Romania - George Smyth, 18,’called emergency services, saying he was exhausted & suffering from hypothermia’ snowy mountains of Romania, 23 Nov 2025

[StillDiggin]

A DESPERATE search is underway for a British teenager who vanished in the snowy mountains around Dracula’s Castle in Romania more than a week ago.

George Smyth, 18, left university for the hiking trip without telling his family and was last heard from when he call emergency services for help – saying he was exhausted and suffering from hypothermia.
His mum, Jo, flew out to Romania as soon as she heard the news from the Salvamont Brasov rescue service on Friday night.

Jo said: “He left his university in the United Kingdom on Sunday without telling us, to go hiking alone.

“His phone last had signal in a remote mountain area. He made a distressing call to 112 on Sunday evening.

“The teams found his backpack in the same place from where he called for help within a few hours.

Brit, 18, missing near Dracula’s Castle for a WEEK after ‘calling for help'

A DESPERATE search is underway for a British teenager who vanished in the snowy mountains around Dracula’s Castle in Romania over a week ago. Uni student George Smyth, 18, left for the solo h…

www.thesun.co.uk

 

[Hexe]

A DESPERATE search is underway for a British teenager who vanished in the snowy mountains around Dracula’s Castle in Romania more than a week ago.

The castle in question is Bran which despite being advertised as Dracula's castle has nothing to do with historical Vlad Dracula who never set his foot in there. The castles that can be tied to him are the main residence of Valachian rulers in Tîrgoviște, sumner residence in București and Poienari Castle built on his order. Excuse me for that digression, but Bran's marketing is one of my pet peeves.

The mountain range is called Bucegi and is a part of Southern Carpathians. They might be not the tallest, Omu, the highest peak has 2,505 m (8,219 ft), but the climate is pretty harsh, so I am not surprised George was talking about hypothermia. He set from Poiana Brașov, intending to walk to Brasov castle, but it seems he was attempting to take the shorter route across the mountains, instead of going by flatter land, through Rasnov and Tohana Nou.

The problem is I cannot find any marked trail that would cover all the route from Poiana Brașov to Bran, so I guess George went off the trail. Which is a bad idea, same for going to hike solo without telling anyone what route you take.

 

[GraceG]

This article states that he was hiking towards the Village of Bran and sent his last call after reaching the Tiganesti Valley, Searchers found his backpack hours later but conditions worsened. From the photos it looks pretty trecherous even for experienced alpine technical hikers/searchers. Mysterious final call of British teenager who vanished near Dracula's Castle

 

[LadyL]

another article - apparently he is wearing the same jacket as in the photo - doesn't look warm enough to me for a hike in snowy mountains also, his parents found his phone and rescuers found his backpack in the place where he had called from 'within a few hours' so it seems he gave up on waiting for help and moved on (maybe confused and delirious?)

In a first for local rescue operations, Salvamont Brasov even deployed a Black Hawk helicopter to fly intervention teams quickly to the most inaccessible parts of the massif.

A drone equipped with a thermal imaging camera was also used as teams with sniffer dogs retraced George's route.

MSN

 

[GraceG]

another article - apparently he is wearing the same jacket as in the photo - doesn't look warm enough to me for a hike in snowy mountains also, his parents found his phone and rescuers found his backpack in the place where he had called from 'within a few hours' so it seems he gave up on waiting for help and moved on (maybe confused and delirious?)

In a first for local rescue operations, Salvamont Brasov even deployed a Black Hawk helicopter to fly intervention teams quickly to the most inaccessible parts of the massif.

A drone equipped with a thermal imaging camera was also used as teams with sniffer dogs retraced George's route.

MSN

That jacket was pretty lightweight, great for wind but not for a snowstorm, IMO. The thermal imaging won't help if he's no longer alive or built a snow cave ( because the snow is too thick to allow infrared radiation to penetrate) but I think if he had the mental accuity (given the hypothermia) to do that, he'd not have left his rucksack with equipment.

Dogs and scent trails in the cold present challenges. The article didn't specifiy what "sniffer dogs" they were using, there are commonly two types, air scent dogs and tracker dogs. Airscent dogs detect airborne scent over large areas, while tracking dogs follow one person’s specific trail from their last known location. Then there are also mountain SAR and avalanche dogs which have their own unique skill set.

I've never handled a SAR dog, but we've worked in the field with them as they were used to find plane crash victims not found at the scene (injured and/or burned and disoriented or tried to hike out for help in rough conditions).

As a general rule, cold weather keeps scent particles closer to the ground, making it easier for dogs to follow a trail. However, in very low temperatures, scent particles can freeze, slowing the rate of evaporation and making the trail more difficult for the dog to detect. Snow is another factor all by itself. Fresh snow can trap scent particles (scent loves the fluffy snow), preserving the trail longer. But as snow melts or compacts, it alters the scent dynamics as melting snow releases the scent particles which then spread and create a broader, less defined trail.

Frozen snow or ice, as well, can lock scent particles in place, making it more difficult for dogs to access them. Picture tring to sniff something through a sealed jar, It's difficult, not impossible, but very difficult - that's what it is like for the dogs.

 

[iamshadow21]

another article - apparently he is wearing the same jacket as in the photo - doesn't look warm enough to me for a hike in snowy mountains also, his parents found his phone and rescuers found his backpack in the place where he had called from 'within a few hours' so it seems he gave up on waiting for help and moved on (maybe confused and delirious?)

In a first for local rescue operations, Salvamont Brasov even deployed a Black Hawk helicopter to fly intervention teams quickly to the most inaccessible parts of the massif.

A drone equipped with a thermal imaging camera was also used as teams with sniffer dogs retraced George's route.

MSN

I suspect that they'll find him relatively close to the backpack, but maybe not until spring.

MOO

 

[LadyL]

That jacket was pretty lightweight, great for wind but not for a snowstorm, IMO. The thermal imaging won't help if he's no longer alive or built a snow cave ( because the snow is too thick to allow infrared radiation to penetrate) but I think if he had the mental accuity (given the hypothermia) to do that, he'd not have left his rucksack with equipment.

Dogs and scent trails in the cold present challenges. The article didn't specifidy what "sniffer dogs" they were using, there are commonly two types, air scent dogs and tracker dogs. Airscent dogs detect airborne scent over large areas, while tracking dogs follow one person’s specific trail from their last known location. Then there are also mountain SAR and avalanche dogs which have their own unique skill set.

I've never handled a SAR dog, but we've worked in the field with them as they were used to find plane crash victims not found at the scene (injured and/or burned and disoriented or tried to hike out for help in rough conditions).

As a general rule, cold weather keeps scent particles closer to the ground, making it easier for dogs to follow a trail. However, in very low temperatures, scent particles can freeze, slowing the rate of evaporation and making the trail more difficult for the dog to detect. Snow is another factor all by itself. Fresh snow can trap scent particles (scent loves the fluffy snow), preserving the trail longer. But as snow melts or compacts, it alters the scent dynamics as melting snow releases the scent particles which then spread and create a broader, less defined trail.

Frozen snow or ice, as well, can lock scent particles in place, making it more difficult for dogs to access them. Picture tring to sniff something through a sealed jar, It's difficult, not impossible, but very difficult - that's what it is like for the dogs.

very interesting - thanks for sharing your expertise

 

[Serononin]

Oh Jesus, nothing about this situation sounds good. I hope his family have plenty of support