Missouri deputy AG found alive days after vanishing on Wyoming hike

Missouri’s deputy attorney general was found alive in the remote Wyoming wilderness this week, six days after he vanished during a backcountry hike, authorities said.

Shaun Mackelprang, 55, went missing Aug. 20 in western Wyoming’s isolated Wind River mountain range, where he had set out to summit Gannett Peak, which is the state’s highest point, according to the Sublette County Sheriff’s Office. Sublette County borders the mountain range, and its officers coordinated with the nonprofit organization Tip Top Search and Rescue to scour the area for signs of Mackelprang once he disappeared.

A mix of ground search crews, drones and aircraft were eventually able to locate him Wednesday near Scott Lake, which is deep in the wilderness, the sheriff’s office said. He was airlifted out by helicopter. Images shared by the sheriff’s office showed Mackelprang embracing a woman on an airfield tarmac after the rescue.

Mackelprang had begun his hike from the Green River Lake trailhead, a part of the larger Bridger-Teton National Forest that local officials describe as one of the longer and more solitary routes up to Gannett Peak, standing at an elevation of nearly 14,000 feet. Search and rescue crews discovered his vehicle still at the trailhead after he was reported missing.

The sheriff’s office thanked those involved in the rescue effort, including “the public and backcountry users who shared information, reviewed photographs and GPS data, shared the missing-person information, and helped get the word out.”

Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway also praised everyone who contributed to her colleague’s safe return.

“We are thrilled to hear that Deputy Attorney General Shaun Mackelprang has been located,” Hanaway said in a statement. “Our office is beyond grateful for everyone’s prayers and the steadfast work of the Sublette County Sheriff’s Office and drone team, Tip Top Search and Rescue’s volunteers and helicopter crew, and Wyoming State leaders.”

Mackelprang’s brother, Romel Mackelprang, told the local news site Cowboy State Daily that he had reached the summit of the mountain but became dehydrated and disoriented during his descent, returning to Scott Lake instead of another lake where he had pitched his tent. 

Romel Mackelprang said at the time that there had been bad weather in the mountains as his brother attempted to make his way back down from the summit, but added that the family wasn’t yet aware of exactly what happened to him, the news site reported. He also wasn’t sure at the time whether his brother had suffered any injuries during the ordeal.

“They found him wandering at a lake that probably looks similar to the one that his tent was pitched at,” Romel Mackelprang told Cowbow State Daily. “We don’t know.”