HUNTER FINDS MAN LOST FOR MONTH.

Byline: Orith Goldberg Staff Writer

A 25-year-old man reported missing a month ago was found weak but alive by a hunter in the Angeles National Forest on Monday, telling his rescuers he survived on roots and bugs, county sheriff's officials said.

``He was skin and bones,'' said Deputy Sheriff-Paramedic Dave Rathbun, who helped airlift Sean Bernard Kelly out of a deep canyon near Gorman. ``He looked like something out of a World War II picture.''

Kelly, believed to be a transient, was taken to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, where he was treated for exposure, officials from the Santa Clarita sheriff's station said. A hospital spokesman declined to give any information about his condition.

The hunter, who was not identified, had been hiking in the forest for two hours with his wife, their child and a dog, when they came upon the emaciated and ``extremely weakened'' Kelly deep in the canyon near Knapp Ranch, Rathbun said.

``You could imagine their surprise when they came across this gentleman laying on the ground.''

Los Angeles police said a missing persons report was filed Sept. 30, but did not immediately know who filed the report.

Kelly told the hunter he thought he had been lost for about two weeks and was not able to hike out of the canyon on his own.

The hunter called the Santa Clarita sheriff's station from his cellular phone, then hiked out of the canyon and was met by a deputy in a four- wheel-drive vehicle that took him to a helicopter in the Knapp Ranch area, between Highway 138 and Castaic Lake, Rathbun said.

A search and rescue team of five, including Rathbun, located the man with the help of the hunter and airlifted him out.

Rathbun said it took three passes to find the exact location, because the hunter had wrapped him in a camouflage jacket.

Kelly told rescuers he had fought off the cold at night by covering himself with branches and dirt, and lived on roots and bugs, according to the statement. He also said he escaped being chased by a bear by throwing away his jacket to throw it off his scent.

Rathbun said deputies had searched for Kelly two weeks ago in the area and found a car registered in his name, but no sign of the missing man. Deputies did find footprints with bear tracks behind them.

Kelly told them he became lost when he ran away from the bear. Rathbun said the man was alert and oriented, but extremely dehydrated. In the missing persons report, he was described as 6 feet tall and 165 pounds, Los Angeles police Officer Jason Lee said. The rescue team reported that he weighed 145 pounds Monday.