The body of a missing hiker was found on Monday, February 16, 2016, near the Pacific Crest Trail and Angeles Crest Highway in the Angeles National Forest west of Wrightwood, CA.

On February 13, 2016, a hiker, while traveling on foot in the Angeles National Forest, saw an abandoned back pack below the Pacific Crest Trail south east of Little Jimmy Campground (Angeles Crest Highway mile marker 66).  Believing it belonged to another person on the trail, he left it alone.  On February 14, 2016, the same hiker was traveling out of the Angeles National Forest and saw the back pack was still sitting in the same spot adjacent to the Pacific Crest Trail.   He opened the backpack and found an emergency telephone number and called it, reaching the victim’s mother in Kansas.  The mother explained that her son, who had gone hiking alone on February 12, 2016, was supposed to return on February 14, 2016.   On February 15, 2016, the original hiker brought the back pack to LASD Crescenta Valley Station.  An immediate search of the area was initiated by Search and Rescue teams, lasting late into the night at high elevations (over 7,000 feet) in very cold and icy conditions.  Teams from LASD Emergency Services Detail (ESD), Air 5, San Dimas Search and Rescue, Montrose Search and Rescue, and Antelope Valley Search and Rescue activated in search of the missing hiker.  

It was determined the back pack was found in San Dimas Station’s jurisdiction. Family members initiated a missing person report. 

At 2:00 a.m. on February 16, 2016, the rescue teams paused their operation due to darkness and ice.  They resumed the following morning with the assistance of LASD helicopter Air 5.   The missing hiker’s vehicle was located by Antelope Valley Station personnel on February 16, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. on a remote road near a trail head off of Big Rock Creek Road near a small, closed campground.  At 2:20 P.M., Air 5 and ESD personnel located a body, deceased, on a steep, icy slope approximately 500 feet below the Pacific Crest Trail.  The body was airlifted by Air 5 and transported to the coroner’s office. 

Preliminary investigation indicates the incident appears to be a recreational accident.  The person found was identified by the Los Angeles County Coroner as Kyle Benjamin Hunt, age 32, who resided in Tehachapi, CA.  It is believed that Hunt began a solo hike on Friday, February 12, 2016, with the intention of returning on Sunday, February 14.  He was reportedly an experienced, avid hiker.  He was found in steep, icy terrain about 12 trail miles from his parked car, near Little Jimmy Camp, about ½ mile from Angeles Crest Highway. 

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The San Dimas Mountain Rescue Team searches for and rescues missing, trapped and injured hikers; rescues vehicle accident victims in the mountains; assists with evacuations during forest fires and floods, and participates in many other rescue situations. Members of the team are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to help people who visit the mountain areas of Eastern Los Angeles County and the San Gabriel Mountains.  Founded in 1955, the team is comprised of all volunteers -- highly trained and motivated men and women dedicated to saving others. Team members continuously train in search and tracking, mountaineering, climbing, rappelling, map and compass usage, helicopter extraction and other types of evacuation techniques, snow and ice rescue, swift-water rescue, and more. The team is part of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Each member also becomes a reserve deputy sheriff, and is trained as a certified Emergency Medical Technician.

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SAN DIMAS STATION

San Dimas Sheriff’s Station is one of six stations within the East Patrol Division of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The Station’s jurisdiction encompasses approximately 276 square miles. In addition to serving the City of San Dimas, the station serves unincorporated communities of Azusa, Covina, Glendora, La Verne, Claremont, Pomona, the Los Angeles County portion of Mt. Baldy, a large portion of the Angeles National Forest (State Route 39), and portions of Angeles Crest Highway (Highway 2). The population for these areas is approximately one hundred and five thousand (105,000), nearly sixty sixty-nine thousand (69,000) in the unincorporated areas and more than thirty-six thousand (36,000) in the City of San Dimas.

San Dimas Sheriff’s Station

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department

270 S. Walnut Avenue

San Dimas, CA 91773

(909) 450-2700

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And/or, in the City of San Dimas, Code Red

Or the Code Red mobile app

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LASD HEADQUARTERS:

Sheriff's Information Bureau - Newsroom

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department

213-229-1700

Email: [email protected]

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Jim McDonnell, Sheriff

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department

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San Dimas Mountain Rescue Team

Is Looking For A Few Good Mountaineers

Find adventure. Serve your community.

Apply as a volunteer mountaineer with the San Dimas Mountain Rescue Team.

If you’re interested in an exciting, rewarding and challenging way to give back to your community, the San Dimas Mountain Rescue Team may be just what you’re looking for.

The team will be hosting an informational meeting for volunteer mountaineer applicants Wednesday, February 24, 2016, at 7 p.m., and Saturday, February 27, 2016, at 8:00 a.m. The meeting will be at the Mountain Rescue Station, 114 East First Street in San Dimas.

The San Dimas Mountain Rescue Team searches for and rescues missing, trapped and injured hikers; rescues vehicle accident victims in the mountains; assists with evacuations during forest fires and floods, and participates in many other rescue situations. Members of the team are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to help people who visit the mountain areas of Eastern Los Angeles County and the San Gabriel Mountains.

Founded in 1955, the team is comprised of all volunteers -- highly trained and motivated men and women dedicated to saving others. Team members continuously train in search and tracking, mountaineering, climbing, rappelling, map and compass usage, helicopter extraction and other types of evacuation techniques, snow and ice rescue, swift-water rescue, and more. The team is part of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Each member also becomes a reserve deputy sheriff, and is trained as a certified Emergency Medical Technician.

No experience is needed and all training is provided. Mountaineer volunteers must be at least 21 years old, in good health, be a full-time student or have steady employment, and able to pass a background investigation.

An application and complete list of qualifications is available on the SDMRT website. You can RSVP for the informational meeting online at www.sdmrt.com/joinus.htm.