Student, Lost in Forest, Dies Seeking Aid

The body of a university student who got lost after motorcycling in the Angeles National Forest was discovered Wednesday by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies less than a mile from her campsite.

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

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

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

At one point, sheriff’s investigators believe, St. John crossed a dirt road that would have led directly to where two other friends were camping in the forest north of the Santa Clarita Valley.

Investigators speculated 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.

While St. John went for help, her cycling companion, Dennis Welbur, 21, who has cerebral palsy, remained close to where the bikes had gotten stuck, deputies said. He was rescued by Neal Smiley, a locksmith from Hawthorne who had been camping in the area.