Time is essential as authorities and rescue crews try to find a missing hiker and her dog after they disappeared in the Colorado mountains. The hiker has missing since Sunday.
According to The Pitkin County Sheriff's Office, one of Jennifer Hearn's family members flagged down a deputy to inform them she had not return from her hike on Triangle Peak. The 75-year-old went missing while hiking the train. Triangle Peak is located in the Snowmass Canyon area of the Roaring Fork Valley. It's near Aspen.
Hearn regularly hikes Triangle Peak three to four times a week. Only this time, she didn't come back. Family found her vehicle parked near the start of the trailhead. According to police, the trail goes on for nearly five miles of steep rocky terrain. There are multiple intersecting trails along the path as well.
Rescue crews made up of Mountain Rescue Aspen (MRA) volunteers hit the trailhead on the same day that she went missing. However, they called off the search at 2:30 a.m. with no sign of the hiker or her dog. The following day volunteers and a helicopter from the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention as well as a dog and handler team from Search and Rescue Dogs of the United States hit the trail.
Hiker Missing For Days
So far, they haven't turned turned up anything. The sheriff's office describes Hearn as 5-foot-10 and 125 pounds. She has shoulder-length gray hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a green t-shirt and jean shorts.
Currently, authorities believe that Hearn went hiking with her 3-year-old Irish setter, Tawny. They described the dog as skittish and urge any volunteers to approach the dog with caution if found.
"We understand and are immensely thankful for the public's desire to aid in the search efforts. We are using specialized aircraft with equipment that can detect activity with heat sensors," Pitkin County Undersheriff Alex Burchetta said. "That equipment could register false positives that are not the person we are searching for if we have unauthorized personnel in our search area. Our focus is to search for and find Jennifer.
Officers also asked the public to avoid hiking in the Triangle Peak area while they search for the missing hiker.
"We want to avoid someone else possibly being injured and distracting our efforts from that goal."
