Missing 22-year-old Yellowstone worker calls family from mountain peak, then vanishes
A 22-year-old Yellowstone National Park employee was last heard from when he called friends and family from the summit of a mountain in the park.
He described encountering bad weather while on the peak that evening. Then he vanished, rangers say.
Austin King, a concession worker in the park, didn’t show up at Yellowstone Lake’s Southeast Arm for his boat pickup Friday afternoon, Sept. 20, park officials said in a news release.
He was on a seven-day backcountry trip to summit Eagle Peak in the park’s remote southeast corner, officials said.
“While on the summit, King described fog, rain, sleet, hail, and windy conditions,” officials said in the release.
Officials need the public’s help keeping an eye out for him. Anyone who traveled in the backcountry near Eagle Peak since Sept. 14 may have encountered him, officials said.
A boat dropped King off at Terrace Point on Saturday, Sept. 14, officials said. On Monday, Sept. 16, he spoke with a backcountry ranger at Howell Creek cabin, which was not on his planned route. He was headed to site 6D8 that night and planned to climb Eagle Peak the next day. Then his last known point of contact was when he called a family member from the peak the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 17.
King is 6 feet tall, weighs about 160 pounds and has brown hair and hazel eyes. He was wearing glasses, a black sweatshirt and gray pants, officials said.
Rescuers from Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks began searching for King on the peak and in surrounding areas at first light Saturday, Sept. 21, including Yellowstone Lake, officials said. A team found his camp and personal belongings that night in the upper Howell Creek area.
The search continued Monday, Sept. 23 with more than 20 ground searchers, two helicopters, drones and a dog team with efforts focused near Eagle Peak, officials said.
Anyone with information about where King might be should call the Yellowstone Interagency Communications Center at 307-344-2643. Park officials will provide more information when it’s available.
This story was originally published September 23, 2024 at 12:09 PM with the headline "Missing 22-year-old Yellowstone worker calls family from mountain peak, then vanishes."
