Triglav: Search for Missing Jakov V. (19) Resumes Wednesday
The young man from Preljina near Cacak set off alone on Saturday, October 31. He called his family Sunday evening, and rescuers have found his backpack and tracks in the snow.
Slovenian rescuers suspended the search without result on Tuesday evening for 19-year-old Jakov V. of Preljina near Cacak, who went missing while climbing Triglav. The search resumes Wednesday morning. He has now been missing for three days.
What is known about the disappearance on Triglav
Jakov V. is a student in Ljubljana. He set out alone for Slovenia’s highest peak, without an organized hiking group, on Saturday, October 31. Kurir, citing an unnamed source, also reports that he hitchhiked from Ljubljana to the foot of the mountain, which other sources do not confirm. His planned route ran via Plemenice, one of the more demanding and exposed approaches to the summit.
On Sunday evening he got in touch with his family. His father Nikola, a priest at the church in Preljina, told the RINA agency what his son said:
“On Sunday evening he called the family, said everything was fine, that we shouldn’t worry, that he would return safely and that his battery was running low. Since then, every trace of him has been lost.”
Slovenian police were notified on Sunday, shortly before 8 p.m. The Nova Gorica regional notification center reported that a foreign hiker was stuck on the way to Triglav via Plemenice. The search is led by the Bovec police station, with mountain rescuers from Bovec and Mojstrana taking part.
What the rescuers found
Before contact was lost, the young man sent the rescue service the coordinates of the spot where he left his backpack. Rescuers found the backpack at that location. Nikola says the service told him why he left it:
“As they told us, he left the backpack to lighten his load. He took a tent and a heater with him.”
His belongings were also found at about 2,130 meters above sea level. Kurir, unofficially, reports that these include a bivouac bag, a protective foil, a sleeping pad and a mobile phone. On Monday morning, rescuers spotted tracks in the snow descending to about 1,900 meters. The wind erased them there.
Did helicopters fly on Tuesday?
The sources disagree on one point. The father told RINA that the Slovenian mountain service searched the terrain with helicopters on Tuesday, which Telegraf and B92 reported. Kurir, by contrast, writes that strong wind and cloud cover kept the helicopter from taking off and that only ground teams are conducting the search.
Both sources agree that conditions are difficult: strong wind, low temperatures since Saturday, cloud cover and poor visibility. The search was suspended on Tuesday evening without result. According to Nikola, the family hopes it will resume at full capacity on Wednesday.
The family and Preljina wait for news
After the disappearance, Nikola traveled to Slovenia, according to Kurir’s sources among the family’s friends. He told RINA:
“We are praying to God that everything turns out for the best and that Jakov comes back to us alive and well.”
On the website of the Temple of Saint Sava in Kraljevo, the faithful were called to prayer:
“We call on all the faithful to pray fervently for Jakov, the nineteen-year-old son of the priest, Father Nikola of Preljina, who is listed as missing during a climb of Mount Triglav. In these difficult moments, let us gather in prayer and ask the Lord to keep him, strengthen him and grant that he be found alive and unharmed, and to give his family strength and comfort. We call on everyone who is able to read one kathisma from the Psalter this evening, with a prayer to the Lord for Jakov’s return. May the Lord strengthen us all in faith, hope and love.”
Residents of Preljina who know the young man described him to RINA this way:
“He is a wonderful young man who loves nature. He has hiked a lot of mountains, he went by bicycle. We only hope this agony ends as soon as possible and that they find him alive. He is young and strong, a very fit young man. We hope for the best.”
According to B92, Nikola is respected by residents of Preljina, and the news of his son’s disappearance has shaken the whole village.
What comes next
A new search begins Wednesday morning. Some of the information in this text, including the list of items found and how the young man reached Triglav, comes from unofficial sources and has not been confirmed by the authorities.
