David Lavau’s children drove slowly along the perilously curved Californian mountain road, stopping to peer over the treacherous drop-offs and call out for their father, missing for six days.
Then, finally, they heard a faint cry: “Help, help.”
Close to a week after his car plunged 200 feet into a ravine, Mr Lavau, 68, was rescued last Thursday by his three adult children, who took matters into their own hands after a detective told them his last mobile phone signal came from a rugged section of the Angeles National Forest.
As he lay injured in the woods next to his wrecked car, he survived by eating bugs and leaves and drinking creek water, a doctor said.
Barack Obama’s Norway thanks
US president Barack Obama will meet Norwegian prime minister Jens Stoltenberg later this month to thank him for Norway’s contribution to the Nato mission in Libya.
Mr Obama also to discuss a range of issues, including Afghanistan, Middle East peace, the Arctic, global health, climate change, the famine in Somalia and support for emerging North African democracies.
Mr Obama first met Mr Stoltenberg in December 2009 when he flew to Norway to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
Slavery memorial design competition
The UN has launched an international design competition for a permanent memorial to victims of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade.
The memorial will be constructed at the UN headquarters in New York and the competition is open to all artists. The theme of the project is Acknowledging the Tragedy, Considering the Legacy; Lest We Forget, and designs must be submitted by December 19.
The UN and Caribbean and African nations are overseeing the project.
Aircraft hits inn
A light aircraft crashed into the rear of a two-storey inn in Kentucky near a popular state park, killing the pilot.
The plane went down at around 1.45 p.m., causing damage to Pine Tree Inn near Rough River Dam State Resort Park, about 95 miles south west of Louisville.
Grayson County coroner Joe Hudson said the man was killed on impact. One woman at the inn received minor injuries and was treated at the scene.
Child killer dies
Canadian child serial killer Clifford Olson, who admitted murdering 11 children in 1982, has died of cancer at 71.
Parents of Olson’s victims said last month they had been told by prison service officials that Olson would not live out the month.
Olson, who was at a maximum-security prison, was handed 11 concurrent life terms after pleading guilty to the murders.
US hotel ‘harassed Hispanic’ employees
The US government is suing a Nevada hotel for allegedly allowing its Hispanic employees to be called derogatory names such as “taco bell” and “bean burrito”.
The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a lawsuit against the Pioneer Hotel in Laughlin for ignoring the alleged harassment.
Federal officials said hotel managers were first told in 2006 that several Hispanic room attendants had been victims of the comments from co-workers and supervisors and did not take action to prevent it.
Plane smoke alert
A US Airways plane that reported smoke in the cockpit landed safely at Philadelphia International Airport.
US Airways spokeswoman Valerie Wunder said Express Flight 2588 from Knoxville, Tennessee. to Philadelphia declared an emergency before landing shortly after 5 p.m.
Airport spokeswoman Victoria Lupica said the plane landed safely but did not taxi to the gate.
Fifty-two passengers and four crew members were evacuated on to the runway.