Disappearances in wild areas are not new when talking about hikers. This was the case of a mother and son, who after entering the forest of Calaveras County, in California, lost their GPS signal and their mobile devices. They were found after 24 hours missing thanks to the expertise of both, who with their distress signals helped the US Forestal Service to find them safe and sound. In view of not being able to call for help, the mother decided to leave notes with information about her whereabouts in case the rescuers found them.
In addition, if those notes were blown away or lost, I also left a path of bread crumbs and stones that could be useful to find them. While they waited next to the car caught in the forest, their son periodically emitted 3 beeps with his whistle, a sign internationally recognized as a need for help. The rescuers described these decisions as “extremely useful” for the search, and managed to find the mother and son safe.
Disappearances in forests and mountains
The United States regularly experiences the disappearance of hikers, especially in mountainous areas and national parks. Some of the places where most people get lost are the Red Mountain Trail in Utah or the Santa Cruz mountains in California. Unfortunately, not all of these rescues have a happy ending, although searches can last for days or even weeks. Why do people usually disappear? Hikers often rely too much on their orientation ability and GPS devices and mobile phones. However, these may stop working and leave the walker completely defenseless. Factors such as ignorance of the terrain, climatic factors or lack of preparation are mainly responsible for these disappearances.
Mother and son get lost in Las Calaveras, California
An eternal period of 24 hours was the time that a mother and son were lost in Las Calaveras, California. The 49-year-old woman and 9-year-old boy were driving to a camp when they became disoriented. Neither their GPS nor their mobile devices had signal, so they could not communicate or call for help. If the situation was not desperate enough, the car got stuck in the forest, with no possibility of returning by the way they had come. Although the scenario did not seem encouraging, both remained calm and acted with smartly.
What saved the mother and son lifes?
The decisions made by mother and child were decisive in finding them alive and in a shorter period of time. The woman left notes in strategic locations for rescuers to find. They detailed their location, explained that they had no signal and could not communicate. In another note, I leave the names of both and their phone numbers. The woman’s cunning did not stay there. To make sure the authorities received the message, he left a trail of crumbs and stones in case the notes were blown up or lost. In addition, the child used a whistle to periodically emit bursts of 3 beeps, internationally known as a distress signal.
What did the US Forestal Service say?
Both the US Forest Service and the Calavera authorities described their performance as “extremely useful”. They emphasized the child’s work, which with the auditory signals helped to close the search distances. On the other hand, they added that the information that the woman had given to her family before going out was also very useful. Because of this, they knew where they were going, the path they would have taken and the time they should have returned. It is important to make sure that you provide this type of information to family members before going on an excursion, as well as not be trusting and always go with caution to avoid these incidents.