Two Hikers Rescued After Freezing Night in Forest

Two missing Canyon Country hikers who endured freezing temperatures overnight in the Angeles National Forest were found Monday morning when a sheriff’s deputy made a call to one of their cellular phones.

Julie Posthumus and Priscilla Herman spent the night in a mud-bogged pickup truck with two dogs, warming themselves with the truck’s heater, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Santa Clarita Valley station. The women had gone up a partially paved trail for sport trucks into a remote area called Messenger Flats 20 miles from the city to “play in the snow” Sunday afternoon, authorities said.

Notified that the women had not returned home when expected, the Santa Clarita Valley Search and Rescue Team searched near the trail. Shortly after 7 a.m. Monday, a deputy called the cellular phone.

“It is not a common occurrence for the phone to work for most people because it’s so far out,” Sgt. Debra Miller said. “In most cases, we just have a family member telling us where they think the missing person was supposed to be. Here, we had the phone and the silver truck helping.”

The women had reportedly tried to use their phones the night before but could not get through. After they were located, a sheriff’s helicopter airlifted them to safety.