The search for a missing hiker enters its ninth day at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park.
Forty-three year-old Matthew Thoke was last seen on the afternoon of July 21, when he was hiking the park’s High Sierra Trail, approximately three miles east of the Crescent Meadow trailhead, and just east of Panther Creek, the National Parks Service said in a release.
Thoke split off from this group during a multi-day wilderness trip and walked off trail, downhill and to the south, without his pack. Nobody has seen him since.
He was last seen wearing an orange t-shirt, blue shorts and a pink hat. Thoke is six feet tall, 160 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.
An intensive search commenced that day, and has been ongoing ever since. Officials said the area they’re searching is "extremely treacherous," so they’re only using experienced search teams.
"We are very optimistic and hopeful that the NPS (National Park Service) will bring Matt Thoke home," Lisa Thoke, wife of Matt Thoke said. "We appreciate the passion, care, and strategy they have for this mission. I truly believe his love for life and people are what’s keeping him going strong and alive. He is extraordinarily loved, not just by me, but by hundreds of family members and friends and everyone he’s touched throughout his life and all over the world. We can’t wait to get him back into our arms, so he continues to bring joy and impact others positively as he’s always done."
Search efforts have been led by Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks with the assistance of Tulare and Fresno County Sherriff’s Offices, Yosemite National Park, Joshua Tree National Park, California National Guard, California Office of Emergency Services, and US Forest Service.
The park continues to ask for the public’s help in locating Thoke. Anyone who walked the High Sierra Trail after July 21 is urged to contact Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks Dispatch at 888-677-2746 or email seki_dispatch@nps.gov.
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