Missing Hikers Found After California Teenager Kyndall Jack, 18, Rescued Clinging To Trabuco Canyon Cliff
A teenage girl who had been lost in a California forest since Sunday was found today clinging to a cliff and shouting for help a day after her male companion was discovered wandering the canyon, according to Yahoo! News.
The girl, Kyndall Jack, 18, along with Nicholas Cendoya, 19, had gone missing on Easter Sunday while hiking in the Cleveland National Forest.
Jack, who was wearing shorts at the time of her rescue, was holding onto a ledge on the side of a steep cliff when rescue crews heard her cries.
Jack's father told the Los Angeles Times that his daughter was unable to keep up with Cendoya when they twosome were attempting to make their way through shoulder-high brush. He added that Cendoya, who was disoriented and confused upon his rescue near Trabuco Canyon, had provided the information.
Members of the rescue team rappelled down the cliff in order to reach Jack and lift her to safety. Jack was was airlifted and transported to University of California - Irvine hospital. She is being treated for severe dehydration, according to authorities.
"The most important thing is that she has been found and Nicholas has been found and they are well," said Orange County Sheriff's Lt. Jason Park, according to Yahoo.
Cendoya was discovered wading through thick brush before dusk on Wednesday by another hiker in an area located about a half-mile south of where the rescue teams had concentrated its search, according to reports. The hiker who found Cendoya immediately searched for help and found it in the form of firefighters who were in a nearby area on an unrelated mission.
Cendoya was medivaced to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo on Wednesday and was listed in serious condition.
The rescue mission to find Jack called for workers to labor through the night and required several dozen searchers, including several volunteers. A pair of volunteers who wandered off on Wednesday and got lost themselves required an airlift out of the canyon as well.