Search for Missing Hikers Scaled Back, Families Offer Thanks, Hold Out Hope

WORDS OF THANKS: Despite the Grand Canyon National Park’s decision to scale back the search for two hikers who went missing in the vast park Saturday evening, the families of Lou Ann Merrell and Jackson Standefer continue to hold out hope. Merrell, a 62-year-old proven outdoorswoman, is married to Randy Merrell, who cofounded the Merrell Footwear Co. in 1981. Now owned by Wolverine Worldwide, Merrell specializes in hiking boots, trail running shoes and performance-oriented apparel for the outdoors. The woman and her 14-year-old step grandson were separated from a larger group that included a few family members, while hiking in a remote back country area of the park near the North Rim that is popular with backpackers at this time of year, a GCNP spokeswoman said Tuesday. The National Parks Service received an emergency alert from a personal locator GPS beacon Saturday evening. Earlier in the week, a 20-person search party canvassed the area near Tapeats Trail with the aid of a NPS-operated helicopter, a Zodiac motorcraft and a NPS-operated drone. The Merrell and Standefer families released the following statement Thursday morning: “This morning the Merrell and Standefer families are still praying for a miracle in Grand Canyon National Park. Today, April 20, the search

Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

Read More...

from WWDWWD http://ift.tt/2pHmdov
via IFTTT