Hiker lost on US mountain ignored calls from rescuers because he didn’t recognise the number

jcgriff2

jcgriff2

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You simply can't make this **** up!

Repeated attempts to contact the man missing on Mount Elbert for more than 24 hours went unanswered

A man who became lost for 24 hours while hiking on Colorado’s highest mountain ignored repeated phone calls from rescue teams because they came from an unknown number, authorities say.

The hiker was reported missing around 8pm on 18 October after failing to return to where he was staying, Lake county search and rescue said.

Repeated attempts to contact the man through calls, texts and voicemail messages went ignored, according to a statement released by the agency.

Five rescue team members were deployed at around 10pm to search “high probability areas” on from Mount Elbert but returned around 3am the following morning after failing to locate the missing hiker on the 4401 metre-high (14,440ft) peak.

A second team set out at 7am the next day to search areas where hikers “typically lose the trail” only to discover the man had returned to his place of lodging about 9:30am.

The hiker told authorities he had lost his way around nightfall and “bounced around on to different trails trying to locate the proper trailhead” before finally reaching his car the next morning, about 24 hours after setting out on the hike.

Lake county search and rescue said the man reported having “no idea” anyone was out looking for him.

“One notable take-away is that the subject ignored repeated phone calls from us because they didn’t recognise the number,” the agency added.

“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 search and rescue team trying to confirm you’re safe!”

More than 32 hours were dedicated to the search. News that the hiker had ignored calls from rescuers prompted a flurry of furious responses from members of the public.

“Please remember that what seems like common sense in hindsight is not obvious to a subject in the moment when they are lost and panicking,” Lake county search and rescue responded over a Facebook post.

“In Colorado, most folks who spend time outdoors have a good understanding of the search and rescue infrastructure that is there to help them, but this is not the case nation-wide.”
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Hiker lost on US mountain ignored calls from rescuers because he didn’t recognise the number

Unbelievable.

John
 
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In Europe (but not in the UK) you usually have to have insurance to cover the costs of Mountain Rescue, because if it is deployed, you will be charged for it.

In the UK the service is voluntary, and the costs are usually covered by donations made to the relevant S&R teams.

I've been a hillwalker since I was a kid, and you just wouldn't believe the unpreparedness of some of the people I've met on the hills over the years. So this guy's stupidity does not really surprise me one bit.
 
A Guy said:
They were trying to contact him to let him know his warranty was expiring...
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And for this reason, I am not sure I can blame the hiker. I mean I got my first spam call on the way home from the phone store after getting my new phone and new number! :mad:

Apparently, the hiker was not that worried. He had not fallen. He was not injured. Massasauga didn't try to eat him. Nor was he attacked by Bigfoot or Snagglepuss. The report says he was on a trail so he may not have felt he was truly "lost" - he just didn't know where he was. I've done that many times. I didn't know where I was, but I knew how I got there so I could backtrack if necessary, or just keep going and eventually hit a familiar landmark.

Since he had some designated place he was staying for the night, why didn't they call him from their business phone? Or a Park Ranger from his or her official phone? Were there no friends and family who could have called? Why didn't 911 call him? It seems to me, even a text message might have worked here and saved some grief here.

Yeah, hindsight clearly shows he should have answered - especially after his expected return time had passed. I am just saying I understand why he didn't.

I think the lesson goes both ways here. Hikers need to answer their phones if they have not checked back in when expected (assuming they filed a flight-plan before setting out). But I think search & recue teams should have designated phones with appropriate caller-ID information too.
 
But I think search & recue teams should have designated phones with appropriate caller-ID information too.
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Maybe that's something that might happen now that a case like this gets publicised.
 
Gary R said:
Maybe that's something that might happen now that a case like this gets publicised.
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Yeah - though I know that is a budget concern since many of these teams are volunteers donating their own time and resources, to include using their own phones.

Still, the sheriff, park ranger, 911 dispatcher, friend/family - someone with a recognizable caller ID could have, should have called him.

I don't think we have the whole story.
 
I don't think we have the whole story.
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Unfortunately that's generally the case with anything that's reported in the media.
 
Digerati said:
And for this reason, I am not sure I can blame the hiker. I mean I got my first spam call on the way home from the phone store after getting my new phone and new number! :mad:

Apparently, the hiker was not that worried. He had not fallen. He was not injured. Massasauga didn't try to eat him. Nor was he attacked by Bigfoot or Snagglepuss. The report says he was on a trail so he may not have felt he was truly "lost" - he just didn't know where he was. I've done that many times. I didn't know where I was, but I knew how I got there so I could backtrack if necessary, or just keep going and eventually hit a familiar landmark.

Since he had some designated place he was staying for the night, why didn't they call him from their business phone? Or a Park Ranger from his or her official phone? Were there no friends and family who could have called? Why didn't 911 call him? It seems to me, even a text message might have worked here and saved some grief here.

