I fully understand

So .. if he could receive a call ... couldn't he make a call to someone he knows?

I remember reading about this. He was actually lost, in that he strayed from his trail and didn't immediately know how to return.
Rescuers were alerted because a family member had reported him missing after he didn't arrive home on time.
As the story goes, to the best of my recollection, the "lost" individual went for a hike and said they would be back before sundown. When they got lost, they obviously missed that deadline. They were biding their time in the forest until daybreak to try to find the trail to get back because it was too dark to look for it. So while he was "lost" it was mainly because the sun had gone down. He didn't feel like he was in any danger, and wasn't at any risk of immediately being harmed or killed; AFAIK they were reasonably familiar with that forest and they were more than capable of surviving in those conditions; so he had no motivation to seek help.
TL;DR: guy didn't feel like he needed help.
- I get that he didn't feel like he needed help. But he told his family he'd be back before sundown so wouldn't the thought to call or even text your family to let them know you're ok cross your mind? That's the part that seems strange to me.
- Article about it: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/hiker-lost-24-hours-ignored-rescuers-calls-because-they-didn-n1282381
  What's more likely is that in his panic he wasn't thinking quite straight. It's very common for people to make decisions that seem silly in retrospect in situations like this.
- due to the insane prices the search and rescue folks charge
  Is this a joke or is this actually a thing in the US?
- USA: die or get crippled by debt for getting saved

If it's important, they'll leave a message. Otherwise it's just another scam anyway

Hopefully you're not applying for a job haha
Jokes on them I'm too lazy to set up my voice-mail

As someone who does not answer unknown numbers I am laughing and also cringing

If I pick up, then they know its a real number and I get added to a hundred more lists. Its taken me years of diligently ignoring the world to get to the point where i only get a couple of spam calls a day. I might not answer, either.

- What service is that?
- So, basically a phone CAPTCHA?
I always answer, and I still only occasionally get spam calls. I wonder whether I'm just very lucky or if wasting their time consistently gets you put on lists of a different kind.
What about voicemail?

It has nothing to do with social fear, every fucking call on my personal and work phone is a scam.

Get that shit under control and then maybe I'll answer my cell phone once in awhile lol

Though if I was really lost I think I'd be answering every call tbh.

If you live in a supported country, (but only US have the automatic screening feature) I suggest getting a Pixel phone and use the call screening features.
https://support.google.com/phoneapp/answer/9118387?hl=en
I'm currently using a Samsung phone and it has a similar feature but the screening can only be done manually and Bixby's voice is miles behind Google Assistant's.
This has the making of a hilarious movie. Trying to convince the car warranty guy to save your ass from wild animals.

The telephone network is practically useless because we don't have any authentication to it anymore.

When the phone company had to do something to physically connect a wire to a building, it was sufficient. But that I can download any number of apps that lets me war dial an entire continent pretending to be just anyone? Yeah the phone network isn't secure enough for the average user.

It never really was secure. You could always set the Caller ID on an outgoing PRI trunk to whatever you wanted with any of the phone systems in the last half century. It isn't validated.
- Also phone phreaking existed. Just blow a whistle into the pay phone and get free calls.
- It was when you had to ask the nice lady to connect you. That's what happens when you remove all the infrastructure jobs.

I remember this article... He went for a hike and didn't tell his roommates when he would be back. He didn't answer their calls (I'm assuming he needed some time alone), and was gone for more than 24 hours so they reported him missing. He just wanted some time away from his roommates and they put him the the national news.

Sounds like some people I'd need some time away from too lmao. Good to have people that care tho.

I wish people texted after failing to call me. I don't answer calls from unknown numbers either but if you know me then text me so I know it's not a spam number

I agree, but I still have this idea that it's rude to text people unless you have gotten permission first. I think it's a relic from the 2000s-2010s when not everyone's phone had texting and if you did text them they could get charged by their phone provider. Obviously nowadays that's much less of a concern, but still feels like a social grey area for some reason
- It is completely opposite to that in my circles. It would be weird to call people without texting them first. In fact, one of my best friends texted me to ask if he could call me.
- Yeah, that's an archaic mindset. Most people would rather get a text these days.
- That’s so funny. I feel like it’s rude to call without texting first
Yeah, but then you'd get a text from that unknown number asking you to call them back without saying who they are, either 👌 Source: I know people.

For real.

‘Unknown’ or ‘Suspected Spam’ yeah, I guess I’ll just die.

If you don't, the spammers win.

A lot of places call customers from some completely random numbers, not the official one. Very annoying.
Yeah, the problem is i would have them in contacts listed under " rescue me!" And they'd call me from a number that's not the one they gave me.

Should have sent an email, come on now...

Something similar, if less life threatening, happened to me. My car had been stollen a while back and I avoided the random call from an area code 50+ miles away. Turns out it had been the cops from that area telling my they found my (stripped) vehicle. Impound lot ended up getting the car AND overnight parking fees. Absolute racket.