A Forest Excursion’s Tragic Turn: Within Mile of Safety, Student Dies

The body of a UC Irvine student who loved the outdoors was found by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department searchers Wednesday in the Angeles National Forest less than a mile from her campsite.

Blayne Marie St. John, 19, of Redondo Beach was found at the bottom of a ravine hidden by a thicket of brambles, only a short distance from a road that would have led her to safety, authorities said.

The coroner said St. John’s death was accidental and probably resulted from dehydration or a fall into the ravine, or both.

St. John had last been seen Sunday afternoon when she struck out on foot to find help after motorcycles she and a friend were riding became stuck on a steep dirt road in Texas Canyon.

The UCI sophomore and a group of her friends had been camping in the forest north of the Santa Clarita Valley.

At one point, sheriff’s investigators believe, St. John crossed a dirt road that would have led directly to her two other friends. Her body was found in the ravine a short distance from that road.

Investigators speculate that the 100-degree heat might have left St. John disoriented and unaware she was close to safety.

“The heat might have set in, affecting her reasoning,” Sgt. John F. Andrews said.

The body was spotted by helicopter at 7:30 a.m. with the aid of an infrared device, Andrews said.

St. John and Dennis Welbur, 21, had been riding their motorcycles along dirt paths in the rugged hills for about 90 minutes Sunday afternoon when they tackled a slope that required more advanced skill and strength.

St. John was farther down the hill when Welbur stopped his dirt bike, apparently realizing the terrain was too steep. St. John walked to Welbur, who suffers from cerebral palsy, and volunteered to find help.

Neither rider had brought along water.

Several hours after St. John left for help, a motorcyclist who had been camping in the area rescued Welbur. Neal Smiley, a locksmith from Hawthorne, said Welbur cried out for water.

“He was in bad shape. He was close to blacking out. He had skin peeling from his lips,” Smiley said.

The locksmith lifted Welbur across his back and hauled him to a main road, where he signaled a Sheriff’s Department helicopter.

“This should never have happened. Four people came out to have a day of fun,” Smiley said.

Authorities had believed they would find St. John alive because she was athletic and accustomed to the outdoors. At Redondo Union High School, where she graduated last year, she earned a letter playing soccer. She enjoyed water and snow skiing and camping. And she was quite familiar with Texas Canyon, where she had ridden her yellow and blue Suzuki many times before, friends said.

Popular Riding Area

Texas Canyon and other parts of the forest are favorite haunts of motorcycle riders because of the vast network of paths cut into the mountainsides. Many of the paths challenge even the best riders, however.

“We’d all been up here many times. She was a good rider,” said Jeff James, a family friend. “The part she was on, there was no way out. I’ve been stuck there before.”

James was among the coterie of family and friends who had looked for St. John since Sunday. After the body was found Wednesday, they congregated under some oak trees with large containers of water in a circle of pickup trucks and four-wheel-drive vehicles.

Welbur, who had not left the canyon since Sunday, appeared shaken.

The dead woman’s mother, Barbara St. John, said her daughter became interested in motorcycles after she began dating a motorcycle enthusiast three years ago.

She said her daughter bought a motorcycle even though she knew that her mother would not approve. “With motorcycles there is always a danger,” she said. “I always worried she’d get hurt on her bike. I really disapproved of her bike.”

Concern for Others

But Barbara St. John, who is divorced, said Blayne was a model child with a delightful sense of humor and a deep desire to help others.

“She’s been my purpose in life,” she said. “I guess I’ll have to find another purpose.”

Barbara St. John said she regrets that her only child will never be able to finish writing a children’s book she had started this summer.

Jody Worth, a childhood friend who planned to illustrate the book, promised Barbara St. John she would search through the teenager’s word processor to find the story and complete it.

“I feel like a part of her is in me,” Worth said. “We grew up together. I love her to death.”

The family has established the Blayne Marie St. John Memorial Fund at UC Irvine. Contributions may be directed care of the UCI Foundation, UC Irvine, 92717.