Searchers ‘looking for any sign’ of Irvine man missing in hike to Mt. Baldy summit

Alpine search teams on Tuesday, Dec. 10, were looking for an Irvine man who got separated from his three fellow hikers on Mt. Baldy on Sunday. The 19 searchers — “the best that we have,” said San Bernardino County sheriff’s spokeswoman Cindy Bachman — are seeking Sreenivas Mokkapati, 52, in waist-deep snow.

“Sree” Mokkapati started his hike from the Village at Bear Flats to the Mt. Baldy Summit early Sunday, the sheriff’s department has said. Some time during that hike Mokkapati was separated from the group. When his fellow hikers got back to their car, they called the Sheriff’s Department, officials said.

During a Tuesday morning news conference, Mokkapati’s brother Ramana said Sree is an advanced hiker who enjoys the challenge of large elevation changes. This hike was supposed to go from Bear Flats at 4,000 feet to the 10,000-foot summit, Bachman said.

Sreenivas was wearing a gray jacket and cargo pants and took with him two pairs of shoes.

“We’re hoping for something good to happen today,” Ramana said at the search command post in Upland. “He is a very stubborn person. So I think he will pull through. He will never give up.”

On Tuesday, with only light winds and no fog, searchers were able to launch aircraft to look for Sreenivas. The family also hired two helicopters to look for him in conjunction with law enforcement.

 

“We’re searching everywhere, looking for any sign, any clue,” Bachman said, adding that searchers were not focused on one particular area.

She asked the public not to search themselves because they could damage the hiker’s tracks. If seen, help him down the mountain or call 911, she said.

Searchers have come from the San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Riverside and Kern County sheriff’s departments, Bachman said.

In a separate search Tuesday, rescuers flew two injured hikers off the mountain who had been near Devil’s Backbone, Bachman said. No details on that rescue or the hikers were available.