Search Continues for Missing 22-Year-Old Yellowstone Employee After Going Hiking in Bad Weather

Mar. 15, 2025

Austin King.Photo:Yellowstone National Park/Facebook

Yellowstone National Park/Facebook

A search is being carried out for a missing man in Wyoming.

Austin King, a 22-year-old concession worker, has been missing since Sept. 17, after he didn’t show up to his boat pickup following a 7-day backcountry trip to summit Eagle Peak, Yellowstone National Park stated in a news release onFacebook.

The park said of the missing employee, “[King] 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, Sept. 20, after his planned [trip]."

According to the release, King “was last heard from on Tuesday, Sept. 17 when he called friends and family from the summit of Eagle Peak in the park’s remote southeast corner.”

He is described to be 6’ tall, weighing 160 lbs., with brown hair and hazel eyes. He was last seen wearing glasses, a black sweatshirt and gray pants.

Shoshone National Forest, Wyoming.Getty

Getty

At 7:00 p.m. local time on Sept. 17, King shared of his trip that there was “fog, rain, sleet, hail and windy conditions,”NBC Newsreported, citing the release.

Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park authorities, Park County authorities and local rescue teams began the search for King on the morning of Saturday, Sept. 21 with aerial and ground search assistance. His camp and personal belongings were found “in the upper Howell Creek area” that evening.

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The search for the 22-year-old is continuing in the Eagle Peak area, Eagle Pass Mountain Creek Trail and Eagle Creek Trailhead in Shoshone National Forest, per the release.

“Today, more than 20 ground searchers, two helicopters, unmanned air systems, and a search dog team are focusing efforts near Eagle Peak,” the park said.

Public assistance is also being urged in the search for King at this time.

“Anyone traveling in the backcountry near Eagle Peak since Sept.14 may have seen King,” the park said in its release.

The park asked anyone with information on King’s whereabouts to contact the Yellowstone Interagency Communications Center at 307-344-2643.

source: people.com