Robert Schock went missing after he was last seen hiking in the North Cascades National Park. A trail crew found him on Aug. 30 in the park’s Chilliwack Basin after they heard him yelling for help.

A trail crew found a missing hiker in the North Cascades National Park in Washington a month after his disappearance, officials said Thursday, and the man’s rescuers say he may not have had another day in him.

Officials reported 39-year-old Robert Schock a missing person days after he was last seen at the park on July 31, according to the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office. Witnesses saw the hiker near the area’s Chilliwack River without any overnight supplies.

On Aug. 30, Schock was found “alive and well” in the park’s Chilliwack Basin, the sheriff’s office said in a statement Thursday. But the trail crew responsible for his rescue and his mother paint a more dire picture of Schock’s state.

Schock’s mother, Jan Thompson, told the Cascadia Daily News that her son was weak and malnourished.

“He’s in a lot of pain and he isn’t speaking very well, but he’s coherent and seemed in pretty high spirits,” Thompson told the outlet from her home in North Carolina. “I didn’t push him too much.”

Schock’s dog found when he went missing

Concerns surrounding Schock’s disappearance began on Aug. 3 when an abandoned vehicle and his dog were found 8 miles from the hiking trail, the sheriff’s office said.

Deputies found the vehicle with the windows rolled down and Schock’s wallet on the dashboard. Several ground and air searches in the remote area were conducted through Aug.16 but no clues were uncovered until his discovery last week.

Thompson told the Cascadia Daily News that her son was found by a crew with the Pacific Northwest Trail Association, which was working in the field when they heard Schock yelling for help.

The National Park Service did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for further details.

Schock ‘only had another day left in him’

Jeff Kish, executive director of the Pacific Northwest Trail Association, wrote on Facebook that Schock was “found alive, but not well.”

“It is the belief of those who came to be involved in the rescue that Robert may have only had another day left in him before the outcome of his discovery would have been much more tragic,” Kish wrote.

Kish said that Schock reported that he had been immobile and stuck in one spot for two weeks.

“His situation was dire,” Kish said. “I won’t provide most of the details that I learned about his condition today, because I think the only appropriate person to decide whether those details should be shared publicly is Robert himself.”

A tense hearing has unfolded in one of former United States President Donald Trump’s four criminal cases, as his defence team questioned the legitimacy of the proceedings.

Thursday’s hearing took place before US District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, DC, where Trump faces four felony counts for attempting to overturn the 2020 US presidential election.

Trump himself was not present at the proceedings. But from the outset, defence lawyer John Lauro cast doubt on the validity of the charges and the timing of the case.

“We may be dealing with an illegitimate indictment from the get-go,” Lauro told the court.

He also asserted that a recent Supreme Court decision granting presumptive immunity to a range of presidential actions should result in the case’s outright dismissal.

“We want an orderly process that does justice to the Supreme Court opinion,” he said.

But it was Lauro’s suggestion that the court’s actions were unfair that sparked a sharp exchange with Judge Chutkan.

Lauro called the proceedings “enormously prejudicial” to Trump, who is currently running as the Republican nominee in the 2024 presidential election.

“This process is inherently unfair, particularly during this sensitive time,” Lauro told Chutkan.

The judge quickly shot back, saying her concern was only the four criminal counts in front of her court. “The timing of the election,” she explained, was “not relevant” to her decisions.

“This court is not concerned with the electoral schedule,” she said. “That’s not something I’m going to consider.”

Lauro pushed back throughout the hearing. “We’re talking about the presidency of the United States,” he said at one point.

But Chutkan was quick to tamp down that argument. “I’m not talking about the presidency of the United States. I’m talking about a four-count indictment,” she replied.

She questioned whether Trump’s defence team may be angling to delay the trial until after the election. Lauro, meanwhile, said prosecutors were “rushing to judgement” with their court filings.

Chutkan, however, dismissed any suggestion that the case was progressing too quickly.

“This case has been pending for over a year,” she said. “We’re hardly sprinting to the finish here.”

Thursday’s hearing was one of the first in nearly a year’s time, something Chutkan and Lauro joked about at the start of the day.

“Life was almost meaningless without seeing you,” Lauro in a lighthearted moment with the judge.

“Enjoy it while it lasts,” Chutkan responded.

The Washington, DC, criminal case had been delayed multiple times, as courts weighed the question of Trump’s immunity from prosecution. Trump had claimed “absolute” immunity for any action taken while he was president, from 2017 to 2021.

