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U.S. NEWS Wednesday 12 July 2017
Armed men still on loose after robbing trail rescuers

allowed him to send text reported close calls scaling “I needed water really miles short of his next wa-
messages to authorities. icy passes and fording rag- bad,” Brandenburg said. ter stop. He only got a few
Hikers trying to complete ing rivers. “I undercut it. It was a mis- miles before he called for
the 2,650-mile (4,265-kilo- Brandenburg had left the take on my part.” help.
meter) trail from Mexico trail for three weeks in June After hiking through heat Four volunteers with the
to Canada have encoun- so the snowpack would as high as 110 degrees (43 Kern County Search and
tered several challenges melt more before he ar- Celsius), he became ex- Rescue team set out on
from an exceptionally wet rived in the rugged high Si- tremely dehydrated Friday foot to bring Brandenburg
winter that left a persistent erra Nevada. However, the and began dry heaving water and became sepa-
snowpack and has made delay meant he was hiking and cramping. rated, Sgt. Zack Bittle said.
for arduous plodding and through extreme desert He awoke at 4 a.m. Satur- One pair turned down the
presented several hazards. heat in the past week with day to beat the heat, but wrong trail, where they en-
Several hikers have been diminishing options for wa- only had about a cup of countered the robbers who
injured, and others have ter along the way. water left and was nine stole their radios.q

This July 8, 2017 photo
provided by Charles
Brandenburg shows a Kern
County SWAT officer being
lowered to help Brandenburg
and three hikers on the Pacific
Crest Trail near Tehachapi,
Calif. The hikers were airlifted
to safety after a search and
rescue team that was hiking
to bring Brandenburg water
was robbed at gunpoint by
two men.
(Charles Brandenburg via AP)

By BRIAN MELLEY
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Help
was on the way to an over-
heated, seriously dehy-
drated hiker when rescuers
ran into two men armed
with rifles. The gunmen
stole radios from the Kern
County search and rescue
volunteers and sent them
back where they came
from, leaving the ailing hik-
er stranded miles away for
several more thirsty hours.
The armed robbers re-
mained at large Tuesday
as the investigation contin-
ued, though the section of
the Pacific Crest Trail was
reopened late Monday af-
ter authorities determined
the area was safe.
It’s extremely rare for res-
cuers to be assaulted, but
it’s not unheard of. Last
year, a volunteer rescuer
searching for a missing hik-
er was shot and wounded
near the South Yuba River
in Northern California.
The incident Saturday in
the remote Piute Moun-
tains about 85 miles (137
kilometers) north of Los
Angeles occurred after
hiker Charles Brandenburg
became dehydrated in
scorching heat and acti-
vated a rescue device that