By Mary O’KEEFE

A 17-year-old boy from Rancho Cucamonga died Monday after apparently falling between 50 and 60 feet from Switzer Falls in the Angeles National Forest.

“The call came into the [Crescenta Valley] Station at 7:16 p.m.,” said Lt. Mark Lopez. “Montrose Search and Rescue responded to a missing hiker at the Switzer Falls area.”

The hiker’s friends called LASD after the 17-year-old did not return to the picnic area where they agreed to meet. The three had been hiking; two hikers were tired but the third, the victim, apparently wanted to continue to “see something else in the area,” Lopez said.

The hikers agreed to meet near the picnic area. The two friends waited for a couple of hours but the boy never returned. Montrose Search and Rescue conducted a search and found the boy’s body at about 8:50 p.m.

The autopsy is pending, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office.