Lost Hiker Did Not Pick Up Calls From Unknown Number

Person spent 24 hours on Colorado's Mount Elbert as a result
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 26, 2021 6:21 AM CDT
Updated Oct 30, 2021 5:05 PM CDT
Lost Hiker Ignored Rescuers' Calls Due to Unknown Number
People hike on Mount Elbert in August 2017.   (Wikimedia Commons/Pimlico27)

A lost hiker who spent 24 hours on Colorado's highest mountain ignored repeated phone calls from a search and rescue crew because they came from an unknown number. The unidentified hiker had set out on the 14,440-foot-tall peak on the morning of Oct. 18 but did not return to their lodging by evening, Lake County Search and Rescue said in a statement. That's when the owner of the lodging called for assistance, reports CTV News. Crews searched "high probability areas" on Mount Elbert from 10pm to 3am while calling the hiker's cellphone. Crews also left voicemail and text messages, the statement said.

All went ignored. After a brief pause overnight, crews were again searching for the hiker on the morning of Oct. 19 when it was reported that they'd returned to the lodging around 9:30am, roughly 24 hours after setting out, per the Guardian. The hiker then told authorities that they'd lost the trail around nightfall and "bounced around on to different trails trying to locate the proper trailhead" during the evening, before finally locating their car, according to the statement. The person said they'd had "no idea" anyone was looking for them.

"One notable take-away is that the subject ignored repeated phone calls from us because they didn't recognize the number," Search and Rescue said. "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!" In response to angry comments on social media, the agency did note that "what seems like common sense in hindsight is not obvious to a subject in the moment when they are lost and panicking." (More missing person stories.)

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