Gabby Petito one of three people missing near Grand Teton Park this summer
Gabby Petito is one of three people who went missing in or near Grand Teton National Park this summer.
Petito, 22, was in the midst of a cross-country van trip with her also missing boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, when she disappeared in late August. Her family last spoke with her Aug. 24, when she said they were in Utah, headed to Wyoming to see the Tetons.
Rangers are searching for the 5-foot-5 Petito in the Teton backcountry — but she's not the only missing person on their radar there, authorities said.
The last trace of Robert Lowery, a traveler from Texas, was a ping from his cellphone in Jackson on Aug. 23, police told the Jackson Hole News & Guide.
The 46-year-old was seen on video from Aug. 19 at a restaurant at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in Teton Village, and may have taken a ride in a Lyft the following day.
Lowery had never been to the area before, his sister, Leigh Lowery, told the paper, and had recently gotten a sleeping bag and a tent, but had no camping experience.
Before Lowery left his home in Houston, he canceled his mail, Jackson sheriff's Deputy Chad Sachse told the paper.
In the third case, Cian McLaughlin, 27, was last seen June 8 hiking in the park by a local resident without a backpack. He was reported missing four days later.
The park conducted an investigation that involved tips from more than 140 people, and more than 45 helicopter searches, some using thermal imaging cameras and other high-tech equipment. No trace of McLaughlin was found.
Neither the Department of the Interior, which oversees the National Park Service, nor the Department of Agriculture's US Forest Service keeps track of how many people vanish in American wilderness areas each year, but researchers suggest the number could be in the hundreds.
Teton Park spokesman C.J. Adams told the paper there was no known connection between the three missing persons, or their cases.
Jason @BeardedOverland www.beardedadv.blogspot.com
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