ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK, Colo. – Three different search groups are working under extreme weather conditions Sunday to find a New Jersey man who went missing in the Longs Peak area this past Thursday.
The Rocky Mountain National Park Search and Rescue Team, the Rocky Mountain Rescue Group and the Larimer County Search and Rescue team are searching both low elevation and technical terrain for 30-year-old Ryan Albert, of Marlton, N.J.
Albert was reported missing by a family member to the Denver Police Department on Friday after they said he was overdue from a hiking trip in the Longs Peak area.
Information given to crews on Saturday indicated Albert intended on climbing Longs Peak via the Keyhole Route.
The search is a challenge for rescue teams as they have been met with extreme weather conditions, rime ice, verglas ice and pockets of deep snow in the higher elevation of the search area, said RMNP spokesperson Lindsey Lewis in a news release.
Sunday’s forecast calls for ice fog, snow showers, thunderstorms and temperatures in the 20s and 30s. Up to three inches of snow is predicted Sunday night in the search area and the extended forecast includes cold temperatures and snow throughout next week, Lewis said.
Albert was last seen leaving the Denver area early Thursday morning wearing dark clothes and a backpack.
If you or anyone you know has been in the Longs Peak area since Thursday, or if you may have had contact with Albert about the route he was planning to take at Longs Peak, you are asked to call (970) 586-1204.
