People are disappearing in U.S. national parks at an alarming rate, with at least 10 people never seen again since 2016, according to data reviewed by The Post.
One of them was a hiker with a final message to his son that he was on his way to Yosemite National Park.
Another got separated from the group during a nine-day trip around the Grand Canyon in the stifling heat.
A young river tour guide who had a life ahead of him also went missing during a group trip.
“There are no traces of people missing in the Grand Canyon’s Colorado River,” one article said. local news headlines From time.
At least 1,180 people were reported missing in U.S. national parks between 2018 and the first two months of 2023, according to records obtained by the Post following a Freedom of Information Act request.
Many were found safely with the help of search and rescue teams. Others were found to have suffered injuries or deaths due to suicides or accidents, but a few disappearances are completely unexplained.
A post hoc review of the data found that the Grand Canyon National Park had more deaths, more missing person reports, and more suicides than other parks.
Most deaths are caused by Fall into a ravine, crash a helicopter, overheat.
“A needle in a haystack”
One death that is not easily explained is Charles Ryan, who has been missing for just over two years.
The 49-year-old man from Tyler, Texas was last seen at the Best Western Motel in Tusayan, Arizona on June 10, 2021.
The next day, his car was found around the Grand Canyon’s South Rim, and police believed him to be lonely.
Jonghyun Wong suffered a similar fate in September 2017 when his car was found parked on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.
The NPS reported that the 45-year-old man had not told anyone about his plans to stay in the area and had not been seen since.
Florida teacher Floyd E. Roberts III disappeared from the Grand Canyon National Park on June 17, 2016 while hiking with a group for a nine-day excursion, police said.
The area was experiencing a heat wave when the 52-year-old man left the group.
Roberts — who WFLA is described as A middle school business technology and web design teacher in Florida was last seen heading toward the Shanley Springs district near Kelly Tank, a remote spot west of the Grand Canyon. .
There is no easy explanation for their sudden disappearance, as no bodies have been recovered.
Some of those who fell into the gorge remain undiscovered for years, like Scott Walsh, who disappeared in 2015 but whose body was not found until 2021.
A difficult explanation is the disappearance of 22-year-old Morgan Hymer.
In June 2015, he too disappeared while leading a tour group along the Colorado River near Pumpkin Springs.
For several minutes until about 4 p.m. on June 2, when Hymer was last seen, NPS records said he was helping “a customer jump into the water from a low cliff.”
“The last client completed the activity, and the positions of Heimer and Lead Guide were swapped,” the search log report said.
“The lead guide had just been telling Hymer that he was going to take some time off that afternoon. The lead guide had gone off the cliff to talk to the client. When the lead guide turned around, Hymer was gone.”
The guide told investigators that he thought Heimer had left to take a break, but realized something was wrong when Heimer didn’t show up for dinner.
A native of Cody, Wyoming, Haimer was described as having “advanced/excellent skill.”
He was on day 6 of an 8 day trip.
Hymer’s family joined a search party in Arizona.
The crew conducted a six-day search of the site before curtailing operations.
Immediate response to disappearances in some of the nation’s most dangerous terrain is in the hands of search and rescue personnel who are in a race against time due to the extreme elements in an environment like the Grand Canyon.
“Searching for people is really like looking for a needle in a haystack,” said longtime search and rescue expert Ken Phillips of the search for missing persons in Grand Canyon National Park.
A now-retired National Park Service (NPS) search and rescue director told the Post that rangers usually have the bare minimum to find the person they’re looking for, such as a shoe print on the ground or a credit card receipt. He said he had only clues.
“We need to realize how difficult it is to find just one person in such a large area.”
Not only are bodies difficult to find in an already dangerous landscape, they are often exposed to extreme weather conditions, such as dry heat, which are known to accelerate degradation.
In cold climates, snow often makes it difficult to find bodies and leftover evidence.
Ruins are also subject to raids by wildlife.
Such cases in the sprawling Grand Canyon National Park are but a handful of cases nationwide that have since calmed down.
“No signs”
Other national parks in Japan are also witnessing a spate of mysterious disappearances.
Barry J. Tragen, 68, visited Glacier National Park in Montana at the end of July 2020.
Five days later, his whereabouts sounded alarm bells when rangers noticed his car was still parked near Lake Kintra. NPS said.
Rangers spent several weeks searching Columbia Falls, Montana for signs of the man and found sunglasses that were believed to be his.
K9 was brought in and showed interest in the lake exit area.
Boats, ground search teams and underwater instruments were also used, but “no trace of tragen was found,” officials said.
NPS has scaled back its search efforts since August 10, 2020, and Tragen remains missing.
The July 2020 disappearance of Matthew Silveira, a man of Beverly, Massachusetts, was also reported to the National Park Service, and locals found his car abandoned just a few miles from the National Park Service and Cape Cod National Seashore. A police officer found it, which prompted a request for assistance from the Wellfleet Police Department, according to a report from the National Park Service and the National Park Service. boston.com.
The NPS report found camping gear and a mobile phone in the room, and said the 32-year-old man had a history of making “suicidal remarks.”
Silveira’s car, which was found more than 190 miles from her hometown, is missing.
‘No clue found’
James Pruitt drove 1,400 miles from his hometown of Etowah, Tennessee, to Rocky Mountain National Park on February 28, 2019.
A 70-year-old man parked his car at the Glacier Valley Trailhead site, according to NPS.
A park ranger found his car on March 3 and became suspicious because it did not have a night parking permit.
Pruitt’s family told rangers they had no idea where they planned to hike in the park and had not heard from them since 10 a.m. on February 28, police said.
Pruitt also said he did not plan to stay overnight at the park.
But the glacier valley had two feet of snow when rangers caught Pruitt’s disappearance, complicating an already difficult search, police said.
NPS said the rangers searched 15 square miles until March 11, when the search “entered limited ongoing operations” on March 11, 2019.
The 40-person search team briefly resumed operations in October after conducting small, sporadic searches over the summer for several months, but by then his remains had been almost completely infested with wildlife. It may have been eaten up and left no trace.
In California, Peter Jackson texted his son on Sept. 17, 2016, telling him he was on his way to Yosemite National Park, where traffic was heavy.
He was staying at the White Wolf campground and paid for parking until September 21, 2016.
The avid hiker’s backpack was found in the Ackerson Meadows and Aspen Valley area on August 19, but neither he nor his body have yet been found, officials said.
On the other side of the country, on June 20, 2018, while rafting with friends, John Squires’ boat capsized at American Creek in Katmai National Park, Alaska.
NPS said he and others were thrown into the fast-moving water when the raft hit an underwater object. When Squires was last seen, he was trying to make his way down the river to shore.
His friends eventually swam to safety, but they never made it to Squires.
Nearly five years later, he remains missing.
Chad Hewitt told outside online His friend was “real”.
“His heart was in Alaska.”
