Better Weather Helps In Search For Missing Hikers Near Echo Lake

IDAHO SPRINGS, Colo. (CBS4/AP) - More search and rescue teams are looking for a father and son from Minnesota missing near Mount Evans west of Denver.

The search Tuesday includes about 50 people. Better weather is helping in the search after days of high wind and snow.

Damian and Evan McManus (credit: CBS)

Authorities say Damian McManus, 51, and Evan McManus, 19, who are from St. Louis Park, Minn., were last heard from on Wednesday. They were hiking near Echo Lake on the north shoulder of Mount Evans. The car they were traveling in has been located near the entrance of a campground.

Alpine Rescue Team spokesman Bill Barwick says searchers are not sure the father and son were equipped for wintry conditions in the Rocky Mountains.

Barwick says the two men left for a camping trip on Wednesday and were due back on Sunday. They had driven to Colorado from Minnesota and planned to stop and hike along the way as part of their father-son trip for spring break.

Steve Recchia fought back tears as he talked about his missing nephew and brother-in-law.

"We have a lot of faith but it is very tough knowing the reality of the situation," Recchia said.

Damian McManus' wife and daughter were vacationing in Mexico when they found out about their missing family members. Evan McManus' girlfriend received a text from him on Wednesday, which was the last time anybody had heard from the pair.

"The weather; something happened with the weather that we don't know," Recchia said.

Recchia said his brother-in-law is a former British Army engineer who plans everything meticulously and is in excellent physical shape.

"Everything he did was planned – plan, plan, plan, plan," Recchia said.

On Monday search crews scoured every trail in the area and found no signs of the father and son. Maj. Rick Alberts with the Clear Creek County Sheriff's Office said the frigid temperatures and the wind make the situation more desperate by the hour.

"Five days out in wind like this, you know the odds are getting against them," Alberts said.

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