At least 12 people have gone missing in Glacier Park, and were never found

Glacier National Park announced last week it would scale back the search for Mark Sinclair.

The 66-year-old man from Whitefish left the keys in his car unlocked and left his dog in the vehicle and then apparently went for a hike on the Highline Trail on July 8 about 2:30 p.m.

Glacier staff started a search on July 9 and a full-scale effort utilizing a host of local and national resources were used, including the Two Bear Air helicopter and a search drone as well as people on the ground, but to no avail.

The terrain along the Highline Trail is rife with sheer cliffs, waterfalls, brush and rock chimneys. It also has grizzly bears — the trail was closed for awhile last week because a subadult grizzly kept approaching people and had to be sprayed with bear spray by a visitor at one point.

It has since reopened.

Sinclair would not be the first person to go missing in Glacier. According to the book “Death and Survival in Glacier National Park” by C.W. Guthrie and Dan and Ann Fagre, at least a dozen people have gone missing and were never found since 1913.

The last man to disappear without a trace was Larry Kimball in May of 2003. He was last seen near the Fish Creek - Rocky Point area Lake McDonald. Since his disappearance, wildfires have scorched the terrain where he may have wandered off to, if he didn’t fall into the lake.

Lake McDonald drops off steeply from shore at Rocky Point.

Another hiker, Yi-Jien Hwa, disappeared above Avalanche Lake in 2008. His remains weren’t found until four years later.

It illustrates the difficulty of finding a body in Glacier Park, even near a trail where thousands of people hike each summer, like they do on the Highline.

The overall search area for Sinclair encompassed numerous drainages east and west of the Continental Divide including Upper McDonald Creek, Mineral Creek, Swiftcurrent, and Belly River drainages.

Trails and off-trail search areas included Flattop Mountain, the Highline from Logan Pass to Goat Haunt, Swiftcurrent Pass, the Loop, and Hidden Lake. Other associated trail areas attached to the Highline were also searched. Aerial searches included the entire spine of the Continental Divide on both sides from Logan Pass to 50 Mountain.

Flathead County Sheriff’s Department — including ground patrols, canine units, a search drone, and a volunteer search and rescue division — assisted Glacier National Park Search and Rescue team members. Two Bear Air and the U.S. Forest Service provided daytime aerial search capacity and nighttime infrared flights. The U.S. Geological Survey also assisted with search drone support.

The search has now been moved to a “limited continuous mode,” meaning that active searching will not occur every day, but will continue in a reduced capacity with patrols. The park’s investigation will actively continue in hopes of gaining further information about his whereabouts. If a clue or witness report provides new information about Sinclair’s possible whereabouts or belongings, additional search efforts will follow up.

Updated missing person posters with Sinclair’s picture and description will be posted throughout the park for the duration of the summer.

Park rangers would like to continue hearing from anyone who was in the Logan Pass and Granite Park vicinity on or after July 8 who may have had contact with Sinclair or seen him on a trail, including guests at Granite Park Chalet and backcountry overnight campers.

“We continue to ask the public to think back to their visits to the park last week. Additional sightings or the discovery of Mark’s belongings could help investigators identify new search tactics,” said Search Team Commander Ed Visnovske. “The park deeply appreciates the efforts of our county and federal partners — we could not have covered such a significant area or conducted such an in-depth search without that support.”

Members of the public who have information about Sinclair’s last seen whereabouts are urged to call the tip line at 406-888-7077.