Search intensifies for Irish hiker last seen in April on Pacific Crest Trail

A search is underway for an Irish hiker who disappeared in April as he trekked through a stretch of the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail.

David O’Sullivan, 25, had left his home in Ireland on March 20 with the goal of hiking the famed trail in five months, according to a missing person’s Facebook page created for him. He planned to hike alone from Southern California to Canada.

But concerns over O’Sullivan’s whereabouts arose when he never met up with a friend in Santa Barbara in May. His family later reported him missing to authorities.

According to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, O’Sullivan was last seen sometime in April in the Whitewater Preserve, a 2,851-acre area surrounded by San Gorgonio Wilderness.

The Sheriff’s Department, which since has taken over the investigation, said bloodhounds, off-road vehicles, helicopters and volunteers will search the preserve for any sign of O’Sullivan.

O’Sullivan’s brother, Niall O’Sullivan, told the Irish Times that his brother was a novice hiker and had been using Wi-Fi signals that he tapped into along the trail to communicate with family.

The family received several reports of people seeing David O’Sullivan, but “none of the sightings were him,” his brother told the newspaper.

O’Sullivan is 5 foot 10, weighs about 155 pounds and has dark hair and blue eyes.

Anyone with information on O’Sullivan’s whereabouts is urged to call the Sheriff’s Department’s Hemet Station at (951) 791-3400.

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Twitter: VeronicaRochaLA

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