Search Continues for Missing Teen; ‘Positive Energy’ Comforts Mother

Rescue teams continued their search Wednesday for a 16-year-old hiker missing since Sunday on the rugged slopes of Southern California’s tallest mountain.

William Parven failed to return after leaving his father and sister to climb alone to the summit of 11,499-foot Mt. San Gorgonio.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department deployed about 50 people Wednesday as the search moved into its third day. They scoured the trails and canyons descending from the summit, blowing whistles and shouting the boy’s name, all to no avail.

A golden retriever tracking dog was unable to find the boy’s scent, and overflights by three helicopters failed to turn up any sign of him.

The search was launched Monday when the boy’s mother, Maureen Houston, called police to say her son, daughter and former husband had failed to return as scheduled from what had been planned as a day trip.

The boy’s father, Mike Parven, and 12-year-old sister, Elyssa, had spent Sunday night searching for William and did not return to the trail head until shortly after Houston called police.

William, a high school student from Woodland Hills, carried with him five bottles of water, a package of beef jerky, some trail mix, a Swiss Army knife and a red throwaway flashlight. The youth is described as an experienced hiker and woodsman, and officials said temperatures have remained warm enough on the mountain to reduce the threat of harm from exposure.

“The first day, I thought the worst,” the boy’s mother said Wednesday afternoon. “Today, the positive energy I’m getting from everybody is relaxing.”

Officials said the search will be expanded today with the addition of personnel from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and other agencies.