Missing Brooksville hiker found alive in Las Vegas

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - A man on a cross-country hiking trip from Florida to San Diego to raise money for cancer research who had been missing for nearly a week was found alive and well in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Salvatore Pascarelli of Brooksville, had last talked to his girlfriend back home on June 27, police said. He told her he was leaving Flagstaff in northern Arizona the next day and heading to Yuma, which is on the U.S.-Mexico border and on the way to San Diego.

Flagstaff police officer Matt Schmidt said Sunday Salvatore Pascarelli's girlfriend called to say he had checked in.

Schmidt says Friday's missing man report apparently resulted from a communications breakdown between the girlfriend and Pascarelli.

Police say Pascarelli's family said last week he'd talked to his girlfriend daily since beginning his trek in April and posted regular updates on Facebook.

Pascarelli, who is in his late 40s, carries a GPS locator that stopped working around 9:30 p.m. June 27, and his cell phone has either been turned off or lost power, Flagstaff police Lt. Ken Koch said.

His last Facebook post was at 3:35 p.m. June 26, when he wrote: "got to go sorry all no time."

Pascarelli's sister, Lisa Pascarelli of Boston, told The Associated Press that her brother's girlfriend didn't contact police until Friday because she assumed he had bad reception or was too busy.

Lisa said her brother, a father of two grown daughters, decided to walk cross-country to raise money for cancer research because his mother had breast cancer and his grandmother had died of colon cancer. He'd also been out of work for a while and found purpose and a sense of adventure in hiking across the U.S., she said.

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