Staronline
WEST GLACIER (Montana): Searchers have found no sign of a 27-year-old Malaysian man residing in the United States who was four days overdue from a lengthy backcountry hike in Glacier National Park.
Park officials say that Hwa Yi-Jien was last seen at the St Mary Visitors Centre on Aug 11, the first day of a hike that he planned to end a week later at Kintla Lake.
His car was found in the Logan Pass Visitors Centre parking lot. It is believed he was hiking alone.
Park spokesman Norma Sosa said improved weather last Friday allowed one helicopter to join the search.
The incident commander said the flight “gave them a better grasp of the areas” Hwa intended to hike, Sosa said.
Searchers check back with park officials every two hours and none had reported finding any sign of Hwa by mid-afternoon on Friday, Sosa said.
Hwa’s family notified park officials on Tuesday night that they had not heard from him since the first day of the hike, and he had not contacted them as agreed on the day he expected to end his hike.
Sosa said Hwa’s permit showed he planned to cover 154km on his hike, with an increase of over 4,500m in elevation and a similar descent over the course of the hike.
“It was quite an arduous trip,” Sosa said.
Hwa’s backcountry permit, like many given out by the park, advised him to watch for bears and mountain lions and warned him that hypothermia and giardia (a parasitic intestinal disease) were possible concerns. It also said that a solo hike was not recommended. – AP
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Wednesday August 27, 2008
US park scales down search for Malaysian
Staronline
KUALA LUMPUR: Search efforts to locate 27-year-old Malaysian Hwa Yi-Jien, who went missing in the Glacier National Park in Montana, have been reduced.
A spokesman from the park said searchers were still unable to find any clue or sign of his whereabouts.
“It is unfortunate to say that we have reduced efforts because there is no detail that can tell us of his possible location or condition,” said the spokesman when contacted yesterday.
The spokesman added that Hwa’s wife had arrived at the park but declined to provide further details.
Hwa, who resides in the United States, is a Masters student at a seminary.
Park officials said he was last seen at the St Mary Visitors Centre on Aug 11, the first day of a hike that he planned to end a week later at Kintla Lake.
It is believed that he was hiking alone.
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