Officials at Yellowstone National Park are searching for a hiker who went missing earlier this week.
Jeff Murphy, 53, was last seen at the Rescue Creek Trailhead near Yellowstone’s North Entrance at 8 a.m. Wednesday. According to the National Park Service, Murphy was planning to hike for the day to Turkey Pen Peak. However, he has not been seen since Wednesday morning.
Park staff members spent Thursday searching for Murphy on foot and by air, according to a news release from Yellowstone.
Murphy is from Batavia, Illinois. He wears glasses, is 5-foot 11-inches tall and weighs 190 pounds. Park officials said he may be wearing khaki pants, a yellow t-shirt, a navy pullover, a green and gray rain jacket, and an army green backpack.
Anybody with information about Murphy’s whereabouts is asked to call 307-344-2643.
Murphy is the second hiker to be reported missing in the Yellowstone area this week.
Searchers began looking for 42-year-old Mike Petersen on Sunday night after he failed to return to a designated rendezvous point near the town of West Yellowstone, Montana. However, the Bismarck, North Dakota, resident was found dead by searchers on Tuesday.
According to the Associated Press, Petersen had been in the area several times over the past four months, knew the area and had backcountry experience. He also had enough equipment to stay in the forest and signal for help.
Investigators have not said how Petersen died.
