4 Rescued on Mt. San Jacinto; 2 Still Missing

Two hiking couples missing since last Saturday in the Mt. San Jacinto State Park wilderness area above Palm Springs were spotted from a helicopter Wednesday morning and led to the tram for a descent to safety, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said.

In apparently good condition, despite below-freezing temperatures at the 8,000- to 10,000-foot level, were Bernie Wick, 23, his wife, Jeralynn, 22, both of San Diego; Paul Luce, 23, of Diamond Bar and Emma Frey, 23, of San Diego. They survived by huddling in their tent.

The four said they lost the trail in Monday morning’s snowstorm and encountered a park ranger who showed them where it was--but then lost it again.

Dozens of searchers from Riverside County, Sierra Madre, China Lake, San Diego, Los Padres National Forest and San Dimas search and rescue teams were to resume the search today for two other people lost separately in the wilderness area.

They were identified as John Kivlen, 55, of Playa del Rey, missing since hiking by himself on Sunday, and Rudy N. Brown, 30, of Los Angeles, a former reserve park ranger familiar with the area but unseen since setting out on a hike last Friday.