NOTE:This article has been updated with information from a press conference held Saturday morning.

A $10,000 reward is being offered by the families of two hikers who went missing at Joshua Tree National Park four weeks ago.

The reward is for any information that leads to the successful and safe return of Joseph Orbeso and Rachel Nguyen, both in their 20s and residents of Orange County.

“We are very hopeful that Joseph and Rachel have left the park on their own accord and are still alive outside the park,” said Gilbert Orbeso, father of Joseph Orbeso, who made an emotional plea for help.

“We are hoping and praying that with a reward and the public’s help that we find answers and closure,” he said during a press conference Saturday morning at the Maze Loop trailhead.

“If Joseph or Rachel can see or hear this message, we want them to know we love them very much,” he said with his voice cracking as he fought back tears.

Joseph Orbeso, 21, and Nguyen, 20, have not been seen or heard from since they entered the park at about 6:45 a.m. July 27. Nguyen’s car was found near the Maze Loop trailhead, less than two miles from the west entrance, on the east side of Park Boulevard, on July 28.

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On the chance the two are being held against their will, Gilbert Orbeso begged their captors to “please, let them go.”

Thousands of hours of searching by air and ground have turned up no clues as to what has happened to the two, park superintendent David Smith said.

“We will continue to do limited search inside the park … but at this point we have definitely moved from the search effort to the recovery effort, which means we believe they perished somewhere inside the park,” Smith told the small group of media, the Orbeso family and some hikers who attended the 20-minute press conference.

“There’s a small, small chance they are somewhere outside of the park,” Smith said. “The families and many of us are pinning our hopes on that.”

BE PREPARED

Hundreds of searchers with various agencies, including JOSAR – the Joshua Tree National Park Search and Rescue Team – National Park Service, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, California Highway Patrol, U.S. Border Patrol and the California Rescue Dog Association, have spent thousands of hours in extreme heat combing the area by air and ground.

They have scoured the near 5-mile long Maze Loop and nearby trails, including the Boy Scout Trail and across Park Boulevard up to Smith Water Canyon.

Smith said JOSAR and San Bernardino County sheriff’s investigators continue to follow up on every tip and any possible piece of evidence found or called in, “but at this point there are no leads that are leading us to the recovery of Joseph and Rachel.”

The Maze Loop is as its name implies, Smith said.

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“There are many inviting side canyons you can explore as you are hiking through there. There are boulder formations you go through when you are inside the maze,” he said.

“We work hard to maintain it so there is a discernable trail … and mark it along the way so people stay on the trail. But desert hiking … is a challenge and if you do go off trail or you do go down a side canyon, we don’t mark every rock and every side canyon,” Smith said.

It is “extremely easy for inexperienced hikers that haven’t learned how to make sure where they are, by looking behind themselves once in a while” to get turned around and lost on the Maze Loop, said Dave Pylman, a co-captain of the park’s search and rescue team.

Asked how far in someone would lose cell phone service, Pylman said, it depends. Some never lose it while typically service is lost within 300 yards of the trailhead, on the other side of the rocks, he said.

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One ping was received from Joseph Orbeso’s phone inside the park, and that was recorded at about 4 p.m. July 27.

“Somewhere within 10 miles of where that ping was is where that cell phone was,” Smith said, adding people should not count on their cell phones helping them if they should get lost.

“Let people know where you’re going and when you expect to be home,” he said.

Entrance to the Maze Loop sits at about 4,200 feet elevation and the weather Saturday – about 95 degrees at 10 a.m. with an expected high of 104 – was “very similar to what they were on the day when the kids disappeared,” said Smith, describing the day as “a scorcher.”

He reminded people coming into the park to “use extreme caution. Early morning hiking is the way to go.”

To help mitigate the desert heat, Smith said hikers should pack salty snacks and a liter of water for every planned hour of hiking and wear a wide-brimmed hat “to keep you cool and from burning your face.”

Smith said weekend searches will go on in the areas it is believed Nguyen and Joseph Orbeso might have gone.

Pointing across the road to an area of rocky, mountainous terrain, Pylman said the Maze Loop offers similar terrain with numerous cracks and fissures which may make it nearly impossible to ever find Nguyen and Joseph Orbeso.

“Rugged, rugged terrain is what we’ll be (searching) in the future. All of the trails have been done thoroughly,” Pylman said.

Gilbert Orbeso said he will continue joining the searches.

“We want Joseph and Rachel to know we will never stop searching; I will never stop searching,” he said.

Anyone who might have been hiking or stopping in the area who recalls seeing a couple in their early 20s, or having other pertinent information about Joseph Orbeso and Nguyen are asked to call the San Bernardino dispatch at (909) 383-5652, and request the detective division.