Missing Costa Mesa Teen Hikers Still Not Found, Search Intensifies

Two missing Costa Mesa teens who got lost on a hiking trip and called for help are still missing in Orange County’s Trabuco Canyon after their cellphone died and they ran out of water Easter Sunday.

Kyndall Jack, 18, and Nicholas Cendoya, 19, called police Sunday night after they became lost in the canyon and were unable to get back to their car. Since then, teams have been searching for the missing Costa Mesa teens but believe that, if the two were “ambulatory,” they would have called out for help.

A Facebook Event titled “Kyndall Jack Nick Cendoya Trabuco/Holy Jim Trail Search Party” has been posting up to the minute updates about the search in an attempt to boost the signal about the teens’ plight. Searchers say that the conditions in which Jack and Cendoya became lost are “survivable,” with temperatures dropping only as low as the 50s at night — but lack of water is a concern for their condition.

Most recently, one report out of KTLA suggests that a potential sighting was observed at 4 am PST Wednesday, and the news station says:

“At around 4 a.m. on Wednesday, search volunteer Don Morrison said he and some others noticed nine to 12 tiny sparks — light from a cigarette lighter… They called the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, which sent out two units… They didn’t see the light when they arrived, but authorities believe it is a positive sign. They were planning to focus the airship on that area after daybreak.”

Orange County sheriff’s Lt. Erin Guidice told the station:

“I believe they took a detour, I believe they did get off the trail and that’s where the trouble started… The growing concern would be that they have injured themselves and they are under the tree cover and we’re unable to find them by air.”

Police ask anyone with information on the missing Costa Mesa teens call the Orange County Sheriff’s Department at (714) 647-7000.