A chance sighting of a flashlight led to the rescue of an Arizona man who had been stranded for four days in a remote area of Ventura County, the sheriff’s office said.
The man was discovered on the night of Dec. 26 in backcountry about 20 miles west of the Grapevine section of Interstate 5.
A sheriff’s deputy and dispatcher had been called from the Lockwood Valley station to let out a driver who had gotten trapped when a ranger locked a gate that day across a forest road. That driver said there were other vehicles behind the gate, so the deputy and dispatcher went looking.
About 10 miles off the highway, the dispatcher saw a faint light. It led them to a man, “malnourished and wearing wet clothing,” their report said.
The man — 65 years old, from Phoenix — said he had been stranded for four days, since his vehicle had gotten stuck after he drove around a different locked gate. He had no food or water, and his clothes were not sufficient for the predicted below-freezing temperatures, the sheriff’s report said.
The deputy and dispatcher gave the man a ride, and two days later, deputies returned with him to help get his car back to the highway.
The area where he was found is accessible only by vehicles with off-road capabilities, and seasonal closures are in place to prevent stranding in winter storms. Cell service is unreliable there; the sheriff’s office advised drivers to take a GPS device that allows tracking.