15 hikers from California church group go missing

PASADENA, Calif. - Rescue crews were searching on foot and by air early Monday for at least 15 hikers from a church group who didn't return from a weekend hike in a Southern California nature preserve.

The adults and teens set out in the Eaton Canyon Natural Area on Sunday morning and were expected back by the evening. A member of the group called the Los Angeles County sheriff's station in Altadena at 9:40 p.m. saying they were lost, Deputy Dan Paige said.

The caller did not mention any injuries, he said.

Crews searched through the night and were joined by reinforcements at daybreak. A helicopter crew joined the search after early morning low clouds and fog began to break up, and a second helicopter was en route.

The group had enough food and water for an all-day trek, Paige said.

Members of the Seventh Day Adventist church in Huntington Park said the hikers range from 14 to 36 years old and have gone out as a group on 3-mile treks before. They had planned to go rappelling at canyon waterfalls.

"We're assuming that they got tired and they stopped," Wendolyn Ortiz told KABC-TV.

Eaton Canyon is a very popular hiking spot at the base of the rugged San Gabriel Mountains, about 15 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles.