Search Suspended For Missing Backpacker In Kings Canyon National Park

After more than a week of searching on ground and from the air, the efforts to find a missing backpacker in Kings Canyon National Park in California have been suspended.

Larry Conn, 53, of Pacific Palisades, California, went out October 19 for what was expected to be a weekend trek into the park, but failed to return. The active search for the man began on October 24.

During the course of the eight-day search an area covering 48 square miles was explored but not a single clue to his whereabouts was located, according to park officials.

The search, in elevations ranging from 8,000 feet to 14,000 feet, was hampered by more than a foot of snow and temperatures that dipped into the teens overnight. Two searchers had to be taken out of the search area by helicopter due to "medical concerns related to environmental conditions, the park said, without elaborating.

Park Service officials said they would resume the search if new information or clues to Mr. Conn's whereabouts came to light.