A Yellowstone National Park employee has gone missing in the park after reportedly speaking with his family over the phone about inclement weather. The National Park Service said 22-year-old Austin King was last heard from on Sept. 17 after speaking with his family while on the summit of Eagle Peak around 7 p.m. local time.
King works as a concession employee at the park and decided to begin a solo hike up Eagle Peak on Sept. 14. When checking in with family and friends he mentioned the rain and fog that was beginning to roll in. The NPS released a statement on the incident and said that King had spoken with a backcountry ranger the day before he was last heard from. The ranger spoke with him in the area of Howell Creek and that was reportedly a deviation from the planned route up the mountain.
Rescue crews have been searching for King since he failed to show up for a scheduled boat pickup on Friday. The crew reported they found his camp in the Howell Creek area on Saturday. More than 20 on-the-ground searchers have been canvasing the woods for days along with two search helicopters and a dog search team.
Crews are continuing to search for King this week and his father Richard King has started a GoFundMe to help fund the rescue. (
National Park Service)
Crews are continuing to search for King this week and his father Richard King has started a GoFundMe to help fund the rescue. As of Tuesday, it has raised $1,200 of its $5000 goal. Austin is described as a white male about 6 feet tall and about 160 pounds. He was last seen wearing glasses, grey pants, and a black sweatshirt.
It is estimated that 1,600 people are currently missing after disappearing from National Parks according to Journalist Jon Billman author of “The Cold Vanish” examining the phenomena of National Park disappearances.
Yellowstone has only reported about 12 missing persons cases since 1900 (
Yellowstone National Park)
National Parks are ripe for people to both die or go missing as they are frequently visited, seeing over 300 million visitors per year, according to the National Park Service. Grand Canyon National Park sees nearly 5 million visitors per year and Yellowstone sees 4 million.
Yellowstone has only reported about 12 missing persons cases since 1900, but the Grand Canyon frequently sees visitors go missing and die. It’s estimated that one person dies in Grand Canyon National Park every month. There are about 17 deaths at the Grand Canyon every year, according to NPR.