Cal State Long Beach graduate Daniel Nguyen died after he slipped and fell 1,500 feet down Mount Baldy in the San Bernardino Mountains Tuesday morning.
Nguyen was saving a friend from slipping at the time. He was hiking with two other CSULB students during the incident, who asked not to have their names printed.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department located the kinesiology graduate and Outdoor Adventure Club member at 9 a.m. after receiving a 911 call at 7:41 a.m. from a hiker who reported Nguyen missing, according to the San Bernardino Coroner’s report.
Nguyen, 23, was pronounced dead on scene at 5:16 p.m. He graduated from CSULB in 2015.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the incident.
He was active outdoors and was often found rock climbing, backpacking, and participating in other outdoor activities.
“He had ambition,” said Guillermo Ordenes, a 28-year-old geography major. “When we summited Baldy in 80 mph winds, he felt he could do anything. He took the best photos and inspired me to get my own camera.”
Nguyen intended to participate at an outdoor conservation and trail building internship in Arizona in April with AmeriCorps. He had also planned to complete the Six Pack of Peaks Challenge this year with a group of friends from the university.
“Everybody was bawling and crying when the teacher told us,” Sutton York, a film major, said of her Wednesday mountaineering class with wilderness professor Don DeGree. York said DeGree, who does search and rescue in Big Bear, had received a call to search for a body on Mount Baldy earlier in the day, only to realize later that the call was about Nguyen.
A GoFundMe fundraiser has been organized to help with proceeds toward Nguyen’s family and his funeral, with over $10,000 being raised in less than 24 hours. The fundraiser says the funeral will likely cost around $20,000.
Although details of when the funeral will take place are still unavailable, the Outdoor Adventure Club plans to host a bonfire in memoriam of Nguyen.