Search intensifies for missing Minnesotan amid snowdrifts, ice in Yellowstone

Austin King was last heard from Sept. 17 during a multiday backcountry trip in a remote and challenging part of the national park.

The Minnesota Star Tribune
September 25, 2024 at 6:13PM
Searching the southwest ridge of Eagle Peak in Yellowstone National Park. (NPS / Jacob W. Frank)

At times dealing with ice and 6-foot snowdrifts, more searchers continued Wednesday to look for a Winona native who disappeared last week during a hike to a rugged and remote section of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.

Austin King, 22, was last heard from Sept. 17 during a backcountry trip to Eagle Peak, the highest point in the national park. King was on a seven-day outing when he called friends and family from the peak’s summit Sept. 17 and reported fog, hail and high winds, according to the National Park Service (NPS).

King, a park concession employee, didn’t arrive for a planned boat pickup near Yellowstone Lake’s southeast arm Sept. 20.

Rescuers from Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks and Teton and Park counties have been searching on the ground and from the air since Saturday in the mountainous areas around Eagle Peak, in the park’s southeast corner and west of Cody, Wyo. They found King’s camp and personal effects that night.

Dozens of searchers are looking for Austin King in the high country in a remote area of Yellowstone National Park. (NPS / Jacob W. Frank)

The NPS said in an update Tuesday night that more resources have gone into the search, with 85 personnel, two helicopters, a K-9 team and “uncrewed aircraft” searching for King.

“Teams will continue to search for the next several days as conditions continue to improve due to favorable weather forecasts,” the service added.

A flier issued after Austin King's disappearance. (National Park Service)

Authorities are seeking the public’s help and are asked to call the Yellowstone Interagency Communications Center at 307-344-2643 with any information about King’s whereabouts.

King lists himself as a West Yellowstone, Mont., resident in his Facebook profile and a former student at Cotter High School in Winona.

Tracking the search and rescue attempt, on the ground and in the air, in the Eagle Peak area. (National Park Service)
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Bob Timmons

Outdoors reporter

Bob Timmons covers news across Minnesota's outdoors, from natural resources to recreation to wildlife.

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