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MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, Wyoming — Yellowstone National Park rangers are searching for an elderly Utah man after the body of the man’s half-brother was located along the east shore of Shoshone Lake.
Ranger reports show Mark O’Neill, 67, from Chimacum, Washington, and half-brother, Kim Crumbo, 74, from Ogden, Utah, were reported overdue by a family member on Sunday from their four-night backcountry trip to Shoshone Lake.
On Sunday, park crews located a vacant campsite with gear on the south side of Shoshone Lake, as well as a canoe, paddle, PFD and other personal belongings on the east shore of the lake. Crews located the body of O’Neill along the east shore Monday morning.
Search and rescue efforts are continuing Tuesday with 10 crew members on foot trying to locate Crumbo. Grand Teton National Park interagency ship and crew are also assisting with air operations.
Both O’Neill and Crumbo are National Park Service retirees, and Crumbo is a former Navy Seal.
This incident remains under investigation.
Shoshone Lake, the park’s second-largest lake, is located at the head of the Lewis River southwest of West Thumb. At 8,050 acres, its average year-round temperature is about 48 F. Survival time is estimated to be only 20 to 30 minutes in water of this temperature.
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Summit County Search and Rescue crews responded to 22 calls in August, according to a spokesperson for a nonprofit that supports the group. That’s more than one every other day.
Canice Harte, representing the nonprofit Friends of Summit County Search and Rescue, told the Summit County Council on Wednesday that about 10 or 15 volunteer crew members respond to most calls. That means dropping what they’re doing when they receive a page from dispatch and heading into the field for a mission that can last hours or days.
Harte said Summit County crews account for about 25% of the entire state’s annual search and rescue activity.
He explained the arrangement by which crew members purchase and use their own equipment, including snowmobiles, off-road vehicles and trailers. The council indicated willingness to support a budget increase, which Harte said would be used to purchase newer equipment.
Search and Rescue is part of the Sheriff’s Office, which accounts for the largest share of the county’s operating expenses, according to county budget documents.
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JACKSON, Wyo. — On Sunday at around 1 p.m., Teton County Search and Rescue (TCSAR) volunteers were called to assist a man who’d been lost while trying to hike from Cache Creek to Granite Creek along the Highline route.
The team was able to make brief contact with the hiker over the phone, though his exact location was difficult to determine.
A hasty Search and Rescue ground team was sent up the Little Granite drainage to begin hiking in on foot. It was later discovered that the hiker ended up following a different drainage down Horse Creek, and eventually hit Henry’s Road near the Snake River. A volunteer met him at the road and gave him a lift back to town, while the remaining teams in the field returned to the hangar.
TCSAR reminds recreationists that this area of the Gros Ventre has a history of helping hikers lose their way. The trails are rarely maintained, if at all, and following the correct path can be tricky. In 2015, three sisters became lost in the same area for six days.
“We can also take this opportunity to remind people to download the free BackcountrySOS app to their smartphone. All you need is a tiny bit of cellular service to let emergency dispatch know your precise location. Just search for BackcountrySOS in your App Store,” said TCSAR and a post to social media this afternoon.
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SISTERS, Ore. (KTVZ) – A Bend man and woman who went hiking and camped in the Camp Lake area near Sisters used a GPS emergency alert system to call for help Saturday after a storm moved in, bringing near-freezing temperatures and a mix of rain and snow, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said.
The sheriff’s office was advised around 10:30 a.m. of the two hikers, ages 32 and 30, needing assistance at Camp Lake, near the Pole Creek Trailhead, said Deputy Kyle Joye, assistant coordinator for Sheriff’s Search and Rescue.
Deschutes County 911 received a report from Garmin GPS emergency response that they had received an emergency alert at the location from a GPS receiver, Joye said. They had contacted the user, who reported a weather system moved in overnight and the user and a hiking partner were wet, cold and needed help getting back to the trailhead.
At that time, a U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement officer also was notified and responded to the area, Joye said. A sheriff’s deputy, the assistant sAR coordinator, made contact by text message with the pair and learned they were uninjured but needed help to safely return to the trailhead.
A total of 14 DCSO SAR volunteers responded to the scene, including ground, medical and horse teams. They headed up the trail from the Pole Creek Trailhead, reaching the pair at 3:40 p.m. and confirming they were not in need of medical care, though they were in need of some food, water and dry clothes before hiking down the trail.
About an hour later, SAR teams began escorting the pair down the trail to the trailhead, where they arrived around 7:30 p.m., met up with friends and headed home by personal vehicle, Joye said.
"The Sheriff's Office would like to remind anybody hiking during this season that conditions can change rapidly and to be prepared for various temperatures and rain/snowfall," Joye said in a news release. "Additionally, keep a close eye on weather forecasts for areas in and around your recreation area."
The deputy also said the sheriff’s office wanted to thank the Forest Service Law Enforcement Division for its help.