"Smith said Pennington and his friends had a plan in place due to his poor health, which was if he was unable to get back to their camp, he’d hike down the trail to a neighborhood in Rowland Creek, where he’d ask a resident for a ride to his home.
Pennington’s friends noticed he hadn’t returned to camp Thursday night, but didn’t become concerned due to their plan, Smith said. The group went to get supplies Friday morning, according to Smith, and realized Pennington had never made it to his home
The group then returned to the area they left Pennington to fish at so they could search for him. The friends searched for Pennington on Friday and again on Saturday to no avail, according to Smith.
Then on Sunday, Sgt. Smith said one individual walked the entire approximate 5-mile trail searching for Pennington. Once that person made it from Skulls Gap to the neighborhood in Rowland Creek without any sign of Pennington on the trail, they phoned the sheriff’s office."
I wish his friends hadn't waited three and a half days to call LE. If Pennington was possibly too weak to make it back to their campsite and potentially had to walk to a nearby neighborhood to ask for a ride home, where do they think he could have gone where he'd appear in a day or two??