ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK, Colo. — An El Paso County sheriff's deputy who went missing and was found last week has disappeared in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP).
Kevin Sypher was reported missing from Parker on April 27. He was found two days later in the Denver metro area and was reunited with his family. No other details are available on this case.
On April 30, he was at the Wild Basin entrance station of the national park with a family when he walked away from the vehicle. The following day, a park ranger came across a group of people searching for him, and the ranger alerted the park's staff so an investigation could begin.
Based on the initial investigation that day, a spokesperson for RMNP said park rangers learned that staff had seen a man who matched Sypher's description on the afternoon of April 30. The man had been walking near Copeland Lake west on the Wild Basin Road. The search for Sypher continued along that road, the river corridor and the summer trailhead.
Two days later, on May 3, members of the park's search and rescue team, along with a team from Front Range Rescue Dogs, narrowed their search efforts to the summer trailhead and Copeland Falls, the spokesperson said.
A park visitor who hikes the area often told rangers that there was a man matching Sypher's description near that trailhead on May 1.
Sypher is described as standing 6 feet, 2 inches tall and weighing 180 pounds. He has gray hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, blue baseball hat, blue jeans and cowboy boots.
The park staff has suspended active search efforts, but patrols will continue in the area.
Anybody who has seen Sypher or knows of his whereabouts is asked to call or text the National Park Service Investigative Services Bureau Tip Line at 888-653-0009, fill out an online form at go.nps.gov/SubmitATip or email nps_isb@nps.gov.
No other details are available.
