The search for a missing 22-year-old at Yellowstone National Park has now transitioned from a rescue mission to a recovery mission, according to park officials.
Austin King was last heard from on Sept. 17 when he called friends and family from the summit of Eagle Peak, located in a remote area of the park, said the National Park Service.
But an exhaustive search has produced no results.
Over the course of 11 days, over “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,” said NPS, yet King remains to be found.
“Despite significant search efforts over the past week and a half, we have not been able to locate Austin,” superintendent Cam Sholly said in a press release. “Although we will continue to hope for the best, I want to extend my deepest sympathies to Austin’s family, friends and colleagues. I also want to thank the teams from Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, and Park and Teton counties, Wyoming, who have all worked tirelessly to find Austin in some of the most difficult and remote terrain in Yellowstone.”
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King is an employee of Xanterra Parks and Resorts, a private business that operates in Yellowstone. He had failed to arrive for his boat pickup on Sept. 20, which came after his planned weeklong backcountry trip to summit Eagle Peak, which is the highest point at Yellowstone, NPS.
While a search will continue, efforts will be scaled back.
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