A 19-year-old man who died while hiking with a friend Monday on San Bernardino County's Mount Baldy has been identified as a freshman at Santa Clara University who was home for winter break.

The deceased hiker has been identified as 19-year-old Marcus Alexander Muench Casanova of Seal Beach. As Bay Area News Group reports, Casanova was hiking with a friend on what's called Devil's Backbone when he fell around 500 feet Monday. His friend called for a rescue, and in an indication of how dangerous the terrain must have been, rescuers discovered two more bodies near where Casanova fell, and those individuals have not yet been identified.

Casanova was reportedly an avid hiker and surfer, and his mother, Fabiana Muench Casanova tells Bay Area News Group he was "the sweetest boy," and "the light in our lives."

The family issued a statement saying, "We are destroyed by the loss of our beloved Marcus. He was a graduate of Los Alamitos High, a freshman at Santa Clara University’s business school, and an avid outdoorsman. More importantly, he was an incredibly sweet and empathetic young man that will be missed sorely by many. It is difficult to explain the pain and anguish we are going through and ask for privacy as we try to find our way."

Conditions on Mount Baldy are notoriously dangerous in winter months, but the area still attracts many hikers from the Los Angeles area. Trails around Mount Baldy have claimed the lives of 15 to 20 hikers in the last decade.

Those fatalities include actor Julian Sands, who disappeared while hiking alone there in January 2023, and whose body was not found and identified until June of that year.

"This particular area is called the Devil’s Backbone, and it is an extremely dangerous trail," said San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Jenny Smith, per KTLA. “Even the most experienced hiker could have problems. We definitely don’t want novice hikers going up and hurting themselves."