COPAKE, N.Y. - Columbia County search crews have located the 28-year-old hiker who has been missing since Monday afternoon near Bash Bish Falls.
The Columbia County Sheriff's Department says they received a call from Kyle Pember's father just before midnight Wednesday, saying that his son had reached him by cell phone. He told his father that he did not know exactly
where he was and that he was cold, scared and possibly hurt and that he "wanted
to come out".
Pember also contacted Columbia County 911 who was
able to determine the coordinates of his cell phone.
Using the coordinates, emergency personnel were
able to locate Pember about 1.5 miles north of Undermountain Road near Blue Trail in Copake State Park. Pember was finally recued via helicopter just after 4 a.m. Wednesday morning.
After being lost in the woods for more than 24 hours, Pember appeared to be cold, hungry but uninjured.
Pember indicated to officials from the Sheriff's
Office that he had stayed in the woods intentionally. At this time, it does not appear that his
father knew that he had intentionally stayed in the heavily wooded, mountainous area of the Taconic
State Park when he
initially reported that his son was missing in
the park.
The District Attorney's Office has been contacted concerning
the possibility of criminal charges, as well as the Columbia County Attorney's
Office concerning the possibility of taking legal action for reimbursement for
fuel, equipment and overtime incurred by the emergency services agencies
involved.
The Sheriff said that one
firefighter from Pittsfield
and one from Copake suffered non-life threatening injuries during the search.
Deputies, rescue teams, New York State Police and Massachusetts State Police had been searching since Monday night for Pember, of Northborough, Mass., who went missing while hiking with his father around 3 p.m. on Monday.
The two were hiking on Falls Trail at Bash Bish Falls in the Taconic State Park, located in the town of Copake on the Massachusetts state line.
The Pember's father said the last he saw his missing son was around 3 p.m. when he went into the woods to go to the bathroom. The father says he continued on the trail.
NEWS10 ABC
