The search for 19-year-old Jakson Kreiser was scaled back this week as clues of the missing hiker’s whereabouts were exhausted. Kreiser has been missing in Glacier National Park since July 28, when he did not return from a day hike.
Kreiser is a seasonal employee at the Lake McDonald Lodge and was believed to be hiking from Logan Pass to Avalanche Lake. Late last week, officials narrowed the search area to the Floral Park and Avalanche Basin regions, but since then no new clues have been recovered.
On Aug. 6, Kreiser’s family issued a statement thanking park officials and searchers who looked for their son. The family called the last week “the most difficult of our lives.”
“It is extremely difficult for us to imagine that we have lost our beautiful son, Jakson. We believe that he has found the world’s greatest resting place. Jakson absolutely fell in love with Glacier National Park, all that it has to offer, as well as all of the people he came to know,” the statement read.
The search for Kreiser got underway on July 29 and included ground and aircrews from the National Park Service, along with North Valley Search and Rescue, Flathead Search and Rescue, Flathead County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Border Patrol. On July 31 and Aug. 3, boot tracks, similar to the ones Kreiser was wearing, were found by human trackers involved in the search. But by the end of the weekend, no new clues had been found and officials decided to scale back the search.
“The clues we’ve found have been investigated and our available resources depleted with aerial and ground crews covering an expansive and rugged area,” said incident commander Scott Emmerich. “We remain hopeful that, in time, additional clues will come forward renewing an active search effort.”
Kreiser is from Michigan and was working for Glacier Park, Inc. He is 6 feet, 2 inches tall with short black hair and a black beard. It is believed that he was wearing a yellow and gold sweatshirt and grey khaki pants. Anyone that may have information about Kreiser’s whereabouts is encouraged to called park dispatch at (406) 888-7800.