Search on for missing ex-White House chef

61-year-old Scheib was cook for 11 years under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush

Authorities resumed a search by air and ground Saturday in a New Mexico mountain range for a former White House chef who has now been missing for a week.

New Mexico State Police spokeswoman Elizabeth Armijo said the agency plans to exhaust all resources to conduct an extensive search for 61-year-old Walter Scheib, the White House chef for 11 years under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush

Scheib recently moved from Florida to Taos, New Mexico, and reportedly went for a hike June 13 in the mountains near the Taos Ski Valley. His girlfriend reported him missing the next day. Taos police found his vehicle Tuesday parked at the Yerba Canyon trailhead. The 6.4-kilometre trail follows a canyon bottom before climbing to 3,700 feet (1,110 meters) in elevation, according to the US forest service website.

The US Air Force and the New Mexico National Guard are assisting in the search. An air search has been made difficult with the presence of high mountain peaks, deep canyons and dense vegetation. The rough terrain has also made the ground search harder.

Scheib, who graduated from New York’s Culinary Institute of America in 1979 and later worked at grand hotels in Florida and West Virginia, became White House executive chef in April 1994 when First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton hired him.

He was in charge of a fulltime staff of five and oversaw a part-time staff of 20. Scheib was known for refocusing the White House kitchen on distinctly American cuisine with seasonal ingredients and contemporary flavours. He was responsible for preparing everything from first family meals to formal state dinners.