Sheriff’s Rescue Team Joins Search for Hiker

The search for a hiker missing for a week on Mt. Baldy was joined Wednesday by a seven-member Los Angeles County sheriff’s rescue team that turned a scheduled training exercise into an actual mission.

There were no new signs, however, of the hiker.

Charles Koh, 53, of Buena Park fell down a steep, icy slope near the summit of Mt. Baldy on New Year’s Day. Authorities have called off the official ground search for him, but a helicopter search is continuing.

Sgt. Dennis Shaffer of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said authorities are planning another thorough search of the mountain by dozens of volunteers beginning Saturday.

Koh fell at the 9,400-foot level of Mt. Baldy. Shaffer said Koh, an experienced hiker, was wearing a tan jacket that could be blending in with rocks and ground cover, complicating the helicopter search.

“I still think it’s possible to survive if he walked down below the snow level and is holed up somewhere,” Shaffer said. “I told [Koh’s] family to not give up.”