April Tester and her eight-year-old son Desmond Tester were both found safe on Monday, April 25, after they were both reported missing while hiking in Caldwell County on Sunday evening, authorities have announced.
Emergency services were out in full force on Monday morning to search for the pair along Brown Mountain Beach Road, in the Pisgah National Forest along the Harper Creek Trail. WCNC reported that they had been searching for the mother and her young son since 11 p.m. Sunday but had to suspend the search about 12 hours later.
Crews said April and Desmond were both novice hikers who were out with their family on Sunday. They were headed to a waterfall along Harper Creek but the two of them got separated from the rest of the family. Their family members came back down the trail later that night but told the emergency crews that they could not find April and Desmond Tester.
April and Desmond Tester spent the night without food and water
April Tester told Channel 9 in an interview that she and her son Desmond ended up going on another trail that forked off the trail to the waterfalls. To make matters worse for both of them, the family members who had gone ahead to the falls had all of the food and water. That compounded the woes for April and Desmond as they spent a long, chilly night in the woods.
April Tester was emotional when talking about their rescue, saying "I never expected so many people to come out to help me and my son. What a blessing." According to first responders, they were last seen at about 5 p.m. on Sunday, and the mother and son were not dressed to stay overnight.
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Testers took five hours and 30 minutes for their wrong hike
They also said that the area where they hiked is remote with little to no cell phone service. WHKY reported that the trail leading out to the falls that they were going to is rugged in places and has other trails that break off of it. Emergency crews said a hiker found them safe in the woods on Monday with April and Desmond Tester having hiked more than seven miles away from the trailhead.
Caldwell Emergency Services Chief Dino DiBernardi talked about the difficulties of the search before the Testers were found, saying "The ravines to each side are a challenge, and then there are laurel thickets. It's making the search very difficult, a slow process but we're utilizing the North Carolina Highway Patrol Helicopter with FLIR."
What rescuers and first responders did not know at the time was that the Testers were miles away from the search area, with the missing duo going on another trail that skirted around the waterfall and deep into the forest. According to Desmond Tester, it took five hours and 30 minutes for their whole entire hike.
