Mildred Falls Hiker Was Short of Rope, Autopsy Report States

Authorities were just minutes too late to find Matthew David Pack alive at Mildred Falls, according to Pack's autopsy report. The 24-year-old climber from San Juan Capistrano died in February at a cold waterfall outside of Julian.

The report released April 8 by the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office provides a timeline of the events leading up to the recovery of Pack's body.

According to friends, Pack was an who had moved from the East Coast to Orange County to get sober and finish college. He was just a few months from graduation.

It appeared that Pack did not have enough rope to descend the additional 100 plus feet to the bottom of the falls, according to the report.

Pack's roommate, John Rishton, told authorities that Pack had been climbing every few days for the last eight to nine months. The novice climber would typically go with friends, Rishton said.

An off-duty police officer from Ontario was hiking near Mildred Falls on Feb. 11 when he heard Pack's cries for help. The officer found Pack suspended by a rope attached to his harness about 200 feet down the rock wall, hanging next to the water.

But the officer had to drive eight miles to get to cell phone service before he could call 911. His call to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department came in at 5:13 p.m., and a deputy was dispatched to mile marker 9 on Eagle Peak Road.

Pack's time of death was listed as 5:30 p.m.,

The sheriff's deputy arrived at 5:38 p.m. and tried to call out to Pack using a PA system and siren, but Pack was unresponsive and motionless.

By that time, an unknown person had already tried to climb down to Pack and got within 20 to 25 yards. Pack was unresponsive. The unidentified person noted that Pack had injuries to his hands and arms.

"He was unable to reach him because of the sheer rock wall. When the wind would blow, the water would blow onto him," Investigator Michael A. Ellano wrote in the autopsy report.

A helicopter was called in to conduct a hoist rescue, arriving at 6:19 p.m. "They believed he was dead at that time," Ellano wrote.

Due to high winds, the sheriff's deputy and the helicopter left the falls, which are next to a hiking trail that leads down to Cedar Creek Falls in the Cleveland National Forest. Ellano wrote that there appeared to be several permanent bolts secured into the mountain face for people to attach their ropes to.

When the chopper left, a rescue team consisting of other Sheriff's Department personnel, lifeguards and the Border Patrol arrived and attempted a rope rescue. But there were "gross safety concerns," so the operation was suspended at 11 p.m. until daylight, according to the autopsy report.

The next morning,, which was 200 to 250 feet down the face of the falls.

According to the autopsy report, rescuers found Pack hanging from a rope attached to his waist harness. He was facing against the rock wall and wore a protective helmet.

Pack had left for his climb between 1 and 2 p.m. Feb. 11 and had told his roommate that if didn't return by 10 p.m., something was wrong. Rishton tried reaching Pack by cellphone up until midnight, and the next morning drove out to Mildred Falls. When he arrived, he saw the rescue team.