Amazing.
Missing California hiker found after mystery photo reveals location
Missing Calif. hiker found after mystery photo reveals location
A Southern California man sent this photo before going missing on a hike. An internet stranger used it to help locate him safely.
Rene Compean of Palmdale was on a hike Monday near Mount Waterman, a popular ski destination in the San Gabriel Mountains in Southern California. While the 45-year-old was on his outdoor adventure, he snapped a picture. It showed him from the knees down, dangling his bare legs from a precipice with a canyon below and slopes in the distance. Compean texted the shot to a friend. And then, he went off the map.
He was reported missing at 6 p.m. by a friend, who received one last text from Compean saying he was worried he was lost and his cell phone battery was running low. The photo was turned over to investigators at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department who posted it to social media, asking if anyone recognized the spot in the photograph.
Benjamin Kuo saw the message and thought he might be able to help. As a satellite image aficionado, he was already familiar with tracking California wildfires in remote areas.
Using satellite images, maps and the scenery below Compean's feet in the photo, Kuo was able to estimate the coordinates of where he believed the man had gone missing. Kuo sent his tip to the sheriff's office, and a helicopter was sent to survey the area Tuesday. There, as if by magic, was Compean.
Missing California hiker found after mystery photo reveals location
Missing Calif. hiker found after mystery photo reveals location
A Southern California man sent this photo before going missing on a hike. An internet stranger used it to help locate him safely.
Rene Compean of Palmdale was on a hike Monday near Mount Waterman, a popular ski destination in the San Gabriel Mountains in Southern California. While the 45-year-old was on his outdoor adventure, he snapped a picture. It showed him from the knees down, dangling his bare legs from a precipice with a canyon below and slopes in the distance. Compean texted the shot to a friend. And then, he went off the map.
He was reported missing at 6 p.m. by a friend, who received one last text from Compean saying he was worried he was lost and his cell phone battery was running low. The photo was turned over to investigators at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department who posted it to social media, asking if anyone recognized the spot in the photograph.
Benjamin Kuo saw the message and thought he might be able to help. As a satellite image aficionado, he was already familiar with tracking California wildfires in remote areas.
Using satellite images, maps and the scenery below Compean's feet in the photo, Kuo was able to estimate the coordinates of where he believed the man had gone missing. Kuo sent his tip to the sheriff's office, and a helicopter was sent to survey the area Tuesday. There, as if by magic, was Compean.
