“With a heavy heart,” Eagle County authorities will suspend their search at midnight for 31-year-old hiker James Nelson, who was reported missing in the Holy Cross Wilderness Area near Vail last Friday.
“The decision to suspend the search for James was extremely difficult,” Eagle County Sheriff Joe Hoy said in a media release this afternoon.
“Search and rescue teams have scoured all of the terrain that could safely be searched on foot, some of it searched several times, in addition to the extensive aerial search with no results.”
Nelson, a Chicago resident, had planned to spend five days covering 25 miles in the wilderness area. His fiance reported him overdue on Friday.
Nelson was seen Oct. 3 by other hikers in the area. Rain and up to 6 inches of snow fell on the area Tuesday, making the search even more difficult, officials said.
The Eagle County Sheriff’s Office, Vail Mountain Rescue along with five other search and rescue teams have found no trace of him, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
“At an altitude 9,000 to 14,000 feet, the Holy Cross Wilderness Area is made up of some the most rugged terrain in Colorado,” the Eagle County Sheriff’s Department noted in its statement.
“Experts in the field discourage individuals from searching on their own.”
