
Rescuers find mom and son lost in California forest thanks to notes they left on a remote road
A mother and her 9-year-old-son who got lost in a remote California forest while on their way to a Boy Scouts camp were rescued after a search crew found notes the pair had left behind.
The notes weighed down by rocks with 'HELP' written at the top said they were stranded up the road with no phone service.
A volunteer search-and-rescue team that was training in the Sierra Nevada foothills found the pair Saturday, a day after they had set out for the camp, according to the Calaveras County Sheriff's Office.
The woman and her son got lost on Friday after they left the Sacramento area and their GPS had directed them onto old logging roads deep into the forest, said Lt. Greg Stark, a spokesperson for the sheriff's office.
They eventually lost their GPS signal and then got stuck about 10 miles (16 kilometres) from the nearest paved road, Stark said.
They were reported missing the next day after not showing up at the camp.
The county's volunteer search team initially narrowed down the pair's last known spot from a location-sharing app and then heard from campers who saw the woman's missing car a day earlier, the sheriff's office said.
About four hours after being dispatched, the search team found the first note that read: 'HELP. Me and my son are stranded with no service and can't call 911. We are ahead, up the road to the right. Please call 911 to get help for us. Thank you!'
The team found a second note up the road, and then about a mile later they found the woman and her son, where their car had gotten stuck, the sheriff's office said.
The pair had spent the night in the car with a cooler full of food and drinks they had packed for a few days at the camp, Stark said.
Authorities credited the pair with alerting others where they were going and when they would arrive and staying where they were once they got lost. The boy also used his whistle to sound three short bursts — a signal for help that Scouts are taught.
'They did everything right,' Stark said. 'They put themselves in the best position to be found.'
John Seewer, The Associated Press

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


CTV News
3 hours ago
- CTV News
Authorities identify Ohio man who died in shooting after he wounded 3 police officers
This aerial image taken from video provided by WEWS shows police working at the scene of shooting after police officers were wounded and a man was killed in an exchange of gunfire early Wednesday afternoon, July 23, 2025, in an industrial area of Lorain, Ohio. (WEWS via AP) LORAIN, Ohio — The shooter of three Ohio police officers in an ambush attack was identified Thursday by the Lorain County Coroner's Office as 28-year-old Michael Parker. The coroner's office said an autopsy is planned for Parker, who died as a result of the shooting in Lorain on Wednesday afternoon. Authorities say they believe Parker acted alone when he used a high-powered rifle to shoot and wound three city officers — Phillip Wagner, 35; Peter Gale, 51; and Brent Payne, 47. Parker's home was searched for more than five hours Wednesday night. A neighbor said officers broke an upstairs window and flew in a drone during the search. Just before the ambush, Wagner and Gale had parked to eat pizza on a dead-end street in an undeveloped industrial area in Lorain, a city west of Cleveland on Lake Erie. Payne was shot after responding to their call for help, acting Police Chief Michael Failing said. Two of the officers suffered multiple gunshot wounds and were in critical condition after being flown to a trauma center, according to a statement issued by the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police. The other officer was shot in the hand, Failing said. It was not immediately clear whether Parker was killed by return fire or killed himself, police said. Failing said Parker was found to have had 'an arsenal' of weapons with him. Parker lived with his parents in a tidy, two-story brick home along the lake. Neighbors said Thursday they often saw him walking the family dog to the nearby beach, but he rarely engaged in conversation, and never saw him with friends. 'He was just an odd character,' said Jody Burnsworth, who has lived next door to the family since 2012. 'He wasn't rude. He was just always quiet. When he walked he looked like he was always ultra-focused on something.' She said she always had an uneasy feeling about him, never opening her bedroom drapes on the side of the house that faced his home. 'I hate that I thought that,' she said. 'He kind of gave me the creeps. Sometimes he would just look at you in an odd way.' Burnsworth said that during the past year he was hired at the post office but soon quit because the work was too difficult. During the search, a tactical vehicle pulled up outside the house and officers broke out an upstairs window before flying a drone inside, Burnsworth said. Scolforo reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. John Seewer And Mark Scolforo, The Associated Press


