Search and rescue crews located two hikers from Santa Cruz, California, Aug. 5 who had been reported missing since Saturday in Yosemite National Park after leaving a campground for a day hike.
“The hikers have just been found and are alive,” Steve Lyon, a Yosemite National Park spokesman, told The Epoch Times at about 2 p.m. Monday.
Park officials did not yet know whether they were injured, Lyon said.
About 65 searchers, four dog-search teams, and one aircraft had searched the surrounding area for Miguel Delgado, 63, and Ana Rodarte, 40, since Sunday afternoon.
A California Office of Emergency Services aircraft completed an infrared search of the area Sunday night, and California Highway Patrol helicopters were also actively searching for the missing hikers, he added.
The two hikers left Bridalveil Creek Campground inside the park at about 10 a.m. Saturday for a day hike, possibly toward Ostrander Lake, which is a lightly traveled 22-mile loop, the National Park Service reported on Facebook Sunday.
They were planning to return to the campground within a couple of hours but had not been seen since Saturday.
About 50 miles east of Yosemite, another missing person—a 5-year-old boy—was found safe in Mammoth Pool Reservoir Campground, according to the Madera County Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s office responded to the report of a missing child at the campground, located along the Sierra Vista National Scenic Byway, just before 7 p.m. Saturday. The manmade reservoir is on the San Joaquin River in Central California.
Sheriff’s deputies and U.S. Forest Service law enforcement personnel responded to the campground and started to search the area. Members of the sheriff’s office boat patrol and search and rescue team helped the effort, along with a canine team and a California Highway Patrol helicopter, and other search and rescue teams, according to the sheriff’s department.
The child was spotted by a camp host at about 8 a.m. Sunday as he emerged from brush and walked out onto the road, the sheriff’s office reported.
He appeared alert and calm, and was taken to the command post to be evaluated by medical personnel and reunited with his family, according to the sheriff’s office.
“We are overjoyed by this truly remarkable outcome,” Madera County Sheriff Tyson Pogue said. “Today’s happy ending is one to be celebrated and remembered.”
