Photo courtesy of National Park Service A young Texas man feared missing overnight on the Mosca Pass Trail in the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve notified authorities Tuesday that he was safe in Westcliffe, Colo. after hiking to the top of Mosca Pass and catching a ride sometime late Monday night or early Tuesday morning.

Search teams work through the night to find Texas man



By ERIC MULLENS

ALAMOSA — A 19-year old Texas man missing from a trail at the Great Sand Dunes Park and Preserve since about 5 p.m. Monday turned up in Westcliffe, Colo. Tuesday.

According to park spokesperson Carol Sperling, Richard Lynn, his sister and their parents were hiking on the Mosca Pass Trail Monday afternoon when Richard got ahead of the group. Sperling said after talking with family members that Richard was not seen by them or other hikers on the trail after about 5 p.m.

The family notified park officials and a search was begun.

Lynn was found in Westcliffe, Colo. safe and uninjured at about 2 p.m. Tuesday, said park Superintendent Art Hutchinson. Park officials say Lynn hiked to Mosca Pass from the park and subsequently hitchhiked into Westcliffe.

A park ranger was dispatched from the Sand Dunes early Tuesday to pick up Lynn and bring him back to Alamosa County where he will be reunited with his family.

Sperling said Tuesday that Alamosa County Search and Rescue personnel began looking on the West side of the park and trails while Huerfano County Search and Rescue workers did the same on the East side of the mountains.

The San Luis Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross was at the scene of the Alamosa County side of the search and rescue operation providing search support.

Alamosa County Search and Rescue coordinated search efforts working with the National Park Service, Huerfano County Sheriff’s Office, the Colorado Department of Corrections who provided a search dog team from Canon City and the Red Cross.

“We want to thank everyone for their quick response.” said Hutchinson,”we’re really fortunate to have such reliable partners.”

Kevin Wright, director of Alamosa County’s volunteer search and rescue team said they were notified of the incident at about 2 a.m. Tuesday and began assembling their team by 2:45 a.m.

Prior to that, Wright said, park rangers had begun attraction tactics on the West side of Mosca Pass Trail, that included driving the roads with their emergency lights activated and having two rangers move carefully up the trail shining flashlights and calling Lynn’s name.

Although the Alamosa team was prepared to go onto the trail at first light; DOC officials in Fremont County had volunteered and sent a pair of search dogs and handlers to the scene. It was decided to send the dog teams and one member of the Alamosa county team, Jess Caton, onto the trail to prevent any contamination of possible evidence of a crime or direction of travel of the missing young man.

Wright said the team did find footprints on the trail early Tuesday morning that were believed to have been Lynn’s but they disappeared at the paved road atop Mosca Pass.

While the DOC dog teams worked their way up the West side of the trail, the Huerfano County Sheriff’s Office teams contained the trail on the East side.

Lynn contacted authorities when he arrived in Westcliffe after hitching a ride and local search and rescue personnel were notified the hiker was safe. Wright said it is approximately three and one half miles from the Mosca Pass Trailhead to the top of the pass itself where Lynn found the highway.

A park ranger was dispatched from the Sand Dunes Tuesday afternoon to pick up Lynn and bring him back to Alamosa County where he was reunited with his family last night.