"For him to be in such good shape and be found five days later is really incredible," Deputy Nate Bryom of the Placer County Sheriff's Office tells Inside Edition.
An elderly man was found five days after going missing in the Sierra Nevada wilderness.
Warren Elliot disappeared while helping set up for the annual Jeep Jamboree, where daredevils traverse granite rocks in Placer County, California.
Elliot's son says his father was clearing the trail with other volunteers when he wandered off for a walk and did not return.
"When he wasn't there by dark is when I went looking for him. And no one in camp had seen or heard from him," Luke Elliot tells Inside Edition.
Elliot's daughter Alexis feared the worst.
"He said, 'You know, dad's missing,' and so I broke down in the middle of the parking lot," Alexis says.
California Highway Patrol Flight Officer Brandon Hallam was on the search.
"Typically on these searches when they go more than a couple days, we expect the worst, and after five days, we assume that as well," Hallam says.
Aerial footage showed the difficulty of searching for a hiker in the terrain. Warren was found after a five-day search.
The 71-year-old was wearing tattered clothes as he arrived to the sound of cheers and reunited with his two sons and daughter.
Warren returned to the forest with Inside Edition.
Warren drank water from a nearby river, but for nearly a week, his only source of food was a handful of gooseberries. He grew up in the area and knew how to handle the thorny fruit.
On his third day, Warren says he saw a helicopter above, but the crew did not see him.
"I was up on a big boulder waving my shirt," Warren says.
Two days later, he reached a reservoir known as "Hellhole" and spotted a fisherman.
"I kept waving and waving and finally he waved," Warren says. The fisherman radioed for help.
Warren thanked the search and rescuers who delivered him to safety.
"We tell anyone who gets lost the old adage is 'Hug a tree.' By that we mean stay where you are because eventually someone will come across you," Captain Michelle Baxter of the Placer County Sheriff's Office tells Inside Edition.
"For him to be in such good shape and be found five days later is really incredible," Deputy Nate Bryom says.
More than 400 people were involved in the rescue.
