Missing gold panner rescued after two nights in California forest

Panner went to get water for friend and got lost, police say, and helicopter crew spotted his campfire on cliff days later

An amateur gold panner’s dream of finding treasure during an expedition in California didn’t go as planned after he went missing for two days and was successfully rescued over the weekend.

The panner and his companion had started trailing through northern California’s Plumas national forest on Thursday to search for gold. The companion became tired, so the missing hiker went to get water. That was the last time the two saw each other that day, according to the Butte county sheriff’s office.