Remaining 2 hikers who died on Mt. Baldy are ID’d

The remaining two hikers found dead on Mt. Baldy earlier this week have been identified, officials announced Saturday, Jan. 3.

The men were identified on Friday as Juan Sarat Lopez, 37, and Bayron Pedro Ramos Garcia, 36, both Guatemalan nationals who were living in Los Angeles, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said. Investigators believe the men fell from the Devil’s Backbone trail and died the same day they were found.

The other victim was previously identified as Marcus Alexander Muench Casanova, a 19-year-old college freshman from Seal Beach. Investigators also believe he died the same day he was found, after falling around 500 feet near Devil’s Backbone. It was not immediately clear whether Lopez and Ramos Garcia, who were friends, had any connection with Casanova.

A search and rescue response began around 11:30 a.m. on Dec. 29 after deputies received a report of an injured hiker near the Devil’s Backbone trail. Authorities said the hiker had fallen an estimated 500 feet. His hiking companion left the area to find cell phone service and provided GPS coordinates to rescuers.

Search and rescue ground teams and sheriff’s air crews responded, and during the aerial search deputies spotted the injured hiker, later ID’d as Casanova, and the two other victims nearby.

Strong winds prevented helicopters from safely completing a rescue. Later that evening, an air medic was lowered to the scene with assistance from a Los Angeles County helicopter and confirmed all three men had died, officials said.