Morning assembly. Search and rescue teams gather in a hangar for the day’s instructions on where to resume their searches. The are ferried by helicopter into the remote and rugged Eagle Peak terrain. Image: National Park Service
Rescue operation grows to 96 personnel
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. – The search for a summer Yellowstone employee from Winona, Austin King-Henke, 22, entered its psychologically significant second week. Search teams, equipped with rescue gear, expanded to 96 personnel, plus two helicopters, a search dog team, and a drone. Everyone carried spotting scopes. Searchers remained focused on areas from 11,300-foot Eagle Peak down to about 8,000 feet. Every drainage and ridgetop was being searched. The last anyone heard from King was a celebratory telephone call from the summit of Eagle Peak as sunset approached September 17. He had scaled the peak solo. He wasn’t discovered to be missing until couple days later. King was in Yellowstone working in a hotel dining room. He was planning to return to Winona in a couple weeks at the end of the tourist season.