College student George Smyth goes missing near Draculas Castle during solo hike in Romanian mountains

A British teen has gone missing during a solo hike near Dracula’s Castle — with his final call to emergency services saying that he was suffering from hypothermia and exhaustion.George Smyth, 18, was last heard from on Nov.23 while hiking through the dense forests of Romania’s Bucegi Mountains and heading toward the village of Bran, home to Bran Castle, widely associated with the Dracula legend, the Times reported.While trekking alone, the University of Bristol student made a distress call to mountain rescue, frantically telling operators that he was exhausted, hypothermic, and unsure of his location.Despite days of searching, rescuers were unable to locate him, only discovering his rucksack with supplies in the area where he’d phoned for help.The teen’s mother, Jo Smyth, described her son as “a sporty and strong young man,” who is known to travel a lot with his family and friends, but said this trip was different.

“He left his university in the United Kingdom on Sunday, without telling us, to go hiking alone,” she told the Times.“His phone last had signal in a remote mountain area.He made a distressing call to 112 [Romania’s emergency line] on Sunday evening,” the worried mother said.“I flew to Romania immediately, and we are trying to support the search teams as best we can.”Rescue teams believe the teen started his hike from the resort town of Poiana Brasov and ended up roughly 10 to 15 miles away in the Tiganesti Valley when he called for help — the same area where his belongings were discovered.Poiana Brasov and Bran are connected by extensive forest trails that ascend sharply into alpine areas, which can become particularly hazardous when temperatures drop.

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