CHAFFEE COUNTY, Colo. — The search for a missing hunter in Chaffee County will continue for several days — or weeks, if needed — but the response will decrease as volunteers start to take breaks, officials said Tuesday morning.
The Chaffee County Sheriff's Office said the teams have searched more than 3,000 linear miles for 27-year-old Kaden Sites of Salida. Sites went turkey hunting near Mount Shavano around 1:30 p.m. April 15 and was expected back that same afternoon. His truck, as well as his dead cellphone, were found near the Blanks Cabin Trailhead on the southeast side of Mount Shavano early that evening, the sheriff's office said previously.
"Although efforts will continue until he is found, a tapering response will start to be visible as several of our volunteers have to recover after putting a lot of strain on their bodies," they added.
Daytime temperatures around the trailhead, which sits at 8,000 feet, will stay in the 50s and 60s Tuesday and Wednesday before dipping on Thursday. Wind gusts are expected to kick up Wednesday and Thursday as well. Overnight lows are dipping below freezing this week, and snow is expected Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.
Denver7 first reported on Sites' disappearance on April 16.
That day, local search and rescue teams, dog teams, drones, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft scoured the area for the missing man.
Weather conditions made searches from the air tricky over the following days, but the teams "powered through and covered a lot of miles," the sheriff's office said on April 18.
Previously, volunteers from the community were told to avoid the area to allow search and rescue teams to comb the wilderness. Now, anybody is allowed back into the area as the search continues.
But the sheriff's office is reminding everybody that that part of the county "can be extremely dangerous if you are not experienced in the backcountry."
Anybody who is headed that way is asked to wear bright clothing, travel with one or more other people, bring plenty of food, water and extra layers, and tell somebody where you are hiking. The sheriff's office also recommends that people bring a cell phone and tracking equipment, in case they need to call for help. Drones are not permitted in the area.
"Please be safe if you enter the area as we do not want to deviate away from the search for Kaden because of carelessness," the sheriff's office wrote online.
In addition, they are asking any volunteers to park in the open fields near the Blanks Cabin Trailhead so first responders can use the trailhead.
Search and rescue teams said that they believe Sites would have moved downhill, so they are asking people to focus on places east and southeast of the Colorado Trail from that trailhead, while also respecting private property boundaries.
If anybody finds Sites or any of his items, call the non-emergency dispatch line for Chaffee County at 719-539-2596.
Sites is described as a white man with light brown hair, a goatee and a mustache. He was last seen wearing a gray or black hoodie — not a green one, as authorities previously thought — ripped khakis and hiking boots. He had a shotgun and binoculars with him. Officials initially thought he may have been wearing a ghillie suit — which is a camouflaged garmet used to mimic natural foliage — but said they no longer believe that is the case.
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