Merrell Boot offers drone, rescuers to help at Canyon
A relative of two hikers missing in the Grand Canyon since last weekend says the Merrell Boot Co. has offered to donate search resources to find Lou-Ann Merrell and her 14-year-old stepgrandson, Jackson Standefer.
She is the wife of company co-founder Randy Merrell.
The boy’s uncle, Mark McOmie, says the company has offered to provide climbers, rescuers and a military grade drone.
The hikers were swept away Saturday in a creek after losing their footing in a remote part of the national park.
A spokeswoman for the National Park Service said it is working closely with the family and is considering the resources their family has suggested donating.
The National Park Service has deployed a helicopter, drone, inflatable motor boat and about 20 search and rescue personnel.
McOmie said late Tuesday night that relatives hope Merrell and the boy will be found soon.
Randy Merrell and the boy’s mother were hiking with them when they disappeared.
National Park Service spokeswoman Robin Martin said about 3,500 people got permits in 2015 to camp in the general area where the two hikers went missing, the latest readily available data. About 41,000 total people that year got permits to backpack in the Grand Canyon in total.
The Merrells, Standefer and the boy’s mother were on a path known as Tapeats Trail when the pair fell, authorities said.
The area has a more distinct geology than most of the park and attracts a fair number of visitors but is not as popular with tourists as are other spots, like Havasupai Falls. Chris Forsyth, president of the Grand Canyon Hikers & Backpackers Association board, says a visit there calls for a multiple-day backpacking trip and at least some experience in hiking. He said his first trip through the canyon was at Tapeats Creek.
Matthew Nelson, the executive director of the Arizona Trail Association and a former Grand Canyon backpacking guide, said accessing that area on foot takes days and requires an arduous hike. Nelson said the area offers stunning views but is also unforgivingly hot. He said the water in the creek comes from a cave and is always extremely cold.
The Merrell family accessed the area by hiking down from the North Rim.
“The rock that forms the canyon at Tapeats Creek is a particular layer that isn’t found everywhere in the Grand Canyon. It gives it a more unique sense of beauty,” Forsyth said.