How to resolve AdBlock issue? NORTH COAST, Calif. – Eighteen days after he was reported missing in the Mendocino National Forest, a Bay Area hunter has been found alive.
Gene Penaflor, 72, was found on Saturday morning by two hunters on the Mendocino County side of the forest, about two and a half miles from where he had last been seen in the Spruce Grove area north Lake Pillsbury on Sept. 24, according to Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman.
Allman said the two hunters found Penaflor at the bottom of a ravine. They made a stretcher out of their jackets and poles and carried him up the hill.
About the same time, search teams were arriving in the area to make a weekend-long effort to find him, and the hunters notified them that they had found Penaflor, said Allman.
Penaflor's family said he was an experienced outdoorsman who had hunted in the area for the last seven years. He had last been seen by his hunting partner on the morning of Sept. 24 as he set out to hunt deer.
He never showed up for lunch and did not give an agreed-upon distress signal, his family said.
The following day, a search involving nearly a dozen regional search and rescue and law enforcement agencies – including Mendocino, Lake, Napa, Glenn and Sonoma, among others – as well as a helicopter and search dogs, was launched, but had to be suspended on Sept. 29 due to weather concerns, officials reported.
Allman said a number of search teams came in on Friday for a briefing in order to prepare to continue the search this weekend, at which point they planned to “do everything we could.”
Well over 100 people were involved in the effort, Allman said, including a Monterey County search team that was bringing in its team after landing at the airport at Lake Pillsbury in Lake County.
At the same time, some of Penaflor's family members were in Covelo printing up missing person posters for distribution, Allman said.
But on Saturday, with the search barely under way, the hunters found Penaflor, said Allman.
Penaflor told officials that he while he was out hunting, he fell and lost consciousness. When he fell, he suffered a serious cut on his chin, Allman said.
By the time Penaflor woke up it was foggy. He went downhill and made a bed with leaves and branches, and stayed in that area, which had a water source thanks to a nearby stream, according to Allman.
While Penaflor lost his knife, he had his rifle, and was able to take some small game like squirrels for sustenance. Allman said he also was able to keep a fire going.
When Penaflor was found, he had no broken bones and his chin had healed up, but he was too weak to try to walk out of the area, said Allman.
Allman said Penaflor was airlifted to Ukiah Valley Medical Center, where he was being treated and his family was joining him. It was expected he would be released Saturday evening.
On Saturday Allman visited Penaflor in the hospital. While he was dehydrated, the doctor said Penaflor appeared in good health.
Despite the ordeal, Penaflor was smiling, laughing and in good spirits, said Allman, who called Penaflor “just an amazing man.”
It was a great conclusion to a story that could easily have had a tragic conclusion.
“It's very heartwarming,” Allman said.
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