By Mary O’KEEFE

Team members from Montrose Search and Rescue joined search and rescue teams from San Bernardino, San Diego, Orange and Los Angeles County in the search for missing hiker Sreenivas “Sree” Mokkapati, 52, from Irvine.

The man, who has been described as an avid hiker, was with three other people when he got separated while on a trail between Bear Flats at 4,000 feet to the Mt. Baldy summit at 10,000 foot. The three hikers reported him missing on Sunday. 

The U.S. Forest Service has decided to close Mt. Baldy trails allowing search and rescue teams a clearer area, void of other hikers, to search.

Mokkapati was last seen wearing a gray jacket and gray pants. According to reports snow is on the mountain at the 7,000-foot level. The trail Mokkapati was last seen on is described as steep and difficult.

In a press conference on Wednesday, according to West Valley Search and Rescue member Cindy Lyman the trail is difficult to describe with the recent weather conditions.

“It is hard to describe,” she said. “The terrain is very steep and narrow when there is no snow and [if] you add ice and snow those trails become dangerous …. When you have these conditions of trail buried in snow you are basically going in blind.”

She added that in some areas the drop can be as far down as 1,000 feet.

The search continues with ground search and rescue teams and air support.

  Mary Okeefe