Kim H. Crumbo, 74, of Ogden, Utah, was last seen in Yellowstone National Park on September 12, 2021, while on a planned four-night backcountry canoe trip on Shoshone Lake with his 67-year-old half-brother, Mark O’Neill of Chimacum, Washington. Family reported the men overdue on September 19, triggering a National Park Service search that found a vacant campsite and, along the lake’s east shore, a canoe, paddle, personal flotation device, and other personal items.

On September 20, 2021, O’Neill’s body was recovered and an autopsy determined his cause of death was hypothermia. Shoshone Lake’s water averages about 48 degrees Fahrenheit and can be subject to sudden high winds and dangerous waves; estimated survival time in that water is only 20 to 30 minutes. An extensive search for Crumbo included ground crews, helicopters, boats and sonar, and the operation shifted from rescue to recovery on September 24. By early October 2021 officials scaled back but continued limited searches as conditions allowed. The investigation remains open and Crumbo had not been found as of late 2023.

Crumbo was a Navy SEAL veteran, served two combat tours in Vietnam, and later worked for two decades with the National Park Service at the Grand Canyon as a river ranger and wilderness coordinator. He was involved with conservation groups and remembered by colleagues as a respected outdoorsman. Does anyone who was in the Shoshone Lake area on or around September 12 recall seeing the canoe or either man?