Yellowstone search for Crumbo now scaled back to recovery

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — Efforts to locate Kim Crumbo at Shoshone Lake in Yellowstone National Park have been unsuccessful now for five days. Park authorities today announced they will transition from rescue to recovery, believing the missing 74-year-old likely drowned in the frigid lake.

During the last five days, crews swept all the trails in the area. They also searched the entire Shoshone Lake shoreline by boat and gridded the open water by helicopter. Search efforts turned up nothing.

Beginning today, crews from the National Park Service’s Submerged Research Center will begin using sonar equipment to detect clues in the water. Park search crews continue to search for Crumbo by foot and boat with assistance from Grand Teton National Park’s interagency helicopter. Recovery efforts will continue for the next several days as conditions warrant.

The incident remains under investigation. Crumbo and his brother Mark O’Neill were reported overdue from a 4-day camping trip on September 19. Rescuers found the body of O’Neill the following morning.

Anyone with information that could help investigators piece together a timeline of events, or anyone in the Shoshone Lake area between Sept. 12-19, is urged to contact park authorities at (307) 344-2428 or by email.

The public is asked to maintain distance from any law enforcement personnel and search crews, equipment, vehicles and their related activity for the safety of the public in this remote area and to protect the integrity of investigative work.