Hiker From Palmdale Found Dead

Rescue workers found the body of a missing hiker from Palmdale in a rugged mountain area Sunday morning, ending a nearly two-day search for the 40-year-old mother of five.

Authorities said Karen Leigh Tellez, who was reported missing Friday afternoon after she became separated from a group of hiking companions in cold, wet conditions, was found lying next to a large oak tree on Liebre Mountain. She was less than five miles from a command post at Pine Canyon Road and Three Points Road in the Lake Hughes area.

“She looked very peaceful,” said Capt. Rich Byrum of the Santa Clarita sheriff’s station search-and-rescue team. “She had put herself under a tree and did what she could for protection.”

Sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Parker said it appeared that Tellez died of hypothermia, but the exact cause of her death will be determined by the Los Angeles County coroner’s office. Authorities said they had not ruled out foul play.

One hiking companion said Tellez broke away from the others in an attempt to call someone about picking up her 7-year-old son from school.

Tellez’s husband, David Tellez, who praised the rescue workers, was at the command post when his wife’s body was found about 10:30 a.m.

Tired and tearful, Tellez said Sunday night that he would miss his wife of 18 years.

“She was a real people person,” the 45-year-old man said softly. “She was a dedicated mom for so many years.”

Tellez said he and his wife had three children together, ages 16, 13 and 7, and that she had two children, ages 20 and 19, from a previous marriage.

Meanwhile, Karen Tellez’s co-workers at the Antelope Valley Hospital Medical Center, where she worked as a mental-health technician, held a prayer gathering at their unit.

“Karen was a very loving, caring, compassionate person,” said co-worker Debbie Egemo. “We’re just praying for her family right now.”

Co-worker Raymond Dymowski, who was hiking with Tellez on the Pacific Crest Trail on Friday before she disappeared, said she would “be missed very much.”

Dymowski said Tellez left the trail they were following and apparently wandered onto another trail, where he said she may have collapsed. Dymowski and Egemo both spoke of Tellez’s passion for hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, which runs from Canada to Mexico.

“She had a dream to finish that trail,” Egemo said. “She just had a passion for nature and hiking.”

Tellez disappeared Friday around 1:30 p.m. after she abandoned the hike with Dymowski and two other companions, saying she planned to head back down the mountain because her youngest son was expecting to be picked up from school. Instead of descending the mountain safely, Tellez apparently became disoriented by the pounding rain.

“She loved what she was doing, hiking up that hill,” Dymowski said. “Her eyes were looking at me and she had a smile on her face and said she was going to make a call.”

Dymowski agreed to wait for their friends, Jerry and Peggy Plant, who were trailing behind, but after waiting a while he followed Tellez down the trail. He quickly lost her tracks in the downpour and tried to go back.

Several hours passed before Dymowski stumbled across a trail that led him back to his car around 4 p.m. at an area known as Five Points. He then drove to the Three Points Roadhouse, where he later met up with the Plants and alerted authorities that Tellez was missing.

Sheriff’s officials and rescue workers joined friends and family members during a frantic search for Tellez, an avid hiker and jogger. As many as 120 people took part in the search. Rescue workers from Los Angeles, Kern, Ventura and San Bernardino counties used helicopters, dogs and snowmobiles to try to locate Tellez, but their efforts were hampered by ice, snow, falling trees, strong winds and rain.

“The visibility was a major constraint for search-and-rescue personnel,” Parker said.

By Friday night six inches of snow had fallen in the rough wilderness area, with several more inches coming Saturday and subfreezing temperatures at night. Parker added that Tellez, who was wearing jeans, a sweatshirt, boots and a yellow poncho, was not dressed for harsh weather.

Brad Lyon, the rescue operation’s commander, said Tellez had removed her poncho and had hung it “like a flag” on some brush next to her. He said she also had removed a pair of sweatpants she had been wearing over her jeans, possibly because she had become disoriented due to hypothermia.

The discovery of Tellez’s body was disheartening for rescue workers, who had braved treacherous conditions in their search for her.

“We had six inches of snow, it was pitch-black and trees were collapsing in front of us in the middle of the night,” said Ron Chew, a member of a search-and-rescue team from Altadena.

“It’s discouraging to find this result,” added Ron Jack, another volunteer.

Tamaki is a Times staff writer. Vitucci is a correspondent.