Missing 72-year-old hiker found uninjured after KCSO, Ventura sheriff launch 2-day search
Aug. 10—A Kern County Search and Rescue team helped find a 78-year-old hiker who went missing for about two days in the Los Padres National Forest, according to a Ventura County Sheriff's Office news release.
KCSO, along with the Tehachapi Mountain Rescue Group, went to Sawmill Mountain near the Chumash Wilderness area, which borders Kern and Ventura counties, after getting a 911 call from Balaji Keshava on Saturday afternoon.
Keshava was hiking with other people but got separated from the group near Grouse Mountain, the news release added. Dispatchers helped to find Keshava's general location by using data from his cell phone that he used to call 911.
The VCSO Search and Rescue team and a helicopter from KCSO searched throughout Saturday night. On Sunday, first responders hiked altitudes topping 8,000 feet through "unforgiving terrain" with ultimately 35 people canvassing the area, VCSO added in the news release.
Keshava was found at about 11 a.m. Monday on the south side of Grouse Mountain in good condition, the news release said. He received medical treatment aboard a helicopter and was flown to a hospital.
