Yellowstone National Park requests the public’s assistance in locating Austin King, a 22-year-old male last heard from on Tuesday, September 17, when he called friends and family from the summit of Eagle Peak in the park’s remote southeast corner.
King has been described as 6 feet tall, weighing around 160 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes. He typically wears glasses and was last seen wearing a black sweatshirt and gray pants.
While on the summit, King described fog, rain, sleet, hail, and windy conditions.
Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, Park County, Wyoming, and Teton County, Wyoming, search and rescue teams are actively looking for King in the vicinity of Eagle Peak, Eagle Pass Mountain Creek Trail and Eagle Creek Trailhead in Shoshone National Forest.
King is a concession employee working in Yellowstone and was reported overdue to the Yellowstone Interagency Communications Center when he failed to arrive for his boat pickup near Yellowstone Lake’s Southeast Arm on Friday afternoon, September 20, after his planned 7-day backcountry trip to summit Eagle Peak.
A search and rescue effort began at first light Saturday morning, September 21, that involved an aerial reconnaissance and ground search operations in the high mountain areas of Eagle Peak and surrounding areas including Yellowstone Lake. Rescuers discovered King’s camp and personal effects Saturday evening in the upper Howell Creek area.
Today, Sunday, September 22, more than 20 ground searchers, two helicopters, unmanned air systems, and a search dog team are focusing efforts near Eagle Peak.
Anyone traveling in the backcountry near Eagle Peak since September 14 may have seen King. If you have any information regarding his whereabouts, please contact the Yellowstone Interagency Communications Center at 307.344.2643.
This is an evolving situation and NPS will provide more information if and when it becomes available.
