Sheriff’s Helicopter Crew Finds Dead Hiker

The lifeless body of a hiker was found Monday morning on Mt. Baldy by a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department helicopter crew, two days after a report that he was missing.
Sheriff’s deputies responded to Mt. Baldy around 6 p.m. on Saturday March 10 to a report of a man who left on a hike early that morning and had not returned. Information as to which trailhead the missing hiker, identified as Xiangfeng Ma, 41 of Anaheim, was using was not provided to the search party.
Ma’s vehicle was eventually located at Mt. Baldy and San Antonio Falls roads. Based upon that information, a search party numbering 40 sheriff’s search and rescue team members initiated a search. Bad weather hampered the search and because of cloud conditions and falling rain and snow, a helicopter could not be deployed.
Following a change in the weather Monday morning, a helicopter crew was dispatched to the area. Just after 8:30 a.m., the flight crew spotted foot tracks in the area of Devils Backbone Road and Forest Service Road 3N06D. Crew members traced the tracks down a slope of the mountain and found Ma’s lifeless corpse near a stream.
Sheriff’s Emergency Air Rescue Ship 306 recovered the victim.

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