{"id":32950,"date":"2023-07-11T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-11T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/an-impossible-decision-public-search-concludes-for-missing-hiker\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:05:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:05:04","slug":"an-impossible-decision-public-search-concludes-for-missing-hiker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/an-impossible-decision-public-search-concludes-for-missing-hiker\/","title":{"rendered":"An \u2018impossible decision\u2019: Public search concludes for missing hiker"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Ian
Ian O\u2019Brien lived in Southwest Colorado for six years before he moved to Page, Arizona, last month. He went missing in the La Plata Mountains on June 24 while on a camping trip with his partner and two friends. (Courtesy of Kelsey O'Brien Rodriguez)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

More than two weeks after ultra runner Ian O\u2019Brien went missing in the La Plata Mountains, volunteers concluded the public search for the 28-year old on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien set out to scout a path up Hesperus Mountain from the west side of the range around 2:30 p.m. June 24. He reached the summit of the peak around 6 p.m., but has not been heard from nor seen since. O\u2019Brien had epilepsy and was carrying his medication, although his friends and family suspect that a seizure likely left the experienced survivalist disoriented or incapacitated.<\/p>\n

Other than a footprint found in Owen Basin the morning after O\u2019Brien went missing, no evidence of his whereabouts has been found.<\/p>\n

After Montezuma County Sheriff Steve Nowlin suspended search efforts on June 28, volunteers initiated an immense unofficial search<\/a> led by O\u2019Brien\u2019s partner, Beth Henshaw, his friends Mike and Ashley Higgs and his family.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien, a former field guide for Open Sky Wilderness Therapy and camp counselor, had spent most of the last six years in Southwest Colorado before he and Henshaw moved to Page, Arizona, last month. Across the country, O\u2019Brien\u2019s community swiftly mobilized to participate in the search.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to be a part of his life,\u201d Travis Soares, a friend from Prescott College, said of O\u2019Brien in an interview with The Durango Herald<\/em> on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Between 25 and 80 volunteers, many of whom did not know O\u2019Brien or were connected to him only tangentially, met daily and collectively combed over 12,000 acres of wilderness in the vicinity of Hesperus Mountain. The incident command center, situated at Lucy Halls park near the base of Hesperus Mountain, was equipped with solar power, Starlink internet, satellite and radio communication devices and had incident commanders planning how best to efficiently deploy teams of searchers.<\/p>\n

Local businesses, organizations and individuals donated food, water, camp infrastructure and other resources to take care of the volunteers.<\/p>\n

\"The
The incident command center, situated at Lucy Halls Park near the base of Hesperus Mountain northeast of Mancos, was equipped with solar power, Starlink internet, satellite and radio communication devices, and had incident commanders planning how best to efficiently deploy teams of searchers. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

On Saturday, O\u2019Brien\u2019s parents and sisters returned home to the East Coast, leaving the decision of when to halt the search up to Henshaw. Kelsey O\u2019Brien Rodriguez, O\u2019Brien\u2019s older sisters, said it was a \u201ccombination of grief and logic\u201d that led to an \u201cimpossible decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just couldn\u2019t keep running headquarters because everybody has been taking like two weeks off for work and people gotta start going back,\u201d Henshaw said. \u201c\u2026 People need more consistent showers and sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n

A small team of about 10 close friends is likely to continue searching after several days of rest, but Henshaw said the community-organized search has concluded.<\/p>\n

Both O\u2019Brien\u2019s family and friends have extolled the expansive search effort that grew following his disappearance. A GoFundMe, now closed, gathered over $97,000, which was used to fund the highly equipped search effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only thing that keeps me going is the community response,\u201d Henshaw said in a previous interview with the Herald.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

She expressed frustration that Nowlin suspended search efforts after just four days (O\u2019Brien once completed a five-day fast in the wilderness with relative ease).<\/p>\n

Montezuma County spokeswoman and County Search and Rescue Vice President Vicki Shaffer said Nowlin made the decision because he \u201chad pretty much exhausted the very small team that we have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both she and Henshaw noted that several search and rescue members, who work on a volunteer basis, continued to search in an unofficial capacity.<\/p>\n

In comparison to the $97,000 raised, Shaffer said the county\u2019s search and rescue funding, which is spent on training and limited equipment, hovers around $20,000 annually. Since the search began, two Open Sky employees have submitted applications to join the search and rescue team, and Shaffer expects several more.<\/p>\n

Henshaw said O\u2019Brien would want to be left to rest in the wilderness \u2013 he harbored a vast and fierce love for the La Plata Mountains \u2013 rather than have his body airlifted out and autopsied.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people are going to say Ian is missing, but he\u2019s not missing,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cWe know where he is, we just can\u2019t find him. And he is in a place that he loved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, Rodriguez said her family is beginning the grieving and reconciliation process. When asked how her brother would want to be remembered, Rodriguez said, \u201claughing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Henshaw described her partner as a \u201cwilder-badass with a heart of gold.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Throughout
Throughout the search, volunteers were equipped with rubber chickens \u2013 an item Ian O\u2019Brien always had with him in the outdoors. \u201cI don\u2019t think I will ever not have a rubber chicken with me for the rest of my life,\u201d said O\u2019Brien\u2019s sister, Kelsey O\u2019Brien Rodriguez. (Courtesy of Kelsey O'Brien Rodriguez)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Throughout the search, volunteers were equipped with rubber chickens \u2013 an item O\u2019Brien always had with him in the outdoors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I will ever not have a rubber chicken with me for the rest of my life,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cHe was a happy man.\u201d<\/p>\n

rschafir@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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