Friday, April 5, 2013

Second Missing California Hiker Kyndall Jack Found Clinging to Cliff and Shouting for Help



A teenage girl who has been lost in a California canyon since Sunday was found today clinging to the side of a steep cliff and shouting for help, authorities said.

Kyndall Jack, 18, was located a day after her male companion, Nicholas Cendoya, had been found wandering and disoriented in Cleveland National Forest.

Rescue crews rappelled to rescue Jack and she was airlifted to University of California - Irvine hospital, where was being treated for severe dehydration, authorities said.

"The most important thing is that she has been found and Nicholas has been found and they are well," siad Orange County Sheriff's Lt. Jason Park.

Kyndall and Cendoya disappeared Easter Sunday while hiking near Trabuco Canyon, Calif.


Jack was wearing shorts and was found clinging to the side of a steep cliff when reached by rescue crews. Her cries for help were heard by an Orange County reserve deputy, who had also been injured while taking part in the search for Jack.

Russ Jack, Kyndall's father, told the Los Angeles Times that his daughter was unable to keep up with Cendoya as they attempted to make their way out of shoulder-high brush. The information came from Cendoya, who was reportedly "disoriented and confused" when found.

Cendoya, 19, was located by another hiker, who was not a part of the search efforts, in thick brush shortly before sundown Wednesday, officials said. The hiker who spotted Cendoya went for help and found firefighters on an unrelated mission nearby. A helicopter brought Cendoya to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, where he was listed in serious condition.

Cendoya was located about a half-mile south of where much of the search had focused.

Rescue crews worked through the night, scouring the rough terrain in hopes of finding Jack.

Several dozen searchers with help from helicopters had been combing the rugged hills of Trabuco Canyon.

Two volunteers got lost themselves and had to be airlifted out Wednesday. They were searching the area because the Sunday 911 call was traced to a nearby cell tower, Orange County Fire Authority Capt. John Muir said.

The two were believed to have gone off trail near Holy Jim Trail, a tree-lined dirt path along a creek that leads to a waterfall and is popular with day hikers.

In the 911 call, they said they were about a mile from Jack's car, which was parked at a trailhead, but rescuers expanded the search when they weren't found nearby.

The area is in a section of the national forest in the Santa Ana Mountains, which lie along the border of Orange and Riverside counties southeast of Los Angeles. The trail ranges in elevation from about 2,000 feet to about 4,000 feet.

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