Search for man missing in Yellowstone reaches seven-day mark
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YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — Search and rescue crews are entering their seventh day of looking for a missing 22-year-old in Yellowstone National Park.
Austin King is 6 feet tall, 160 pounds, with brown hair, hazel eyes, and glasses. At the time of his disappearance, he was wearing a black sweatshirt and gray pants.
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Anyone traveling in the backcountry near Eagle Peak since Sept. 14 may have seen King. Call the Yellowstone Interagency Communications Center at (307) 344-2643 if you see him or know where he might be.
According to a news release from Yellowstone National Park, crews continue to look for King near Eagle Peak in Yellowstone National Park.
Eagle Peak is the highest point in the park, at 11,372 feet. Teams plan to continue the search from the peak to about 8,000 feet in various drainages and ridge-tops.
The release says King, an employee of Xanterra Parks and Resorts, a private business authorized to operate in Yellowstone, was reported overdue to the Yellowstone Interagency Communications Center when he failed to arrive for his boat pickup near Yellowstone Lake’s Southeast Arm on the afternoon of Sept. 20, after his planned 7-day backcountry trip to summit Eagle Peak.
So far, search crews have included “96 personnel, two helicopters, a search dog team, ground teams with spotting scopes, and a drone have looked for King in this high-elevation, expansive and hazardous area.”
On Thursday, two helicopters, one belonging to Yellowstone National Park and the other to Teton County, Wyoming, searched extensively throughout the area. Yellowstone staff followed up on King’s cellular activity on Eagle Peak on the night of Sept. 17, the night King summited the peak.
The park says staff are continuing to work with cellular forensics experts to learn more about King’s whereabouts from this data.
Yellowstone is partnering with Grand Teton National Park; Park County, Wyoming; and Teton County, Wyoming, to look for King. Multiple crews will continue searching for the next several days as conditions allow.
The park will provide more information when it is available.