PERSIA — Forest rangers helped locate a missing 36-year-old hiker from Buffalo on Monday.

Around 4 a.m., Cattaraugus County 911 contacted the Department of Environmental Conservation’s Central Dispatch reporting a lost hiker in Zoar Valley. Forest Ranger Bob Rogers responded and arrived on scene at 4:30 a.m. After conducting a brief interview with the hiker’s companion and mother, Rogers searched the South Branch of the Cattaraugus Creek from the Valentine Flats parking area to the confluence, and upstream to the Forty Road area.

In addition, the Rangers requested a Cattaraugus County sheriff’s deputy to use his lights and siren as a passive means to attract the hiker’s attention.

Rogers located the hiker at 7:30 a.m., as volunteer firefighters from various departments began to arrive at the incident command post.