Parents of Missing Yellowstone Employee 'Not Giving Up' on Finding Son After He Didn't Return from Hike

Mar. 15, 2025

Austin King.Photo:Yellowstone National Park/Facebook

Yellowstone National Park/Facebook

The family of missing Yellowstone National Park employee Austin King is speaking out afterhis recent disappearance.

“Every day they come back with, you know, ‘We’re still looking. We’re not giving up. We’re still searching,’ " King’s father to the outlet, revealing that upon hearing that his son was missing, he “couldn’t even think. It was something that you can’t fathom.”

Per his parents, King, 22, moved to Yellowstone this summer, which they admittedly encouraged him to do. However, they agreed that the trek was “something he was not prepared for,” King-Henke said.

Yellowstone National Park.Getty Images

Getty Images

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”It’s settling a little bit, but I’m there for his mom and brother,” King-Henke told the outlet about trying to stay positive amid growing feelings of defeat. “So, I can’t think that. I’m glad he was doing what he loved.”

Per the release, Yellowstone officials noted that since Saturday, Sept. 21, “85 personnel, two helicopters, a search dog team, and an uncrewed aircraft have focused efforts on the high-elevation, expansive and hazardous area” as they continue to look for King.

Park officials also said that there is no end to the search at this time, as authorities will continue looking “for the next several days.”

When asked for comment, representatives for Yellowstone National Park told PEOPLE that they “do not have additional information to share” beyond the release issued on Tuesday.

He then spoke to a backcountry ranger outside of his planned route at Howell Cr. cabin on Sept. 16, before embarking on his summit to Eagle Peak the next day, the park confirmed.

King was last heard from on Sept. 17, “when he called friends and family from the summit of Eagle Peak in the park’s remote southeast corner,” Yellowstone National Park stated in a news release first posted toFacebookon Sept. 22.

“While on the summit, King described fog, rain, sleet, hail and windy conditions,” the park said, revealing that his disappearance was first reported after “he failed to arrive for his boat pickup near Yellowstone Lake’s Southeast Arm on Friday afternoon,” following his trip.

At the time of his disappearance, King was “wearing glasses, a black sweatshirt and gray pants,” the park said, noting that he is 6 feet tall 6’, weighs 160 lbs and has brown hair and hazel eyes.

Yellowstone officials are asking anyone with information on King’s whereabouts to contact the Yellowstone Interagency Communications Center at 307-344-2643.

source: people.com