Missing Hiker - Hesperus Mnt - 6/24/2023

[rmlewis0143]

Missing Hiker of Hesperus Mountain - Saturday June 24, 2023. His name is Ian O'Brien (6ft 5inches, blond hair blue eyes) he successfully summited, communicated that he made the summit, and has not been seen since. If you have any info please reach out to the local authorities in the area.

The Search area is from Hesperus moutain, owens basin, west mancos trail, sharkstooth traihead, box canyon trail, transfer campground

See attached picture of the lost hiker and some additional info. Please leave a comment here if you have any information/reach out to local authorities/search and rescue

[Garrett]

I did Babcock to Spiller yesterday and saw the helicopter circling around from the summit of Spiller. Was wondering if it was a search. I don’t have any helpful info though, hope they find him.

[Boggy B]

Ugh, hope he's found alive!

Years ago descending from Hesperus into Owens I got sloppy with routefinding and ran us into the cliffs in the trees below the SW slopes. We should have gone east to find a weakness with less brush but instead we headed west into the thicket and eventually downclimbed some class 5 thing out of frustration. So that's a potential trouble spot on descent, particularly the western part of the area marked below.

hesperus-owens.png

[taboose395]

More info from Durango Herald
https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/ ... mountains/

[kenmurphey]

Ugh, hope he's found alive!

Years ago descending from Hesperus into Owens I got sloppy with routefinding and ran us into the cliffs in the trees below the SW slopes. We should have gone east to find a weakness with less brush but instead we headed west into the thicket and eventually downclimbed some class 5 thing out of frustration. So that's a potential trouble spot on descent, particularly the western part of the area marked below.

hesperus-owens.png

What were the conditions like on your ascent of Spiller? Snow?

[JChitwood]

Bummer hope they find him. They also lost a trail runner who was summiting peaks in the La Platas this past October.

[Jorts]

Years ago descending from Hesperus into Owens I got sloppy with routefinding and ran us into the cliffs in the trees below the SW slopes. We should have gone east to find a weakness with less brush but instead we headed west into the thicket and eventually downclimbed some class 5 thing out of frustration. So that's a potential trouble spot on descent, particularly the western part of the area marked below.

FWIW, he summited on 6/24 @ ~1830. He was then seen in La Plata Canyon to the SE on the evening of 6/25. It sounds like the persons who saw him in La Plata Canyon did not realize he was missing at that point unfortunately.

[Boggy B]

That's a very odd development. If true I guess the Sheriff's comments about unprepared hikers are as presumptive as they sounded.

[Jorts]

2023-06-27_11-44-41.jpg

[nyker]

"could be wary of public" .... That's an interesting comment in the context of a possibly missing person.

[SkaredShtles]

"could be wary of public" .... That's an interesting comment in the context of a possibly missing person.

i.e. "Might not want to be found"?

Strange indeed...

[rcole_2000]

The “needs medication” part of the sentence is also important. He has epilepsy and the search party is worried that without his medication he may not be his normal self.