Celebrity sightings are to be expected in Los Angeles, but not by a search and rescue crew scouring the San Gabriel Mountains for a missing hiker.
The San Dimas Mountain Rescue team ran into former “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno shortly before finding 78-year-old hiker Ki Soo Yang, who had been missing for 30 hours after he became separated from a group climbing Mount Waterman on Saturday afternoon.
Someone saw Yang’s missing person’s flier and found the hiker between Mount Waterman and Twin Peaks. The individual contacted authorities and Yang was transported to a local hospital, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.
Yang, who was described as “very fit,” was in “good health but dehydrated” after spending more than a day in the Angeles National Forest, the department said in a social media post. He was reunited with his family.
“We are incredibly grateful to everyone involved in the search, especially the good Samaritan whose quick thinking and action played a critical role in this rescue,” according to the Sheriff Department‘s post. “This outcome is a powerful reminder of how important our hiking community members are in helping us achieve successful missions.”
While searching for Yang, the San Dimas crew ran into Leno at Newcomb’s Ranch, according to the social media post. Leno and his friends hadn’t seen Yang but were “grateful” for the rescue team’s efforts and posed for a group picture.