CHAFFEE COUNTY, Colo. — Search crews are still looking for the 27-year-old hunter who went missing on Mount Shavano on Wednesday as of Saturday morning.
"Our team is determined as ever and staying strong," Chaffee County Sheriff Andy Rohrich said in a post Saturday.
Kaden Sites, who is from Salida, Colo., reportedly went turkey hunting on Mount Shavano on Wednesday around 1:30 p.m. and was scheduled for a doctor’s appointment at 3:45 p.m.
His family found his truck near the Blanks Cabin Trailhead after he didn't show for the appointment, officials said. His cellphone, which was dead, was also in the car.
Officials now believe he may have been wearing a ghillie suit when he went out to hunt.
There are now about 130 searchers in the area according to the Chaffee County Sheriff's Office.
"Weather conditions made searching, particularly aerial, tricky but our team powered through and covered a lot of miles," sheriff's office officials said in a post Saturday.
Sheriff Rohrich asked the community to keep searchers and Sites' family in their thoughts, but asked people to avoid the area.
"Yesterday we did have a few citizens go up to the area to search on their own and our teams had to be diverted to them because they were not on our list," he said in the post. "We appreciate all the community’s support and willingness to jump in and help but we do not want our team’s attention on anything other than finding Kaden.”
The sheriff's office said additional technical teams have been called in and the search now includes agencies from across the state including the following:
- Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office
- Chaffee County Office of Emergency Management
- Chaffee County Emergency Medical Services
- Chaffee County Search and Rescue (North and South)
- Chaffee County Fire Protection District
- Colorado Search and Rescue
- Lake County Search and Rescue
- Pueblo County Search and Rescue
- Teller County Search and Rescue
- Park County Search and Rescue
- Arapahoe Rescue Patrol
- Alamosa Search and Rescue
- Colorado Department of Corrections
- Colorado Parks and Wildlife
- United States Forest Service
- Western Mountain Rescue
- El Paso County Search and Rescue
- Crested Butte Search and Rescue
- Saguache County Search and Rescue
- Search and Rescue Dogs of Colorado
- Front Range Rescue Dogs
- Search and Rescue Dogs of the United States
- Mesa County Search and Rescue
- Western Mountain Rescue (Gunnison County)
- Custer County Search and Rescue
- Summit County Search and Rescue
- Boulder Emergency Squad
- Colorado Search and Rescue Association
- Salida Police Department
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