California Responders Suing Teen Hikers for Recovery Costs, Medical Bills

Photo Credit: Horia Varlan

Some of the participants in the rescue of two hikers lost during a trek into the southern California wilderness earlier this year are now suing the duo after authorities found methamphetamine in one of their cars.

The newspaper, OC Weekly, reports the Orange County Fire Authority, as well as Nick Papageorge, a 20-year-old volunteer, are trying to recover costs sustained in relation to the effort that made headlines this spring.

The OCFA, for its part, wants the $55,000 it spent to find Nicholas Cendoya, 19, and Kyndall Jack, 18, after the pair disappeared Easter Sunday in Tabuco Canyon.

And Papageorge, who fell off a 110-foot-high cliff during the rescue effort and later required the insertion of several screws into his back, is suing for $350,000 in incurred medical bills, OC Weekly reports.