Searchers looking for any sign of Artoun Gostantain in the north unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. (Badlands SAR photo)
WATFORD CITY, N.D. (KFGO) – Badlands Search and Rescue is providing more details about the nearly two week search for a missing hiker in the north unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
The search and rescue team says throughout the search volunteers logged 140 hours searching, and walked more than 75 miles of the park’s roughest terrain in temperatures ranging from the high 90s to the 100s.
The search began July 20 when crews conducted a hasty search, a tactic used to locate missing people who could still be alive. After those attempts were unsuccessful, search operations escalated the next day.
Multiple agencies became involved, including the National Park Service, McKenzie County Sheriff’s Office, North Dakota Highway Patrol, a Highway Patrol blood hound team, a National Guard helicopter, Civil Air Patrol aircraft and drone operators.
Search teams encountered wildlife in the park that slowed search operations, mainly bison and rattlesnakes. Search crews had one encounter with a bull bison atop a ridgeline.
Crews on August 2 found evidence from above that turned out to be the remains of the hiker. The operation was then turned over to law enforcement for an investigation.
The search was the first in North Dakota history that utilized National Guard aircrafts. Badlands Search and Rescue says the agencies all collaborated with the goal of bringing the hiker home.
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