UPDATE: Rescued Man Thought Friend was Already Found
One of two missing Orange County hikers is found (LA Times)
Nicolas Cendoya is discovered 'dehydrated and very confused.' The search continues for Kyndall Jack, 18.
One of two hikers missing in the Trabuco Canyon area of Orange County since Easter Sunday was found alive Wednesday night, authorities said. ¶ Nicolas Cendoya, 19, was being taken to a trauma center, authorities said. Search crews had not found his hiking partner, Kyndall Jack, but were scouring the area. ¶ Cendoya was "dehydrated and very confused," said Lt. Jason Park of the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Cendoya was found about half a mile from where the two had parked their vehicle. … ¶ The hikers got lost in what is Orange County's backcountry, where tidy tracts of homes and homogenized commercial developments give way to narrow, winding roads, steep green hills and dense brush that could be a hurdle for inexperienced hikers such as Cendoya and Jack. ¶ The pair — both graduates of Costa Mesa High School — are friends who worked out together at a local gym. Both were high school athletes: She played softball and volleyball; he played football. ... She is now a freshman at Cal State Fullerton, and he's enrolled at Orange Coast College. … ¶ The volunteers have settled in at a dusty airstrip about a mile off the road, from which waves of volunteers were deployed into the hills to search on their own. ¶ Officials, however, have discouraged the volunteers, cautioning that they could get in the way of the investigation — disturbing trackers as they scour the area, or possibly getting lost themselves, drawing resources away from the main search. ¶ "Let the rescuers do what they do," said Capt. Jon Muir of the Orange County Fire Authority.... Near the end of the day Wednesday, authorities had to mobilize for two different rescue missions. ¶ In one case, another hiker — unrelated to the search — had to be plucked out by helicopter after being injured. ¶ The other was for volunteers who set out to find Cendoya and Jack. But they'd only ended up getting lost themselves.
Rescuers continue search for missing O.C. hiker (LA Times)
...Jack's hiking partner, Nicholas Cendoya, 19, was found shortly before 8 p.m. Wednesday, apparently by a hiker not involved in the search for the two Costa Mesa residents, authorities said.... ¶ "He's dehydrated and very confused," [Lt. Jason Park of the Orange County Sheriff's Department] said of Cendoya. He was taken to a local hospital for treatment. ¶ Because of his confused state, Cendoya was "not a very good source" of information regarding the location of Jack, Park said. Nonetheless, he said he was optimistic that Jack would be located. ¶ "We're confident that we will find Kyndall," Park said….
