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Shoeprint Brings Hope Missing Hiker Saeed Emadi Is Surviving In El Dorado National Forest

EL DORADO COUNTY (CBS13) — A family of a missing 66-year-old hiker in the El Dorado National Forest is holding on to hope he will be found alive.

Saeed Emadi went missing July 8. He was camping with friends at the popular Ice House Reservoir off Highway 50 when he went for a hike near Strawberry Point with them, became separated, and has not been seen since.

Missing posters and now posted all around the campground. The posters show a photo of Emadi taken at the Ice House Reservoir the day he went missing. It shows him wearing a hat, headphones, a button-down shirt, shorts, and a pair of tennis shoes.

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His son, Bijan Emadi, says search crews believe they found a print of his father's shoe print four days ago. The shoe print was located about a mile from where Saeed Emadi was last seen.

"My dad buys everything at Costco, so we contacted Costco for any shoes he had bought in the last year," Bijan Emadi said. "We were able to send that to the search and rescue team and they were able to determine a match to the shoeprint pretty quickly."

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The family was initially hopeful the match would lead to a rescue. Days later the painful wait continues.

"We're confident that they'll bring Saeed home and we're confident that Saeed's figured out a way to survive while he's up there," Saeed Emadi's niece Monier Ziaian said.

Search and rescue crews from 19 counties using helicopters and drones have all scoured the mountains looking for him.

Della Alderson is the camp host who checked Emadi and his friends into their campsite.

"Where is he?" Alderson said. "What happened?"

An all-out search for an El Dorado National Forest camper, and continued hope any new clues will turn into a rescue.

"We're just trying to keep our hopes high," Bijan Emadi said.

The family says they believe Saeed Emadi is a fighter and they're hopeful the mild temperatures and plentiful water are helping him survive.

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