ESTES PARK, Colo. — Rangers are searching for a missing 70-year-old man at Rocky Mountain National Park.
On Sunday morning, rangers with the national park started searching for James Pruitt, who’s from Etowah, Tennessee.
The rangers found a vehicle parked at the Glacier Gorge Trailhead Sunday and determined that it belonged to Pruitt. They contacted his family, who told authorities they hadn’t seen or heard from him since Thursday at 10 a.m.
Almost two feet of snow has accumulated in the Glacier Gorge area since Thursday.
Members of Rocky Mountain National Park’s Search and Rescue team searched the Glacier Gorge drainage, the Loch Vale drainage and the Glacier Creek drainage on Sunday, but did not find Pruitt.
In addition to the Rocky Mountain National Park Search and Rescue Team, Larimer County Search and Rescue Dog Teams, Diamond Peaks Ski Patrol and Rocky Mountain Rescue Group helped in the search.
Search efforts resumed Monday morning and included an expanded search area and additional teams.
Crews comprised of about 40 people again looked along the Glacier Gorge, Loch Vale and Glacier Creek drainages, and near Bear Lake and Nymph Lake but were unable to locate Pruitt.
He could be wearing a blue jacket, red or orange hat and microspikes on hiking boots, a park spokesperson said Monday afternoon.
Rangers are asking anybody who saw Pruitt or who has been in the Glacier Gorge and Bear Lake areas since Thursday to call Rocky Mountain National Park at 970-586-1204.