A search continues in Grand Canyon National Park for two hikers missing since they were swept down a remote creek.
Park spokeswoman Robin Martin says three ground teams resumed searching Tuesday along the creek and its downstream confluence with the Colorado River. A boat crew, a helicopter and a drone also are part of the search.
Family members have identified the hikers who were swept away Saturday as 62-year-old Lou-Ann Merrell and 14-year-old Jackson Standefer, her stepgrandson.
Merrell is the wife of Randy Merrell, who helped found a popular outdoor footwear company, the Merrell Boot Co.
Mark McOmie, an uncle of the boy, says Randy Merrell and the boy’s mother were also on the trip to the park’s Tapeats Creek area.
Officials were alerted when an emergency GPS locator beacon was set off below the canyon’s North Rim, said Chief Ranger Matt Vandzura of the National Park Service.
The National Park Service deployed a drone, helicopter and dozens of rescuers in an effort to find the pair. The drone footage must be analyzed for clues.
McOmie, who was not on the trip, said the Merrells are avid hikers and know the area well. He said Lou-Ann and Randy Merrell, who was also on the trip, live in Utah in a city on the eastern side of the state.
Lou-Ann Merrell is “a very experienced backpacker,” McOmie said. “If they can get to a spot where they cannot be in the water and stay warm, she’s got the skills needed to get them through it. The odds aren’t great. But given their skills and knowledge of the area, that will probably lead to the best possible outcome.”
McOmie said searchers have found their backpacks with belongings inside, which the family has interpreted with mixed feelings. He said it looks as if they were able to get their backpacks off.
“The bad part is that they don’t have their gear,” McOmie said.
The National Park Service said some searchers will stay in the field overnight, but may not actively search depending on conditions.
The Merrells, Standefer and the boy’s mother were on a path known as Tapeats Trail when the pair fell, authorities said.
The park service said it’s too early to determine what went wrong. No rain or flash flooding was reported in the area, and it was not known whether the water level was higher than usual in Tapeats Creek, a tributary of the Colorado River that runs through the Arizona landmark.
Creeks in the canyon often see higher water levels in the spring as snow melts.
The park service describes conditions in the area on its website, warning that melting snow or heavy rain can make crossing the creek impossible.
The North Rim, an area visited only by 10 percent of Grand Canyon visitors, has rapidly changing weather and visitors should be prepared for heat, cold, rain, wind or snow, the park service says.
The McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, said Jackson is an eighth-grade student at the all-boys school.
“The entire McCallie community sends its prayers to the Standefer family and all those close to Jackson as we all hope for a positive ending to this situation,” the school said in a statement.
