Missing teen hiker prompts search, found safe

MALIBU -- A 15-year-old Hacienda Heights boy was found safe Sunday after going missing while hiking at Leo Carrillo State Park in Malibu Saturday night, authorities said.

Sheriff's deputies and volunteers organized a search Sunday morning after the teen's father awoke to discover he had not returned after going on a hike alone with a flashlight about 9 p.m. the previous evening, Los Angeles County sheriff's officials said in a written statement.

"On Saturday night, he told his father he was going to go hike the same trail he had hiked the day before. When his father got up this morning at 6:30 a.m., he saw that the teen had not returned," according to the statement. "He had no survival gear, water or cell phone."

Sheriff's deputies, the Malibu Search and Rescue Team, volunteers and a helicopter sought the missing teen Sunday morning.

The teenager had become disoriented while hiking and could not find his way back to the campsite, sheriff's Lt. Scott Chew said.

He spent the night out in the park, where temperatures dropped to the high-40s overnight, then walked toward the ocean when he awoke Sunday morning, Chew sad.

He approached a man in the parking lot of Nicholas Beach about 10:30 a.m., told the man he had been lost and asked to use his cell phone to call his father, the lieutenant said.

"Before loaning the teen his phone, the man wisely called the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff's Station and informed the sheriff's department," according to the written statement.

"A large number of rescuers have been gearing up all morning for this search and we are all relieved that he is safe," Chew said. "An important thing to add is that it is very dark out here at night. Night hikes are unsafe in a group or alone, with or without proper supplies."