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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Searchers are scouring canyons in southern Utah's Garfield County for two Brigham Young University students who failed to return from a hiking trip.
John Anderson, 25, and Brad Underwood, 24, were well-equipped and had enough food and water to last at least until Friday, Anderson's father, Russell Anderson, told the Deseret Morning News.
Anderson, of St. David, Ariz., and Underwood began their hike last Wednesday and were supposed to return to their car by late Friday or early Saturday.
Police were called when the two didn't arrive.
Their car was found parked at the Egypt Trailhead.
Three helicopters scanned the area from above and 15 ground searchers from Garfield County and the U.S. Park Service searched Saturday in Neon Canyon in the Escalante River area, about 100 miles east of Panguitch.
Late Monday, searchers narrowed the search to Choprock Canyon, Sheriff Than Cooper told The Salt Lake Tribune.
"The problem is the slot canyon ranges from 10 feet to 16 inches wide, and there are 200 to 300 straight feet of water 5 feet to 20 feet deep - and (the canyon walls) are 300 feet high," Cooper said.
The sheriff said rescuers found seven other hikers in the area who reported seeing wet footprints going into the slot canyon.
Brad Underwood's father, Dean Underwood of Tucson, Ariz., said he not heard anything about the search and declined to comment further.
Anderson and Underwood were scheduled to graduate from BYU this week.
Anderson is a construction-management major and Underwood is a physics major.
The area is on the boundary of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
