British teenage lad hiker missing in Romanian mountains

[arista]

https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/1995464086805413890/sz_hsMG0?format=jpg&name=small

[Rescuers are in a race against time as they
continue the desperate search for a
British teenager who vanished in
Romanian mountains
after he made an urgent call for help.

His mother, Jo Smyth, has now flown
to Romania after the alert was issued
for her son George,
saying he was exhausted and suffering
from hypothermia.

The alert was sounded by the
Salvamont Brasov rescue service on
November 28, alongside a photograph
of the missing 18-year-old.]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15341595/Race-against-time-British-teenage-hiker-missing-Romanian-mountains-desperate-call-help.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&utm_social_post_id=611696227&utm_social_handle_id=15438913&ito=social-twitter_mailonline

[Cherie]

oh no not good, he must have been pretty experienced to go hiking by himself in Romania at this time of year no?

[arista]

oh no not good, he must have been pretty experienced to go hiking by himself in Romania at this time of year no?


He is 19,
So he may not have the wise experience
He would need.

[arista]

[The 19-year-old, a university student,
went hiking alone and made a desperate
call for help on a Sunday evening,
saying he was exhausted and suffering from hypothermia.]

[Livia]

Sadly, people underestimate the conditions in the mountains. Even experienced hikers, skiers etc sometimes get caught out. Going alone sounds like folly.

[Ammi]

…’flown out because your son is missing’ …such a terrifying thing for a parent, the stuff that nightmares are made of but that you could never anticipate actually experiencing…and it’s been around a week now after giving a call for help…</3….

[arista]

Tragic if he is not alive, now

[Gusto Brunt]

Very sad and scary for the family. :(

[Livia]

I've been to the area he's lost in, but in the summer. Sod letting lost in the winter... He's been lost for a week now, it's not looking good. His poor Mum.

[AnnieK]

So sad....i fear the worst.

[Ammi]

…this was posted on Reddit and gives a bit of information about the area and surrounding area of where George’s backpack and sleeping bag etc were located…from someone who lives close to that location…


‘Some more background, because I live close to that mountain.

The area he got lost in is a valley above the forest line. There are only short pine bush patches there, and only in the first part of the hike. The place he called from has no trees or bushes in any direction for 1-2 km.

When he called, he was between a refuge and a mountain cabin and the rescue people advised him to head to the refuge. Another 30-40 minutes walk, if I understood his last location correctly. But he didn't make it there, neither back to the cabin.

His backpack was found abandoned, with a sleeping bag and a tent inside. There were also food leftovers around the backpack.

The rescuers say his footprints stop at the backpack. But there are no signs there of a fall or a struggle.

This hiking route is not a particular dangerous one, meaning that there are no dramatic cliffs you have to pass or any other route it intersects with (it goes pretty straight for 80% of the hike, then turns right, you climb for a while and you get to the refuge). Of course, the snow makes it a bit dangerous in winter and there is a possibility you could slip somehow, but it's not a place where accidents happen often in the Bucegi Mountains. And again, slipping and falling into the valley should leave some signs...’

[thesheriff443]

So sad and unnecessary

[MTVN]

…this was posted on Reddit and gives a bit of information about the area and surrounding area of where George’s backpack and sleeping bag etc were located…from someone who lives close to that location…


‘Some more background, because I live close to that mountain.

The area he got lost in is a valley above the forest line. There are only short pine bush patches there, and only in the first part of the hike. The place he called from has no trees or bushes in any direction for 1-2 km.

When he called, he was between a refuge and a mountain cabin and the rescue people advised him to head to the refuge. Another 30-40 minutes walk, if I understood his last location correctly. But he didn't make it there, neither back to the cabin.

His backpack was found abandoned, with a sleeping bag and a tent inside. There were also food leftovers around the backpack.

The rescuers say his footprints stop at the backpack. But there are no signs there of a fall or a struggle.

This hiking route is not a particular dangerous one, meaning that there are no dramatic cliffs you have to pass or any other route it intersects with (it goes pretty straight for 80% of the hike, then turns right, you climb for a while and you get to the refuge). Of course, the snow makes it a bit dangerous in winter and there is a possibility you could slip somehow, but it's not a place where accidents happen often in the Bucegi Mountains. And again, slipping and falling into the valley should leave some signs...’

Sounds very strange. The article also says that he travelled there from the UK without telling anyone which is peculiar behaviour

[Ammi]

Sounds very strange. The article also says that he travelled there from the UK without telling anyone which is peculiar behaviour

…I mean, it does all sound quite strange …his disappearance and the rescue search also in that if that descriptive that was posted of the area is accurate…?…and George’s call was to the emergency services on 23rd November…?…then why is it taking so long to locate him, if indeed the area isn’t somewhere, where someone could fall and be hidden from view…and the footprints only leading to his belongings…I’m sure there must be some key information/details that aren’t being reported, is how it feels…

[Ammi]

…the search continues to be halted because of avalanche warnings/risks in the area…all very awful for his family…

[Benjamin]

…the search continues to be halted because of avalanche warnings/risks in the area…all very awful for his family…

Sadly it’ll be a body recovery mission now, can’t see him surviving this long without any provisions.

[Ammi]

Sadly it’ll be a body recovery mission now, can’t see him surviving this long without any provisions.

…yeah, I think so too/that it’ll be a recovery but it looks as though that recovery might not happen until the weather changes next year and heading toward spring time as it’s becoming so dangerous to continue…/…I think the days when the search has had to be halted are becoming more the majority days now…and preventing anyone else from danger is the priority, really…all very sad…

[Benjamin]

…yeah, I think so too/that it’ll be a recovery but it looks as though that recovery might not happen until the weather changes next year and heading toward spring time as it’s becoming so dangerous to continue…/…I think the days when the search has had to be halted are becoming more the majority days now…and preventing anyone else from danger is the priority, really…all very sad…

Yeah, and with limited day light factoring in with bad weather, it gets increasingly difficult. Especially with snow, covering up any signs/the body.