07-07-2025
Lake District walker found safe and well after searching for missing phone
Mountain rescue volunteers were called out late on the night of Friday, July 4, to assist in the search for a walker who went missing on Glenridding Dodd.
Cumbria Police contacted Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team just before midnight on after receiving a report that a man had failed to return from a solo search for a lost phone.
The man and his partner had climbed Glenridding Dodd earlier in the evening, returning to their car on Greenside Road around 9:30pm, as light was fading.
After realising they had lost their phone during the descent, the man decided to retrace their route to look for it, leaving his partner at the car with instructions to keep calling the phone in hopes it might be located. He set off without a torch or waterproof gear.
When he had not returned after two hours, his partner contacted the police.
Four members of the rescue team were deployed to search the fell.
By 3:00am, with no trace found, the team began coordinating a wider search effort for first light, including a request to the Lake District Search Dogs Association.
Fortunately, police received a call from a member of the public in Glenridding reporting that the missing man had been found in the village.
He was wet, cold, and had suffered minor cuts and bruises, but did not require hospital treatment.
The missing phone was recovered the following Sunday—still working and with 50 per cent battery remaining.
The incident lasted four hours and involved six team members in total.
A spokesperson for Patterdale MRT said: 'While this incident ended positively, it serves as a reminder of the importance of being properly equipped when heading onto the fells, even for a short trip.'
