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COALVILLE — Efforts to find a 69-year-old West Virginia man last seen hunting in eastern Summit County continued Saturday, but a storm was expected to bring up to 10 inches of snow and temperatures that will feel like minus-4 degrees with the wind chill to the area overnight.
“It’s pretty concerning, as far as the weather goes, but it sounds like our searchers are committed,” Summit County Sheriff’s Lt. Andrew Wright said Saturday. He said some of the search team planned to spend the night at the remote command center so the operation could be up and running in the morning.
Carl Crumrine disappeared Monday morning in the Lyman Lake area of the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest. Members of Crumrine’s hunting party saw him about 5:30 that morning and reported him missing after he failed to return to their campsite that evening.
Wright said Crumrine’s son, Paul, has been assisting in the search. Paul Crumrine, who lives in West Virginia, posted to his Facebook page he arrived in Utah on Thursday and joined the search effort, relaying a report of tracks found in a roadless area to the friends and family following him on social media.
Saturday, Paul Crumrine posted, “Pushing search teams to the Wyoming border today. Thank you everyone praying for my dad and everyone involved with the search!!!! These folks are top notch!”
He said in an earlier post that his sister, Danielle, was also coming to Utah.
Paul Crumrine told West Virginia TV station WDTV his father was an experienced hunter who would be prepared for such a situation, even though he had bad knees.
Related:
Summit County authorities asking for public's help in locating missing hunter
Authorities are asking for the public’s help in locating a hunter who has been missing since early Monday morning.“Well, my dad taught me and my mom’s younger brothers on how to survive in the woods,” the missing hunter’s son said in the TV interview.
The Garrett Bardsley Foundation, a group that assists with search and rescue operations, helped organize Saturday’s search. Wright said it was “pretty remarkable” that 15 volunteers came out to the remote site, about a two-hour drive from Salt Lake City.
Wright said there still has been no sign of the missing hunter in what he called “big country,” filled with fallen pines that can be disorienting for someone trying to find their way.
“It is a big wilderness up there, so it truly is trying to find a needle in a haystack,” he said.
Each day it “becomes more and more worrisome that we haven’t found any clues or any sign of Mr. Crumrine,” especially given the harsh conditions, Wright said. But he said searchers are still hopeful the missing hunter can be reunited with his family.
“I guess there are miracles that can happen,” Wright said.
Crumrine, who is white and 5 feet 10 inches tall, with gray hair and blue eyes, is believed to be wearing a camouflage shirt, coat, pants, hat and backpack, along with an orange hunter vest. He may also have a hunting rifle.
