Mission Viejo Hiker, Friend Are Missing

A massive search was launched Monday after a Mission Viejo resident and his friend failed to return home from a weekend trip to Mt. Waterman, but the effort was called off after 15 hours of fruitlessly combing the dense terrain, authorities said.

Kurt Jones of Mission Viejo and James Underdown of Los Angeles, both 34, left Friday to go hiking and were expected to return Sunday, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. Jim Hays said.

When the hikers didn’t appear by 3 a.m. Monday, one of the men’s wives called the Sheriff’s Department and officials deployed a 50-person search team, which was assisted by two dogs and two helicopters, Hays said.

Teams hiked from both ends of the trail near the men’s campsite, Hays said, and met in the middle. Deputies also fanned out off the trail in case the two had wandered off the path and got lost, but the operation was called off when night fell and it started to rain, Hays said.

“This is not at all uncommon. We have campers and hikers missing all the time,” Hays said. “What has concerned us in this case is the length of time they’re out there. We should have found them by now.”

The search was to have resumed early today with the state’s Office of Emergency Services and San Bernardino County sheriff’s volunteers joining the Los Angeles County crew. If the hikers are not found, officials said, more searchers will be deployed.

“Our concern rises as time goes by,” Hays said. “After a few days, there’s just no point in a continuous search, because where do you look?”

Deputies said they do not believe robbery was involved or that the men left the park because their wallets, cash, a cellular phone and beepers were still in their Honda. Deputies found food, sleeping bags and an ice chest in their tent, Hays said.

Both are experienced hikers and “know their limits,” said Alison Jones, Kurt Jones’ wife.

She said that she and Colleen Wainwright, Underdown’s wife, “both honestly think that they’re just lost. We’re not thinking anything else. They’re smart and they both know what they’re doing.”

The men were friends at DePauw University in Indiana, where they played football together. Jones is in sales and Underdown is a stand-up comedian who writes movie scripts, their wives said.

“We’re worried but we’re not going to panic,” Wainwright said. “Not yet.”