Big Island rescue crews have located a man and woman who apparently became lost while hiking Thursday in the Puu Makaula National Area Reserve in Volcano.
Big Island rescue crews have located a man and woman who apparently became lost while hiking Thursday in the Puu Makaula National Area Reserve in Volcano.
The man and woman, both in their 50s, were located Friday morning after Hawaii Fire Department crews were able to make contact with them via cell phone. A Hawaii County helicopter located the missing hikers and directed rescue crews to them.
Rescue crews accompanied the hikers out of the area. They reported no injuries after spending the night under thick forest canopy near the 5,000-foot elevation, according to the department.
The hikers had been lost in an area heavily forested by ohia and hapuu ferns on a trail that leads toward Kulani Cone, according to the Hawaii Fire Department, which received the report of the missing hikers at 10:34 p.m. Thursday.
The hikers began their trek about 1 p.m. Thursday and at 6:30 p.m. contacted a friend via text message to report they were lost, however, the friend did not retrieve the message until sometime thereafter, according to the department. Rescue crews conducted a ground search but found no sign of the man and woman at the location of their last GPS coordinate. The search was suspended until first light Friday.