Officials have found a body believed to be a man who went missing after taking a ride share to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado last week, a park official said.
A Rocky Mountain National Park spokesperson said on Thursday, Aug. 14, that authorities found remains likely belonging to Blake Kieckhafer, 23, from Omaha, Neb., a day earlier. The body was recovered above Emerald Lake.
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“Rocky Mountain National Park rangers completed an on-scene investigation, and the recovery was done by helicopter,” a park spokesperson said. “His body was flown to a landing zone in Rocky Mountain National Park and handed over to the Larimer County Coroner’s Office.”
Search efforts started after Kieckhafer’s family reported him missing to park rangers on Monday, Aug. 11, a National Park Service spokesperson said on Tuesday, Aug. 12.
Kieckhafer was last seen in the Upper Beaver Meadows area of the park on Aug. 7, around 5:20 p.m., when he was dropped off by the ride share service, the NPS spokesperson said.
“Investigators focused the search on the Emerald Lake area on Wednesday. Over 80 people took part in the search yesterday,” the park spokesperson added.
The Larimer County Coroner’s Office will confirm the identity of the body, according to the Rocky Mountain National Park statement.
