Searchers scour mountain, cellular data for missing Yellowstone hiker

The search for an overdue hiker in Yellowstone National Park stretched into its seventh day, with crews employing helicopters and cellular forensic technology in the effort to find 22-year-old Austin King.

Two helicopters spent Thursday extensively searching the remote southeastern portion of the park where King was last heard from, according to an update published Friday morning by the National Park Service. An employee of a park contractor, King had taken a seven-day solo backcountry trip to summit the 11,372-foot Eagle Peak, the highest point in the park.

He summited the mountain on Sept. 17 — the same day a storm moved into the area, bringing snow to higher elevations.

The search effort has now swelled to 96 people with assistance from helicopters, a dog team and a drone. The teams are combing an area from the peak to 8,000 feet, examining both drainages and ridgetops, according to the park service update.

Along with the physical search, park staff have “followed up on cellular activity by King” from the evening he summited the peak. The park service had previously said King called friends and family to inform them he had reached the top. On one call, he described fog, sleet, hail and windy conditions at the peak.

“Staff are working with cellular forensic experts to attempt to learn more from this data,” the park service wrote in its Friday update.

The search involves personnel from Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, along with Park and Teton counties. Crews are expected to continue the effort for the next several days as conditions allow.

King was supposed to arrive for a boat pickup near Yellowstone Lake’s Southeast Arm on Sept. 20. When he failed to show up, he was reported overdue to authorities.

The search began at first light the following morning. On the evening of Sept. 21, crews found his camp in the upper Howell Creek area.

The park is asking anyone with information about King’s possible whereabouts to contact the Yellowstone Interagency Communications Center at 307-344-2643. He is 6 feet tall, weighs 160 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes and was wearing glasses, a black sweatshirt and gray pants.

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