Searchers plan to look again for two hikers missing in the Mount Evans area — probably on Saturday, May 10.
The Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office plans to search with dogs and about 100 search-and-rescue volunteers on that date or some other date in early May, sheriff’s Maj. Rick Albers told Clear Creek commissioners at a meeting on Tuesday, April 22.
Minnesota father Damian McManus, 52, and son Evan McManus, 19, were reported missing on April 6 after they did not return home from a spring-break trip to Colorado. Their SUV was found parked at Echo Lake Campground.
“We want to make one more good push down there before they open the mountain to regular traffic … when the snow opens a little bit more,” Albers said.
The paved road to Mount Evens was to open informally April 23, Albers said. It opens formally on Memorial Day — Monday, May 26.
Individuals identifying themselves as friends of the two men appear to have searched on their own after the official search was called off, according to a Facebook page set up in conjunction with the search.
The two men told others they were planning to “scale a peak” in Colorado before they went missing. The men’s cell phones were “active” until 7:20 p.m. Wednesday, April 2, according to information from the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center’s electronics investigation team. Cell phone information indicated the pair were directly south of the Echo Lake Campground on April 2.
The McManuses drove from St. Louis Park, Minn., to Colorado for a spring-break trip, according to Bill Barwick, a spokesman for the search. A receipt found in the car indicates the pair had breakfast April 2 at a Denny’s in Lakewood.
The original team looking for the missing hikers included search-and-rescue personnel from nine organizations, including the Arapahoe Rescue Patrol, the Summit County Rescue Group, the Rocky Mountain Rescue Group and Vail Mountain Rescue.
Other agencies assisting in the operation included the Colorado Search and Rescue Board, the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, the Colorado National Guard, and Flight for Life.