Teen Missing Near Dracula’s Castle for 9 Days After Going on Hike and Making Emergency Call for Hypothermia and Exhaustion

A search is underway in Romania for 18-year-old British student George Smyth, who has been missing for almost 10 days after setting out on a solo hike in the Bucegi Mountains.

Smyth, a University of Bristol student, was hiking near Bran Castle — often referred to as Dracula’s Castle — when he called the Romanian mountain rescue service for help on Nov. 23, according to U.K. outlets The Times and Metro. During the call, he reported suffering from hypothermia and exhaustion.

Rescue teams later located his rucksack in the area where he made the distress call, but there has been no sign of Smyth himself so far, The Times reported.

Search operations have continued without pause, with more than 20 mountain rescuers mobilized over recent days.

Smyth is believed to have begun his hike on Nov. 23 from the Poiana Brasov neighborhood in Romania’s Transylvania region, heading toward the village of Bran, where Dracula’s rumored home is located.

His mother, Jo, has flown to Transylvania to be near the search efforts. She told reporters that her son left university in the U.K. on Sunday “without telling us, to go hiking alone.”

“His phone last had signal in a remote mountain area. He made a distressing call to 112 [Romania’s emergency line] on Sunday evening,” she said. “The teams found his backpack in the same place from where he called for help within a few hours.”

Jo described George as “a sporty and strong young man” who has “travelled a lot with us and friends,” according to The Times.

In a statement shared on Facebook on Nov. 25, the Zărnești Local Public Mountain Rescue Service said they had spent “two intense days” searching for “the young Englishman who went missing in Valea lezigăne seti.”

A later update explained that after three days of continuous searching, poor weather conditions were making the mission increasingly difficult. “Unfortunately, at the moment, the weather forecast for the next few days is an unfavorable one to resolve this case,” the service noted.

On Friday, Nov. 28, the Salvamont Brasov rescue service posted Smyth’s photo on Facebook along with an appeal.

“The family asks us to share the photo of George, the person missing since Sunday evening in the Bucegi Mountains,” the post read. “Despite maintained efforts, it has not been located to date, although search operations have been conducted daily, with resources permanently adapted to ground conditions.”

The post added that, according to available information, Smyth left Poiana Brașov on Sunday morning, headed for Bran. He is believed to have passed through the Diham – Tache Ionescu area and later reached the 2.igănesti area, where he called 112 for help. Officials said he was wearing the same jacket seen in the released photo at the time he disappeared.

Sebastian Marinescu, director of Salvamont Brasov, told local media, via The Times, that the discovery of Smyth’s abandoned gear has deepened the mystery. “The backpack had quite a lot of equipment in it — a sleeping bag, a tent. My colleagues even found food all around. So we don’t understand what happened and where he could have gone,” he said.

A University of Bristol spokesperson said in a statement, “We’ve been informed that one of our students has been reported missing after independently travelling to Romania to go hiking. We are deeply concerned for his welfare and are in close contact with his family. Our thoughts are with them as they await any updates.”