Missing Silver Lake couple found alive after getting lost in desert
LOS ANGELES (FOX 11/CNS) - A Silver Lake couple was found alive early Friday morning after wandering the desert for five days.
Aaron Morganstein, 33, and his girlfriend Masha Mitkova, 27, told friends they followed a red flashing light that led them to a cell phone tower where a maintenance worker called Border Patrol.
The couple, who went missing on Sunday, had little food and water with them and had to drink their own urine to survive.
"They are the kinds of people who do know how to survive these situations," friend, Briana Gonzales, said.
Friends and family worried about their whereabouts organized their own search parties on the ground and in the air, frustrated they weren't getting more help from authorities.
"Instead we have Masha's brother in a helicopter hired by their parents to go searching," Gonzales said.
The couple left their car at a lookout point on Sunday to hike the Imperial Sand Dunes and take photos.
Police said they were picked up near the US Mexico Border, miles from where they had started their hike.
"All of a sudden I got a phone call from Masha's brother that they were found and I was like yes finally!" friend, Michael Kinsey, said.
The couple ate their first meal and Denny's and then took showers before going to the hospital for examination.
Earlier:
Police today said a missing Silver Lake couple have been located in Mexico in good health and will be reunited with their family.
Aaron Morganstein, 33, and Mariya Mitkova, 27, last had been heard from when they left their home in the 2200 block of Shoredale Avenue about 3 p.m. Saturday.
Authorities had thought the couple were headed to Joshua Tree National Park or the Imperial Sand Dunes, and sought public help when they couldn't be reached.
The couple became lost while hiking and drank their own urine to conserve water during a five-day ordeal that ended when they found a utility worker, who then contacted the U.S. border patrol.
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