Your mind will be boggled when you learn why a hiker who went missing in the Colorado mountains for twenty-four hours, ignored calls from rescuers attempting to locate them, as officials advise everyone: “Answer the phone!”
Hiker lost for 24 hours, ignores calls from rescuers
An unidentified hiker was reported missing after not returning home when scheduled from a hike in the mountains of Colorado, WHDH reported.
Around 8 PM, when the hiker was overdue from a trek on Mount Elbert in Colorado, the highest summit of the Rocky Mountains, the individual was reported missing after never returning following a start time of 9 AM that morning.
The Lake County Search and Rescue first searched an area where hikers typically get lost but were unable to locate the missing hiker.
The Lake County Search and Rescue (LCSR) continue to search multiple areas for the hiker, but could not find the person, NBC reported.
CNN reported that 5 LCSAR team members searched for the hiker in areas where people tend to get lost, but called off the search at 3 a.m. another three-person search team searched another area at 7 a.m. all of these searches came up empty.
All during this process, rescuers kept trying to reach the hiker via cell phone.
“Multiple attempts to contact the subject via their cell phone were unsuccessful,” a statement from LCSR said.
Hiker found, reveals reason for ignoring rescuers’ calls
Twenty-four hours later, the next morning, around 9:30 AM, the hiker had found their way back to their vehicle and returned to where they were staying, CNN reported.
“The subject stated they’d lost the trail around nightfall and spent the night searching for the trail, and once on the trail, bounced around onto different trails trying to locate the proper trailhead, finally reaching their car the next morning,” said the LCSR in the statement. “They had no idea that SAR [search and rescue] was out looking for them.”
What was the reason the hiker ignored phone calls from rescuers?
The hiker acknowledged receiving phone calls but explained that because the number was unknown to them, they ignored the calls.
“One notable take-away is that the subject ignored repeated phone calls from us because they didn’t recognize the number,” LCSR said in a news release. “If you’re overdue according to your itinerary, and you start getting repeated calls from an unknown number, please answer the phone; it may be a SAR team trying to confirm you’re safe!”
