Licensed drone pilot Kent Nerhus sets up his quadcopter at Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park in Foothill Ranch on Sunday, Jan 7, 2018. He was one of several volunteers helping to look for Blaze Bernstein, 19, who went missing from the area late Tuesday night on Jan. 2. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Kent Nerhus hovers his quadcopter over Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park in hopes of helping to find 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein, who went missing on Jan. 2 (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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Family and friends set up a poster with a photo and description of Blaze Bernstein, 19, who is missing and was last seen at Borrego Park in Lake Forest the night of Jan. 2. Family and sheriff’s department officials held a press conference at the park, Friday, Jan. 5. (Nathan Percy, Staff)

Licensed drone pilot Kent Nerhus, left, with volunteers Cassidy Summers, from left, Summers cousin Preston Summers, and licensed commercial pilot Frank Elsayad search the area where missing teen Blaze Bernstein was last seen on Jan2, 2018 in Foothill Ranch. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Licensed drone pilot Kent Nerhus launches his quadcopter at Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park in Foothill Ranch on Sunday, Jan 7, 2018. He was one of several volunteers helping to look for any sign of Blaze Bernstein, 19, who went missing from the area late Tuesday night on Jan. 2 . (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)



Kent Nerhus records images from his drone to help authorities find any sign of missing 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein in Foothill Ranch on Sunday, Jan 7, 2018.(Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Volunteers with drones search over terrain like this at Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park in Foothill Ranch on Sunday, Jan 7, 2018. Blaze Bernstein, 19, disappeared near here late Tuesday night, Jan. 2. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Volunteers Anton Shekhalevich, left, Frank Elsayad and Kent Nerhus, look over the area at Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park near where Blaze Bernstein vanished late Tuesday night on Jan. 2. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Frank Elsayad grabs a drone controlled by Kent Nerhus after Nerhus conducted a search for missing 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein at Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park in Foothill Ranch on Sunday, Jan 7, 2018. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Certified drone pilots joined the search on Sunday, Jan. 7, for a 19-year-old college student who vanished in the Lake Forest area last week.

Update 1/10/18: Missing teen Blaze Bernstein identified as body found in Borrego Park in Lake Forest

Blaze N. Bernstein disappeared after going to Borrego Park with a friend late Tuesday night, Jan. 2 to meet a third person. The person’s identity and the reason for the meeting weren’t known, according to Bernstein’s family.

As drone pilots combed through the Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park area, Bernstein’s mother said she was holding out hope but “not getting my hopes up too high.”

“The only thing I can think of is that maybe he was abducted,” Jeanne Bernstein said Sunday. “Or maybe he was taken to a remote location, or maybe he went into the wilderness park and got injured, a wild animal got him, I don’t know. Anybody can guess. I can’t figure out why anybody would want to hurt my son.”

She voiced frustration at not being able to gain access to password-protected messages that Blaze had been exchanging with others on social media. She said there could be information “that we desperately need to see” that could save Blaze’s life.

Bernstein said she is grateful for the drone pilots’ efforts, making available technology that can be much faster than conventional search techniques.

An announcement about the volunteer effort, posted Saturday night on a Facebook page titled “Help us find Blaze Bernstein” reads:

“Orange County 107 Drone Pilots: My friend’s son is missing, and I have been given a green light to plan an independent SAR mission for Part 107 FAA Certified Drone Pilots. Blaze Bernstein, 19, was last seen on Tuesday night at 10:30pm at Borrego Park in Foothill Ranch. OCPD has completed a dog search, human search, and a helicopter search.”

The Federal Aviation Administration’s Part 107 regulation was devised to integrate the use of drones into the National Airspace System.

The drone pilot who posted the announcement, Josh Friedman, also stated in the post, “I know that a lot of pilots want to help which is why I am only asking for 107 pilots following all 107 rules! You can fly any time of day. I am not coordinating times, so be aware that other pilots will be around throughout the day. If there is any police activity please cease flight, and you are responsible for you, your drone, and your surroundings. If you find something of extreme interest contact OCPD at 714-647-7000.”

Friedman said that at least 15 certified pilots flew drones around the wilderness park at staggered times on Sunday.

“I am then collecting all the video footage and putting it onto a site where we’re going to organize volunteers to look at the footage and get more eyes on it over the next week,” said Friedman, owner of One Zero Digital Media, a Tustin company specializing in drone photography and video.

Friedman, who with another drone pilot began filming the area on Saturday, said nothing of note had been discovered as of Sunday evening. But, he said, “Not finding something can be important as well, it can help us rule out (an) area to some degree.”

On Saturday, a team of some 25 Orange County Sheriff’s Department reserve deputies searched the area but did not turn up any clues.

Bernstein had been on winter break from the University of Pennsylvania and visiting family. He sent a text message at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday with his family’s address so a high school friend could pick him up and take him to the park to meet the third person, said Annee Della Donna, an attorney and family friend.

After the two arrived at the park about 10:30 p.m., Bernstein went off alone into the park, she said.

Bernstein’s friend eventually began sending text messages to him when he didn’t return, but did not hear back from him, Della Donna said. The friend left and then returned at 4 a.m. to look for Bernstein again.

Eventually, the location device on Bernstein’s phone stopped functioning and the phone was turned off at 11:30 p.m., Della Donna said.

“He didn’t have anything with him,” she said. “He didn’t have his glasses or his medication. He didn’t bring his wallet or a phone charger. I don’t think he planned on this being a long trip and he just disappeared.”

There was no sign that he might have been upset about anything, she said. He was scheduled to fly back to Philadelphia on Sunday to get ready for the new semester.

The family held a news conference at the park on Friday afternoon, Jan. 5.

“What’s so unusual about this disappearance is that everyone was usual that night,” Gideon Bernstein, Blaze’s father said. “We had a great family dinner, we ended the dinner, everyone was going up to their rooms. He decides to leave later in the evening.”

But, he said, “He’s a planner; he was intending to come home that night.”

He said his son recently became managing editor of the foodie magazine at the University of Pennsylvania, called Penn Appetit. “So, he was very excited about that. He was working on that over the winter break and showed us the magazine they just published, which he significantly contributed to.”

Blaze is a sophomore planning to declare a major in psychology with a minor in chemistry and “pursuing it with a pre-med focus,” Gideon Bernstein said.

After dinner on Tuesday, the father said, “Everyone took off and as far as we knew, he was up in his room. We didn’t even really know he was gone until the next day. We figured he slept in.”

When his son failed to show for a dental appointment, the family became concerned and then realized he was missing.

The family does not believe drugs or alcohol were involved.

“He has a zero-tolerance policy for this,” said the teen’s mother.

Bernstein has blue eyes, brown hair, is 5-feet-8 and weighs 130 pounds. He was wearing a dark-colored jacket, dark gray long-sleeved zip-up and white Adidas shoes when he was last seen.

Orange County Sheriff’s deputies are asking anyone with information as to Bernstein’s whereabouts to call (714) 647-7000. Orange County Crime Stoppers will accept anonymous tips at (855) TIP-OCCS.

City News Service contributed to this report.