Missing man is found alive

An outing in a local park to fly model airplanes on a beautiful day turned ugly last week for a Laguna Beach man who spent 28 hours caught in a deep ravine before being rescued.

Moe Mohsen Sakahaii, 65, was rescued via helicopter from a remote area of Moulton Meadows Park at 1:25 p.m. July 31, said Lt. Jason Kravetz of the Laguna Beach Police Department.

Sakahaii was taken to Mission Hospital Laguna Beach with minor injuries, despite being in the wilds of the park — which abuts a large wilderness area — for more than a day.

An all-out search for Sakahaii started July 30, after his wife reported him missing to local police. She had come home from work and, unable to find her husband, drove to the park, where she found his car.

Sakahaii was last seen at the hilltop park after he had gone there in the morning to fly radio-controlled airplanes. He briefly went home to eat breakfast before returning to the park. He had not been seen or heard from since the morning of July 30, Kravetz said.

The search began that evening, but rescuers halted their work when dark fell.

The following morning, searchers located one of the airplanes Sakahaii was flying, down in a steep ravine east of the park, Kravetz said. Still there was no sign of Sakahaii himself, until he was spotted in the early afternoon, lying on his back in a ravine. He was reported to be “alive, alert and uninjured,” according to police records.

He had been unable to climb out of the deep crevice, which was covered with brush, not a help to those looking for him. He tried to get to a location in the ravine that was visible from the air, Kravetz said.

Laguna Beach police and fire departments worked alongside Orange and Los Angeles county law enforcement and firefighters to locate him.

Canines were brought in from the LAPD to assist in the search. After Sakahaii was found, he was doused with a solution to prevent poison oak infection, according to police records.