After five days of searching, efforts to locate Kim Crumbo at Shoshone Lake in Yellowstone National Park transitioned from rescue to recovery on September 24. Park search and rescue crews located the body of his step-brother Mark O’Neill along the east shore of Shoshone Lake in Yellowstone National Park Monday, September 20.
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O’Neill, 67, from Chimacum, Washington, and his half-brother, Kim Crumbo, 74, from Ogden, Utah, were reported overdue by a family member Sunday, September 19 from their four-night backcountry trip to Shoshone Lake.
On Sunday, September 19, 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 during the morning of Monday, September 20.
Search and rescue efforts continue with ten crew members on foot in the area Tuesday, September 21 to locate Crumbo. A Grand Teton National Park interagency helicopter and crew are also assisting with search efforts.
Both O’Neill and Crumbo are National Park Service (NPS) retirees, and Crumbo is a former Navy Seal.
During the last five days, crews swept all the trails in the area, searched the entire Shoshone Lake shoreline by boat, and gridded the open water by helicopter. Unfortunately, they did not find Crumbo.
Crews from the National Park Service’s Submerged Resources Center will begin using sonar equipment to detect clues in the water. Park search crews continue to search for Crumbo by foot and boat, with assistance from Grand Teton National Park’s interagency helicopter. Recovery efforts will continue for the next several days as conditions warrant.
This incident remains under investigation.
If you have information that could help investigators piece together a timeline of events, or if you were in the Shoshone Lake area between September 12-19, please get in touch with the NPS, if you have not already, at 307-344-2428 or yell_tip@nps.gov.
A sincere thank you to the public who have expressed interest in assisting with the search. The NPS asks the public to maintain distance from any law enforcement personnel and search crews, equipment, vehicles, and their related activity for the public’s safety in this remote area and to protect the integrity of their work.
Visit search and recovery at Shoshone Lake for a history of the incident.
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 (3,258 ha), its average year-round temperature is about 48 F (9 C). Survival time is estimated to be only 20 to 30 minutes in water of this temperature. Learn more about boating regulations and safety in the park.
