After hours trapped in the darkness deep inside the woods near Harriman State Park, three exhausted hikers, including a child, were rescued overnight Sunday during a multi-team operation led by Chaverim of Rockland Search and Rescue alongside New York State Park Police.

The frightening ordeal began shortly before 10:00 p.m. when Chaverim received an urgent call from a concerned friend reporting that a hiker who entered the woods around 4:00 p.m. had become exhausted, was barely walking, and needed help getting out safely. The caller warned Chaverim that the group’s phone battery was critically low and that conditions were rapidly worsening.

Chaverim Search and Rescue coordinators immediately made contact with the stranded hiker, who initially believed he was close to exiting near Kakiat Park and insisted he was “almost out.” But minutes later, it became clear something was terribly wrong.

“He told us he saw a black-and-white trail marker,” Chaverim’s SAR coordinator told Monsey Scoop. “We instructed him to stop moving immediately because every step deeper into the woods could make the search far more difficult.”

Moments later, the hiker’s phone died completely, leaving rescuers with no communication, no GPS location, and no way to know whether the group had stopped walking or continued deeper into the forest.

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Chaverim rapidly escalated the response. Initial rescue units entered through Kakiat Park, but when the hikers could not be located quickly, additional teams were deployed from multiple access points throughout the park system, and surrounding trail areas, in an effort to cover the full stretch of wilderness before conditions worsened further.

In total, approximately 15 Chaverim Search and Rescue members entered the woods while additional volunteers operated staging and command posts coordinating the operation.

For a while, Chaverim volunteers pushed through the dark trails searching for any sign of the missing group. Teams used whistles, shouted into the darkness, and carefully combed through the wooded trails hoping for any response.

Then came the breakthrough.

“One of the teams suddenly heard voices responding back,” Chaverim’s SAR coordinator tells Monsey Scoop. “That’s when they knew they were close.”

Chaverim volunteers finally located the hikers, two adults and one child, sitting exhausted and stranded on a remote trail with no communication and little energy left to continue.

They immediately provided food, drinks, and lighting equipment before slowly escorting the group out of the woods to safety.

Shortly after 1:00 a.m., all three hikers were safely brought out without injury, bringing the operation to a successful conclusion.

New York State Park Police were also on scene assisting throughout the rescue effort.