Yellowstone National Park officials were launching Sunday an aerial search for missing 22-year-old Austin King — who mysteriously disappeared after setting out for a hike in inclement weather.
Yellowstone’s public affairs office confirmed to Cowboy State Daily Friday that Superintendent Cam Sholly requested an “extensive” search as areas of the park previously under snow have become visible in recent days.
The rescue efforts also continue on a personal level. King’s father, Brian King-Henke, has been using a GoFundMe page to organize independent search group for his missing son in the Wyoming wilderness.
The worried dad’s most recent update came to the webpage came on Friday, when he informed the page’s followers he had set up a base camp in Eagle Creek Campground on the Canadian border of the national park.
“We have guys heading in today and tomorrow more teams going out. Thank you all of you for everything,” King-Henke wrote on the page Friday.
King-Henke recently discovered in his search an eerie note his son left at the top of the peak where his father last heard from him on Sept. 17.
Park officials reported on Oct. 2 that they had shifted their rescue efforts from search and “rescue” mode to “recovery” mode – a search for a presumed dead body.
“The park has continued limited search efforts since scaling back,” a Yellowstone spokesperson told Cowboy State Daily via email.
“We are aware that the father is attempting to coordinate additional search efforts for the upcoming days and have provided him information on the search efforts to date,” the spokesperson said. “We are also cautioning any of these additional searchers to be aware of the dangerous terrain and predicted inclement weather for next week.”
Snow is expected again as early as Thursday in the national park.