Missouri deputy AG survives six days after summiting Gannett Peak

Shaun Mackelprang, a Missouri deputy attorney general who vanished on a solo climb of Wyoming's highest peak, was found alive on the morning of August 26, six days after he set out. Search crews located him near Scott Lake in the Wind River Range and airlifted him from the backcountry at about 9:45 a.m. Mountain time, the Sublette County Sheriff's Office said. He was weak but alert.

Mackelprang, 55, was dehydrated and disoriented when rescuers reached him, according to his brother, Romel Mackelprang. Crews started an intravenous line in the field before flying him to a hospital. The sheriff's office did not say whether he suffered any injuries during the six days he was lost in one of the most remote corners of the northern Rockies.

He had set out from the Green River Lakes Trailhead on August 20, planning to reach Gannett Peak, Wyoming's tallest mountain at 13,804 feet. The search began after he was reported missing and his vehicle was found at the trailhead, the sheriff's office said. Ground teams, a sheriff's drone unit and a rescue helicopter joined the search.

Summit register narrowed the search

The decisive clue came from the register kept at the summit of Gannett Peak. Mackelprang signed it on August 21, one day into his trip, Romel said. A hiker who summited after him photographed the register, and his name was on the page. That put him at the 13,804-foot top before trouble began on the descent, and the entry became the anchor for the search that followed.

Knowing he had made the summit, and knowing where his tent was pitched, rescuers concentrated on the terrain between the two points. That sharply reduced the ground they had to cover across the Wind River Range, a remote span of western Wyoming roughly 350 miles northwest of Denver. The range holds Wyoming's highest peaks and some of its least accessible country.

• Ground search teams working on foot through the range
• The Sublette County Sheriff's Office Drone Team
• Tip Top Search and Rescue volunteers and a helicopter crew
• Hikers and members of the public who shared photographs and GPS data

Crews searched on August 25 but were forced to stop when winds worsened in the high country, Romel said. They returned early on August 26 and found his brother, closing a search that had run for days over steep and exposed ground where footing and weather can change fast.

He was found wandering near a lake, away from the one where his tent had been located. Scott Lake sits about two miles from Gannett Peak in a straight line, and Romel said his brother appears to have mistaken it for the water beside his campsite as he tried to retrace his route down the mountain.

A quest to climb 50 state high points

Gannett Peak was the 45th of the 50 state high points Mackelprang has been working through, Romel said. It is a difficult climb, and at 13,804 feet it is the highest ground in Wyoming. He had been making his way through the list over recent years.

Mackelprang has worked at the Missouri Attorney General's Office for 28 years, according to his LinkedIn profile, and serves in its criminal division. The office confirmed he had been found alive and described its staff as beyond grateful for the crews who brought him out.

Romel, 70, is the oldest of four siblings and lives in Salt Lake City; Shaun is the youngest. He said the family was not alarmed when August 22 passed without word, because thunderstorms had moved through the mountains and Gannett is a demanding climb that can run long. Poor weather in the peaks made a late return seem ordinary at first.

Concern set in over the weekend. Their sister Sheila made first contact with Wyoming officials on August 23, when the family grew genuinely worried that Shaun had not checked in.

Relief at the attorney general's office

Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said she was thrilled to learn that Mackelprang had been located and credited the search teams that spent days combing the range.

We are thrilled to hear that Deputy Attorney General Shaun Mackelprang has been located. Our office is beyond grateful for everyone's prayers and the steadfast work of the Sublette County Sheriff's Office and drone team, Tip Top Search and Rescue's volunteers and helicopter crew, and Wyoming State leaders.

The rescue was coordinated out of Sublette County, in western Wyoming, where the sheriff's office runs a drone team that worked alongside ground crews and the Tip Top helicopter. The sheriff's office also thanked hikers and members of the public who shared information, reviewed photographs and GPS data and helped spread word of his disappearance.

The family learned Shaun was safe while rescuers were still preparing him for the flight out. Relatives in Salt Lake City and Missouri had waited on updates through the week, unsure whether he would be found alive.

He was reported missing on August 25, and the sheriff's office issued a public missing person report the same day, five days after he began the trek. His vehicle at the Green River Lakes Trailhead was among the early signs that something had gone wrong.

Airlifted alive near Scott Lake

Mackelprang, the 55-year-old deputy attorney general, was pulled from the Wind River Range on the morning of August 26, six days after he set out. Rescuers reached him near Scott Lake, started an intravenous line to treat his dehydration, and lifted him out by helicopter at about 9:45 a.m. A sheriff's office spokesperson said he was taken to a hospital.

They found him wandering at a lake that probably looks similar to the one that his tent was pitched at.

His brother believes he grew disoriented on the way down after summiting, then lost track of which lake marked his camp. Days of exposure at altitude left him weak. Romel said the family still did not know exactly what had happened.

Romel said he did not know how much longer his brother could have survived in the backcountry, where nights are cold and there is no shelter above the treeline. The family did not yet know whether Shaun had suffered any serious injuries, and rescuers had not detailed his condition beyond the dehydration they treated in the field.

1. Thursday, August 20: Sets out from the Green River Lakes Trailhead
2. Friday, August 21: Signs the summit register atop Gannett Peak
3. Sunday, August 23: His sister contacts Wyoming officials
4. Tuesday, August 25: Reported missing and a public alert is issued
5. Wednesday, August 26: Found near Scott Lake and airlifted out

Weather complicated both the climb and the search. Thunderstorms had rolled through the peaks over the weekend, and winds strong enough to stop the search rose again on August 25, according to the family's account. Rescuers pressed on the next morning once conditions eased enough to fly.

Questions that remain unanswered

Authorities have not explained the exact circumstances of Mackelprang's disappearance or how he survived nearly a week in the wilderness. The sheriff's office has not detailed what he ate or drank, where he sheltered, or how far he strayed from his intended route, leaving the family to piece together how an ambitious climb turned into a survival ordeal.

Romel said the ordeal will change how his brother climbs. He plans to tell Shaun to stop taking on the state high points alone, and said a Garmin GPS unit is already set aside as this year's Christmas gift. Authorities have not said whether Mackelprang was carrying any device that could have signalled for help.

For now, Mackelprang is recovering in hospital. Gannett Peak stands as the 45th of the 50 state high points he had set out to climb. The family has not said whether he intends to finish the list.