The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department’s Malibu Search and Rescue team safely pulled two young hikers out of the Newton Canyon area Wednesday night where they had become stranded after dark.
Malibu SAR set out after receiving a call at approximately 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 26, from the parents of one of the hikers who had become lost.
The hikers, an 18-year-old male from West Hills and a 17-year-old female from Chatsworth, who with their dog started their hike around 3 p.m. from the Newton Canyon trailhead off of Kanan Road, called one of their parents after sunset when the rain started and they realized they’d lost their way.
By the time the rescue teams were en route to the trail, the hikers’ cell phone batteries had died and they were out of communication. The rain and dense fog made the LACO Fire Copter that came to assist unable to get a visual inside of the canyon.
Finally, after an hour of searching, Malibu SAR on the ground located the two young hikers and their small dog, wet from the rain, but safe and free of injury.