Still no sign of missing man in Glacier

By CHRIS PETERSON / Hungry Horse News

Another week has passed and there's still no sign of a hiker apparently gone missing in Glacier National Park. As a result, the search has been "significantly reduced," the Park said Tuesday.

Yi Jien Hwa, 27, of Kentucky and Malaysia has been missing since he left for a week-long solo excursion in the Park on Aug. 11.

His plan, at least according to his backcountry permit, was to to do the Floral Park Traverse — a rugged off trail hike near Sperry Glacier, camp at Sperry campground Aug. 11, camp at Reynolds Creek Aug. 12, then Granite Park Aug. 13, then Fifty Mountain Aug. 14, then Kootenai Lakes Aug. 15, the Hole-in-the-Wall Aug. 16 and then Upper Kintla Aug. 17. He'd hike out of the Park on Aug. 18 and finish up a long trip.

But he apparently never made it out. In fact, there's no evidence he ever stayed at the Sperry campground, said Park spokeswoman Norma Sosa. Park personnel interviewed campers that had stayed at Sperry the same night Hwa was supposed to be there. But none saw him. The Park isn't sure even if Hwa started his hike at Logan Pass, where his car was found, or whether he took the shuttle down to the Sperry Trailhead and started there.

But the search has continued to center around the Sperry Glacier area — a likely place for a hiker to get lost or hurt.

Last Friday, the Park flew two searchers to climb Gunsight Mountain in the event that Hwa had climbed the peak and perhaps signed the register — he hadn't.

Hwa was orginally not planning not to go solo — he was expected to go with his wife, but she had to leave the country on a family emergency, Park officials said.

Hwa wasn't considered a missing person until Aug. 19 when he failed to complete his itinerary and didn't make it out of Glacier. Hwa had drawn up an itinerary for himself and his wife that encompassed nearly 100 miles of hikes as well as climbs and descents of more than 14,000 feet.

His car was left at Logan Pass and had foodstuffs in it — perhaps an indication that he had planned on doing the off-trail route, then restocking with goods.

The effort to find Hwa was scaled back after an initial search, that included the Flathead County Sheriff's Department, the Glacier County Sheriff's Department, the Glacier Nordic Ski Patrol, Park staff and personnel, two helicopters, search dogs, the FBI and the Border Patrol, all turned up nothing after more than 2,500 man-search hours.

Park personnel said that based on the evidence to date, they did not believe that Hwa simply abandoned his vehicle and left the Park.

"We have not ceased to hope that we will receive or discover information that will help us to find Mr. Hwa or to find out what happened to him," incident Commander, Patrick Suddath, said Tuesday. "We simply had to make the decision that committing the resources at the level we have committed them over the past two weeks could not continue based on the information we had to go on."

Over the weekend, one or two teams of searchers continued to scour locations adjacent to areas that were identified as most likely to have been hiked by Hwa, assuming that he had followed his plan as outlined in his backcountry permit. Human-scent dog teams also were used. No new clues turned up in those efforts. In a meeting Tuesday, the search's managers decided to discontinue regular searches.

Suddath said he would retain overall responsibility for analyzing any new information and determining how to respond, including whether to send out searchers. He said he would not hesitate to order searches when warranted by such information.

Folks who may have found anything are urged to call the Park Service at 888-7801.