Search And Rescue

Three men reported missing in the Angeles National Forest overnight Monday were found uninjured at about 8:35 a.m. today, authorities said. The men were reported missing about 11 p.m. Monday, prompting an overnight search by crews from the Montrose and Sierra Madre search and rescue teams. A Los Angeles County sheriff's helicopter was also used to aid in the search effort. Sheriff's Montrose Search and Rescue Team member Steve Goldsworthy said the men were found uninjured in the Devil's Canyon area of Angeles National Forest.

Gretchen Hoffman A man who had been missing for 11 days was found alive Tuesday by a hiker who stumbled across him at an Angeles National Forest trailhead about seven miles from his car. Searchers who combed the area for two days are calling it a miracle. Luis Cruz, 26, was last seen Aug. 9 when he left for work, officials said. His family later reported him missing, and a U.S. Forest Service Ranger spotted his Chevrolet Tahoe parked at Switzer's Campground on Monday.

The Montrose Search and Rescue responded to a lost hiker call over the weekend. According to rescue member Mike Leum, the team was called out at 10 p.m. on Saturday when a man and his family did not come home from a hike near Mt. Wilson. ?It was a big search,? Leum said. ?A man took his [children], a six, four and two year-old on a hike.? The hike was extremely ambitious without children, from the base of Mt. Wilson to the top and back again. The man left his vehicle at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning, a family member called later that night when he did not return.

Clark Magnet High School launched a new underwater robot named “Johnny Lex” to honor local Lexus dealer Johnny Harrison. The marine robot is battery-powered and named after Harrison, who is the president and general manager of Lexus of Glendale. The Ventura County Sheriff's Department provided the robot's manipulator arm and when needed, the robot is utilized by the department and its search and rescue teams.    

On July 1 five family members were hiking in the Switzer Falls area in Angeles National Forest. Around 4:30 p.m. four of the members decided to walk the approximate two miles back to the parking lot. By 9 p.m., when they had not arrived, the remaining family member, a son, called 911. Montrose Search and Rescue responded to the emergency call and began searching for the missing people. "There were two adults, 40 to 45 years old, a 17-year-old boy and 20-year-old girl," Janet Henderson, captain of Montrose Search and Rescue, said.

I am writing regarding Mike Leum's editorial reply ("Rescue team's goal is to save lives," April 4) regarding the Montrose Search and Rescue Team. Mike was very accurate about the volunteer nature of the team and about its efforts to raise funds for expenses not covered by the county, but he was too modest to mention that a Montrose Search and Rescue Team Endowment Fund has been established at the Glendale Community Foundationby a gentlemen rescued by the team.

Angeles Crest Highway was the site of a fatal motorcycle accident Saturday afternoon involving two members of the Montrose Search and Rescue Team. According to Officer Todd Workman of the California Highway Patrol, Lucas Binford, 35, from Chatsworth was traveling westbound on the Angeles Crest Highway when his motorcycle crossed the center yellow line and crashed into a Montrose Search and Rescue vehicle traveling eastbound. The team?s vehicle, occupied by the driver and a single passenger, both members of the rescue organization, were entering a curve when the accident happened, according to Montrose Search and Rescue Capt.

ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST — The motorcyclist who on Saturday died in a fiery, head-on collision with a Montrose Search and Rescue truck on Angeles Crest Highway has been identified as 35-year-old Lucas Binford of Chatsworth, authorities said. Binford was pronounced dead at the scene after suffering from “multiple traumatic injuries,” said Betsi Magdaleno, an investigator for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The accident occurred shortly after 2 p.m. about 45 miles north of La Cañada Flintridge on Angeles Crest Highway when Binford reportedly slammed head-on into the search-and-rescue truck that was on routine patrol traveling about 35 mph, said California Highway Patrol Sgt. Tom Franklin.

It was 40 years ago this week that Montrose Search and Rescue member Deputy Sgt. Charles Rea lost his life as he battled to save others trapped in the flood-swollen Big Tujunga River. A La Crescenta resident, Deputy Sgt. Charles Rea was 34 at the time of his death. He had served on the Montrose Search and Rescue Team for three years. “He is the only member in our long team history that has died during a rescue,” said Fred Koegler, a current member of the team. He added that is important to remember how dangerous the work is that the team does.

A 47-year-old man from Altadena is recovering from injuries sustained after his vehicle slammed into a wall on the Angeles Crest Highway around 4 p.m. on Saturday. According to California Highway Patrol Officer Andre Primeaux, the driver lost control of his Jaguar, apparently due to excessive speed, and hit a retaining wall near mile marker 62 on the ’Crest. The Montrose Search and Rescue Team responded to the scene. “He had been ejected from the vehicle over the side,” said Mike Leum of the search and rescue team.