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A
search team found Eric Desplinter, 33, and Gabrielle Wallace,
31, in the Cucamonga Canyon near California's Mt. Baldy area,
which is 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Los Angeles, officials
said in a statement.
They were gone since Saturday.
"This evening a search team in Cucamonga Canyon found two sets
of footprints and began following them," the statement said.
The searchers then called for a sheriff's helicopter to fly over
the area, where the aviation team spotted a campfire which
helped them zero in on the lost hikers.
A friend of the two hikers told the media earlier this week that
the pair had a limited amount of food and water, and reported
them missing on Sunday after they failed to return from their
excursion.
Desplinter, who is from Chino Hills, is an experienced
outdoorsman, the Sheriff's Department statement said earlier
this week. He was wearing a jacket and his friend Wallace, who
is from Rancho Cucamonga, had a sweater.
They were hoisted one-at-a-time onto a helicopter and taken to a
local fire station to be examined by paramedics and reunited
with family and friends, officials said.
The search covered more than 30 miles, according to the
sheriff's office.
"Volunteers are a real blessing to our agencies, providing
thousands of hours giving back to make our communities better
and stronger," San Bernardino Sheriff John McMahon said in a
statement.
(Reporting by Rich McKay, additional reporting by Alex
Dobuzinskis; editing by Giles Elgood)
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