A father whose son has been missing for two weeks after climbing Yellowstone National Park’s highest peak is urging people not to give up on him.
“Just keep praying for him,” Brian King-Henke, father of 22-year-old climber and Yellowstone-based concessionaire worker Austin King, told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday.
King has been missing since mid-September.
He climbed Eagle Peak, elevation 11,361 feet, alone last month to celebrate the end of summer and as personal accomplishment. He had worked through the spring and summer for Yellowstone-based concessionaire Xanterra.
King called his parents and at least two friends from the peak on Sept. 17, cold in the swirling fog and sleet, but elated.
That was the last time anyone heard from him.
Search crews from Yellowstone and surrounding areas deployed ground and air resources four days later, hours after King missed a boat that was scheduled to take him back, toward his RV in Grant Village.
Two weeks later, they’re still searching, but King’s father now says the crews are treating the mission as a “recovery,” which usually refers to a search for a dead body.
“They have everything you could possibly think of (out there),” said King-Henke. “Helicopters, drones, searchers, dogs, equipment… people in boats along shorelines. They threw everything they had at it.”
King-Henke spent days in Yellowstone but has since returned home to Winona, Minnesota, he said. Yellowstone authorities update him on the search twice a day. And he’s not giving up on his son unless he gets “that final call.”
“I haven’t got the call yet to say he’s no longer with us,” said King-Henke. “I’ve seen the impossible (become) possible, so I’m going to hold onto that hope until one day – “
King-Henke trailed off, then added that if he hears that his son is no longer alive, “I’ll accept it. But as of right now I don’t.”
King has two brothers and two sisters also hoping for his safe rescue. His mother remains in Yellowstone, also hoping desperately for good news, said King-Henke.
The Recent Leads
There have been a few recent leads in the search, the father said.
He was talking to one of Austin’s close friends and realized she’d received a voicemail from King the day he summited.
Before that, King-Henke thought that only he, King’s mother, and King’s best friend Desmond McGroarty had received calls on Sept. 17.
The voicemail was along the same lines as the phone call McGroarty has described to Cowboy State Daily: King was excited, had worked hard to reach the peak and was so thrilled he could hardly believe he was up there.
The voicemail’s discovery was significant because it meant one more possible cellphone data lead, said King-Henke. But he hasn’t heard yet whether authorities were able to mine any data from it.
Other leads, said King-Henke, were footprints searchers found – and signs of an “off-permit” fire, or a fire outside of designated camping spaces in violation of the area’s current no-burn policy.
“They’ve looked into that,” he said.
The area is remote. A main way in requires the traveler to cross a lake then trek 30 miles to get to the area of King’s campsite, his father said. So stray fires and footprints carry more meaning than they would in other, high-traffic parts of Yellowstone.
Austin King, far left, has been missing since not showing up for a scheduled boat ride after summited Eagle Peak in Yellowstone National Park on Sept. 17. An intensive search has so far been unsuccessful and has been scaled back. (Photo Courtesy Brian King-Henke) 
Austin King has been missing since not showing up for a scheduled boat ride after summited Eagle Peak in Yellowstone National Park on Sept. 17. An intensive search has so far been unsuccessful and has been scaled back. (Photo Courtesy Brian King-Henke) 
Austin King has been missing since summiting Eagle Peak in Yellowstone National Park on Sept. 17. (National Park Service) 
Austin King has been missing since summiting Eagle Peak in Yellowstone National Park on Sept. 17. (National Park Service)
Day 12
Yellowstone authorities officially announced their transition from “rescue” searching to a “recovery” search in a midday statement Wednesday.
Searchers also will scale back their efforts, the statement says.
More than 100 people, plus search dog teams, ground teams with spotting scopes (or, focused telescopes), trackers, a drone and two helicopters have searched more than 3,225 miles by air and ground at elevations ranging from 11,350 to 8,400 feet.
“Unfortunately, they have not found any definitive clues as to King’s current whereabouts,” says the statement.
“Despite significant search efforts over the past week and a half, we have not been able to locate Austin,” said Park Superintendent Cam Sholly in the statement. “Although we will continue to hope for the best, I want to extend my deepest sympathies to Austin’s family, friends and colleagues. I also want to thank the teams from Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, and Park and Teton counties, Wyoming, who have all worked tirelessly to find Austin in some of the most difficult and remote terrain in Yellowstone.”
The park does not expect to provide further updates unless a notable change occurs, the statement says.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
