'UNBELIEVABLY GOOD ENDING': Missing 89-year-old hiker found alive after disappearing 10 days ago in Salmon-Challis National Forest

An 89-year-old local man who had been missing in the Salmon-Challis National Forest for 10 days was safely returned to his family on Sunday.

The Custer County Sheriff’s Office had been searching for Bing Olbum since Aug. 1 when he failed to return to his exit point of the McDonald Creek Area, the sheriff’s office said. He had entered the national forest at the Hunter Creek Trailhead, which is located about 50 miles west of Mackay.

“Olbum has been found and is home,” the sheriff’s office said in a recent news release. “It is an extraordinary outcome for this incident.”

The sheriff’s office said that Olbum’s camp was located in the late evening on Saturday and that local residents ventured out on horseback and located him around 12:30 a.m. on Sunday. He was safely returned home around 3 a.m. Sunday.

“Sheriff Levi Maydole is thankful for the relentless efforts of our wonderful community in providing this outcome,” the sheriff’s office news release said. “Bing’s will to survive has resulted in an unbelievably good ending to this incident. We hope that his recovery is swift, and he will be enjoying time with his family and friends”.