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The picture was sent before he went missing. It wasn't an SOS, he was simply sending a picture to his friend.

From the TFA: "The hiker, 46-year-old Rene Compean, sent a photo to a friend before becoming lost"

My understanding is that he _did_ communicate to his friend that he was lost and his battery was dying https://twitter.com/ai6yrham/status/1382381870134951938/phot....

He needs a better phone. It's a potato quality photo. A better phone might have had him found sooner.