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Missing In The Parks

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Published Date

October 13, 2020

Missing hikers have been the subject of searches in Mount Rainier National Park in Washington and Zion National Park in Utah.

At Mount Rainier, the search was focused in the park's northwestern corner where Sam Dubal, 33, of Seattle, was last known to be hiking the Mother Mountain Loop out of the Mowich Lake Trailhead. Dubal had set out on Friday, October 9, and was due to return Saturday.

The Seattle man was reported missing Monday. Several search teams headed out Monday afternoon, and two continued searching through the night in coordination with the Washington State Emergency Operations Center. In addition, an Air Force helicopter with Forward Looking Infrared Radar from the 36th Rescue Squadron out of Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane spent 2½ hours searching by air.

The search continued on the ground Tuesday, despite heavy rain in the search area. The park has set up a tip line at (360) 569-6684 for anyone who was hiking in the Mowich Lake area over the past few days and may have seen Dubal. He was described as 5-foot-9, 155 pounds, with black hair and a short black beard, and may have been wearing a blue jacket. 

A search continued Tuesday in Zion National Park for a missing California woman/HO

A search continued Tuesday in Zion National Park for a missing California woman. Authorities released images of Holly Suzanne Courtier and clothing items she might have been wearing/HO

In Utah, rangers at Zion were being assisted by the Washington County Sheriff's Department in the hunt for Holly Suzanne Courtier. The 38-year-old California woman had been dropped off last Tuesday by a private shuttle bus at the Grotto parking area within the park. Her travel plan was unknown.

Courtier was described as 38 years old, 5-foot-3, and 100 pounds, according to a park release. She has brown hair and blue eyes. She may possibly be wearing the following items: a Pistil Gray Trucker Hat, a Patagonia Black Nano Puff Jacket, a Dark Tank Top, a Danner Trail Gray Hiking Boots, and an Osprey Blue Multi-Day Pack.

The woman's daughter told a California television station that her mother had been traveling the country and visiting national parks since losing her job as a nanny.

"She was on a shuttle into the park around 1 p.m., and she never got back on her shuttle to come out of the park back into town," Kailey Chambers told CBS Los Angeles.

On Monday, park searchers worked with K-9 Units from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and Washington County and search and rescue crews within the Narrows and eastside areas of Zion.

Tips regarding the woman's whereabouts can be made to NPS ISB Tip Line at (888) 653-0009.

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