PCSO rescues missing hikers from New York

FLORENCE, AZ - A family of three that had been missing for nearly six hours is safe after members of Pinal County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue team tracked them, using a cell phone signal.

The New York trio, including a husband and wife, ages 64 and 51, and their daughter, 21, took a wrong turn on the Bluff Springs Trail Tuesday after hiking for seven miles. 

The group had started their hike on the Peralta Trailhead around noon, but they took a wrong turn into a canyon, taking them two miles off the trail. 

They did not have appropriate clothing for overnight temperatures, and they were low on water, so the 51-year-old woman used her cell phone to call for help.

PCSO's Search and Rescue team found the family approximately two hours later, by tracking the woman's cell phone signal.

"This call is the fourth time PCSO Search and Rescue teams have been called out in less than two weeks to the Superstition Mountains," said Brian Messing, a PCSO Search and Rescue Sergeant. 

"This family did the right thing by calling for help and stayed in one location," he said.

"Before hiking a place like the Superstitions, we recommend bringing at least one person who knows the area, make sure you tell someone where you're going and when you plan to return, bring plenty of water, pack extra layers of clothing and take a cell phone," he said.