Missing Hiker’s Body Found

The body of a hiker reported missing two days before was found slumped under a tree by rescue workers Wednesday in a rugged canyon of the San Gabriel Mountains, his dog waiting by his side.

Tadeo Yanez, 26, and his dog, a husky named Lobo, set off hiking Sunday in the Angeles National Forest above Arcadia. But after apparently taking a wrong turn and venturing far into the forest, Yanez, a real estate agent from Commerce, fell into a diabetic coma for lack of insulin, sheriff’s deputies said.

The dog resisted rescuers’ early efforts to remove the body, which was found nine miles north of Chantry Flat, where Yanez started his hike.

“There are some scratch marks that indicate the dog tried to revive him,” said sheriff’s homicide Det. Joseph Martinez, who was airlifted to the camp.

Yanez’s grieving parents begged authorities to retrieve the dog. So, using the dog’s favorite yellow tennis ball to lure it away from the body, an animal rescue officer tranquilized the animal and loaded it into a helicopter.

The hiker’s father, Ranulfo Yanez, carried the dog in his arms from the helicopter landing pad to his wife, who was waiting inside the Chantry Flat ranger station.

“My son was a good kid, very brave, very smart,” he said. “We knew the time was running against us to find him alive.”

The husky meant the world to Tadeo, his father said.

More than two dozen of the hiker’s friends joined four rescue teams in the effort, which also employed tracker dogs and a helicopter. At 9:17 a.m. Wednesday, two sheriff’s deputies found Yanez’s body at the Devore campground, near the west fork of the San Gabriel River.

“We go searching with the concept of finding a person [alive]. . . . Sometimes it’s too late. It’s emotional,” said Dick Sale, a commander of the Sierra Madre Search and Rescue team. “I am my brother’s keeper.”

The victim’s mother, Carmen Yanez, reported him missing Monday and warned that he did not have his insulin with him. Yanez apparently gave himself an insulin shot before leaving on the hike, said authorities, who found a used syringe in his truck.

Tracking dogs began their search Monday in the Chantry Flat parking lot, then followed the scent up a trail before losing it about three miles north of Chantry Flat. Search and rescue teams from Altadena, Sierra Madre, San Dimas and Montrose checked half a dozen nearby trails Tuesday, assisted by a helicopter.

The search was expanded north Wednesday toward Angeles Crest Highway. Two deputies hiking from Rincon Red Box Road toward the Devore campground found the body.

Investigators said it appears the hiker struggled to stay conscious. They believe he may have taken a wrong turn, venturing farther into the forest than he had planned.

Rescuers said Wednesday that many people forget how dangerous the forest can be. “We recommend you hike in a group of three, and I personally take four people,” Sale said. “One to stay with the injured person and two to go get help.”

The victim’s uncle, Rafael Jara, said his nephew usually went on shorter hikes. Although he was a diabetic, Yanez regularly participated in sports and fitness training.

“He was a very active young man,’ Jara said. “He liked to go where others wouldn’t.”