On Tuesday, June 13 at approximately 7:45 pm, the Grand Canyon Regional Communications Center received a call reporting an overdue hiker. The hiker, 72 year old Raafat (Ralph) Amin Nasser-Eddin of Los Angeles, CA and Lebanon, matches the description of an individual reported to park rangers on Sunday, June 11.
On Sunday morning, June 11, rangers received a report of a disoriented hiker at Hermit Camp. A member of Grand Canyon’s search and rescue team hiked the Hermit Trail to the Colorado River June 11 and June 12 and was unable to locate the individual.
Nasser-Eddin is described as a 72 year old male, 5’10” tall, 170 pounds, with gray hair and green eyes. He was last seen carrying a reusable shopping bag, a gallon jug of water, and wearing a black and white ball cap, a green plaid shirt, and khaki shorts. Nasser-Eddin had reservations to stay at Phantom Ranch.
Thursday’s operations included four ground teams of ten people total and aerial searches with the National Park Service helicopter. Search efforts will focus on drainages between the Bright Angel and Boucher trails. Steep, hazardous terrain characterizes much of the search area and high temperatures could reach 106 F in the shade today.