Multiple agencies, individuals looking for missing hiker

CODY (WNE) —- Considerable resources and manpower are involved in the search for Grant Gardner of Minnesota, the hiker reported missing in the Cloud Peak Wilderness on August 1.

The mission has generated an outpouring of support from throughout Wyoming, as well as the nation, on behalf of the Gardner family and the search and rescue teams who are exhausting every possibility, no matter how small, to find him, Big Horn County Sheriff Ken Blackburn reported Monday. 

“The search, as you will see, has been very active,” he added. 

Tips from hikers in the area are being routed directly to the Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch at 307-568-2324. Those tips are welcomed, and are being followed up on as received. 

Citizens not associated with SAR groups have been volunteering to provide their services. Due to liability, the sheriff can’t pair these volunteers with team members, however, he welcomes any capable experienced outdoor men and women to assist on their own. They should advise the Sheriff’s Office of their plans before they depart and when they return. GPS tracking of searches would be greatly appreciated. The search is on public land; no special permission is required. 

“Your prayers on everyone’s behalf are just as important,” Blackburn added. 

The sheriff warns that the search area is unforgiving, and those who enter it do so at their own liability/risk. 

The Cloud Peak Wilderness is deceptively expansive and remote, and snow is starting to fall at higher elevations above 10,000 feet. Very thorough searches of these areas have been performed. Gardner could plausibly be in several areas and routes, all of which have been extensively searched, Blackburn said. 

“Our team is tired, but pushing forward,” he said.

This story was published on August 13, 2025.