Jun 26, 2008

Missing Sierra hikers turn up safe at store

By Sean Maher / Bay Area News Group

Nine teenagers, including one from East Palo Alto and two adult guides missing in Yosemite National Park since Sunday were found safe at a general store Wednesday afternoon, officials said.

"They're all OK," said Deputy Christian Curtice of the Fresno County Sheriff's Department. "They were found at Florence Lake, out by the search area."

Curtice said the party was found about 10 miles from where they disappeared.

The group, made up of teens from across the country, had been out in association with the outdoor adventure program Outward Bound.

The group of teens ranged in age from 13 to 16, including a 16-year-old girl from Alameda and a 16-year-old girl from East Palo Alto.

Together with a pair of 30-year-old guides, they parted from a third adult guide Sunday with plans to rendezvous, but never appeared at the agreed-upon meeting place.

The third guide searched for them by himself for two days before calling Outward Bound. Outward Bound staff then contacted the sheriff's office, which began looking for the group in a 30-square-mile area to the north and east of Courtwright Reservoir.

The group had set out from the Maxon trailhead on Sunday prepared for a two-week backpacking and climbing excursion, Curtice said.

Search and rescue teams made up of 35 sheriff's office personnel on foot, horseback, in jeeps and in a helicopter expanded the search area to 90 square miles Wednesday afternoon, Curtice said. The elevation in the area is 9,000 to 10,000 feet.

Curtice said he would not identify any members of the hiking party because so many juveniles were involved.

"They showed up at a general store and somebody called the authorities," he said. "And that's it."



Wire services contributed to this report.