Christy Perry: 'Alert and talking', missing Big Bend National Park hiker from Houston located
HOUSTON - A hiker from Houston has been found alive after being reported missing during her trip to Big Bend National Park, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department confirmed.
Rescue crews located 25-year-old Christy Perry about a quarter-mile below the summit of the Lost Mine Trail around 9:30 a.m. on Friday. Rescuers say the 25-year-old was awake and talking.
Perry was reported missing by her family after she did not come home from her trip to Big Bend National Park. According to the National Park Service, Perry picked up a rental car in Midland, Texas on Nov. 8 before arriving at the park on Nov. 9.
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"I’m just glad she was found safe," said Kathyln Vega, Perry’s friend. "It’s such a relief. I’m through the roof. I’ve been telling my friends and family about it. They’ve been saying have faith, have faith. That’s a long time to just go missing."
NPS officials say she did not show up for her camping reservation the same night at Chisos Basin Campground, and her car was found at the trailhead for the Lost Mine Trail.
Christy Perry (Courtesy of National Park Service)
Park Rangers and U.S. Border Patrol Agents searched the trail on Wednesday and a park pilot searched from above, officials said.
Big Bend National Park is roughly 1,200 square miles. Perry’s rental car was located a few days ago near the Lost Mine Trail Head.
"I don’t know the details of it, but she must be a mentally strong person and someone who had the ability to tough it out and not give up," said Dave Scott from Earth Native Wilderness School.
Scott says he was in Big Bend last week with a group teaching wilderness survival skills.
"Someone may walk five minutes off trail and if you walk off in the wrong direction, now you’re 10 minutes of trail," said Scott. "If you wander around aimlessly for an hour, or hour and a half, now you’ve created a situation where you’re an hour and a half or two hours from the trail."
On Thursday, teams including NPS employees, U.S. Border Patrol, Texas Game Wardens, and Los Diablos fire crew combed the area while two helicopters from Texas DPS and U.S. Border Patrol and a plane from NPS searched from above.
Lost Mine Trail, a path 4.8 miles round trip, was closed during the search. The popular trail climbs steeply into the woodlands of the Chisos Mountains.
Perry was transported by helicopter to a hospital in Odessa, TX for medical attention.