Cold May Kill Missing Hiker, Officials Fear

At nightfall Sunday, teams of rescuers trekked out of rough Mt. Baldy terrain after failing to find a missing Buena Park man who had tumbled down a summit ridge on New Year’s Day.

As the effort, which included 80 searchers, two helicopters and three dogs, ended for the day, officials expressed increasing concern about whether Charles Koh, 53, could survive a fourth night of temperatures in the teens.

“Hypothermia is definitely a concern of ours,” said Robin Haynal, a San Bernardino County sheriff’s spokeswoman. “But if he was able to hunker down and find some water, we’re still very hopeful.”

The search is expected to resume this morning, but will be conducted primarily by air, officials said. Many of the volunteer searchers must return to their jobs, officials said.

Koh runs a shipping business in Buena Park, said Sgt. Dennis Shaffer of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. Koh’s wife, son and daughter have kept a vigil at a fire station command post. They declined to speak to reporters and were being counseled by a chaplain, who hugged and consoled family members as they watched rescuers come off the mountain.

Searchers on Sunday combed new sections of Mt. Baldy and previously inspected areas, officials said. Authorities also distributed a flier with a photograph of Koh to residents of mountain communities.

Officials found footprints on the western edge of the mountain Sunday, but did not know if they were Koh’s. The discovery, however, fueled some hope that the hiker, who is believed to be wearing a waterproof jacket, rain pants and hiking boots, may have survived a 100-foot fall.

Down the ridge from where Koh fell, searchers earlier had found a trace of blood and a ski pole Koh had been using as a hiking stick. A faint trail led into the brush, but quickly faded.

Searchers, equipped with helmets and ice axes, operated from a command post at the Mount Baldy Village fire station.

“There have been times that I was certain that a person wouldn’t be alive anymore, and then the next morning they walk down the hill,” said Michael St. John, a member of a volunteer search and rescue team from Marin County.

Sunshine and little wind helped Sunday, some searchers said, but slopes of ice, rough brush and loose rocks made their work difficult. “Sometimes everything just goes straight down. You can find yourself without a ledge,” St. John said. “It’s steep. It’s unstable.”

*

Times staff writer Daniel Hernandez contributed to this report.