Missing California firefighter found dead 1 mile from where he was last seen ... - New York Daily News

City of Arcadia Arcadia Fire Department firefighter and paramedic Mike Herdman was found dead Friday, two weeks after he went missing during a backpacking trip. It’s unclear how he died.

A California firefighter who went missing two weeks ago during a camping trip after he ran after his dog has been found dead among rugged terrain in Los Padres National Forest, authorities said Friday.

Michael Herdman, 36, ran after his black lab, Duke, the night of June 13 while he was barefoot and wearing just a T-shirt and shorts.

The wayward pooch was found Saturday in a parking lot where his owner had parked his car — about 12 miles from where Herdman and buddy Taylor Byars, 27, had set up camp along a river bottom in woods outside the city of Fillmore.

KTLA via Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Herdman’s body was found in a rugged cliff area, shown, on Friday in Los Padres National Forest.

Byars made it back to the campsite and out of the woods June 15, when he alerted authorities about his missing friend. A large-scale search for the seven-year veteran of the Arcadia Fire Department spanned some 50 square miles over 5,000 hours on foot, on horseback and in helicopter.

The search was scaled back Sunday, and on Friday, the man’s body was found in a rugged area of cliffs 1,200 feet above their campground and about three quarters of a mile away from where he was last seen.

Searchers had not scoured that area because authorities did not think the elite athlete and experienced backpacker could have made it there without shoes or any gear.

“Nobody could imagine that he was able to travel that far,” Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean said at a news conference Friday. “It was obviously a long hike up very, very difficult terrain.”

Duke, the dog belonging to Arcadia firefighter Michael Herdman, is seen in this Facebook photo posted by the Arcadia Firefighters’ Association after the dog was rescued Sunday. nbclosangeles.com Searchers scoured 50 square miles by foot, helicopter and horseback. Herdman was found less than one mile from where he was last seen alive.

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The partially covered body was spotted by a helicopter and eventually recovered. Authorities are unsure if he fell or how exactly Herdman died.

Five searchers were injured during the operation, including one who was bitten by a rattlesnake.

Ventura County Sheriff's Office - Official Page/Facebook

Duke returned to the parking lot where Herdman had parked at the beginning of the trip, about 12 miles away.

Enlarge Arcadia Firefighters' Association/Facebook Herdman’s body was spotted Friday by a helicopter. Enlarge

Herdman is survived by a wife and daughter.

“Sadly, nobody but Mike is ever going to know … why he would take off into this kind of terrain, in the dark, in bare feet,” Dean said, KTLA-TV reported.

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With News Wire Services

sgoldstein@nydailynews.com

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