Mysterious photo saves missing California hiker
The missing hiker was airlifted after he spent a night alone in the forest
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A hiker who went missing in California was found to be safe, thanks to his last “mystery” photo and the “weird hobby” of a man to likes to track locations from pictures people share.
Rene Compean, 45, went missing on Monday after he went on a hike at a popular ski destination in the San Gabriel Mountains in Southern California.
The 45-year-old texted his picture to a friend from his outdoor adventure, showing his legs dangling from a precipice with a view of a canyon beneath and the slopes in the distance. He told him his phone battery is running low and he was lost. Shortly after, he went off the map.
The friend reported him missing to the authorities at 6 pm and turned his last photo over to the investigators.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department immediately launched a search operation in the Mt Waterman area and looked for him through the night but were unable to locate him.
To make things worse the hiker’s phone location was off and investigators were not able to track it either. The investigators then shared his picture on social media and asked people if they recognised the spot in the photograph.
Benjamin Kuo, an avid hiker with a passion for locating places from pictures shared online, offered to help. He used his prior expertise of tracking wildfires in remote areas on forests.
"I’ve got a very weird hobby, which is I love taking a look at photos and figuring out where they’re taken," Mr Kuo said to NBC Los Angeles.
He was able to find the coordinate of the lost hiker after using satellite images, maps and the scenery of the photograph shared by Mr Compean.
He sent the clue to his possible location to the investigators and helicopters were sent to locate the man.
Mr Compean was airlifted out of the Angeles National Forest, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department said on Tuesday afternoon.
Mr Kuo and the lost hiker met virtually on Tuesday.
"I crazy appreciate what you did...I really don’t know if I could make it there another day. It was just so cold," Mr Compean told Mr Kuo.
Mr Compean said he might have lost track of the area after a recent wildfire due to which some signs were burned down and might have taken wrong turns.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments