Favorable Conditions Help Search For Sen. Udall's Brother
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (CBS4) - Search crews had favorable weather conditions early Wednesday morning as they set out on their sixth day of searching for James "Randy" Udall in Wyoming.
Ground teams on foot and horseback, along with five search dog teams continued to search for Udall. Two helicopters are also searching from the air. No sightings or clues have developed during the course of the search.
Udall is overdue one week from a solo backpacking trip in the shadow of Wyoming's highest mountain.
Udall is a brother of Colorado Sen. Mark Udall, cousin of New Mexico Sen. Tom Udall, and son of the late Arizona Rep. Morris "Mo" Udall. His uncle, Stewart Udall, was Interior secretary in the 1960s.
He is also an environmentalist and energy efficiency advocate.
The search is concentrated in a 225-square-mile area of the Wind River Range southwest of 13,809-foot Gannett Peak.
Udall, 61, left June 20 from a trailhead 10 miles northwest of Pinedale in western Wyoming. He was due back last Wednesday. The search for him began Friday, the day he was reported missing.
The Wind River Range sprawls 100 miles southeast of the Yellowstone ecosystem and jags the horizon of the nearby sagebrush country like saw teeth.
There is a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon on Wednesday. Crews are preparing for the threat of lightning. Ground crews are prepared to spend the night in the event the helicopters cannot retrieve them due to weather.
Creeks and drainages in the search area are running high, one helicopter dedicated much of yesterday to those waterways with no results. Back country rangers with the U.S. Forest Service combed timbered areas at lower elevations while SAR teams from Sublette, Teton and Fremont Counties worked above tree line.
