A Missouri deputy attorney general who vanished during a solo hiking trip in Wyoming’s isolated backcountry has been found alive nearly a week after he was last seen.
Shaun Mackelprang, 55, was located Wednesday morning by search-and-rescue workers and transported by helicopter from the Wind River mountain range, the Sublette County Sheriff’s Office announced.
Authorities said his recovery came six days after he set out to hike the Green River Lakes Trailhead with the goal of reaching Gannett Peak, Wyoming’s highest.
“He was located by a ground team and was dehydrated,” Travis Bingham, a public information officer with the sheriff’s office, told JS in an email Thursday. His full condition, including potential injuries, wasn’t immediately known, he said.
“He is resting and recovering with family at the hospital. We are allowing him to receive treatment and debrief him later,” he added.
Mackelprang’s brother, Romel Mackelprang, told Cowboy State Daily that he planned to reach the mountain last Friday and return home the next day. He was dehydrated and disoriented when found near a lake that looked similar to one where he had left his tent pitched, he said.
“I think what happened is he … clearly got disoriented coming back down,” Romel Mackelprang said, noting they knew his brother reached the mountain peak Friday “because he signed the book.”