by Kayla McCloud
Brothers of Youngstown State SAE Jacob Clemente (Youngstown ’25), Michael Clemente (Youngstown ’23), Nick Locke (Youngstown ’20), SAE Sweetheart Jeremy Clemente, and their older brother Jay Jorge exemplified the True Gentleman with an incredible deed as they helped a 17-year-old missing girl on Tuesday, August 1, 2023, return to her family. For these gentlemen, a casual hike in the woods of Pennsylvania turned into an act of courage and valor.
Jacob Clemente, Eminent Archon of Ohio Alpha, recalled his hike and the experience of finding the missing 17 year-old; “This week I hiked the Loyalsock Trail with my brothers and cousin for my first ever long hike. The trail was 59.3 miles in length and crossed a multitude of mountains and rough terrain. It was a journey to say the least. A lot of things had happened but one story sticks out more than the rest. On our second night we stopped at a campsite that wasn’t marked on our map but we had been moving behind due to the rough elevation points. About 30 minutes before sunset we see a girl approaching us. She was the second person we had saw within 26 miles on the trail. We came to find out that she had actually went missing, and had gotten lost in the woods since 11 that morning. Thankfully we were able to feed her, give her a warm fire and hammock to sleep in after convincing her to set camp with us before the night quickly approached. We were able to hike her to safety in the morning and once we got service we were able to reach authorities so they could intercept. God was working miracles that night, but as they say everything happens for a reason”.
Jacob is truly thankful that they were able to give a helping hand when it was needed. To learn more about this story, you can visit https://www.sungazette.com/news/top-news/2023/08/missing-teen-in-sullivan-county-found-safe/.
