Jared Michael Negrete, disappeared July 19, 1991, Mt. San Gorgonio, San Bernardino National Forest, California.

Revised July 2024

12-year-old Jared Michael Negrete (born September 11, 1978) was a Boy Scout on his first overnight backpacking trip. He was last seen on Friday, July 19, 1991, at about 6 pm, when he fell behind his fellow Scouts on a hike to the summit of 11,500-foot Mt. San Gorgonio in San Bernardino National Forest, Southern California.

An extensive search revealed only some candy wrappers and a camera with a haunting image of Jared. Thirty years later, despite amateur investigators' extensive search and follow-up hikes into the area, no remains have been found.

Many are asking why a Scout Leader would leave Jared alone on his first trip while he and the other scouts completed their hike.

Where is San Gorgonio Mountain?

San Gorgonio Mountain, also known locally as Mount San Gorgonio or Old Greyback, is the highest peak in Southern California and the Transverse Ranges at 11,503 feet (3,506 m). It is in the San Bernardino Mountains, 27 miles (43 km) east of San Bernardino. It lies within the San Gorgonio Wilderness, part of the Sand to Snow National Monument managed by the San Bernardino National Forest.

Jared Negrete’s trip to San Bernardino National Forest

Jared Negrete, 12, was an eighth-grader with a Hispanic background living in El Monte, Los Angeles County, California. He had black hair and brown eyes, was 5 feet 2 inches tall and was 150 pounds at the time. He was wearing a tan-colored t-shirt, which may have been Boy Scout style, green Boy Scout pants, and a pair of black high-top Pro Wings Sneakers. He had a small birthmark on his right cheek and wore glasses with brown plastic rims. He was carrying a two-quart canteen of water.

On Friday, July 19, 1991, Jared was on a trip with his scout troop to an area close to the summit of San Gorgonio Mountain in the San Bernardino National Forest, Southern California. In total, the group included a leader and six scouts.

At around 6 pm, Jared fell behind his fellow Scouts on the hike to the summit. Another group of hikers spotted Jared straggling behind and notified the Scout troop leader at the summit. They said he was seen short-cutting the switchbacks on his way down the trail and was told not to and to stay on the trail. A switchback is a trail up a steep hill or mountain that is like a zig-zag pattern instead of a straight trail." Short-cutting" a switchback is bad trail etiquette because it kills vegetation and loosens the soil, creating a new trail straight up and down the hill, which will in time get large and hollowed out from erosion.

However, the Scout leader, an experienced hiker, said he would pick up Jared on the way down When the leader finally descended the mountain to pick up Jared, he was nowhere to be seen.

When the troop leader realized Jared had disappeared, he accompanied his five other Scouts back to the base camp and then hiked about five miles in the dark to get help.

The search for Jared Negrete and the discovery of the camera

San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies and search and rescue teams from as far away as the Sierra Madre and San Dimas began searching a 130-square mile area of the San Gorgonio Wilderness, a rocky, tree-lined terrain.

Within three days, their search was focused on a six-square mile area, where a footprint believed to match one of Jared's high-top tennis shoes was found. Searchers also discovered beef jerky and candy wrappers believed to have been dropped by the Scout, and most importantly, his camera was located. On the film roll were twelve pictures.

Most of the photos were landscape scenes taken before Jared went missing. But the final picture on the roll of film was a photograph of the Scout's eyes and nose, taken with the aid of the camera's flash, possibly at night, after he disappeared. Family members said it appeared Jared pointed his camera at his face and snapped the picture. It seemed possible the boy had lost the camera while sliding down a portion of the mountainside.

At least 70 officers, some of whom were airlifted by helicopter into the forest, horseback riders, and helicopters with infrared, were deployed. Over the next two weeks, as many as 3,000 people had logged 45,000 hours scouring 50 square miles of the San Bernardino National Forest from Angelus Oaks to Whitewater Canyon. A blue water bottle was found, but this was confirmed not to be Jared’s and had probably been washed down the mountain by flash flooding during the search.

The temperatures were warm enough for Jared to survive unaided in the mountains for a few days, and there was sufficient water in the area, as well as the bottle he was carrying. It seemed he did have a limited amount of snacks with him.

No further clues were found; Jared had vanished. Despite discovering the camera and its pictures, Jared remains missing three decades on.

What happened to Jared Negrete?

What happened on that day in July 1991? It is somewhat alarming that the scout leader left Jared behind, who was only 12 years old. Generally, the slowest hikers are put in the middle of the group to avoid anyone being left behind. Leaving a scout on his first trip away to wait for the others to finish their hike nowadays is considered risky or even negligent.

Did he fall off the trail and slip down the mountainside? He was seen short-cutting the switchbacks on his way down the trail. But after an extensive search, why wasn’t anything found? Was Jared covered by the heavy vegetation and rugged terrain in the area? There are many sheer rock walls along the trails in that area that terminate into impenetrable manzanita fields and steep drop-offs.

He was probably tired of waiting for other scouts to return, so he decided to walk down the mountain trail alone. It seems possible that Jared slipped and was severely injured or died from his injuries. If he went off the main trail, it is more probable that he got lost and died.

Was he abducted or murdered? There is no evidence foul play was involved, but the trail on the mountain is well used, so it is possible a predator saw Jared alone and took advantage. However, is it possible that a pedophile could have attacked without attracting the attention of the other hikers in the area?

Did he succumb to a black bear or other wildlife? Black bears can attack humans, but they are rare, and there are cougars in the area. There were no signs of blood, drag marks, or other evidence linked to an animal attack.

Aftermath

Rick Maschek, a SAR member formerly with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Desert Rescue Squad, who spent over a week searching for Jared in 1991, posted on StrangeOutdoors that “ I was on that search for a couple of weeks. He was seen by another hiker cutting switchbacks on his way down the trail and was told not to and to stay on the trail. If you are tired, it can be tempting to some people to cut the switchbacks, and that is what he continued to do until there were no more as he descended, now below the trail and headed into a canyon where his camera was found. Below that was a stream, cliffs, and some waterfalls, making navigating difficult. That combined with heavy brush (at times I crawled under the brush to get through) made it extremely difficult for searching. After all the effort of many, I was sorry that he was never found”. An interview with Rick featured in the March Locations Unknown Podcast Episode 37 has further interesting insights from Rick and the search for Jared.

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