Rene Compean was no stranger to Angeles National Forest. But when1a new path last April, the hiker was lost.
As the day2into dusk, following hours of aimless wandering, his concern turned to3. With no flashlight, only a liter of water, and less than ten percent4remaining on his cellphone, Compean was5for anything more than the two-hour walk he'd planned.
Compean climbed to a spot, where he found one bar of6. "SOS. My phone is going to7. I'm lost," he tweeted(推特), 8a photo showing where he was. All Compean could do then was9and hope. The10was dropping fast, and the winds were increasingly violent. Dressed thinly and numb with cold, he11himself into a tight ball, using his backpack to12his bare legs. And two mountain lions kept him on13the entire night.
Sixty miles away, Ben Kuo was working in the company when he read a tweet from the Los Angeles Police Department, whose search-and-rescue teams had spent the previous night14looking for Compean, so they15the photo to the public, hoping someone might know the location.
Kuo has an unusual hobby. He frequently tries to16where movie scenes or television shows were filmed. When he saw the photo, he naturally pulled up a satellite map on his laptop. From the tweet he learned Compean's car was parked near Buckhorn Campsite, so he17his searching range. After comparing the photo with the satellite map in detail, Kuo realized he was on the south side. The final step was cross-referencing the photo with 3-D images of the area from Google Earth. The locations18! Soon, a rescue team was in action. After 27 hours alone in the wilderness, Compean remained safe!
Compean's story probably would have ended differently had a total stranger with strong satellite skills and a sharp eye for19not taken action. In fact, when Compean was finally pulled safely into the helicopter, one of his rescuers, commented, "You are so20."
