April 23, 2024 - Smartsville, CA – Nevada County Sheriff’s Office officials report a 70-year-old male from Crescent City, California was found alive and well, after getting lost hiking Fairy Falls Trail to Beale/Shingle Falls, a popular 5.3-mile hike near Beale Air Force Base.

The initial 911 call came into the Regional Dispatch Center at 2:04 p.m. on Friday, April 19, from the man’s family. He had gone out hiking earlier that day with three other family members but became separated after they took pictures at the falls. The man was last observed near the cliff face of the Beale Falls at 12:35 p.m.

The family conducted their own initial search before calling authorities for assistance. The family shared he had no food, water, cell phone, or any other known items on his person. Deputies of the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office immediately responded and began canvassing the Beale Falls trail system and vicinity for the missing man. The Sheriff’s Office also called upon its own Nevada County Sheriff's Search & Rescue team for assistance as well as Placer County Sheriff's Office, Tahoe Nordic Search & Rescue Team Inc, Yuba County Search & Rescue, the California Office of Emergency Services, and the California Highway Patrol Air Operations, the latter of which conducted aerial searching via helicopter. Search teams also included K9s, e-bikes, UTVs, drones, and many ground searchers.

The search continued throughout the afternoon, evening and overnight into the morning hours with approximately 60 search and rescue partners and several K9s looking for the lost hiker. In the early morning of April 20, crews from Marin County Search and Rescue, El Dorado Search and Rescue, and the California Rescue Dog Association also responded to help. Thankfully, at 8:17 a.m. on April 20, the man was located by the K9 teams alive and uninjured. He was cleared by medical on scene and was reunited with his family.

The Sheriff’s Office would like to thank its law enforcement partners, volunteer rescue crews, CAL FIRE NEU, and Penn Valley Fire Protection District for their mutual aid in this successful rescue. Over 75 people ended up aiding this search.

In a related turn of events, meals are always provided to rescue personnel on extended searches. In this case, lunch for Saturday had already been ordered by the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office when search efforts concluded. Most of the lunches were subsequently donated to Hospitality House-Community Shelter, the only permanent homeless shelter in Nevada County, and went on to feed 60 homeless individuals. Additional lunches were provided to volunteers of the Nevada County Sherrif’s Search and Rescue team, who aided the search and had additional emergency training that same afternoon.


Source and photos: Nevada County Sheriff’s Office