On July 1, the Supreme Court issued a decision, dismissing any claims to absolute immunity but nevertheless granting broad “presumptive immunity” to any “official” actions the president might take.

The decision itself did not clearly delineate what counts as an “official” or “unofficial” action, but it suggested that interactions with government officials like the vice president would be protected from prosecution.

The ruling was therefore seen as a broadening of presidential power, beyond what is established under the US Constitution.

In August, in response to the Supreme Court’s decision, the prosecution in the Washington, DC, case — led by Special Counsel Jack Smith — issued an updated indictment against Trump that zeroed in on actions it considered “unofficial”.

Those included actions Trump took as a presidential candidate in the 2020 election cycle, and actions taken by his re-election campaign.

The four counts Trump faces remain the same. He is accused of conspiracy to defraud the US, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, attempting to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy to prevent the free exercise of rights under the US Constitution.

Those charges stem from his actions after the 2020 election, which he lost to President Joe Biden, a Democrat. Trump repeatedly claimed that the result was “rigged”, and he and his allies are accused of pressuring election officials to change the outcome.

After he encouraged his supporters to continue fighting the results, thousands swarmed the US Capitol building, in an attempt to interrupt the certification of the Electoral College votes on January 6, 2021.

On Thursday, Trump’s defence team formally resubmitted his plea of not guilty to the superseding indictment. Trump has pleaded not guilty in all the criminal cases against him so far.

When Lauro, the defence lawyer, suggested that the recent Supreme Court case would nullify interactions included in the updated indictment, Chutkan was firm.

“No, they did not decide that,” she said. “I have to decide.”

Five-time NBA champion Earvin “Magic” Johnson is the newest investor in the Washington Spirit, the National Women’s Soccer League team announced on Thursday.

“I’m excited to join the Washington Spirit’s investor group at such a pivotal time in the club’s history,” Johnson said in a statement.

“Partnering with a visionary like Michele Kang and her team to advance the growth of the Washington Spirit and the NWSL is an incredible opportunity. I’m excited to join the team and play my part to help elevate this organization.”

Johnson, 65, starred for the Los Angeles Lakers from 1980 to 1996, winning five NBA titles and three MVP awards. He was a 12-time All-Star and was named by the NBA as one of the 50 greatest players in league history upon his retirement. In recent years, Johnson has entered the sports business space, investing in multiple teams.

Kang has been the Spirit’s principal owner since early 2022, when she bought the team for $35 million, which was an NWSL record at the time and about 10 times the valuation of a different NWSL franchise sale two years earlier.

The Spirit had just won the 2021 NWSL championship amid a tumultuous season that included the ousting of former head coach Richie Burke amid allegations of abuse. Amid their run to a championship, players publicly called for former majority owner Steve Baldwin to sell the team. Kang was a minority owner at the time.

NWSL team valuations have skyrocketed since Kang’s takeover, with the NWSL record for team valuation falling multiple times this year. The July acquisition of Angel City FC by Willow Bay and Bob Iger (CEO of Disney, the parent company of ESPN) set a new bar with a $250 million valuation.

The sale of Los Angeles-based Angel City continued the trend of an influx of billionaires into the NWSL, a marked change from its humble launch as an eight-team league in 2013. The NWSL is expected to name its 16th team later this year.

Johnson is the chairman and CEO of Magic Johnson Enterprises, which also holds partial ownership in the Washington Commanders (NFL), Los Angeles Dodgers (MLB), Los Angeles Sparks (WNBA), LAFC (MLS) and eSports franchise Team Liquid.

“It is a great honor to welcome Earvin to the Washington Spirit today. From the basketball court to the boardroom, Earvin knows how to win, and we are delighted to count on his expertise as part of our fantastic investor group,” Kang said in a statement.

“His commitment not only reflects the strength of our club, players, fans and brand, but also sends a powerful message about the growth and impact of women’s sports globally. Together, we look forward to taking the Washington Spirit to new heights and inspiring the next generation of young women and girls worldwide.”

The Spirit did not disclose terms of Johnson’s investment.

Under Kang, the Spirit has grown from a club that averaged just over 4,000 fans in 2021 to one averaging nearly 14,000 fans per game this year.

Kang has since purchased controlling stakes in eight-time European women’s champions Lyon and English second-division side London City Lionesses. She plans to purchase several more clubs on different continents and create a global network to scale resources.