Elijah Manns

According to KDRV, FISH LAKE, Ore. — A young hiker who fell out of contact with his family while hiking the Pacific Crest Trail over the weekend has been located safe, according to the Jackson County Sheriff's Office. 17-year-old Elijah Manns was last seen by his father hiking north at the Brown Mountain shelter in southern Oregon on July 25, and the two had plans to meet up again at Highway 140 in the Fish Lake area. Search and Rescue teams from both Jackson and Klamath counties started searching for Manns on Monday night, continuing into Tuesday. According to JCSO, an Oregon Department of Forestry Type 3 helitack crew spotted Manns on Tuesday afternoon, and rescuers were able to help reunite him with his father. "When another helicopter wasn't available to the Jackson County Sheriff's Office in its search for a missing hiker, our helitack crew jumped into action," ODF said. "Within 15 minutes, they had located him! ODF is always ready to help our partner agencies however we can, and we’re so thankful to be able to assist in this happy outcome!" JCSO thanked the ODF crew for its help in the search mission. "The crew of five firefighters plus a pilot typically get dropped off at fires in remote locations and help with recon missions. Today they assisted with the Search and Rescue mission," the agency said. There were ten Jackson County search volunteers and at least four from Klamath County conducting ground and mounted searches for Manns