WY WY - Cian McLaughlin, 27, hiker, Grand Teton National Park, Jackson, 8 Jun 2021

[j_in_c]

I spent a summer (waaay back) working in a National Park when I was young. You do become a little more complacent and less intimidated by the mountains when they are right in your backyard. As a snowboard instructor, he is likely fit and acclimatized and may not have thought twice about knocking off a 6-8 mile hike starting after work at 2:30pm (it also stays light very late there at this time of year). I am have seen trailrunners go very light and fast (not saying he was trailrunning, just as comparison to other trail users) in a style that would never work for me, but is standard for that sport.

I am so grateful that the climbing guide was able to narrow down a new place last seen for the search teams and I do hope he is found soon.

As all the hikers on here already know, no matter how fit and familiar you are, things can go wrong and it is so much safer to be out there prepared for the worst than expecting the best.

 

[zecats]

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Grand Teton National Park38minutes ·

Search operations continued today in Grand Teton National Park for 27-year-old Cian McLaughlin, who has been missing for ten days. The last reported sighting of McLaughlin was on Tuesday, June 8. After days of extensive ground and aerial efforts, the search for McLaughlin will shift tactics to a continuous, but limited mode. New clues will be investigated as they come forward. Park staff will continue to patrol the backcountry and search for signs of McLaughlin’s whereabouts.
Over the course of the last six days, up to 70 park staff per day have conducted search operations in the Teton backcountry. These operations involved multiple search and rescue dog teams. Some of these efforts included navigating steep, technical terrain in hazardous areas. Many of these areas require rope, an ice axe, crampons, and other protective equipment to access.
Over 45 helicopter search missions have been conducted. The park used Teton County Search and Rescue’s aerial RECCO rescue technology, which assists in search and rescue incidents sending a signal which reflects off RECCO chips or clothing and sometimes cellphones. The Civil Air Patrol conducted aerial operations using Forward Looking Infrared Technology (FLIR), which uses thermal imaging cameras to detect heat sources.
The investigation team spoke with over 140 people with tips and information about McLaughlin. The last reported sighting of a man fitting McLaughlin’s description was on the Garnet Canyon Trail, a short distance above the Garnet Canyon/Surprise Lake junction around 3:45 p.m. on Tuesday, June 8.
Updated missing person posters with McLaughlin’s picture and description will be posted throughout the park and overnight backcountry users will be advised to look for clues.
Anyone with information regarding McLaughlin’s whereabouts is urged to contact the National Park Service Investigative Services Branch:

Call or text the tip line: 888-653-0009

Online: www.nps.gov/ISB and click “Submit a Tip”

Email: nps_isb@nps.gov
The park does not expect to issue another media release unless something significant changes with this case.
For more information, please visit: https://go.nps.gov/noh3bn

 

[MntnHiker]

The GT staff seems like they are really doing all they can. Hats off to the rangers, SAR members, and everyone else who is looking for Cian. It's just sad he has not been located yet. I feel this has become a recovery mission. Sometimes it takes months if not years to locate the remains of a missing hiker. I'm thinking of Paul Miller in Joshua Tree and Mitchell Dale Stehling in Mesa Verde as just two examples.

 

[iamnotagolem]

I sincerely hope he is found, I just think he planned this as a final one way trip.

 

[Rosegold68]

No phone with him? Wondering what was left behind in his vehicle too

 

[Rosegold68]

still nothing?

 

[10ofRods]

Still no sightings of him since June 8 (but now reported that he did have a water bottle):

https://www.thesun.ie/news/7165377/cian-mclaughlin-grand-teton-search-scaled-back/

 

[zecats]

Still no sightings of him since June 8 (but now reported that he did have a water bottle):

Search for missing Dubliner Cian McLaughlin in US national park scaled back

Good find. This also states this trail was one of his favorites, so not a newbie to hiking here or to what was needed. Also the cell phone ping is new info, at least from I've read earlier.

LAST SIGHTING
Cian's mum Grainne has travelled to the US with her partner as the search continues.

Cian's vehicle was found at the Lupin Meadows Trailhead last Sunday, the day he was reported missing.

Mark McLaughlin - who is Cian's uncle and a superintendent at Conejo Valley - told local news outlet Acorn that the last ping from Cian's phone came at around 3.30pm on June 8 near Lake Taggart.

He said this was Cian's favourite trail where he spent a lot of time so he would have known what he needed in terms of equipment.

He described his nephew as a "friendly spirit" who "lived to be on holiday".

 

[Inthedetails]

LAST SIGHTING
Cian's mum Grainne has travelled to the US with her partner as the search continues.

How to pronounce Mum's name:

I do like the uncle's description of Cian - he does seem like a fun-loving young man. I do hope he is found soon.

jmo

 

[jenn83]

I saw a headline scroll by at the bottom of Good Morning America about a missing hiker's body being found and I thought it was Cian. But apparently it wasn't, so I don't know who it was.

 

[zecats]

From Grand Teton Facebook page as previously linked several times:

Grand Teton National Park received additional information about missing 27-year-old hiker Cian McLaughlin. The park continues to request any information the public may have that may aid in locating McLaughlin.

A Jackson resident who recently returned from an international trip came forward with new information. The reporting party said they saw McLaughlin on Tuesday, June 8, in the late afternoon/early evening on the trail on the south side of the Bradley/Taggart moraine. The individual reported McLaughlin was headed south towards Taggart Lake and had a conversation with McLaughlin where he described where he worked, that he’s from Ireland, and currently living in Jackson. The reporting party continued hiking towards Bradley Lake and did not see McLaughlin again that evening.