CBC
3 hours ago
- CBC
Hulk Hogan, iconic pro wrestling star, dead at 71
Hulk Hogan, who helped lead professional wrestling's rise in popularity in the 1980s and beyond, has died, Florida police and World Wrestling Entertainment said Thursday. He was 71. "WWE is saddened to learn WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan has passed away," the organization said in a statement. "One of pop culture's most recognizable figures, Hogan helped WWE achieve global recognition in the 1980s. WWE extends its condolences to Hogan's family, friends, and fans. Born Terry Bollea, Hogan began wrestling in the mid-1970s. His popularity soared in 1984 after he defeated the Iron Sheik to win the heavyweight championship of what was then called the World Wrestling Federation. He continued to feature as star for the organization, including at WrestleMania appearances in Toronto in 1990 and 2002. Though mainly cast as a patriotic hero, he took a turn as a villain during a 1990s stint with the rival National Wrestling Alliance. Paving the way for current stars Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson and John Cena, Hogan also appeared on screen in fictional roles in Rocky III, Suburban Commando and Mr. Nanny. From 2005-07, he joined the reality television trend with Hogan Knows Best, starring his then-wife and two children. In a significant legal battle, he reached a $31 million US settlement with Gawker in 2016 after the online publication released a video clip of Hogan and a woman in bed. According to the police statement, fire and police in Clearwater, Fla., responded to a medical call at 9:51 a.m. ET., with the nature of call being cardiac arrest.


CTV News
3 hours ago
- CTV News
Trump's onetime friendship with Jeffrey Epstein is well-known - and also documented in records
This photo provided by the New York State Sex Offender Registry shows Jeffrey Epstein, March 28, 2017. (New York State Sex Offender Registry via AP, File) WASHINGTON — The revelation that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi told U.S. President Donald Trump that his name was in the Jeffrey Epstein files has focused fresh attention on the president's relationship with the wealthy financier and the U.S. Justice Department's announcement this month that it would not be releasing any additional documents from the case. But at least some of the information in the briefing to Trump, which The Wall Street Journal said took place in May, should not have been a surprise. The president's association with Epstein is well-established and his name was included in records that his own Justice Department released back in February as part of an effort to satisfy public interest in information from the sex-trafficking investigation. Trump has never been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and the mere inclusion of someone's name in files from the investigation does not imply otherwise. Epstein, who killed himself in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial, also had many prominent friends in political and celebrity circles besides Trump. Trump's ties to Epstein It should have been no shock to Trump that his name would be found in records related to Epstein. The February document dump from the Justice Department included references to Trump in Epstein's phone book and his name was also mentioned in flight logs for Epstein's private plane. Over the years, thousands of pages of records have been released through lawsuits, Epstein's criminal dockets, public disclosures and Freedom of Information Act requests. In January 2024, a court unsealed the final batch of a trove of documents that had been collected as evidence in a lawsuit filed by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre. Records made public also include 2016 deposition in which an accuser recounted spending several hours with Epstein at Trump's Atlantic City casino but didn't say if she actually met Trump and did not accuse him of any wrongdoing. Trump has also said that he once thought Epstein was a 'terrific guy,' but that they later had a falling out. 'I knew him like everybody in Palm Beach knew him,' Trump said in 2019 when video footage unearthed by NBC News following Epstein's federal indictment showed the two chatting at a party at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in 1992, when the now president was newly divorced. 'He was a fixture in Palm Beach. I had a falling-out with him a long time ago. I don't think I've spoken to him for 15 years.' The department's decision to not release additional files from the case The Justice Department stunned conspiracy theorists, online sleuths and elements of Trump's base this month when it released a two-page letter saying that a so-called Epstein 'client list' that Bondi had once intimated was on her desk did not exist and that officials did not plan to release any additional documents from its investigation despite an earlier commitment to provide transparency. Whether Bondi's briefing to Trump in May influenced that decision is unclear. The Justice Department did not comment directly on her meeting with Trump but Bondi and Blanche said in a joint statement that a review of the Epstein files showed that there was nothing warranting further investigation or prosecution. 'As part of our routine briefing,' the statement said, 'we made the President aware of our findings.' Eric Tucker, The Associated Press