Man missing overnight found safe - update

Cook County Search & Rescue was paged at 9:46 on Sunday morning to locate a man missing somewhere on The Grade, an approximately 40-mile gravel U.S. Forest Service road, running from the Two Island Lake area in Grand Marais to the Cramer Road in Schroeder.

As Search and Rescue prepared to respond, all that was known was the man went missing sometime between 11 o’clock and midnight.

After speaking with the man’s companions and looking at photos on their phones, Search and Rescue personnel and Cook County Sheriff’s Office deputies determined that the man had gone missing near the Sawbill Trail in Tofte.

Search and Rescue members were directed to stage at a gravel pit near Pancore Lake.

WTIP has since learned that the missing man, William Valencia, 26, from Chicago, IL, had been camping with two women, Jennifer Sandoval, 24, and Jennifer Valencia, 29, both also of Chicago.

The parties were driving on a backroad when their vehicle, a 2005 Toyota 4-Runner hit a downed tree, damaging the windshield and possibly the exhaust. When Valencia got back on the Sawbill Trail, near The Grade Road, he noticed the bikes were no longer on the rack. An argument enused and Valencia started walking in on the back road to find the bikes. 

The women left the man to return to Crescent Lake campsite where they were staying. They missed the campground entrance and while trying to turn around, went into the ditch. Neither woman was injured.

In the meantime, Valencia walked down the Sawbill Trail and hitched a ride to the Tofte General Store, where emergency responders recognized him from the description of the missing person. The search was cancelled at about 10:30 a.m.

William Valencia was also unharmed, but had spent all night outdoors.