San Juan County Sheriff’s Office, San Juan County Search and Rescue, Silverton Medical Rescue and Flight for Life Helicopter Service are working on an active missing person operation in the trinity peaks area near the Weminuche Wilderness in the San Juan National Forest.
On Thursday, July 21st at 5:55 pm, the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office and San Juan County Search and Rescue initiated a search for an overdue hiker that was reported by a concerned friend of Daniel Lamthach 22-year-old male of Salt Lake City, Utah. Flight for Life began an aerial search of the area of Trinity Peaks near the Weminuche Wilderness in the San Juan National Forest. The aerial search by the Flight for Life team was called off that evening due to darkness and cloud cover but resumed early morning of Friday, July 22nd. On Friday morning, Flight for Life dropped 4 SJC SAR team members in the wilderness area of Trinity Peaks who conducted a ground search. The SAR team members were pulled out of the ground search in the late afternoon due to severe thunderstorm activity.
The search operation continued Saturday, July 23rd with both aerial and ground teams. The hiker was lightly prepared for a day hike and seemed not to be prepared for overnight or a long period in the wilderness due to the contents found in his vehicle. The last point of contact with the solo hiker was on Saturday, July 16th, 2022.
Thursday, July 21st, 2022: SJCSO, SJC SAR TEAM & FLIGHT FOR LIFE TEAM initiate an overdue hiker search and rescue operation for Daniel Lamthach.
- A concerned friend contacted the SJCSO office to report an overdue hiker.
- The SAR team receives information that the hiker was possibly headed to the Trinity Peaks area.
- Daniel Lamthach’s vehicle is located in the Molas Lake Parking area.
- SAR Team received information that Daniel’s cell phone was found by another hiker on the Elk Creek Trail heading towards the Trinity Peaks area.
- The Flight for Life team begins an aerial search over the Trinity Peaks area to look for the missing hiker.
Friday, July 22nd, 2022: SJCSO, SJC SAR TEAM & FLIGHT FOR LIFE continue Day 2 of the search for the overdue hiker.
- Flight for Life dropped 4 local SJC Search & Rescue team members in the wilderness area to begin a ground search while the helicopter continues an aerial search over the area.
- SAR team continues to work with family and friends of the missing hiker to retrace possible day hiking plans and retrace possible trails taken by the solo hiker.
- SAR team is brought out of the high country in the afternoon due to severe weather conditions.
Saturday July 23rd, 2002: SJCSO, SJC SAR, FLIGHT FOR LIFE & The DFPC MULTI MISSION FIXED WING AIRCRAFT continue the search for the missing hiker.
- Flight for Life drops off 4 local SJC Search & Rescue team members in the wilderness area to continue the ground search while the helicopter team continues the aerial search.
- The Division of Fire Protection and Control (DFPC) Multi-Mission (MMA) fixed-wing aircraft was tasked with the aerial search in the late morning to fly over the search area. The MMA has multiple sensors and video and photo capabilities that are used to identify early start wildland fires. An infrared sensor can be used to detect human movement.
A Search Operation requires many resources. Current agencies involved are the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office, Flight for Life, DFPC multi-mission fixed-wing aircraft, La Plata County Search & Rescue, the Silverton Medical Rescue Team including, San Juan County Search & Rescue team, and the Silverton Ambulance crew all working with the US Forest Service.
“When you are going into the backcountry, especially alone, make sure you have proper gear to stay overnight, carry devices to call for help such as a Garmin InReach or SPOT device, and most importantly communicate your route/trip plan as well as expected return time with someone. Even if you are planning to go on a simple day hike or run and you are a very experienced mountain adventurer, these mountains are rugged and unpredictable. The more we know, the more we can help.”
– Melissa Flynn Silverton Medical Rescue
“We understand the public’s concern when a friend and family member is missing. But taking on an independent search operation can cause more issues than the good that is intended, especially when it is in an unknown wilderness area to the group. Please allow the local emergency teams to manage such operations as they have the skill sets to do so.”
– San Juan County Undersheriff Steve Lowrance
One thought on “Search Continues For Hiker Missing Since Thursday in San Juan Mountains, CO”