NEED TO KNOW
- British teenager George Smyth has been missing for nine days after going on a solo hike in Romania
- The 18-year-old set off for his hike towards village of Bran, where Dracula’s rumored home is located, on Nov. 23, according to U.K. newspapers The Times and Metro
- Smyth’s mother said her son made a “distressing call” to the emergency services before his disappearance
A teenager has been missing for nearly 10 days after going on a solo hike in Romania.
British student George Smyth, 18, was hiking in the Bucegi Mountains — near Bran Castle, known as Dracula’s Castle — when he called the mountain rescue service for help on Nov. 23, according to the U.K. newspapers The Times and Metro.
Smyth, who attends the University of Bristol in England, told the emergency crew that he was suffering from hypothermia and exhaustion.
The mountain rescue service have so far only been able to find Smyth’s rucksack, which was discovered in the area where he made the call from, per The Times.
Smyth started his hike towards the village of Bran, where Dracula’s rumored home is located, on Nov. 23, setting off from from the Poiana Brasov neighborhood in the Transylvania region of the country.
Smyth’s mother Jo, who has since flown to Transylvania, told the outlet and Metro, “He left his university in the United Kingdom on Sunday, without telling us, to go hiking alone.”
“His phone last had signal in a remote mountain area. He made a distressing call to 112 [Romania’s emergency line] on Sunday evening,” she added. “The teams found his backpack in the same place from where he called for help within a few hours.”
Jo described her son as “a sporty and strong young man,” adding that he “travelled a lot with us and friends,” per The Times.
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In a statement shared on Facebook on Nov. 25, the Zărnești Local Public Mountain Rescue Service said they had spent “two intense days” searching for “the young Englishman who went missing in Valea lezigăne seti.”
A later update said that after three days of searching, the rescue mission had been hampered by difficult weather conditions. “Unfortunately, at the moment, the weather forecast for the next few days is an unfavorable one to resolve this case,” the mountain rescue service wrote.
On Friday, Nov. 28, the Salvamont Brasov rescue service shared Smyth’s picture on Facebook.
“The family asks us to share the photo of George, the person missing since Sunday evening in the Bucegi Mountains,” the post read. “Despite maintained efforts, it has not been located to date, although search operations have been conducted daily, with resources permanently adapted to ground conditions.”
They continued, “According to the information, the missing person left on Sunday morning from Poiana Bra ărov, with the destination Bran. According to the data, he crossed the Diham – Tache Ionescu area, and later reached the 2.igănesti area, where he requested support via 112.”
Officials said the teen was wearing the same jacket he is in wearing in the photo at the time of his disappearance.
Sebastian Marinescu, director of Salvamont Brasov, told local media, per The Times, “The backpack had quite a lot of equipment in it — a sleeping bag, a tent. My colleagues even found food all around. So we don’t understand what happened and where he could have gone.”
A University of Bristol spokesperson told PEOPLE in a statement, “We’ve been informed that one of our students has been reported missing after independently travelling to Romania to go hiking. We are deeply concerned for his welfare and are in close contact with his family. Our thoughts are with them as they await any updates.”
PEOPLE has contacted the Zărnești Local Public Mountain Rescue Service for further comment.
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