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A hiker set out to trek Colorado’s highest peak for 24 hours on October 18.
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They were reported missing, and a search-and-rescue operation was carried out through the night.
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While the search was underway, the person ignored calls; they didn’t recognize the phone number.
A Colorado hiker who got lost on a trail ignored calls from search-and-rescue officials who tried to locate him for 24 hours, because they didn’t recognize the number repeatedly calling them, according to the New York Post.
In a Facebook post, Lake County Search and Rescue officials described the ordeal, which happened on Mount Ebert, Colorado’s highest peak.
According to the officials, the hiker set out at 9:00 a.m. on October 18, and by 8 p.m. that evening, they began searching for him when an individual reported that he had not returned from his hike.
“Multiple attempts to contact the subject via their cell phone were unsuccessful,” the post said.
The officials said that first, a team of five set out at 11 p.m. to search for the missing hiker and stayed out until 3 a.m. on October 19. A team of three picked up the search a few hours later, at 7 a.m., looking in areas that hikers typically get lost.
But by 9:30 a.m. the following day, the search was called off.
“At approximately 0930 the reporting party reported the subject had returned to their place of lodging. All personnel were out of the field by 1000,” the post said.
The officials said the individual “lost the trail around nightfall and spent the night searching for the trail, and once on the trail, bounced around onto different trails trying to locate the proper trailhead.”
The missing hiker reached their car the next morning and 24 hours after they set out for the day hike, and had no idea a search and rescue operation was underway because they declined calls coming in from the officials.
“One notable take-away is that the subject ignored repeated phone calls from us because they didn’t recognize the number,” the officials said. “If you’re overdue according to your itinerary, and you start getting repeated calls from an unknown number, please answer the phone; it may be a SAR team trying to confirm you’re safe!”
Read the original article on Insider