As a result of this new information, the park has made additional search efforts around Bradley Lake and Taggart Lake. Park staff also searched the Phelps Lake area, which McLaughlin reportedly likes to visit. No evidence or clues of McLaughlin’s whereabouts were identified.

As McLaughlin’s plans were unknown, anyone who has been traveling in the Teton backcountry since Tuesday, June 8, may have seen him. Anyone with information regarding McLaughlin’s whereabouts is urged to contact the National Park Service Investigative Services Branch:
Call or text the tip line: 888-653-0009
Online: www.nps.gov/ISB and click “Submit a Tip”
Email: nps_isb@nps.gov

The park does not expect to issue another media release unless something significant changes with this case.

For more information, please visit: https://go.nps.gov/1cah3o

 

[MntnHiker]

Hmm the Taggart Lake hike and area is a pretty popular one for day hikers and is usually heavily-trafficked. Parking is tricky at the trailhead actually because it gets quite busy. Knowing he was approaching Taggart Lake, I wonder if anyone else may have seen him or spoken to him and maybe this jogs their memory. Or perhaps if they thought the person they saw wasn't him, this will make them think again about that.

 

[MntnHiker]

Since it sounds like the witness saw him between Bradley and Taggart lakes, here is the info for that loop hike: Taggart Lake - Bradley Lake Loop Trail (U.S. National Park Service)

 

[Galadriel]

I sincerely hope he is found, I just think he planned this as a final one way trip.

For now at least, authorities don't seem think so.

Park still asking for tips in missing hiker case

Jostad did not lend credibility to online detective types who theorize that McLaughlin is somewhere other than Grand Teton or that he intended to harm himself.

“Mental health has not been a feature of the profile that we developed to try to understand where he might be,” Jostad said.
...
“This looked like an afternoon, simple walk in the park,” Jostad said. “We’re trying to keep a really open mind about where he might have gone, so we’re looking in all the possible places.”

 

[Galadriel]

Since it sounds like the witness saw him between Bradley and Taggart lakes, here is the info for that loop hike: Taggart Lake - Bradley Lake Loop Trail (U.S. National Park Service)

By a weird coincidence, I watched a travelogue on Prime two weeks ago that included this trail. It's now unavailable through Prime, but can be viewed on Youtube. The Taggart Lake-Bradley Lake segment is about 10 minutes, and gives a good idea of the terrain (though I'll point out it was filmed in August, so the foliage in the video may be denser than current conditions).

 

[mrsu]

From Grand Teton Facebook page as previously linked several times:

Grand Teton National Park received additional information about missing 27-year-old hiker Cian McLaughlin. The park continues to request any information the public may have that may aid in locating McLaughlin.

A Jackson resident who recently returned from an international trip came forward with new information. The reporting party said they saw McLaughlin on Tuesday, June 8, in the late afternoon/early evening on the trail on the south side of the Bradley/Taggart moraine. The individual reported McLaughlin was headed south towards Taggart Lake and had a conversation with McLaughlin where he described where he worked, that he’s from Ireland, and currently living in Jackson. The reporting party continued hiking towards Bradley Lake and did not see McLaughlin again that evening.

As a result of this new information, the park has made additional search efforts around Bradley Lake and Taggart Lake. Park staff also searched the Phelps Lake area, which McLaughlin reportedly likes to visit. No evidence or clues of McLaughlin’s whereabouts were identified.

As McLaughlin’s plans were unknown, anyone who has been traveling in the Teton backcountry since Tuesday, June 8, may have seen him. Anyone with information regarding McLaughlin’s whereabouts is urged to contact the National Park Service Investigative Services Branch:
Call or text the tip line: 888-653-0009
Online: www.nps.gov/ISB and click “Submit a Tip”
Email: nps_isb@nps.gov

The park does not expect to issue another media release unless something significant changes with this case.

For more information, please visit: https://go.nps.gov/1cah3o

Interesting. So he made it up and was headed back to where he would have started. Where could he be?

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Search Team Responds To New Information On Missing Cian McLaughlin

US authorities have begun to follow a new lead in the search for missing Irish man Cian McLaughlin after new information was brought forward.

Oh sorry I see that a similar link had already been posted.

This story was posted 8 minutes ago, but it probably has no more updated info.

 

[zecats]

Interesting. So he made it up and was headed back to where he would have started. Where could he be?

That's what I was thinking too, as he was seen higher up on a trail previously, on switchbacks. One comment on the GTNP Facebook post mentioned it seemed as if he were on the way back to where his car was parked as well. So, he made it down and was closing in on returning to his vehicle...my questions too - what happened to him? Where could he be?

 

[Vacajoe]

Here’s an odd theory, but you never know, right? And it’s what this site is all about.

Perhaps something happened in the trailhead parking lot after completing the hike. Lost his car key, so started to walk or hitched a ride back into town? Met up with some bad actors? Had a medical issue NOT in the hike area, but in the post-hike area? Or he headed to the Lake Taggart trailhead parking and hoped to get a ride from there back to his car?

All truly just speculation, but sometimes that is what cracks the case.

 

[Inthedetails]

That's what I was thinking too, as he was seen higher up on a trail previously, on switchbacks. One comment on the GTNP Facebook post mentioned it seemed as if he were on the way back to where his car was parked as well. So, he made it down and was closing in on returning to his vehicle...my questions too - what happened to him? Where could he be?

If he was nearing the end of the route, maybe he stepped off the trail to urinate and got lost and/or fell?

But...I know what it's like to be out in the heat. Even when drinking a lot of water, you really don't have to urinate. Still, maybe he did do that before getting ready for a car ride.

jmo