Search and rescue crews in Yellowstone National Park have been searching for missing 22-year-old hiker Austin King for over 11 days. The search has turned desperate as officials now presume the worst, though they continue to hope for the best.
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King’s last contact with the outside world was on the evening of September 17, after King summited Eagle Peak and called loved ones to check in. The hiker was alone on a week-long backcountry hiking trip. Officials knew something was wrong when King failed to arrive for his boat pickup near Yellowstone Lake’s Southeast Arm on September 20.
“To date, more than 100 personnel including two helicopters, search dog teams, ground teams with spotting scopes, trackers, and a drone have searched more than 3,225 miles by air and ground at elevations ranging from 11,350 feet to 8,400 feet,” says the National Park Service (NPS) in a press release. “Unfortunately, they have not found any definitive clues as to King’s current whereabouts.”
The search area encompasses some of the most difficult and remote terrain in Yellowstone, according to NPS. Searchers also reported accumulations of snow and ice and 6-foot drifts on Eagle Peak, making search efforts even more difficult.
NPS has released a map of search and rescue efforts to find the missing Yellowstone hiker so far. See it here:
As of October 2, Yellowstone officials said they will “scale back efforts to locate Austin King in the vicinity of Eagle Peak and transition from a rescue to recovery.” NPS says limited search efforts will continue into the foreseeable future as conditions warrant.
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