News & Columns > Michael P. Neufeld > Deceased Hiker in Lytle Creek Area Identified (Update 2)

Deceased Hiker in Lytle Creek Area Identified (Update 2)

Body Retrieved by Search and Rescue Team

By Michael P. Neufeld
Tuesday, October 14, 2008

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Update 2 - Tuesday 4:02 a.m.

Lytle Creek, CA - The San Bernardino County Coroner has identified the deceased hiker who apparently died when struck by a boulder on Sunday as 17-year-old Charlie Martin Ruiz from Fontana.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department is investigating the incident.

Update – Monday 2:20 p.m.

Lytle Creek, CA – Gusty winds in the Lytle Creek area prevented the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department helicopter from helping retrieve the body Monday of a hiker who died yesterday when struck by a rock.

Spokesperson Jodi Miller told RIMOFTHEWORLD.net the young man has been tentatively identified as a 17-year-old Fontana resident. "But his identification must be confirmed by fingerprints by the Corner before his name can be released," she said. "Family members must also be notified."

Meanwhile, the Coroner and a Search and Rescue team member have just reached the victim on a ledge and will prepare the body to be hoisted, in a litter, to a 4-wheel drive vehicle parked about 100 yards above the site of the incident.

Original Story

Lytle Creek, CA - An 18-year-old unidentified male hiker was killed today in the Lytle Creek area when a rock or rocks apparently struck him in the upper body.

The San Bernardino County Coroner was summoned just before 5 p.m. Sunday to the area off Baldy Road in the Lytle Creek area.

San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department helicopter 40-King. (Photo by Michael P. Neufeld.)

A San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department helicopter searched the area until the victim and other members of his party were located about 200 feet off Mt. Baldy Road.

Cindy Beavers from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department told RIMOFTHEWORLD.net a paramedic was airlifted into the area where the male victim was found on a ledge. He was pronounced dead at about 4:50 p.m.

Once the Coroner arrives the body will be recovered from the ledge and airlifted to a nearby command post.

Beavers explained the original call came into dispatch shortly after 3:30 p.m. as a rock slide. Scanner reports indicate this was a shale rock slide.

Map is Approximate