feet) in very cold and icy conditions. Teams from LASD Emergency Services Detail (ESD), Air 5, San Dimas Search and Rescue, Montrose Search and Rescue, and Antelope Valley Search and Rescue activated in search of the missing hiker.

It was determined the back pack was found in San Dimas Station’s jurisdiction. Family members initiated a missing person report.

At 2:00 a.m. on February 16, 2016, the rescue teams paused their operation due to darkness and ice. They resumed the following morning with the assistance of LASD helicopter Air 5. The missing hiker’s vehicle was located by Antelope Valley Station personnel on February 16, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. on a remote road near a trail head off of Big Rock Creek Road near a small, closed campground. At 2:20 P.M., Air 5 and ESD personnel located a body, deceased, on a steep, icy slope approximately 500 feet below the Pacific Crest Trail. The body was airlifted by Air 5 and transported to the coroner’s office.

Preliminary investigation indicates the incident appears to be a recreational accident. The person found was identified by the Los Angeles County Coroner as Kyle Benjamin Hunt, age 32, who resided in Tehachapi, CA. It is believed that Hunt began a solo hike on Friday, February 12, 2016, with the intention of returning on Sunday, February 14. He was reportedly an experienced, avid hiker. He was found in steep, icy terrain about 12 trail miles from his parked car, near Little Jimmy Camp, about ½ mile from Angeles Crest Highway.

bschmalz wrote: ↑Now I'm confused. Two male hikers, 32 years old, had incidents in the same area about a day apart? Seems like it might be bad reporting.