Yeah, hindsight clearly shows he should have answered - especially after his expected return time had passed. I am just saying I understand why he didn't.

I think the lesson goes both ways here. Hikers need to answer their phones if they have not checked back in when expected (assuming they filed a flight-plan before setting out). But I think search & recue teams should have designated phones with appropriate caller-ID information too.
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Yeah, but. . .

A man who became lost for 24 hours while hiking on Colorado’s highest mountain ignored repeated phone calls from rescue teams because they came from an unknown number, authorities say.

The hiker was reported missing around 8pm on 18 October after failing to return to where he was staying, Lake county search and rescue said.

*** They should have a list then that you sign each hike --

(1) Yes, please look for Me
(2) Don't bother!

John
 
Digerati said:
I think the lesson goes both ways here. Hikers need to answer their phones if they have not checked back in when expected (assuming they filed a flight-plan before setting out). But I think search & recue teams should have designated phones with appropriate caller-ID information too.
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That's not always practical as many of these small-town simply pay/reimburse a portion of the rescuer's phone bill each month.

Hikers need to be told - pick the damn phone up. Period.

They don't YET charge for rescue missions, but that is starting to end as these volunteer orgs just cannot afford it any longer.
 
This story made its way around the various hiking communities a few months ago. I wish I could say I'm surprised or that this is the stupidest thing I've heard... It's not.

FWIW, here in the US S&R costs vary from state to state and sometimes even by county/wilderness.

With that, the amount of resources/cost/etc varies wildly. A lot of big parks have their own policy, I don't believe Elbert does as it is basically just a hike. (9 mi, 4.7k gain to the summit)

---

I'm notoriously bad at estimating my adventures... Most people know not to worry about me until at least 12 hours after my expected return. Unplanned bivys are always a possibility :LOL:

Plus, I generally have an in-reach with me as well and pretty good cell service so I'm mostly safe.
 
xrobwx71 said:
If you have a working cell phone, are you really lost?
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This is a good point. I note the hiker was not aware anyone was looking for him - indicating again he was not worried about his situation. If he were truly lost, and "felt" lost, I suspect he would have answered his cell. But then I would have to assume he would have called for help before then.

So again - I cannot really blame the hiker here.

And for the record, he wasn't lost or missing for 24 hours. He was expected back (by whom, we don't know) by 10PM. He returned to his lodging about 9:30am the next morning. So he was "unaccounted" for for less than 12 hours.

There appears to be some significant misinformation in that report. It says more than 32 hours were dedicated to the search. How is that possible when that same report says the man returned to his car 24 hours after setting out on his hike. Did he return to his lodging and no one noticed that he was there? Did no one notice his car suddenly appeared and was parked out front for nearly 8 hours? ???

Edit add: The S&R team had no choice but to assume the worse and err on the side of caution. I am just saying, if the hiker did not feel like he needed help, or that anyone would be looking for him, I don't see where he can be blamed, or held liable, for wasting these resources.

But again, I don't think we have all the information either. I would like to know, who reported him missing?
 
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And based on what's in the article, did the hiker consider himself "lost" in the way one has to be in order to have a professional search party called out? I doubt he did.

I find it odd that a search was organized as quickly as it was, as the report went in earlier than what would even be allowed for a missing person's report from my reading.

But, while I certainly might not answer any phone calls from an unknown number, I certainly would not fail to read text messages from same prior to deleting them. A line in the article states:

Repeated attempts to contact the man through calls, texts and voicemail messages went ignored . . .

And, I'm sorry, but it's a complete doofus who, even if "kinda lost" would not check his texts to see what they say. I might ignore calls, I would probably ignore voicemail as I get junk voicemails, but I never ignore texts (in the sense of not looking at them at all).
 
Years ago, a friend of mine lost the opportunity to say a final goodbye to her teenage son because she had the same policy of never answering calls from unknown numbers. The three calls she didn't answer were from a hospital's emergency department. She eventually found out when police paid her a visit later on in the day - but by then, it was all over for her son.

I get folks reluctance to answer unknown numbers - I think we can all thank scammers and brutal marketing-driven companies for that.

To my mind though, answering and then immediately hanging up without a word after realising it's a crap call is a far better policy to have than to make yourself uncontactable because of (IMO) irrational fears about having to waste a few seconds to check if a call is important or not. To each their own though.
 
andrewlen said:
The three calls she didn't answer were from a hospital's emergency department.
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Which, at least here and now in the USA, should never show up as "Unknown Caller" on anyone's phone, at least if the calls are being placed from lines that belong to the hospital and are "public facing," and any line used to make a call to a family member should be. I really don't know if this is the result of a legal requirement or just from one too many incidents such as the sad one you relayed here.

I've dealt with more calls from hospitals during 2021 than I ever hope to again, and they all identified the hospital itself, though not the department, which makes sense. Most of us seeing an unexpected call showing the name of one of our local hospitals, or a hospital near where we know any loved one is located at the moment, generally give it attention and it gets answered.
 

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