During the early evening hours of January 18th, dispatch advised rangers that a cell phone call had been received from a group of five college students who reported that one of their friends – 19-year-old Steven J. Strygulec of Rogersville, Missouri – had become separated from the group and was overdue by several hours after camping the previous night in the Ponca Wilderness. The caller also reported that Strygulec had no previous camping experience, had an injured knee, and required two hearing aids to hear properly. Rangers conducted hasty searches of area trails until 1:30 a.m., but failed to find Strygulec. They spike-camped overnight in the search area and resumed searching at first light along with additional rangers and park fire personnel. Shortly after 9 a.m., ranger Melissa Lamm came upon fresh, wet boot prints on dry slick rock along the Sneeds Creek Trail. She then found additional fresh signs and began moving quickly up the trail, following a series of fresh signs until she located Strygulec as he slowly worked his way uphill. He was not injured, but reported that he had spent a cold, dark, hungry night after having lost his sleeping bag and lighter during a river crossing, run out of food, and broken his one light source. Strygulec also reported that he’d quickly become disoriented after separating from the group, as he had no map, and that he’d wandered off trail for hours and had only stopped after he’d fallen over a 10-foot-high cliff in the dark.
