Jeff Christensen, an experienced park ranger, was last seen Friday while planning to patrol the backcountry.
Posted on 08/01/2005 6:29:21 AM PDT by BulletBobCo
LARIMER COUNTY - A search continued Sunday for a park ranger who went missing Friday.
More than 50 people helped scour drainages in the Mummy Range in the northern part of Rocky Mountain National Park on Sunday for Jeff Christensen, 31, of Fraser, who was last seen by his co-workers at 11 a.m. Friday at the Chapin Pass Trailhead off Old Fall River Road.
Volunteers were called off the search at nightfall and were expected to return to continue the search this morning.
Christensen, an experienced mountaineer and EMT, was planning to do a backcountry patrol to the Lawn Lake Trailhead Friday evening, according to Rocky Mountain National Park officials.
When he did not contact park dispatch that evening as is routine and did not arrive for his shift on Saturday, a wide-range search began that morning.
More than 25 rangers and other park staff helped in the search, as did a Bell 407 helicopter equipped with an infrared device that has heat-seeking capabilities.
Another helicopter contracted by the U.S. Forest Service also assisted in the search Sunday.
"It's such a large area that if we can continue to narrow that area, that's what we need to continue to do," said Kyle Patterson, a public information officer with the park.
This is the longest a ranger has gone missing at Rocky Mountain National Park, Patterson said.
Officials said Christensen, who's been a ranger at the park for four seasons, had a park radio with him, but they said that in some drainages in the park, radio reception is spotty and his battery could have run out. Patterson said park officials believe Christensen could have a cell phone with him. He has worked with the Ski Patrol at Winter Park for the past seven seasons.
He was not planning to spend the night at the park Friday but had a backpack equipped with various gear, which probably included water, food and a jacket, park spokesman Scott Sticha said.
He is described as extremely fit and capable of covering long distances in a short amount of time.
As an EMT, Christensen occasionally would aid in search and rescue.
"He's usually the one helping us find people or assist people . . . and he's the one that we're trying to find now," Patterson said.
Park officials described the Mummy Range as a "remote, high-altitude, rugged area" with few designated trails.
Park visitors who might have seen Christensen in the Mummy Range area this weekend are asked to contact park dispatch at 1-970-586-1204.
Jeff Christensen, an experienced park ranger, was last seen Friday while planning to patrol the backcountry.
With his background, training and experience I'm guessing he either wanted to disappear or was quite possibly the victim of a mountain lion.
Those are my guesses, too
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