College freshman identified as one of three hikers found dead on California’s Mount Baldy | California
A 19-year-old college freshman has been identified as one of the hikers whose remains were found Monday on California’s Mount Baldy.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff announced this week that Marcus Alexander Muench Casanova, a resident of Seal Beach, California, was discovered along a mountain trail known as Devil’s Backbone.
The sheriff’s department said it responded to reports of a hiker who had fallen “approximately 500 feet” and that his “friend and hiking companion had gone to an area with cell service and provided GPS coordinates to assist rescuers.” Rescue teams arrived on foot, but airlift by helicopter was prevented due to “strong winds.” A flight surgeon was eventually brought down and confirmed that Casanova had died, the department said.
Two other hikers were also found dead, but have not yet been identified, and Casanova’s cause of death has not been determined by the county coroner.
Mount Baldy, which rises more than 10,000 feet and is just east of Los Angeles, is a popular hiking spot also known for its dangerous conditions, especially in winter.
Casanova was a student at Santa Clara University in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to a statement his family made to KABC, and is described by those close to him as “an avid sailor and outdoorsman.”
“We are destroyed by the loss of our beloved Marcus. He was a graduate of Los Alamitos High School, a freshman at Santa Clara University Business School, and an avid sailor and outdoorsman…It is difficult to explain the pain and anguish we are going through and ask for privacy as we try to find our way,” the statement continued.
Starting Thursday, the U.S. Forest Service announced that seven trails on Baldy Mountain, including Devil’s Backbone, would be closed until next Wednesday for public safety.
The deaths occurred near where actor Julian Sands died three years ago. Sands, who starred in A Room With a View and Leaving Las Vegas, was reported missing after embarking on a solo hike in January 2023. His body was found five months later.
And in January 2023, the same month Sands went missing, 15 other hikers became lost, injured or died on the mountain.
The same day Casanova and other hikers were found, the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department announced it had rescued two other hikers — two men ages 18 and 31 — on another trail on Mount Baldy. One of the hikers was injured after falling more than 100 feet from the trail.
In October, three people were also rescued near the same trail where the deceased hikers were found.
